Even Business Schools Are Talking About Gritty
By now, you know Gritty. You may even love Gritty. It may not be yet understood, but Gritty is accepted. He is one, and all, and nothing at once. A true enigma of our times.
Gritty, of course, the brand new mascot of the Philadelphia Flyers, the city’s NHL affiliate team. In a city that already boasts the Phillie Phanatic, perhaps the most famous mascot in all North American professional sports, introducing a new one may seem a little perplexing. Especially when one considers the fact that the Flyers had not used a mascot since the mid 1970s. Oh, also, people think he’s some kind of existential nightmare monster.
Since debuting in late September, Gritty has caught a huge public wave, perhaps because it seems so unsettling. The mascot has already been riffed on the late night comedy circuit, including on a recent episode of Conan, which debuted the “man” behind the mask.
So, the question remains, why has the new mascot seem to have taken off so well? Drexel University LeBow College of Business Associate Clinical Professor of Sport Management Lawrence Cohen, talking with the Drexel news blog, says, “Everyone knows who Gritty is. Gritty was all over social media, local and national news, and was even on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. The Flyers got millions of dollars worth of publicity for free.”
“All of the publicity has been great for the Flyers,” Cohen says. “Gritty has more than 119,000 Twitter followers—that’s more than any other mascot in the NHL. The Flyers got publicity during a month in which the team usually receives no attention due to either a Phillies playoff run or the start of the Eagles season.”
The root of it all, according to Cohen, are these four pillars:
• “Be a reflection of the franchise.”
• “Serve as an ambassador for the franchise.”
• “Provide entertainment beyond the game action.”
• “Be recognizable.”
Gritty, in an incredibly short span of time, managed to capture all of that and then some. The perplexing new figure has even caught the attention of political movements, which drew some ire from the likes of the Wall Street Journal. Because why not?
You can check out the rest of Cohen’s recent interview with Drexel here.
Cornell’s Business Impact Symposium Returns, and More – New York News
Let’s explore some of the most interesting stories that have emerged from New York City business schools this week.
Cornell Business Impact Symposium: Bridging Sustainability and Enterprise – Johnson Business Blog
Cornell’s SC Johnson Graduate School of Management Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise hosted this year’s Cornell Business Impact Symposium (CBIS), which featured sustainability experts from the food, fashion, technology, and finance industries. Current MBA students shared their takeaways from the symposium on the Johnson Business Blog.
René Bonomi, MBA ’19, cited the “Combating Climate Change with Clean Energy Innovations” panel as a highlight, which surveyed “trends in the energy industry, such as storage improvement, and illuminating innovative start ups such as Dimensional Energy and Energy.”
Sarah Theobald, MBA ’19, was struck by the “From Fashion to Food: Excursions through Sustainable Supply Chain” panel, which “covered an array of hot topics from supply chain traceability and upcycling to the challenges of measuring social impact as well as reconciling emerging market manufacturing practices with United States corporate standards.”
Left to right; Martie Curran (Nestle Waters), Funlola Otukoya (CDP), Eileen Quigley (NRDC), Michael Van Brunt (Covanta Energy), and Jim Armstrong (Climate Changers) / Photo via johnson.cornell.edu
Read more about this year’s CBIS here.
Podcast: Mark Conrad on the Business of Sports – Gabelli Connect
The American sports industry, somehow, is becoming a bigger monolith than ever before. In fact, Forbes projects the professional sports market in the United States to grow from $60 billion to $73 billion by 2019.
Recently, Fordham University Gabelli School of Business associate professor and sports business concentration director Mark Conrad was a featured guest on a Fordham-produced podcast to discuss his organizational predictions for the NFL, Major League Baseball, and NCAA.
You can listen to the interview with Conrad below and find out more here.
A Summer Class Set in Israel – Rutgers Business School Blog
Rutgers Business School Entrepreneurship professor Gary Minkoff has spearheaded a three-week long summer course entitled Doing Business in Israel, which will “introduce students to the entrepreneurial culture and business world inside Israel,” including local Israeli aerospace, artificial intelligence, biometrics, clean technology cybersecurity, pharmaceutical engineering, robotics, and venture investment industries.
“We’re teaching entrepreneurship and innovation, so why not connect students with places where that’s happening. This course aims to plant many seeds for potential collaborations between Rutgers students and Israeli entrepreneurs and innovators,” Minkoff said.
You can learn more about the course here.
UCI Professor Makes Football Tailgating a Science
As fans eagerly anticipate the NFL playoffs, a new study by Tonya Williams Bradford, an assistant professor of Marketing at the Paul Merage School of Business, examines college football tailgating in an article titled, “Dwelling dynamics in consumption encampments: Tailgating as emplaced brand community.” Continue reading…
MBA Alumni Spotlight: Nike Co-Founder Phil Knight – Stanford Graduate School of Business
Phil Knight, a graduate of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, didn’t become one of “the most powerful person in sports” overnight. The co-founder and chairman of Nike, Inc., the world’s most successful sports apparel manufacturing company, saw a lengthy and uncertain career filled with hurdles before amassing tantamount success. Continue reading…
San Diego State Sports MBA Program Discuss Baseball
Sports business can be complicated, particularly when discussing global growth. At least that’s what Chris Park, Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Senior Vice President for Growth, Strategy & International, had to say at a recent event hosted in San Diego and attended by SDSU Sports MBA students. In his talk, Park explained that doing business internationally means that “you are always the road team,” a challenging prospect. Continue reading…
Top Sports Management MBAs in Toronto
Are you obsessed with sports? Did you find yourself cheering for the Cubs first World Series win in over a century? Did you watch every match of the last FIFA World Cup? Do you participate in every fantasy league and feel that you could make a better team, get better players and make better decisions than any current sports management person? Well, then you should consider an MBA in Sports Management. Continue reading…
