We asked you to tell us on Facebook who you thought was destined for greatness in the Business of Sports (Sportsbiz) heading into 2014.
The responses we received varied from current students to young professionals currently working in sports.
And, even though we know that this is not an exhaustive list, these are some of the proactive, passionate few that are doing what it takes to rise above the competition to excel in sports.
Here is a list of some of the up and coming stars in sports business to watch out for in 2014:
The 2014 Rising Stars In Sportsbiz
Mark Burns
Co-Contributor, Forbes.com | Contributor, SportsAgentBlog.com | Sports Symposium Fellow | Sports Business Professional
Mark is currently a law school student at Belmont University in Nashville, TN. It’s obvious from watching Mark over the last few years that he not only is passionate about the industry, but he’s taking the necessary steps to get to where he wants to be.
Mark serves as an Operations Intern in the Belmont Athletic Department, assisting with men’s and women’s basketball games along with women’s volleyball matches. He co-authors various sports business related articles for Forbes.com with Darren Heitner, a Miami-based attorney. Mark is also a regular weekly Contributor with Darren’s website, SportsAgentBlog.com. He is a Monthly Contributor with Entrepreneur.com as well.
He recently helped plan and execute the 8th Annual Ivy Sports Symposium at Harvard Law School; he is now in the process of planning the first Global Sports Symposium set to take place on May 15, 2014 in London, England.
In the summer of 2013, Mark was part of the 2nd Annual Manhattan Sports Business, an eight-week sports business program that takes a comprehensive 360-degree approach to immersing students in the industry.
Mark has interned with a variety of organizations including the Nashville Predators, Leverage Agency, Elite Talent Agency, Movement Talent Agency, and the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.
Mark was recently named a 2013 “30 Under 30″ Award Recipient (Sports Launch Magazine). In 2013, The Migala Report named Mark a Twitter ‘Must Follow’ for #SportsBiz Job Advice.
Mark graduated from the University of Michigan in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History; he doubled minor in Political Science and Crime and Justice.
Twitter: @MarkJBurns88
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/markjburns
Anthony Illiakostas
Founder and Head Blogger, Law and Batting Order
Tony is a third-year law school student at New York Law School, focusing his studies on media, entertainment and sports law – specifically intellectual property law within these categories. He currently serves as a legal intern for ABC News’ Rights and Clearances Department. His work has varied from copyright research to drafting copyright license agreements.
Additionally, Tony runs a sports law video blog called “Law and Batting Order” as a means of understanding and learning about the constantly evolving world of sports law. Tony is expected to graduate in May 2014 and take the NYS Bar Exam in July 2014 with the hopes of working in the media, entertainment or sports law world.
Twitter: @ailiakostas
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ailiakostas
Jonathan Gordon
Founder, Sports Analytics Blog
Jonathan is the founder of SportsAnalyticsBlog.com, a leading niche website focusing on the sports data and analytics industry. Well-respected and followed by industry leaders, including GM Daryl Morey, Ben Alamar, and others.
Founder of Notre Dame’s first and only undergraduate student sports analytics/business club. Only a junior, Jonathan has gained experience interning with a sports agency, founded a niche website, and has written for numerous sports publications. His passion for sports business is seen through his strong work ethic as well.
Jonathan has interned with NFL player agency, Caric Sports Management. In addition, he has written articles for Ruling Sports, Sports Agent Blog, Sports Law Chat, and others.
Twitter: @JonathanCGordon
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=203767681
Hakeem Onafowokan
Law Student, University of Minnesota
Hakeem is a second-year law student at the University of Minnesota Law School. Hakeem just finished serving his first-term as the president of the Sports Law Association at the University of Minnesota Law School.
Currently, Hakeem is a feature columnist for the Sports Networker, writing Sports Law articles on a bi-weekly basis. In addition, Hakeem is an intern at the University of Minnesota Compliance Department. Recently, Hakeem accepted a position with the Center for Protection of Athletes Rights, as a member of the Student Volunteer Committee.
Hakeem has interned with various sports organizations, including Brewer Sports International, and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Hakeem graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Science degree in Sport Management and a minor in Leadership.
Twitter: @HOnafowokanJr
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/hakeem-onafowokan-jr/25/a6b/81b
Zach Aldrich
Intern, Major League Baseball
Zach’s passion for baseball has driven him to seek a life in the game that he loves. As a senior in high school, Zach interned with the Syracuse Chief’s, the AAA affiliate of the Washington Nationals. While capturing video of fans, play by play and advertising initiatives, Zach was also responsible for operating the Syracuse Chiefs’ scouting camera. The footage was not only used by the Chiefs’ coaches and players, but was also uploaded and sent to the Washington Nationals.
Zach’s determination to become a force in the sports industry didn’t stop there. In 2013 Zach became the winner of Major League Baseball’s Break into the Business of Baseball internship, beating out hundreds of candidates to win an internship with Major League Baseball Advanced Media. During the summer of 2013, Zach worked for the multi-billion dollar company’s sponsorship department. As a sponsorship intern, Zach supported national advertising campaigns by setting up presentations for clients, and monitoring delivery.
Currently a freshman at Loyola University Chicago, Zach continues to pursue experiences that will ultimately help him to become a valuable asset to any Baseball Operations Department. A mere eighteen years old, Zach’s experience is growing, and his ambition is an example to all looking to enter the sports industry.
Twitter: @ZAldrich2
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/zachary-aldrich/64/2a/307?trk=shareTw
Avish Sood
Coordinator of Sponsorship Sales, TO2015 | Co-Founder, the Sponsorship Space
Avish has been instrumental in creating sports business opportunities for hundreds of students in both Canada and the United States through the creation of the University of Toronto Sports Industry Conference. As the President and Co-Founder during the initiative’s first year, Avish helped lead all brand development, corporate partnerships, event planning, speaker attraction, concept creation and financing in regards to the event. In two short years, the event has now grown to become Canada’s largest student-run sports marketing conference with over 250 students attending last year’s event. Avish still acts as a senior advisor to the organizing committee.
While continuing his education, Avish worked with Rogers Sportsnet as a Junior Accountant, where he assisted with the creation of all financial statements for one of the largest sports media stations in Canada. Additionally, he led all sales efforts as the Director of Sponsorship for the Canada Cup, a 1000 player tournament held at Maple Leaf Gardens that attracted players from all over the world and prominent national news coverage. Most recently, he has worked for the last nine months with the Toronto Blue Jays in their sponsorship department, assisting with the oversight of brand activations and partner management. On the volunteer side, Avish has participated on several young professional committees in regards to sponsorship and marketing, generally being the youngest member on many of these committees.
Avish is no stranger to the scene outside of Canada as well, as he has been recognized as one of the top ten sports business student professionals in North America through the University of Michigan BIG Initiative and was 1 of 5 students chosen to offer undergraduates advice in the Ivy Sports Symposium handbook at Harvard University.
Although Avish has achieved an exceptional amount of success at a young age, his humble nature, go-getter mentality and entrepreneurial mindset is what really makes him stick out as a Rising Star in Sports Business.
Twitter: @AvishSood
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/avish-sood/20/3b4/a57
Charlotte Males
Social Media Executive, We Play | Associate Producer, Sports Networker | Marketing & PR Director, GSS
Charlotte graduated in July 2013 with a BSC in Sports Science after 3 years of hard work at university. While at university, she was an active member of the hockey club. In her final year she was chosen to be the club’s Vice Chair, leading to the club having yet another successful year. One of the many vice chair duties included running the social media for the club as well as interacting with other clubs and universities.
While studying at Brunel, she joined the Sports Networker team, starting as a Marketer Intern, conducting market research, building on the Sports Networker brand on various networks and writing articles. After 6 months Charlotte was promoted to Associate Producer, where she has a bigger role within the team. Here she is helping the Editorial producer, managing the Google+ page and continuing to write articles.
In her spare time Charlotte has been building her own brand by starting her own blog (www.malesonsports.com), primarily focusing on sports & social media. While building her own brand she has helped others reach their full potential on social media. Charlotte also regularly writes for Recruitment 4 Hockey on how social media can improve local clubs. She has also been helping at networking events put on by UK Sports Network.
In summer 2013, Charlotte also began interning at We Play- The Sports & Social Media agency, and after 3 months she secured a permanent role. The role included developing social media strategies for clients, community management for We Play & Clients and analyzing latest digital trends.
Charlotte has continued to grow in the sports marketing space, by joining the planning committee for the First Global Sports Symposium as Director of Marketing & PR.
Charlotte splits her time over a lot of things but puts more than 100% effort into it all!
Twitter: @CharlieMales
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/charlottejmales
Alex Feczko
Sports Marketing Intern, University of Kentucky Athletics | Associate Producer, Sports Executives Association
Just a sophomore at the University of Kentucky, Alex has interned with the UK Athletic Department, a minor league baseball team, and a sports business website. He also enjoys writing blog posts/articles centered on various sports business related topics.
Alex is a constant learner and takes the necessary steps in building relationships with industry peers/mentors/colleagues. He is a ‘go-getter’ in every sense of the word.
Twitter: @AlexFeczko
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/alex-feczko/4a/417/15a
Joe Davini
Student, Concordia University | Marketer Intern, Sports Networker | Sports Enthusiast | Tech Nerd
As a marketing intern for Sports Networker, Joe manages the Facebook and Twitter pages, which have a combined following of over 65,000 people. There he promotes articles, products, webinars and Live Q&As daily for the site with enthusiasm, rigor and punctuality. Joe also worked for the San Diego Chargers as a game day representative and helped create a better atmosphere for fans.
He also attends Concordia University Chicago and is currently in his Junior year, majoring in Sports and Recreation Management as he continues to finish my bachelors degree online. Sports are the biggest part of Joe’s life and have helped create so many avenues. Baseball and Basketball are his biggest passions, and his dream job to work in the operations department for a professional organization in one of those sports.
Twitter: @JDavini23
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=187841924
What do you think of our list? Is there someone we left off? Don’t be afraid to let us hear in the comments below! Thanks for reading and don’t forget to share!
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