2010 San Diego State University MBA Sports Competition

David Adelman, Kat O’Brien, Scott Roslyn and Jeff Wilen teamed up for the San Diego State University MBA sports case competition in late February. On Thursday morning, the nine teams (among them Columbia, NYU and San Diego State) went to Petco Park, where the San Diego Padres play, and were given the case they would be working on. This year, it turned out to be about the Padres, and each team had 24 hours to prepare its case and presentation. The presenting format was 20 minutes of presentation and 10 minutes for questions and answers, with four judges (three from the Padres and one a professor from SDSU). It was interesting to have to think through so many aspects and come up with solutions in that amount of time, but thankfully one of us (David) had consulting experience, so at least the case format wasn’t new to him. Georgetown wound up winning, but we put in a good showing and were pleased with the efforts.

After the winner was announced on Friday afternoon, there was a reception with time to visit with Padres executives, including owner Jeff Moorad, which was a great opportunity to really chat with top sports figures, and even talk with the Padres about some MBA internships they have planned. Later Friday evening there was another reception across the street at the bar atop the Marriott Hotel. We had the full day free Saturday, and got to experience a little more of sunny San Diego, a great change from February in Philly. We went for some fish tacos along with the SDSU organizer and a team from Hong Kong, and even got to walk on the beach. While it would have been great to bring home the prize, participating in the competition was a great and fun experience.

Article Contributor: Kat O’Brien