Research Highlight – Zachary Joyner

Hello CSS Community:

My name is Zachary Joyner and I am currently a sophomore at the University of Maryland, pursuing a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Finance with a minor in Technology Entrepreneurship. From the spring semester to the present, I have been conducting research under Dr. Derrick Heggans, the head professor of the Sports Management Fellowship Program within the Robert H. Smith School of Business, for the expansion of the Global Sports Business Academy. In my research experience, I analyze and report market opportunities for emerging high school sports business leadership programs.

Over the past seven months, I have spent a majority of my time analyzing potential market opportunities, particularly identifying universities that would maximize greatest possible interest and attendance from high school juniors and seniors. The freedom I was given allowed me to personalize the factors I considered while analyzing potential market opportunities. I focused mainly on academic prestige and athletic reputation, which led to creating programs at schools like Stanford University and University of Toronto for the summer of 2017. Approaching summer 2018 and 2019, we wish to expand to other respected universities across the nation. From my experience with the Global Sports Business Academy, I have thoroughly acquainted myself with research methodology, learning how to conduct research studies from scratch.

I was given zero guidelines on how to approach these issues, meaning I was responsible for independently developing investigatory approaches. After conducting my first round of research, I found that there is more that goes into locating a market for the sports business industry than just academic prestige and athletic success. Other factors, including added pre-college programs, location, and even household income were necessary to verify that the students could afford this program. Through this research experience I have strengthened my creativity and analytical skills, both of which are necessities for financial analysts and sports agents, who regularly observe and reallocate monetary assets to their clients spending expenditures.

Researching for the Global Sports Business Academy has exposed me to vital connections and factors to consider when searching for market opportunity. The experience I gained can be applied to multiple careers in the sports business industry: as a sports agent, I would create a method of identifying potential players to recruit, or as a financial analyst, I would consider and manage the funds of the team. I am very grateful for my experiences with Professor Derrick Heggans and look forward to the future progression of our work.

– Zachary Joyner, University of Maryland ‘19

CSS Scholar and Team Leader, Zachary Joyner