Alumni in Sports Business

Sit through any management pep talk and you’ll hear about stepping up to the plate, leveling the playing field, and so on. However useful and recognizable such analogies may be, though, for some they serve only as flash reminders of childhood dreams left unfulfilled. Children grow up in cramped backyards and cracked driveways everywhere, fantasizing about illustrious careers playing professional sports. The sad truth is that most, of course, will never so much as touch the end of a bench. Still, however dormant, the dream often persists.

 

But good news: one needn’t necessarily be a perfect athlete in order to find a place atop that world. In fact, for decades now, former Aggies have been fulfilling their childhood dreams in sports careers, and not just people like Merlin Olsen, Dick Motta and Kevin Curtis.

 

The academic successes of Utah State University athletes are well documented. In fact, USU has led the WAC in both major academic statistics every year since joining the conference. But at the dynamic Huntsman School of Business, even those who aren’t 6’6”, 240 receive the first-rate management and financial training necessary to work behind the scenes, say as GM of the Chicago Bulls, or maybe President of Nike.

 

The Huntsman School teaches strategic planning, goal setting, team cohesion and motivation and the sort of skills necessary not only to thrive in the world of business, but in the business world of sports. Plenty have done it already, and you know they love their jobs.

 

Executive VP and CMO, Miami Heat

 

Michael McCullough may have on-court experience, but it was a USU degree that has helped vault him to stardom in the NBA — behind-the-scenes stardom, at least. As Executive VP and Chief Marketing Officer for the Miami Heat, McCullough is currently responsible for the brand and public image of the team, which he strives to improve and maintain through communications, advertising, broadcasting and other marketing promotions. Under his guidance, the team has won numerous NBA awards for marketing. Before his stint in Miami, McCullough held positions with the Sacramento Kings and with the league itself, and before that, he was a letterman and three-year starter for the Aggie basketball team.

 

 

 

— Charlie Denson ‘78: President, NIKE Brand

— Gar Forman ‘84: General Manager, Chicago Bulls

— John Forzani ‘71: Co-Founder, Chairman of Forzani Group, Canada’s largest sporting goods

     retailer; Distinguished Canadian Retailer of the Year, 2001; part owner, Calgary

     Stampeders (CFL)

— Scott Watterson ‘79, CEO, and Gary Stevenson ‘79, COO: Founders of ICON Health and

     Fitness, world’s largest marketer and manufacturer of fitness products

— Dave Olsen ‘67: CFO, Carolina Panthers

— Wayne Guymon ‘00: National Sales Director, Oklahoma City Thunder

— Todd Poulsen ‘83: Senior Director of Ticket Sales and Services, San Diego Chargers

— Rachel Katseanes ’07: Fan Relations Executive, Utah Jazz

 

Writer: Jeff Carr, 435-797-1355, jeff.carr@usu.edu