In a sports world that has witnessed two league lockouts in recent months, the Ivy Sports Symposium, an event composed of roundtable discussions led by some of the most prominent members of the sports business community, seemed ever-timely.
Penn hosted the all-day conference on Friday in Huntsman Hall.
“This event is kind of like the Disney World of sports business,” said senior Royce Cohen, who was chair of the symposium’s planning committee. Speakers included league commissioners, nonprofit managers, bankers and, in one case, a former international grandmaster in the game of checkers.
Five hundred people, including 200 students from around the country, attended the event.
“The primary reason I wanted to come here is because we’re a very active growing place, so Wharton is one of the places we recruit at,” said Joseph Ravitch, a partner in a boutique merchant bank that invests in sports such as ultimate fighting.
The event, which in previous years has been held at Princeton University, had more content than in former sessions. The symposium contained around 60 speakers and 17 roundtable discussions on topics ranging from labor to stadiums and venues. Attendees seemed happy with the changes.
“The consensus is that this is hands down the best symposium yet,” Cohen said after the event.
There were a few disappointments, though. Jason Levien, co-owner of the Philadelphia 76ers, and DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFL Players Association, both dropped out at the last minute, making for an unexpectedly dry conference on labor relations. Both absences may have had to do with the ongoing NBA lockout.
Participants in the discussions ranged from fluent speakers of legalese to entertaining self-promoters. Tom Crawford, CEO of USA Ultimate Frisbee League, was counted among the latter category. During the roundtable on emerging sports, he repeatedly announced, “USA Ultimate is hiring.”
Others served to humanize a business which is often criticized for its greed. In a discussion on sports and social impact, Mori Taheripour told a particularly memorable anecdote. Taheripour, a senior adviser to the United States Agency for International Development, asked Baltimore Ravens’ linebacker Ray Lewis to read a script on starvation in the Horn of Africa.
Until that moment, Lewis had never heard of the crisis. “If all you want me to do is read a script … then I don’t want to do it,” Lewis told her. “I want to go there and see what’s happening, so I can go back and tell my colleagues.”
In essence, the symposium was a way for students and professionals to network with other members of the community.
“Networking is key,” Cohen said. “If you were a student looking to break into the business, connect with one of these guys, two of these guys, three of these guys and undoubtedly, you’re going to be able [to].”
