Women in Sports - Megan Hughes, WNBA

The Cornell ILR Sports Business Society is pleased to present our "Women in Sports" series. In recent years, powerful women (led by many Cornell Alumnae) have advanced the role of women in the sports world. We will be featuring the stories of individuals from across the industry, in various stages of their careers, who have made an impact in sports.

Megan Hughes is the focus of this week's edition of Women in Sports. Hughes is a 2008 graduate of Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and a former Ivy League Champion as a member of the Cornell Women's Basketball team. She currently serves as Coordinator of Basketball Operations and Player Relations at the WNBA. Megan was kind enough to speak to Cornell SBS member Zoe Forster about her career and much more.


Why Cornell?

Growing up my goal was to play college basketball and I wanted to compete at the highest level at academically and athletically. I was fortunate to be offered the opportunity at Cornell. I had full scholarship offers from other schools, but I chose Cornell for the outstanding academic background.

What did you study at Cornell? Did you know you wanted to work in sports while at Cornell?

I started out in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and I was apart of the AEM program. I quickly transitioned into the Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS) major. I pretty much crafted my own curriculum. The official title of my major was Marketing Strategies and Management. I took a combination of courses from entrepreneurship, finance, food merchandising. It was a combination of a variety of classes from CALS and marketing classes in the Hotel School. I realized I didn’t want to be an investment baker and I felt like AEM was very driven towards making me one.

I wanted to do sports marketing and Cornell didn’t really have that. There was sports law in ILR but I wasn’t in ILR. As far as being business savvy, having that ability is so crucial to be successful and well respected in the sports business world. I definitely value all I learned from the AEM program because it really taught me how to leg up when I got to the Associates Program at the WNBA. All of that stuff helped to build a base, but I found that it was very narrow and I wanted more. There are ways to get more out of your experience at Cornell.

Could you describe your current role? 

My current role for the WNBA is Coordinator of Basketball Operations and Player Relations. I work in our WNBA president’s office with our players, coaches, officials, and league staff to help coordinate player programs. I’m very involved in any kind of league or team initiative that involves our players. I help communicate the player needs up to our executive partners. We make sure that our partners have access to our players. So I’m very involved in any kind of player communications or movements as well as making sure the players are abiding by the appropriate rules.

What's your favorite part about working in sports?

What I love the most about my job is that I have the opportunity to do the scouting and talent evaluations for the WNBA. Every year we get rookies in. But my job is to go out on the road between late November and early April. I’m on the road at March Madness and different conference tournaments out looking for the top 100 women’s basketball players in the country and getting them prepared to get drafted for the WNBA. This is so close to my heart given my background playing. I wanted to play professionally at one time. Helping them to make that transition into professional athletics is one of my favorite parts about what I do here.

How did you get to where you are today?

I came directly out of Cornell in May of 2008 and started immediately with the NBA. The NBA and WNBA are one big family of brands. I became a part of the NBA Associates Program, which is our entry-level program for recent college graduates. I applied to that program in the fall of my senior year and I remember I got an interview to come into New York City and I remember it was the day of our last home game against Brown University. So I woke up that morning and flew into New York City and had the interview with 5 or 6 people. I ended up flying back to Ithaca and making the game at halftime. 

It was the craziest day ever. Now the associates program is a rotational program, but when I started I was placed in a department called Team Marketing and Business Operations, which is a term for the NBA’s internal consulting firm. My job there was to work with all the account managers, team owners, and presidents, to figure out what are the best practices to implement to help them drive their business. They throw you right into the fire right away. It was a great experience.

What are your thoughts on the role of gender in the sports industry?

In general, I think women are definitely making it. I sit in a very unique position. Where I am in the WNBA, I sit right between the WNBA president laurel Richie, and vice president Renee Brown. My desk is in between their offices and they are two African American women who are at the head of a major sports franchise. And that is very unique. So in my day-to-day interaction, I don’t always see what other people see. Where I am, we’re at the top of our game and we have two women managing it every day. There are not a whole lot of people coming in and telling us we can’t do something. Part of our brand charter is that we show the world what’s possible. 

Outside our department, I think women are making headway. There was a recent announcement that Michele Roberts is heading up the NBA Associates Program—the first women to ever take that role. To me, that’s a sign that we are cracking the glass ceiling. But we’re not always necessarily looked at with the same set of eyes as when there are men in the room. Sometimes your voice will not be as readily heard. And that’s something I didn't really believe until it actually happens to you. I think the role of women in sports is becoming larger and people are aware of us now in the industry.

How has the industry changed since when you started? 

The game itself is stronger than it has ever been. Its growing by leaps and bounds, which is evident by the talent we have. Brittany Griner came into the league in 2013. She dunks all the time in practice and did it in the All Star game a couple of weeks ago. We had a dunking contest in practice and all of them were dunking. As for the business side, we are 18 years young. Given where we are, I think we’re in good shape. I think we’re strong, headed in the right direction. Magic Johnson just became an owner this past December. We have people really helping to grow the business.

Do you have any advice for students, particularly young women, who would like to work in sports? 

Get out there and get involved. Don’t worry about the money. Get experience, get on the ground and don’t be afraid to do the work. In sports, it is a who-you-know type of field, but it is also performance based. Get to know the business and be able to speak and articulate yourself about the game and the environment. Our president, Laurel Richie had no idea about sports. She never played basketball and I don’t think she even knew the rules, but she’s the president because she knows marketing and she knows how to sell the product. It’s about knowing your craft and perfecting it.

We sincerely appreciate alumnae like Megan who take the time to share their experiences with us. "Women in Sports" is only possible through the efforts of industry leaders and students alike. We wish to thank all of the alumni who make the Sports Business Society such a valuable organization for so many Cornellians and others interested sports.

Event Recap: Rachel Jacobson ('96)

 



 

On Tuesday March 12, the ILR Sports Business Society was fortunate enough to host alumnus Rachel Jacobson for a meeting via Skype. Rachel, a 1996 graduate of Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration, currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Business Development for the National Basketball Association.

Rachel Jacobson has worked for the NBA since she graduated from Cornell. She started in the entry-level rotational training program, working for many different departments within the NBA. She partly attributes getting the job to the training ground for immediate impact that Cornell, and the Hotel School, provided her. After a year in the rotational program, it was time for her to decide what was next – she decided that marketing was the best fit for her, so she joined the Global Merchandising Group, before moving to Marketing Partnerships.

 Rachel’s first major project was to find partners for the USA basketball team, a property of the NBA, for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, where the USA took home the gold medal. Over the next four years, Rachel’s main responsibility was to manage these partners and identify potential new partners for USA basketball in its journey to Athens for the 2004 Olympics.




2000 US Men's Basketball Team

 

In 2005, Rachel saw a great opportunity for her to transfer her skills managing partners to selling them on the business side. She joined the Global Business Development group, which in addition to selling partnerships, also was tasked with creating social good within the communities with which it interacted. Rachel has worked in this department since then, now assuming the role of Senior Vice President, Business Development.

 On switching roles…

 Rachel had an easy transition from Marketing Partnerships to Business Development, largely due to the strong relationships she developed and maintained. Also, in her new role she still got to do marketing, just in a new way; instead of the day-to-day marketing, her new role was more about staying engaged and involved with the NBA’s sold platforms, while also seeking new brands to connect with.

 On the NBA’s marketing…

A main focus of the NBA’s marketing plan is to emphasize the purity of the game, such as the “Where amazing happens” campaign. The NBA wants to show how fun and exciting the game can be, and often does this through humor, as that is what they have identified that the fans love.

 



Heat F LeBron James in the midst
of his pregame ritual.

Also, the NBA wants the fans to be able to get a good look at what the players are doing, and for them to get closer to the game. This can be done through showing the teams in the locker room, the players doing their pregame rituals, or by having a player or coach “wired” for the game, amongst other ways. An additional example she shared was the Miami Heat’s version of the Harlem Shake. Basically, the NBA tries to deliver the fans a real experience that is fun and enjoyable.

 

 On franchise relocation…

 When asked about how franchise relocation affects her job, Rachel stated that it really doesn’t affect her too much. This is because the NBA has penetration in most significant markets either through its own league, the WNBA, the NBA Developmental League, or USA Basketball, as these are all the NBA’s properties. As an example, she offered the Nets relocation from New Jersey to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn; this move generated excitement around an organization that had been struggling and an area ready to embrace basketball. Change is good for the league; it just needs to be executed properly.

 On the recent NBA lockout…

 Rachel stated that the lockout didn’t detriment the NBA’s marketing partnerships too much, thanks to the strong relationships with their sponsors and the patience of these sponsors. It also helped that the fans were very forgiving! The major issue that the NBA faced, though, was an uncertainty of the date of return; however, they were still able to make many deals during the lockout and thrived out of the gate. Rachel also pointed out that if a brand wasn’t comfortable partnering with the NBA during the lockout, a partnership between the two probably wasn’t right anyway.

 On gender in the workplace…

 

WNBA star Lisa Leslie
with her daughter Lauren.

 Rachel insists that being a female in what is thought to be a “male industry” is not something she has thought about throughout her career, as she has never experienced gender issues. If anything, she says that it makes her more unique, and her status as a “working mom” helps her work with the WNBA, as this is what the league symbolizes. She also believes her status as a “working mom” motivates her to work more efficiently in the office.

 Advice for students…

 Rachel offered great advice to all of the students. One of the things she said was to “sweat the details” and not let things that seem small slip by. Also, it is good to personalize whatever you are doing, by finding a way to stand out. While doing this though, it is crucial stay humble and genuine by talking from the heart. Furthermore, when working for an organization, you should make sure you fully understand the organization, and work hard for it. Lastly, she stressed that, no matter what, you need to have fun!

 Again, we’d like to thank Rachel Jacobson for taking the time to speak with members of our club. It was an incredibly informative and insightful discussion, which we all truly enjoyed and appreciated.