Trine sport management students advance to national competitions

ATLANTA — Seniors in Trine University’s sport management program have excelled in sales and sports analytics competitions this spring.

Trine once again sent team members to the National Collegiate Sports Sales Championship (NCSSC) in Atlanta on Feb. 26.

The annual National Collegiate Sports Sales Championship is an opportunity for college seniors to showcase sports sales skills in a competitive format. During the in-person portion, students play the part of ticket representatives for the Atlanta Hawks during a 20-minute role play with a sports sales professional.

Seniors Andrew Schulz, David Retan, Connor Arthur and Easton Rhodes finished fourth as a team during virtual competition in November, the best placement ever for a Trine team. The round included more than 70 teams and 250 students.

Schulz finished fifth, Retan 20th and Arthur 26th. Schulz and Retan advanced to the 64-person individual championship in Atlanta, with Retan winning his opening-round match.

“This is the third year in a row where we’ve had a student advance out of the first round, which is quite the accomplishment for our students,” said Brandon Podgorski, advisor for the team. “They are competing against major colleges, with actual sports sales programs, and we’ve always been competitive.”

The four Trine students interviewed for jobs with multiple professional sports teams as part of the event.

Schulz also competed in the National Collegiate Sports Analytics Championship (NCSAC), with the virtual round held in November and the in-person competition on Feb. 21 in Dallas.

Schulz, who also completed his Master of Science in business analytics at Trine this semester, is the first Trine student to compete in the NCSAC. In that competition, students analyze ticketing data to create insights to present to judges.

Out of about 60 students in the virtual competition, Schulz finished 18th to advance to the individual competition. The eventual national champion beat him in the first round.