IUPUI in-class work and real-world practice: a winning career combo for sports management students
When students study sports management at IUPUI, they get a combined learning experience of classroom sessions and field work. That’s what recent graduate Dakota Smith credits for helping him succeed in the work force.
“I would say the balance between being in the classroom and being out into the professional environment [is what prepared me for starting my career],” Smith said.
“It is a great transition as you go through the program to see day in and day out your skills being developed,” he added.
Smith has two favorite memories of field work that helped prepare him for the industry. First was the sales class, where his group sold over $20,000 worth of season tickets for the Indianapolis Indians. The second was his capstone class, where he and his team completed a consulting project for Grand Park.
Smith has been working as an associate buyer for Legend’s Global Merchandise (formerly known as MainGate) since August of 2018. His favorite part of his job is seeing how a sporting event affects their outcome as a business.
“Risky in some ways, but often times I catch myself rooting for teams and sports that I haven’t or wouldn’t be rooting for before,” Smith said, “solely due to the fact that this team is a partner of ours. How they do in their particular sport has a certain effect on merchandise sales for us as a business.”