Doing Business in College Athletics Panel Recap

On Tuesday, March 22, in partnership with Phi Chi Theta Business Fraternity, the University of Maryland Sports Business Society welcomed Mike Sanders, Matt Smale and Eric Reinke our Doing Business in College Athletics Panel. The trio discussed their role within the Maryland Athletic Department, how they got their starts in sports and advice for college students looking to break into the same industry.

Teinke, the Director of Business Opperations, is a University of Florida graduate who got his start interning in the UF ticket department. After a stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he returned to the University of Florida to work in their Business Athletics Department, where he remained for four years. During his time at Florida, the Gators won four national championships – two in football and two in basketball. He then joined the team at Towson University for another four years before coming to the university of Maryland in the summer of 2015.

Sanders, the Assistant Director, completed his undergraduate degree at Mount St. Mary’s. He then received his masters from Ball State University while also working as a grad assistant in their athletic department. He spent two years in Philadelphia at LaSalle University before coming to UMD in 2012. Finally, Smale, a fellow Terp, graduated from UMD in 2010 and immediately joined the staff at Maryland after interning there as an undergrad.

The trio’s department has a wide variety of responsibilities, which, like most jobs in sports, are changing every day. Some of their primary responsibilities include annual reporting, budget preparation, monthly reporting, purchasing, invoice payments, inventory tracking, scholarship tracking and travel services. These are no small tasks seeing as the department has a revenue and expenses of $90 million, which is a significant increase since leaving the ACC for the Big Ten, and they monitor more than $13.7 million a year in scholarships. Their largest source of revenue? The distribution from the Big Ten. But they also bring in big bucks from ticket sales, fundraising/donations and student fees.

Maryland’s legendary move from the ACC to the Big Ten led to a lot of changes in their department. After joining the Big Ten, their department was awarded more staff, increased travel expenses and unlimited meals for student athletes. There have been a few drawbacks: the Big Ten does not reimburse their teams for post-season expenses. And of course, the “always asked” question for Maryland – there is still no word on whether or not UMD will be brining back sports that have been cut in recent years.

When it comes to college vs. professional sports all three were in agreement – the benefit to working in college sports is that the focus is on providing to students rather than just simply making a profit.

The three panelists advised all students wanting to work in the sports industry to start volunteering as early as possible and said that there are endless opportunities in the DMV area. Teinke also recommended that it’s best to focus on one specific area within the sports industry and to tailor your skills to that area.

Smale’s parting words resonated with many students in attendance: “Regardless of what you’re doing, give it your full effort. You never know who you may make an impression on.”