Sports Management Program Knocks it Out of the Park

For Dylan, who has been using his summers to explore careers in the business of sports, pitching marketing plans to executives at Boston Red Sox minor league affiliate PawSox giving him a competitive edge as he pursues a career in sports management. 

When I was eight years old, I realized I was too short to play basketball professionally — the other kids started getting bigger than me. But I knew I needed to be in sports, just not as a professional athlete. I realized then I’d rather be on the sidelines anyway, watching the games and helping these athletes as an agent or lawyer.

I’ve done three sports management programs at different colleges before, and I was just really excited to get the opportunity to come to Yale and do it. The majority of the programs I’ve done so far covered basically the same material, but at EXPLO it’s very different. Our final project was something I’ve never done before; we partnered with an actual corporation — the Paw Sox — and gave them advice and plans to improve their attendance at games.

This opportunity was bigger than I expected. It completely exceeded my expectations. This experience felt so much more professional [than other sports management programs I’ve participated in] and I had to live up to what these executives expected of me. It really raised the game and made me work a thousand times harder. And when a professional, not just a teacher, is hearing your words and taking notes — actually considering your ideas — that feels really meaningful.

This is definitely going to give me an edge when I go on to study sports management in college and go to graduate school for sports law.