Day 19 of MSBA 2013: Recap of Internship at IMG

Post by Alexandria Bernard for June 20, 2013

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I didn’t know what to expect from the sports industry before coming to New York City this summer. After three weeks at MSBA and my internship with IMG, I have come to realize that the sports industry is more competitive and diverse than I previously imagined.

My first three weeks in New York have been defined by the whirlwind of new information coming at me each and every day. I’ve had the opportunity to hear from top executives within IMG and other sports business entities.

I have heard more than 15 professionals speak about the business of sports thus far. These speeches have approached topics ranging from the speaker’s personal experience of entering the sports industry to what the speaker’s do in their line of work on a daily basis. I am already more familiar with topics, such as marketing licensing, consulting, and media after three weeks. I came to New York with a personal goal to listen and soak up as much information and take advantage of every opportunity provided by IMG and MSBA. I have succeeded in carrying out my goal thus far.

IMG has exceeded my expectations as well. It has shown me that those who love their jobs can have it all. Every person that I’ve encountered at IMG is passionate about their work and willing to give advice. Employees of IMG are collaborative and are constantly working together on projects, which helps promote a healthy office environment. I work with five other interns, and we are encouraged to explore new ideas and think outside of the box throughout our daily duties. We are also given the opportunity to meet with IMG executives.

An example of an IMG executive who intrigued me is Hilary Mandel. Hilary is Senior Vice President of IMG Media and she spoke to me about how she started at IMG, and I was intrigued to hear from a woman who has had great success in the sports industry. Her passion goes beyond sports. Her passion is for her job and the work she does every single day. I leave to continue to listen to even more speakers at MSBA after each work day at IMG. I am not only excited to see what’s in store from each MSBA speaker but I am also happy to see my colleagues each day. There have been a lot of excellent speakers that have been extremely knowledgeable and were generous enough to share their knowledge with our group. My favorite speaker thus far has been Richard Weiss, Publisher of the Sports Business Journal.

He fascinated me because he had a passion for sports business and did everything possible and worked diligently to start SBJ. He had a vision and followed through on it to become successful. The information I have learned from both programs complement one another because I am able to apply what I learn at MSBA at by internship with IMG and vice versa. I have learned to be proactive and passionate about my work and I am so excited for the next five weeks at MSBA and IMG.