Are you a BHS student interested in sports? Want to know why they’re so popular? A college or pro sports lover? Can’t find a class that supports your interests? Well Brewster High School has a solution! If one of these concerns listed sounds all too familiar, you should check out Mr. Carroll’s Sports Marketing class! This exciting class is brand new at Brewster High School this year. It was created by the school’s marketing/investment teacher, Mr. Carroll.

In this class you will get many different opportunities to not only learn about how teams become popular, why they brand themselves to fans certain ways, why they choose to have specific color schemes, or the secret meanings of their names, but also gain new opportunities to work with the athletic department to help promote our own school’s sports. Mr Carroll has created a class that will get any sports lover interested. This class is only half a year, but just in these two quarters you will learn the things I listed above and so much more. I asked Mr. Carroll about his favorite projects and why he thinks you should know about them. These are a list of a few of the projects you can take part in when you join this class.

Mascot Madness

Mascot Madness was one of the first projects the students got to participate in where everyone got to pick their favorite mascot in sports. Students create an analysis of the mascot: when it was created, why it has its name, what it does to get the crowd excited, how it participates in the team’s marketing, and more. Then this assignment turns into a competition to see which is the favorite in the class of the different mascots based on effectiveness and popularity. They pick from college mascots like the Georgia Bulldog to the New Jersey Devil and try persuade the class why their mascot is great. In the end, Bevo the cow of UT Austin won. Who will win next? Take the class, and maybe your mascot can!

Team analysis

The next major project is the team analysis project. For this project, you will first have to choose a major sports team. You can choose any team you have interest in, all the way from college sports to pro. Then, you will have to incorporate everything you have learned in the class to present why these teams are so popular. For example, what do they do differently from other teams? Why do they deserve to be so popular? You as the presenters have the chance to showcase all of their best features.

Creating your own sports franchise

For the Final project in this class, Students got the chance to create their own major league sports franchise for any industry of their choosing, from football to hockey. First, they had to choose a location for the team. They had to answer questions like: “How popular would the team be in this city/state?” or “What will their stadium look like?” Then, they had to find ways to make their teams unique – what makes their team different from other teams? Then, finally, pricing – why are the tickets this expensive/cheap? Students got to use their ideas and imaginations to create franchises that appealed to them. They had to do research for the best marketing strategies. After that, it was about using their own ideas.

Partnering with the athletic department

This is just one of the many opportunities this class can provide to you. Students got a chance to partner with the athletic department and work with peers to create different ways to market our school’s winter sports. Whether it was interviews with players, games during halftime, or just simple posts. It helped generate more popularity for these teams. By doing this, we can make Brewster’s sports seen all over New York State.

This past semester, I had the opportunity to take this class. I can most definitely say that I had a ton of fun! I learned a lot and got to take part in a ton of great opportunities. I got a great chance to learn about different marketing opportunities. I would recommend it to anyone who loves sports, wants to be a marketing major, or just simply has an interest in the marketing of sports. If you get the chance, sign up: you won’t regret it.