Make a bid for the 16th franchise for the WNBA
This was the prompt given to us by the Applied Sport Management Association (ASMA). Hannah Eidson ’26, Samuel Pratt ’28 and I gathered together to create this bid.
Photo from Leilani Brown
We spent at least 30 hours scattered across campus working on this project. It started with brainstorming. There were questions that the judges had specifically wanted us to address like the location, which was the most important. We chose to expand to Nashville, TN. 17 hours after the project was submitted, it was announced that there has been an actual bid for with numerous similarities. In the prompt, there were other creativity questions like form a team name (Muses), Mascot (Clio the Muse), and promotions (free stuff and ticket deals!). While it is fun to brainstorm, the challenge in this competition was making it reasonable and feasible.
Next, all of the information needed to be boiled down to a six-page paper. For reference, writing a fully developed bid for a sports team takes significantly longer than six pages. The notes alone were almost triple that. The point was to challenge us to be efficient, effective and concise.
Lastly, it was time to build the presentation. The bid presentation could be no longer than 15 minutes and 5 minutes of question time for the judges. After it was built, any free time was spent on practicing. There wouldn’t be time to be able to say everything so it made cutting, editing, and making everything perfect all-consuming leading up to competition day.
The day prior to competition day, Professor Kourmoulis and Dr. Wyatt drove six hours with us, and we visited the OG KFC, and checked in at the University of Cincinnati. We had some time to explore the campus and walk on UCinninati’s football field, Nippert Stadium, before the night ended. Once everyone was settled at the AirBnB it was time for more practice until it was as close to perfect as possible. Everyone on the team was locked in! So on Thursday, Feb 13th at 2:40 we prayed, then at 2:45, the bid presentation of the Nashville Muses to a panel of three judges started. They #ignitedthemuse (it means to light your inner fire)! Everyone was (and is still) so proud of each other.
Unfortunately, our project did not receive the replica NCAA trophy. However, it was a time of learning about current and future research in the field, meeting with an alumni at a very good BBQ restaurant, and having a fun adventure. For anyone who wants to try something new, use their competitive drive, and have a good time while doing it, definitely sign up for next year’s ASMA case study competition. #ignitethemuse and Go Scots!
Thumbnail photo from Leilani Brown.