The business behind the ballgame: New Rice course will teach how to run an NFL franchise

Rice University Office of Public Affairs
News & Media Relations

NEWS RELEASE

Rice University contact:

Amy McCaig
713-348-6777
amym@rice.edu

Houston Texans contact:

Allie LeClair
832-667-2050
allie.leclair@houstontexans.com

The business behind the ballgame: New Rice course will teach how to run an NFL franchise

HOUSTON – (Sept. 4, 2019) – From cellular biology to English literature to music theory, Rice University students can learn about all kinds of subjects. This semester, one more topic has been added to the course catalog: A lucky group of students will learn how to run an NFL franchise, from the experts themselves.

Image credit: Houston Texans

Thanks to a partnership with the Houston Texans, Rice sport management students will take part in Pro Sports: Management, a course designed to teach the business behind the ballgame. Students will learn from members of the Texans administrative staff about the ins and outs of running a professional sports franchise. Diane Crossey, a professor in the practice in the Department of Sport Management, is the Rice faculty instructor for the course. Before joining Rice in 2015, she worked for the Texans for 13 years.

The weekly class, held inside the executive offices of the Texans, will include sessions on ticketing, public relations, event management, human resources and more. Students will be required to develop and deliver weekly presentations on these and other relevant topics. Toward the end of the semester, students will work at a Texans home game alongside administrative staff. The final class project will include a reflective writing assignment.

“We are thrilled to partner with Rice University on a curriculum that will provide their best and brightest students with insight into the real-world opportunities and challenges facing today’s sports teams,” said Houston Texans President Jamey Rootes. “This program is rather unique because our leading executives will work alongside Rice professors to teach current best practices in franchise management across every discipline. We believe that this type of practical industry exposure is the best way to prepare the next generation of leaders in the field of sports management and a valuable contribution to the level of professionalism within our industry.”

“In the Department of Sport Management, we always look for new ways to challenge our students,” said Clark Haptonstall, chair of the department. “Having them work directly with executives for the Houston Texans, on real-world projects, is going to push our students to show their capabilities.

“Diane is the perfect person to teach this course. In addition to being a tremendous instructor, her years of success working in the Houston Texans front office is extremely valuable to our students.”

At the completion of the course, students will be able to understand the challenges, risks and opportunities facing the various operating departments of professional sports teams and develop problem-solving skills and solutions to meet team goals.

Members of the media interested in covering course sessions and interviewing students or instructors may contact Amy McCaig, senior media relations specialist at Rice, at 217-417-2901 or amym@rice.edu.

-30-

This news release can be found online at news.rice.edu.

Follow Rice News and Media Relations on Twitter @RiceUNews.

Related materials:

Rice Department of Sport Management: https://sport.rice.edu/

Image link: https://news2.rice.edu/files/2019/09/tex-mkltp-1-cmyk.png

Image credit: Houston Texans

Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,962 undergraduates and 3,027 graduate students, Rice’s undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for lots of race/class interaction and No. 4 for quality of life by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.

If you would rather not receive future communications from RiceUniversity2, let us know by clicking here.
RiceUniversity2, Public Affairs – MS610 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005-1827 United States