Stanford, Northwestern and the University of Toronto will launch sports and entertainment business academies for high school students next summer.
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The University of Maryland program made visits including one to Under Armour’s HQ in Baltimore.
Photo by: COURTESY OF DERRICK HEGGANS
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The venture is the brainchild of industry veteran Derrick Heggans, who launched a two-week program this past summer at the University of Maryland. The course taught the basics of sports business, with guest lecturers like journalism professor Kevin Blackistone and ESPN associate director Myriam Leger.
Heggans also arranged field trips to take the class to New York for visits to MLB headquarters and Madison Square Garden, and to Baltimore, where they visited Under Armour headquarters. He has commitments from various sports companies, like the College Football Playoff, Monumental Sports and Entertainment and the San Francisco 49ers, to provide internships for select students.
High school students have to apply to attend the one- to three-week course, which is held over summer vacation. Schools pay Heggans a fee to set up the course, design the curriculum and attract the speakers.
Each college charges students its own rate, ranging from $1,250 per week at Maryland to $2,000 per week at Stanford. The host schools provide need-based scholarships.
For its part, the University of Maryland was happy to show off its College Park campus to prospective students. It also gave the school a taste of a sports management program, which it is considering developing.
Heggans expects to roll the academy concept out to more schools in 2018.
“We recognize that there’s substantial consumer interest in education tied to the business of sports and entertainment, and that interest now begins well before college,” Heggans said.
— John Ourand
Tentative Dates for 2017 Programs
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Northwestern: June 25-July 14 (3 weeks)
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Maryland: July 16-July 28 (2 weeks)
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Toronto: July 23-29 (1 week)
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Stanford: Aug. 2-16 (2 weeks)
