By Lexi Shurilla, fightingillini.com staff writer | @SusanAlexisS

Illinois Sports Business Conference

Today marks the first annual Illinois Sports Business Conference on the University of Illinois campus. The event will take place Friday, February 27 between 11-5pm in the Colonnades Club at Memorial Stadium. Thought up by Illinois student-athletes, ISBC is designed to connect leading professionals with students aspiring for a career in the sports business world. Through an annual conference, ISBC fosters relationships and provides a greater knowledge of the sports industry. 

Illinois Sports Business Conference was started by a group of students who saw an opportunity to fill the gap of knowledge and resources between the sports industry and the business world. Created by Emily Barretta of women's tennis, Joe Spencer of football and Jenna Miller of soccer, Barretta got the idea from a similar conference at the University of Michigan, the Michigan Sport Business Conference. 

Through various workshops, networking events and an annual conference, ISBC fosters relationships and creates a roadmap for students to find their path in the sports business industry. Illinois' team got the approval to host a conference and start planning last February. The ISBC team worked together throughout the year to plan a conference hosting elite leaders and professionals in the sports industry and is open to anyone in the area who wants to come learn about careers in sports business. 

"Last spring we decided that we needed an outlet for students and student-athletes to be able to get involved in sports business," Barretta said. "I'm in the business school and so is Claire Wheatley (Illinois soccer), and the two of us didn't feel like there were any resources for students who wanted to get into sport management or sports law, other than those in the sport management degree program. Those resources aren't really accessible for other students though, so we thought having a student-run conference would help bring in attention from different people in the industry and try to make a more cohesive unit on campus to bridge the gap between sports industry and business world." 

Organizing and hosting the annual Illinois Sports Business Conference will be the main focus of Professionals in Sport. Creating this conference provides students the opportunity to learn from leading professionals, promote future networking relationships and explore possible careers in the field. The conference will have companies represented ranging from sports agents, professional teams, marketing agencies, corporate sponsorship, and sport law and management professionals. There will be representatives from Navigate Research, a sports and entertainment research, measurement and analysis expert, the Chicago Bulls and the event will feature Neil Golden - former Chief Marketing Officer for McDonald's and Founder of Tailgater Concierge - as the keynote speaker for the event. 

At the conference, guests will get a brief understanding of what types of jobs are in the industry by hearing from people currently working in the field. Students will be able to learn more about the companies in attendance as well as about potential internship opportunities and build their professional network. Barretta said she's excited and nervous for the big event, but that they've had a lot of interest on campus and are hoping a lot of athletes and other students are able to come and enjoy it. Head women's tennis coach Michelle Dasso is proud to see Barretta's hard work come full circle and will definitely be there to support her on Friday. 

"I love their initiative," Dasso said. "That's pretty awesome to be able to start something business oriented here. With the demands of being a student-athlete, I don't know how they've had the time to plan it. It's pretty impressive so hats off to Emily. I'm excited about it. I know she's been working hard on it for the past year and they're looking forward to a good conference."