Students in Samford University’s Sports Industry Program are helping Samford women’s basketball players build their personal brands and connect with businesses through name, image and likeness (NIL) opportunities.
This fall, the Sports Industry Program in Brock School of Business launched SAM Group, a student-run marketing group that works directly with the women’s basketball team, which earned a berth in the NCAA tournament last season. The group is made up of sports business students preparing for careers in the sports industry, and it gives them hands-on experience in one of the fastest-changing areas of college athletics.
SAM Group students work one-on-one with players to help each of them define their personal brand: who they are, what they stand for, and how they want to show up online. From there, students help players develop social media content strategies and grow their followings. The group will also go into the Birmingham community on the players’ behalf, finding local businesses interested in partnering with student-athletes through NIL.
"NIL has changed college athletics almost overnight, and the sports industry needs people who understand it. Our students aren’t reading about it in a textbook. They’re doing the work alongside student-athletes and local businesses, and that experience will set them apart when they enter the industry,” said Darin White, founder and executive director of the Sports Industry Program.
Mary Harrison, assistant professor of marketing, leads the group and serves as faculty adviser.
“Our student consultants sit down with a player, listen, and help her put words to who she already is. Then they figure out how to take that story to a business owner in Birmingham and make the case for a partnership,” Harrison said.
Christian Jordan, an MBA student in the Sports Industry Program, is the student lead for SAM Group. Jordan played college basketball, giving her firsthand insight into the demands student-athletes face on and off the court.
For players, the partnership offers professional support as they build their brands during college.
“This is a huge opportunity for our players. Working with the sports industry students to help them make the most of their experience as a student-athlete is a great example of how this campus comes together to support one another,” said Matt Wise, head coach of the women’s basketball team.
SAM Group is the latest example of the Sports Industry Program’s focus on experiential learning. Students in the program also serve as an analytics resource for Samford Athletics, work with Samford football on transfer portal analysis and complete consulting projects for professional sports organizations in the United States and Europe.
Founded in 2011, the Sports Industry Program was the first sports business program in an AACSB-accredited business school in the South. Students in the program major in one of Brock’s six business disciplines and add a sports business curriculum, preparing them for careers across the sports industry.
