Oftentimes, the Media, Entertainment and Sports (MES) Club is an overlooked one at Fuqua, paling in comparison to the likes of the consulting, finance, and marketing clubs. If you ask Laura Lane, sector director of media, entertainment, and sports (among other industries), she’ll tell you that she’s lucky to be working with students who are interested in the “fun industries.”
Each fall break, the club organizes an MES Week-in-City Trek. It’s a three-day immersion in a city where students visit leading companies across the three industries to explore careers, hear from alumni, and experience the business behind the fun. This year, we returned to New York City. With my background in sports and a goal of building technical and strategic skills through my MBA, going on this trek was a no-brainer.
Stops on this year’s trips included New York City FC, The National Football League, The National Basketball League, Nike NYC HQ, Sirius XM, Warner Bros Discovery, BSE Global (Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment) and Major League Baseball. A wide spectrum of companies with a common theme if you ask most people: they seem like fun places to work.
1. Suit and ties aren’t required for these office visits as they might be for the consulting or investment banking treks. However, I wish I had worn one when NBA Commissioner Adam Silver walked by our group as we took photos with the Larry O’Brien Trophy. He stopped briefly when we told him we were from Duke, as he himself is an alumnus.
2. Fuqua students usually follow the rules, but we were tempted to break them when Nike employees at the NYC headquarters told us we couldn’t go to the third floor because a soon-to-be-revealed product was being prepped for reveal, which turned out to be Project Amplify, the world’s first powered footwear system. I can’t say with complete certainty that no one from our group snuck onto the floor to take a peek while claiming to use the restroom.
3. While I can’t speak for every other industry trek, I’m pretty sure none of them have seen anything quite like New York City FC’s new experience center for their soon-to-be-opened 25,000-seat soccer-specific stadium — complete with a three-minute hype video that made us want to run through a brick wall.
P.S. New Yorkers who are interested in season tickets at the new stadium can learn more at: Etihad Park | New York City FC Stadium (shameless plug for my old employer).
Beyond these memorable experiences and many others, what really stood out was how those opportunities came together. Most of these visits were coordinated by current students or alumni who tapped into Fuqua’s deep MES network. Brit Harding, MES club co-president, arranged our visit to Nike, the company he interned for this summer. Sally Sandoval, the club’s other co-president, spent time at the NBA before Fuqua, giving us access to their 5th Avenue office. I helped plan the NYCFC stop through my own connections there, and former co-president Will Bartlett made sure Sirius XM and Warner Bros Discovery remained trek destinations even after he graduated.
At every stop, alumni went out of their way to host, advise, and connect us. Scott Lewis, VP of Business Intelligence at NYCFC, not only led our visit but took me to lunch afterwards and made an introduction to Bombas’ CEO Jason LaRose, another Fuquan. At Nike and Warner Bros Discovery, panels of Duke and Fuqua grads shared candid insights about life in media, sports, and entertainment, and we capped one day with a happy hour full of alumni from every corner of the industry. If we’d had more time in the city, I’m confident we could have added dozens more companies with Fuqua ties to the itinerary.
I came into Fuqua thinking there was a chance that I might pivot away from sports. After this Trek — seeing how the business side of sports thrives across New York and how connected the Fuqua community is within it — I’m not so sure anymore. MES might just be too fun to leave behind.
The post Media, Sports, and Entertainment Trek: Exploring the Business Behind the Fun appeared first on Duke Daytime MBA Student Blog.
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Each fall break, the club organizes an MES Week-in-City Trek. It’s a three-day immersion in a city where students visit leading companies across the three industries to explore careers, hear from alumni, and experience the business behind the fun. This year, we returned to New York City. With my background in sports and a goal of building technical and strategic skills through my MBA, going on this trek was a no-brainer.
Stops on this year’s trips included New York City FC, The National Football League, The National Basketball League, Nike NYC HQ, Sirius XM, Warner Bros Discovery, BSE Global (Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment) and Major League Baseball. A wide spectrum of companies with a common theme if you ask most people: they seem like fun places to work.
Highlights of the 2025 Trek
1. Suit and ties aren’t required for these office visits as they might be for the consulting or investment banking treks. However, I wish I had worn one when NBA Commissioner Adam Silver walked by our group as we took photos with the Larry O’Brien Trophy. He stopped briefly when we told him we were from Duke, as he himself is an alumnus.
2. Fuqua students usually follow the rules, but we were tempted to break them when Nike employees at the NYC headquarters told us we couldn’t go to the third floor because a soon-to-be-revealed product was being prepped for reveal, which turned out to be Project Amplify, the world’s first powered footwear system. I can’t say with complete certainty that no one from our group snuck onto the floor to take a peek while claiming to use the restroom.
3. While I can’t speak for every other industry trek, I’m pretty sure none of them have seen anything quite like New York City FC’s new experience center for their soon-to-be-opened 25,000-seat soccer-specific stadium — complete with a three-minute hype video that made us want to run through a brick wall.
P.S. New Yorkers who are interested in season tickets at the new stadium can learn more at: Etihad Park | New York City FC Stadium (shameless plug for my old employer).
Strong MES Partnerships
Beyond these memorable experiences and many others, what really stood out was how those opportunities came together. Most of these visits were coordinated by current students or alumni who tapped into Fuqua’s deep MES network. Brit Harding, MES club co-president, arranged our visit to Nike, the company he interned for this summer. Sally Sandoval, the club’s other co-president, spent time at the NBA before Fuqua, giving us access to their 5th Avenue office. I helped plan the NYCFC stop through my own connections there, and former co-president Will Bartlett made sure Sirius XM and Warner Bros Discovery remained trek destinations even after he graduated.
At every stop, alumni went out of their way to host, advise, and connect us. Scott Lewis, VP of Business Intelligence at NYCFC, not only led our visit but took me to lunch afterwards and made an introduction to Bombas’ CEO Jason LaRose, another Fuquan. At Nike and Warner Bros Discovery, panels of Duke and Fuqua grads shared candid insights about life in media, sports, and entertainment, and we capped one day with a happy hour full of alumni from every corner of the industry. If we’d had more time in the city, I’m confident we could have added dozens more companies with Fuqua ties to the itinerary.
I came into Fuqua thinking there was a chance that I might pivot away from sports. After this Trek — seeing how the business side of sports thrives across New York and how connected the Fuqua community is within it — I’m not so sure anymore. MES might just be too fun to leave behind.
The post Media, Sports, and Entertainment Trek: Exploring the Business Behind the Fun appeared first on Duke Daytime MBA Student Blog.
More...
How does this impact your International MBA decision?
I'd be glad to learn your thoughts on this story : Media, Sports, and Entertainment Trek: Exploring the Business Behind the Fun