By MacIntosh Ross
Assistant Professor, Sport Management, School of Kinesiology, Western University

If you’re interested in working in the sports industry, be sure to check out the Playing the Long Game (PLG) online symposium on April 12, 13, & 15.  Organized by professor Tolga Ozyurtcu of the University of Texas at Austin and Jim Rooney of Rooney Consulting and the Pittsburgh Steelers, the PLG symposium will bring together a diverse group of speakers, encompassing both industry and academia, to discuss the future of the sports industry against the backdrop of the global pandemic. Folks from the WNBA, NBA, NCAA, NFL, MLS, Amazon, and Nike will mix with academics from psychology, law, sport management, and business, for what promises to be a unique and insightful event. And it’s free!

To better understand the evolution of this symposium, I recently reached out to co-organizer Tolga Ozyurtcu. He recognized that the pandemic, despite dramatically altering how lectures and presentations are hosted and consumed, also presented a moment to innovate and rethink some of the practices we in academia take for granted. Ozyurtcu had previously hosted Jim Rooney in his classes. When Rooney’s in-person book tour for A Different Way to Win: Dan Rooney’s Story from the Super Bowl to the Rooney Rule was shifted to a virtual platform, the pair got to thinking.

“Jim and I got along well when he visited a few of my classes and we kept the conversations going,” explained Ozyurtcu.  “I’d long been wanting to put something together along these lines at Texas and he also had a vision to bring together a lot of the conversations he’d been having with students across the US.  By going virtual, we’re not only able to host way more panelists, but also offer it to a much larger audience. We hope it can be a focusing event for established and aspiring sports professionals to think about what comes next, in a variety of ways.”

The panelists for PLG were strategically selected, providing a platform for attendees to see and hear a variety of different experiences and perspectives from across the sports industry. “I’m really proud of the diversity across the symposium, not just in terms of representation, but also roles and organizations,” said Ozyurtcu. “As far as household names go, I never imagined that I’d get to host an event with someone of Paul Tagliabue’s stature. Swin Cash-Canal is another one who should be familiar to many folks, having made the transition from NCAA-WNBA-Olympic champion to an NBA front office.”

“Two individuals who might not be as familiar to students, but are certainly worth highlighting, are Paxton Baker, who’s a part owner of the Washington Nationals and has had an incredible career in entertainment and the arts, and Larry Miller, who runs the Jordan Brand for Nike and is a former president of the Portland Trailblazers. Beyond these four, we’ve got folks from the NFL, MLS, Amazon. We also have a diverse group of academics.”

Ozyurtcu and Rooney have organized the event around a few key outcomes. “From the keynote and first two sessions,” explained Ozyurtcu, “the hope is that attendees can better wrap their heads around the big picture issues the industry will face in the near and more distant future. The third panel on diversity does double duty. Diversity itself is a critical issue, but thinking about operating in diverse workplaces, and fostering this diversity, is a tangible skill. Finally, as we wrap with culture and ethics in the workplace, students can gain insight into making their voices heard, even as junior members of an organization, as well as how to stand up for their values when they are challenged.”

You can register by clicking HERE.