As mentioned in the previous blog, we brought 18 graduate students from Georgetown University’s Sports Industry Management program to London during Spring Break Week to meet with sports executives and firms as well as tour a couple of the legendary sports venues.

This week has been a home run!  Over the past few days, we took the students to meet with the British Parliament’s head of Culture, Media and Sport; Arsenal; Nike UK; 2012 London Olympic Committee; James Grant Media Managment (UK’s leading entertainment and sport agency); Octagon UK; and AEG / 02 Arena.

Across the board, the sports executives were generous with their time in explaining their respective business — then engaging in lively Q & A with our students each and every time.  We can’t thank these executives enough for taking time from their busy schedules to meet with our group.

I must also thank our students — they were prompt, well-dressed and asked a series of terrific questions.  They made me proud and they certainly made  the GU SIM program look top-notch in the eyes of the executives we met with in London.  Some of the meetings were 2 to 2.5 hours in length.  And, if we didn’t leave so the execs could back to work, we might have stayed well over 3 hours!

One of the highlights of the trip was attending the Arsenal v Porto UEFA Champions League match on Tuesday night at Emirates Stadium, regarded as the finest football stadium in the UK.  Wow, an amazing experience.  They take their football very seriously here.  And, one huge difference is that the focus is the product on the field … not big HD screens, loud music, half-time acts, etc.  Instead, the entire focus is the product on the field.  Of course, there are business and programming reasons for the difference, but it was still unique to observe.  And, having the hometown Arsenal win 5 – 0 also helped make it a joyous night.

This was a wonderful week and hopefully the start of a long-term partnership between our GU SIM program and the wonderful sports executives and firms in London.   Cheers.