March 18, 2021
K-State Sports Sales Team finishes in fourth place at National Collegiate Sports Sales Competition
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Left to right: Jack Boedeker, Bailey Short, Kylee Stec, Katherine Trumble and Katie Horton |
The Kansas State University Sports Sales Team finished in fourth place at the National Collegiate Sports Sales Competition hosted by Baylor University's Center for Sports Strategy and Sales, the University of North Georgia's Mike Cottrell College of Business and the Atlanta Hawks. Thirty universities and 120 students competed in the event. The competition consisted of a role-play competition where students had to sell ticketing packages to potential buyers.
The team includes Jack Boedeker, senior in marketing and professional strategic selling, Overland Park; Bailey Short, senior in marketing and mass communications, Abilene; Kylee Stec, senior in marketing, Atchison; and Katherine Trumble, senior in marketing and professional strategic selling, Wichita. Each member of the team is also part of the business of sports and entertainment certificate program. Student coach Katie Horton, senior in marketing and professional strategic selling, Overland Park, helped prepare the team for the competition.
Team members competed in the role-plays virtually during the competition. Short reached the finals and placed seventh out of 120 students.
"This group has a passion for both sports and sales — they were perfect for this competition," said Doug Walker, associate professor in marketing and founder of the business of sports and entertainment certificate program. "The buyers for the competition included sales managers from major sports organizations. The role-plays were authentic and the experience for our students invaluable. Bailey, Katherine, Jack, and Kylee really rose to the challenge. Student Coach Katie Horton had them ready to compete. What a great way to combine the best our National Strategic Selling Institute and business of sports and entertainment programs have to offer."
Students who competed in the event were supported by the K-State College of Business Administration's National Strategic Selling Institute and the business of sports and entertainment certificate program. The institute has been named one of the top sales programs in the country for nine straight years by the Sales Education Foundation. In fall 2018, Kansas State became just the 19th university in the U.S. to offer a major in professional strategic selling. Students can also earn a certificate in professional strategic selling, which is open to all majors at the university. The professional strategic selling program introduces students to the fundamentals of sales and its innovative curriculum and sales labs allow students to develop the skills needed to be successful. The business of sports and entertainment program gives students the opportunity to "Learn business in a context you love" while earning a certificate in the business of sports and entertainment. Anchored by the Business of Sports and Entertainment Speaker Series, the multidisciplinary program brings together students from across campus that share a passion for sports and entertainment and a desire to prepare themselves for a business career.