TMU Boldest event held by MBA Sport Leadership Association encourages discussion and networking
Talk about perfect timing.
This week, the MBA Sport Leadership Association (SLA) (external link) hosted TMU’s Boldest, a sport business alumni panel and industry networking event at the Mattamy Athletic Centre’s Jet Ice Lounge. The event, held May 2, 2023, drew over 120 students, alumni, industry professionals and staff.
It also happened to occur during a Toronto Maple Leafs playoff game and within the walls of the team’s original rink, the former Maple Leaf Gardens.
“This event was something that we talked a lot about when we started last fall,” said Naveed Tagari, president of the MBA Sport Leadership Association at Ted Rogers School. “There were a lot of iterations of it and a lot of it getting shut down for different reasons, but we were able to bring it to life in a big way.”
While the hometown Leafs were competing for the Stanley Cup, the SLA’s focus was squarely on careers in the competitive world of sports business.
From left, TMU MBA Sports Leadership Association President Naveed Tagari, moderator Samir Bhatla, and panellists Dakota Whyte, Sana Minhas and Greg Douglas. Photo courtesy Ben Carmichael.
The TMU Boldest event (external link) featured a panel of sport business leaders who are TMU alumni including Greg Douglas, (Manager, Deloitte Canada’s Sport Business Advisory Group), Dakota Whyte, MBA (Digital/Retail Brand Manager at Nike and retired professional athlete) and Sana Minhas (Manager, Email, CRM and Digital Campaign Strategy at MLSE) and was moderated by Samir Bhatla, MBA (Sales Executive, Global Partnerships at MLSE).
The goal of the event was to highlight the career journeys of TMU alumni who’ve entered the world of sport business, how they got there, how Toronto Metropolitan University helped them get to where they are today, and for students to network, Tagari explained.
Industry attendees came from Nike, motionball, The Canadian Hockey League (CHL), Hockey Canada, OverActive Media, Toronto Blue Jays, Deloitte, The Score, TSN, CFL, Wasserman Media Group and the Canadian Olympic Committee, among others.
“I think our TMU Boldest event really gave students that opportunity to network with different industry professionals,” said Derek Colquitt, vice president of operations, TMU MBA SLA.
“We had over 60 industry professionals sign up for the event. We had a really great turnout. The response from the event has been great from the individuals that I've talked to - they loved it and had the opportunity to meet with people from different backgrounds in sport.”
“Students were able to watch the game and network at the same time and bond over that moment through the power of sport,” Tagari said. “That's our objective at the end of the day, I think was really important.”
TMU Boldest attendees watch the Toronto Maple Leafs battle through the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Photo courtesy Ben Carmichael.
Established two years ago, the Ted Rogers MBA Sport Leadership Association’s goal is to inspire the next generation of sport business leaders through workshops, cases, socials, networking and volunteer initiatives. Their events help expose MBA students to the world of sport business and connect industry professionals to innovative future leaders at the Ted Rogers School.
After several years of virtual events, this year, the MBA SLA held multiple in-person events including a World Cup watch party, a fireside chat with Canada Olympic Committee COO Jacqueline Ryan (external link) , a MLSE Digital Labs panel on the intersection of sport and technology and a panel focusing on women in sport, among others.
The MBA Sport Leadership Association is dedicated to building a strong community of sports business leaders and professionals. Going forward, the association plans to build on this year’s momentum, to help grow the Sport Business-focused MBA, and help students get more exposure to the industry.