Student Profiles
Mike Singer
"Between the curriculum and the access to professionals in the sports industry, this program provides opportunities you're not going to find anywhere else."
With a degree in economics from the University of Michigan, Mike Singer easily found work as a financial and marketing analyst. But the day came when he could not look at another financial spreadsheet.
"I wanted to work to an industry I felt passionate about," says Singer. Singer found that passion - and a job - in the sports industry, thanks to connections he made in SCS's MSA program.
In Carolyn Nordstrom's statistics class in his first quarter at Northwestern, Singer listened to guest speaker A. J. Maestas, president of a sports and entertainment startup called Navigate Marketing. Singer asked Maestas if he was hiring interns and soon found himself working there. That experience along with his work toward a master's degree allowed Singer to make the transition to a full-time job in the Chicago office of The Marketing Arm, where he advises AT&T on sponsorship strategy in sports and entertainment. Another favorite SCS class was Fundamentals of Sports Marketing, taught by Jeff Bail. Singer was at a work meeting in Dallas shortly after taking Bail's class when in walked an important consultant: Bail. "It certainly made me look well-connected," says Singer, "and networking is critical to succeeding in this industry."
With his MSA classes finished, Singer is at work on his thesis, determining an objective way to assign a financial value to sports or entertainment sponsorships. "The Marketing Arm uses the model I developed to evaluate sponsorship opportunities for AT&T," says Singer. Singer's model takes the form of a massive spreadsheet - and he couldn't be happier.
Kathleen Brown
 Kathleen Brown grew up in Riverside, Illinois, and earned
a bachelor's degree in media studies from the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2004. She worked as a
national
sales assistant for Comcast Spotlight in Chicago for two
years and is currently an account executive at ABC Radio
Networks, which includes ESPN Radio.
Q: Why did you choose a career in sports marketing?
KB: Sports are in my blood.
My grandfather was a quarterback at Notre Dame, and my great
grandfather was a sportswriter whose work put him in the
Baseball Hall of Fame. I played just about every sport growing
up, and I have significant experience in the media and nonprofit
worlds. A career in sports marketing allows me to combine
those passions. My ultimate career goal is to become the
head of community relations for a sports team or marketing
director for a sports network. Q:
What drew you to Northwestern's MSA program?
KB: I like that you can
do the program at your own pace - I'm taking a little under
two years to complete it. What makes the MSA perfect for
me is that in addition to sports management it offers a concentration
in sports marketing and public relations - that attracts
more women to the program, which makes for a more diverse
student body. It also opens more networking opportunities.
Q: What are MSA classes like?
KB: I really look forward
to classes because my instructors and classmates bring real-world
experience to discussions. One of my favorite classes was
Fundamentals of Sports Marketing, taught by Jeff Bail. He's
a terrific instructor - often we'd stay after class officially
ended because everyone was really enthusiastic about the
subject matter and there was so much information to absorb.
Christina Hettel
Christina Hettel grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, "on
the backside of a racetrack." While an undergraduate
majoring in management consulting at the University of Notre
Dame, she worked for a variety of sports organizations, including
College Sports Television and CBS Sports.
Q: When did you decide on sports administration?
CH: My dad is a retired
executive in horse racing, and my parents met at a racetrack.
I learned
how to handicap as a little kid. Having a job in sports was
always a given for me. Q:
What was your first sports job?
CH: I interned with a minor
league baseball team in Louisville. One of the sponsors was
a pickle company, and during the seventh inning stretch I
had wear a pickle costume and run around the bases. I couldn't
see, and I ran into the third baseman.
Q: Why did you choose the MSA program
at Northwestern?
CH: I applied for two jobs
in sports after college and was offered both, but I really
wanted to go to grad school. When I found out about the MSA
program, I realized that if I concentrated on course work
I could finish in just over a year. Northwestern has a great
academic reputation, and Chicago's an amazing sports
city - one of my instructors counted some 20 minor
league teams in the area.
Q: What do you like about classes
at SCS?
CH: The students bring
different perspectives to our discussions - their backgrounds
might be in media, law, or marketing - so it's
exciting to see how those dynamics play out on a topic. You
learn from your peers.
Q: Any plans for after graduation?
CH: I'd like to
work in media, maybe something on the business side of
television. My capstone project will probably be on new
platforms in sports broadcasting and what impact those
will have on television broadcasting.
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