Jeff State to offer new sports marketing program

Jefferson State will offer a new sports marketing program at the Shelby-Hoover Campus starting this February.

The program is part of the postgraduate Pete McAskile Sports Marketing Program and will last for one year. Students will have specialized education and training regarding sports, entertainment and event marketing.

“We are excited about the opportunities the new Sports Marketing Program will offer our community,” said Jefferson State Interim President Keith Brown. “Pete McAskile is a veteran in the Sports Marketing field, and Jefferson State is proud to partner with someone with his expertise and experience.”

During the year, students will have two semesters in the classroom in addition to a work placement semester with a sports and event marketing employer.

“This new program will be hands-on and hard hitting,” said founder and program chair Pete McAskile. “We’ll be covering a lot of ground in a short time with industry instructors and guest lecturers engaging students on a daily basis in real life, integrated marketing challenges.”

McAskile helped bring the first professional hockey team in Birmingham in 1976. He was president and partner with the World Hockey Association’s Birmingham Bulls for a time and later founded Second Dimension Sports International, a sports and event marketing company. He also founded the first postgraduate sports and event marketing program in North America.

The Pete McAskile Sports Marketing Program is guided by an International Advisory Committee and features teachers such as Stephanie Holland, a long-time advertising agency principal and author of the Sheconomy blog.

For more information about the program, visit pmsportsmarketingpro.com or call 983-5240.