All sports fans consider themselves capable of running a sports team. U of T students Avish Sood and Natan Levi have started a group that focuses on students who want to work in the business of sports.
The University of Toronto Sports and Business Association aims to allow students who are interested in joining the sports world to make contacts with industry professionals, to gain knowledge, and to network for their future.
The UTSB began after Sood, a fourth-year commerce student, and Levi, a third-year commerce student, attended a national sports conference in Montreal.
“Natan and I decided that an initiative like [the UTSB] needed to be established in Toronto,” explains Sood. “There are so many passionate students, such as ourselves, in this huge Toronto sports market, and we wanted to create an interactive community for students to potentially build a career in this exciting industry.”
Though this is only UTSB’s first year, the club has seen considerable interest and is already being noticed by media and people in the industry.
“We have had the opportunity to build sponsor relations with some great companies including the Blue Jays, MLSE, The Score, and NBA Canada,” said Sood. “All of the professionals [we have spoken to] are very excited about the events we have planned and have been more than supportive in helping our initiative grow in Toronto.”
Students of U of T are also taking to this program well and using it to their advantage, according to the founders. “The feedback has been awesome. We’re really surprised, we’re happy with the way it’s been working out,” said Levi.
The association’s success has allowed it to organize a sports industry conference; the speaker list includes well-known industry professionals such as Ian Clarke, EVP and CFO of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, and Bob Nicholson, the president of the Toronto Argonauts.
“[The] goal of the conference is to allow students to build relationships and networks with sports industry professionals as well as learn about trends in the sports industry,” explains Levi. “What we hope comes out of the conference is to an increase in exposure of U of T students to sports industry professionals as well as many different networking and industry opportunities.”
The conference will also look at branding and the impact of technology on sports.
A few other schools have picked up on the idea of having their own sports industry conferences, but Levi intends to come out on top. “[UTSB] want U of T to be the best at it. We want U of T to have the best speakers and the best students, and we want industry professionals to come to U of T to hire these students.”
“A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to meet [Toronto Blue Jays president] Paul Beeston and present to him the possibility of being one of the head sponsors for our conference,” said Sood. “After quickly looking over our sponsorship package, he gave little thought [before] deciding to be one of our main sponsors. I think that at that moment, our executive team realized that we had an opportunity to create one of the largest student-run sports career initiatives in Canada.” Though the UTSB is a newly formed group, it appears to be taking big strides towards putting U of T on the court in the sports industry.
