MBA Students Advise Padres Management During Case Competition

Nine sports MBA student teams from universities in the United States and Hong Kong competed in the 5th Annual SDSU International Sports MBA Case Competition, where students were asked to create a strategic plan for the new management of the San Diego Padres in a few days' time.

Students from Georgetown University won the first place trophy and premium seats to a Washington Nationals Major League Baseball game.   

Advising Padres management

The event, hosted at the Padres office at PETCO Park, took place earlier this month. The panel of judges consisted of three Padres executives, including:

• Tom Garfinkel, president and chief operating officer
• Katie Pothier, executive vice president/general counsel
• Laura Broderick, senior vice president of branding

The panel also included Martina Musteen, SDSU management professor.

Other participating teams

Teams from SDSU and Columbia University tied for second place.

Other teams included MBA students from:

• New York University
• University of Michigan
• University of California Los Angeles
• University of Southern California
• Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
• Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania

'Great enthusiasm and creative recommendations'

“The Padres were honored to host this special event with San Diego State University. Our organization is committed to continuous learning, and this case competition fostered innovative and insightful ideas,” Garfinkel said.

“All the teams demonstrated great enthusiasm and provided creative recommendations on growth options for the San Diego Padres. Congratulations to Georgetown, Columbia and SDSU for their strong presentations. We look forward to incorporating several of these new ideas at PETCO Park in the near future.”