On October 17, 2023, DePaul Sports Business student Rachel Bradshaw had the opportunity to attend the 7th annual Chicago Sports Summit. The Chicago Sports Summit brings together various local and national sports leaders to discuss important topics such as emerging sports, Chicago team updates, NIL, and athlete mental health. Some of the organizations that attended and had representatives speaking at the event were the Chicago Bulls, NASCAR, Chicago Red Stars, Chicago Sky, Chicago White Sox, and Northwestern University. Rachel shared more details regarding this fantastic opportunity:
“In the morning we checked in, got our lanyards with our assigned tables for when we enter into the ballroom. Once we sat down at our table, they served us a breakfast platter to enjoy during the panels. At the tables were little thank-you items which included a bag of whiffle balls for pickleball and a variety of things from Rush University since they were a sponsor. Each panel lasted about 30 minutes and they were all very informative. The first panel was about emerging sports in Chicago which included speakers involved with NASCAR and Pickleball. That was pretty interesting because I don’t know much about pickleball, and I know that it is becoming a very popular sport. The second panel was Chicago Team Leaders from the Chicago Bulls, Blackhawks, Red Stars and Sky who talked about what they’ve been doing with their seasons and the big accomplishments. After that was the third panel, which went in depth about NIL and where they are now. One of the panelists, Megumi Oishi, is a student-athlete at Northwestern University, but not one of the typical sports she’s a fencer, so it was intriguing to hear her point of view with the NIL contracts. Then finally the last panel was focused on the medical field and all the procedures that doctors need to follow to care for that athlete.”
When asked about her favorite part of the Summit, Rachel shared that she enjoyed the second panel of the event, which featured “Ram Padmanabhan, COO and General Counsel at the Chicago Bulls; Danny Wirtz, CEO at the Chicago Blackhawks; Rachel Parrish, Director of Brand Marketing & Communication at the Chicago Red Stars; Michael Alter, Principal Owner at the Chicago Sky.” She enjoyed hearing from Danny Wirtz, who shared about “receiving the first draft pick, Connor Bedard, and the impact that it is having on the new era of the Blackhawks.” In addition, Rachel especially liked what Rachel Parrish had to say, because [she] looks up to [Parrish], having a higher-up role in this industry and her push of making women’s sports just as marketable as the other sports in Chicago.”
Speaking of women in sports, one main takeaway Rachel had from the event was that “there are becoming more women in leadership roles, which is inspiring to see. Looking at Rachel Parrish and all she has done for the Chicago Red Stars on the marketing side of things is something [she] looks up to. [She] knows women can be in these higher-up positions that are held by most men, so being able to connect with them on a personal level is motivating to want to be like them.”