By Erin Henze
It’s not often that students have the opportunity to step inside the corporate offices of their favorite NBA team- much less give a presentation to the organization’s executives.
But, on November 2nd, Andy Clark’s Introduction to Sports Management class was able to do just that.
Several weeks previously, students in the class were put into teams and tasked with creating an innovative presentation to give a the Bulls Offices.
Students smile in front of the Bulls’ “Basketball Wall” during their behind-the-scenes tour of the offices.
The focus of the presentations? Brainstorming and fleshing out creative ways for the Chicago Bulls to increase interest and boost community engagement in the Bulls vs. Pistons game taking place in Paris on Jan. 19 of next year.
Because the game is taking place on a different continent and in the middle of the afternoon due to time zones, the Bulls organization is looking for ways to get the Chicago community excited about watching the game and supporting the team. The franchise is also looking to take advantage of the Bulls’ international popularity and notoriety to expand its brand and fan base globally.
Over the course of three weeks, each group met outside of class to come up with ideas and design methods intended to meet these goals. Two Bulls executives, the VP of Community Engagement, Adrienne Scherenzel-Curry, and the Director of Community Relations, Erica Bauer, were available resources for students from the beginning of the process. They visited our class in-person and via zoom several times to answer questions and give feedback on potential ideas.
Junior Justin Espinosa shares visuals from his team’s idea to collaborate with Don C and design vintage clothing to promote the Paris game.
Erica and Adrienne were very receptive of the ideas presented and appreciative of the creative work that went into the projects.
“Some of these things I never even thought about doing,” Bauer said after the presentations were given inside a Bulls conference room. “You guys did a great job of brainstorming new and realistic ideas.”
Some of the most popular concepts among the group included hosting a United Center Watch Party during the live airing of the game overseas, complete with a French food buffet, games and giveaways, alumni interaction, and much more. Another group suggested that the Bulls host a G-League game at the United Center on the morning of the Paris game, to both give the G-league Bulls team exposure and get the community excited about coming to the United Center.
There were also various intriguing ideas shared in terms of activating the Bulls brand in Paris, including a Parisian street art showcase, a day with former Bulls player Joakim Noah, and frequent social media updates with behind-the-scenes insight into player activities while in Paris.
Additionally, a lot of emphasis on promoting the Paris game was put on the fashion side of things. Parisian culture has a rich history of unique fashion, and the week the Bulls will be in Paris is also Men’s Fashion Week. So, students were eager to brainstorm ideas that could combine popular Paris fashion with American sports. Some ideas thrown around included collaborating with Off-White to design a jacket for the players to wear to the arena, creating a custom designer jersey for Bulls players to wear during the game, and utilizing Bulls’ Creative Strategy and Design Advisor Don C to bring back vintage designs that highlight Bulls history as well as current fashion trends.
A lot of the ideas included donating proceeds to Bulls’ charity partners, much to the delight of Adrienne and Erica as they work with the Bulls Charities organizations frequently. “I love how you guys are thinking about and trying to incorporate our charities into your ideas,” Adrienne told the class. “That’s our thing, so we’re always excited about that.”
Cesar Vizcarrondo, Director of Brand & Fan Development for the Bulls, gives creative feedback after listening to a presentation.
The Director of Brand & Fan Development, Cesar Vizcarrondo, also stopped by to listen into the presentations and share his thoughts. “This is what we look for,” Vizcarrondo said. “New, fresh, and creative ideas from your generation that we may not come up with ourselves.”
After the presentations, students were invited to eat lunch with the other employees and receive an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the offices.
Later that evening, students were able to attend the Bulls home game against the Charlotte Hornets courtesy of the Bulls organization and witness a Chicago victory.
The students attended the Bulls vs. Hornets game later that night as guests of the Bulls.
As a whole, the experience was an amazing one that gave students insight into one of the most popular and successful sports franchises in the entire world. It allowed students to make connections, develop their interests and experiences in the sports world, and improve their confidence, teamwork and presentation skills all at the same time.
Erin Henze is a third-year Sports Communication & Journalism student at DePaul University.