Selling Sports for a good cause

Students in the Sports Business Management (graduate certificate) program this fall were given the opportunity to complete a project in partnership with Maple Leaf Sports Entertainment (MLSE). As part of the Selling Sport course, they received the rights to sell discounted tickets for four Toronto Marlies games, using the skills they acquired in their program to put together a preliminary sales strategy proposal, sell the tickets and then reflect on their successes and challenges in a post-sales recap report. In addition, Marc Lira and Colby Pridham, two members of the MLSE sales team, shared their experiences with the students during an in-class guest lecture.

“The project provided an excellent opportunity for students to use the skills and knowledge they learned in class and apply to a real-life selling situation,” said Scott Campbell, professor in the School of Business, IT & Management. “They really benefitted from having an organization like MLSE to partner with.”

However, for these students, this project was about more than just making the grade. For each ticket sold, $5 was donated to Camp Oochiegeas, a summer camp exclusively serving children with cancer. Together, the students were able to sell 409 tickets, raising more than $2,000 for Camp Oochiegeas, which is free to campers and is staffed entirely by volunteers.

“This project, was extremely rewarding. I would consider it a highlight of the term,” said Heather Lloyd, the top-selling student. “We appreciated the chance to not only push ourselves to achieve our personal sales goals, but to also be able to make a meaningful donation to Camp Oochiegeas.”

As the top-selling student, Lloyd, who sold 40 tickets, was rewarded with a career counselling meeting with MLSE. In addition, the top four sellers in the class each received a pair of tickets to an upcoming MLSE event.