In-Depth
SBJ ALL IN: Black Sport Business Academy
HBCU students make connections toward careers in sports business
Black Sport Business Academy participants met with executives from Charlotte FC and the Carolina Panthers during a visit to Bank of America Stadium in 2023.Black Sport Business Academy
It’s been four years since Black Sport Business Academy got off the ground.
Started amid the pandemic, the organization has seen its share of growth in that time and now has an alumni base of 96 participants to lean on.
“They feel as though this experience has changed their lives and they want to make sure that it continues to be there for the students that come behind them,” BSBA co-founder Vincent Pierson said. “Leveraging the alumni, I think it’s something we’ve got to do better, because there’s a lot of energy, there’s a lot of excitement, there’s a lot of love for what we’ve done and we’ve got to make sure that there are ways for them to stay involved.”
Pierson and co-founder Curtis Walker started the organization in 2020 with the goal of giving students at historically Black colleges and universities interested in breaking into the sports world a chance to network and connect with those already in the middle of it. The flagship program — The Academy — has evolved into a 14-week experience open to HBCU students. That, too, has grown.
Walker noted The Academy started with an applicant pool of around 29 students, all of whom were accepted. Just this past year, though, BSBA received closer to 250 applicants.
“Attention around The Academy has been significantly heightened during [the last two years],” Walker said. “That has required us to create year-round programming in some capacity.”
As part of growing the operation, the program has included taking BSBA’s cohort to Charlotte to meet with executives from Charlotte FC and the Carolina Panthers, along with shadowing people within the Panthers organization on game days. BSBA also has added a healthy roster of industry partners that include the Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Learfield and TurnkeyZRG, among others.
“Up to 70% of students at HBCUs do not have a mentor or a contact in the sports industry,” Pierson said. “And, again, back to the connectivity and importance of that, there’s the relationship building that’s a huge barrier in terms of where your career goes. With this, the idea is by Feb. 29, you’re way better at having a one-on-one conversation than you were on Feb. 1. It’s practice. It’s volume.”
