SDSU's Sports MBA Program to Hold First Graduation at PETCO Park

Emmy Award-Winning Broadcaster Armen Keteyian and Padres CEO Scheduled to Speak

Contact: Randy Carmical, Director of Communications
SDSU College of Business Administration
Tel: (619) 594-0206 office; randy.carmical@sdsu.edu

SAN DIEGO (Tuesday, June 13, 2006) – On Saturday, June 17 from 10-11:00 a.m., San Diego State University’s Sports Business Management MBA program will hold its inaugural commencement at PETCO Park. Veteran sports journalist and eight-time Emmy Award-winner Armen Keteyian will serve as keynote speaker, along with Padres CEO Sandy Alderson.

Keteyian, an SDSU alum, currently works for CBS Sports and HBO. He joined CBS as a special-features reporter in December 1997 and was named the network’s chief investigative correspondent in February 2006. He has been a correspondent for ABC News in New York where he worked on sports stories for “World News Tonight with Peter Jennings,” “Nightline” and other ABC News broadcasts. Prior to joining ABC News, he was a writer-reporter for Sports Illustrated where he specialized in investigations. He began his career as a sports feature writer in San Diego, freelancing for The San Diego Union-Tribune and San Diego Magazine.

Keteyian is the recipient of eight Emmy Awards, including four for CBS Sports, three for coverage of the Tour de France and one for a Super Bowl pre-game piece. He also has two Sports Journalism Emmys and two Emmy Awards in Sports Journalism and Overall Achievement. Also a best-selling author, Keteyian has written or co-written nine books, most recently co-authoring comedian George Lopez’s New York Times bestselling autobiography.

SDSU’s Sports Business Management MBA program, now in its second year, has established itself among the elite sports-focused MBA programs in the nation. As the only one in the nation partnered with a major league team, the San Diego Padres, the program is intended for highly motivated students looking for an intensive, sports-focused business education and professional experience in the highly competitive sports industry.

Students complete the academic program and consulting project in eighteen months. This accelerated schedule, along with an invaluable MBA and the experience of living in “America’s Finest City,” make San Diego State a premier destination for future sports business executives

"One of the greatest parts of the Sports MBA program was the condensed schedule," said Jill Stephenson, who will be graduating in June. "I was able to complete all of my class work in one year and get right back into the workforce. I feel that now I have the right combination of work experience and educational experience to give me an advantage in the competitive environment of sports."

This past February, the program held its first annual SDSU Sports MBA Case Competition in partnership with the Padres. Seven teams of MBA students from SDSU, USC’s Marshall School of Business and the UCLA Anderson School of Management were pitted against one another in examining a case study developed by the Padres that outlined numerous potential challenges which face their executives. Teams presented their ideas to a panel of judges comprised of Padres front office executives, sports business professors, and other industry professionals.

"The most rewarding part of my experience was, without a doubt, overseeing the implementation of the First Annual SDSU Sports MBA Case Competition," said graduate Scott Minto. "Writing the case study and promoting the competition meant working closely with the program’s outstanding faculty. It was an invaluable experience that truly shaped my experience at SDSU."

Minto said he expects the Second Annual Case Competition to be bigger and better than the first. After witnessing the new students’ passion and abilities, he knows the event will be a continued success and, as he put it, "will greatly bolster the SDSU Sports MBA program’s reputation on both the national and international level."

One of the primary components of the program is the students’ internships with local, national and international organizations. These companies have included the Boston Red Sox, Major League Baseball, IMG sports, entertainment and media services, AEG sports and entertainment presenters, and the U.S. Olympic Training Center.

"The business concepts that I learned in SDSU's program were used on a day-to-day basis during my internship, such as player valuation and the ability to deconstruct the framework of collective bargaining," said graduate Jack Tipton, who interned in Major League Baseball’s Labor Relations Department. "The [department] has proven to be a tremendous starting point for future top executives in the game. Breaking into the business of baseball is extremely difficult, but SDSU's curriculum and internship placement has given me every opportunity to achieve my dream."

With over 5,500 students, the SDSU College of Business is one of the largest business schools in the U.S. Its programs in undergraduate international business and graduate entrepreneurship are ranked among the top programs in the country by U.S. News and World Report. This year, the college is celebrating "50 Years of Educating San Diego’s Business Leaders."

SDSU is the oldest and largest institution of higher education in the San Diego region. Founded in 1897, SDSU offers bachelor’s degrees in 81 areas, master’s degrees in 72 and doctorates in 16. SDSU’s nearly 33,000 students participate in academic curricula distinguished by direct faculty contact and an increasingly international emphasis that prepares them for a global future. For more information, visit www.sdsu.edu.

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