Last Thursday and Friday, students and graduates from the Philadelphia area came together to learn and network with some of the best in the sports industry. The Villanova Sports Analytics Club collaborated with the VU Business in Entertainment Society to present the first-ever Sports Business Conference on campus. 

The two-day event featured impressive panels and keynote speakers from the MLB, NBA, NHL, WWE, NIKE, Overtime Sports, the Jordan Brand, NFL teams (AZ Cardinals, GB Packers, NY Jets, LA Rams), Villanova Basketball and more. The first day was held at the Finneran Pavilion, and attendees were shuttled to the Villanova Inn on the second day. 

Last year, the Sports Analytics Club hosted the event on Zoom. This year, it was able to bring the event to life at the Finneran Pavilion with small gift bags, great food, a raffle-giveaway and an opening speech from former Villanova men’s basketball coach and HOF, Jay Wright. 

Wright advised attendees to focus on the now and do the best that they can in their current roles. In other words, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and it’s important to embrace the small steps towards establishing a career in sports. The competitive world of sports requires resilience, patience and humility.

Interactive roundtables and more discussion followed as attendees were able to pick a track of either Sports Analytics/Operations or Sports Media, Sales and Marketing. The Sports Analytics Club executive board worked diligently since December of 2022 to contact guest speakers from a diverse range of professions, as well as organize the event on campus. 

President of Sports Analytics Club, junior Nick Sofianakos, shared his goals while helping to plan the event with Chief Operating Officer, sophomore Will Buettner. By working with Michelle Galloway, senior Sara Barshap and the members of VU Business Entertainment Society, they wanted to get Villanova on the map for sports business opportunities. 

“Nine of our 10 panelists went to Villanova for their Undergrad or MBA, and given their background, they helped Villanovans out,” Sofianakos said. “That is the Villanova way. The goal was to make it more interactive and beneficial for the attendees too. Will and I bettered our own individual processes of making sure an event happens of this magnitude. This has been [a] great leadership experience for me and taught me how to connect with people as we helped people not only from Villanova, but outside Villanova, as well.” 

Sofianakos, Buettner and the club executive board focused on how they could give back to the Villanova community through their love of sports. Buettner has been working for the Milwaukee Brewers for the past four seasons and didn’t realize that he had a leg up in the industry from a younger age. He wanted to use his contacts from the Brewers and share his knowledge and sports opportunities with the Villanova community.

“This is about giving back, from a club’s perspective and a personal note,” Buettner said. “Yes, it’s been great to have the experiences I’ve had like working the MLB Playoffs in an All-Star game. That’s not what matters to me, what matters is seeing people get to have those connections. Looking out in the crowd right now, I’m watching people smile and have a great time like this is what they dreamed about. They dream about working in sports and they’re able to do this today. It makes me warm inside my heart that people get to have this experience.”

Sofianakos and Buettner plan on receiving feedback and running the paneling and networking event again next year on campus. The mission of the Sports Business Conference was clear: giving students who have always wished to work in sports the opportunity to establish a foundational network that puts them on their personalized path to success.