Rosen, A, Week 1

Welcome to my first blog post for MKT 3915, Entertainment, Media, and Sports Marketing: An Experiential Learning Experience. My name is Alex Rosen, and I'm a junior economics and business administration double major here at Elmira College. In addition to my studies, I'm also a member of the EC Men's basketball team and have many other passions, most of which have to do with sports. Although I play basketball at the collegiate level, my favorite sport is actually baseball and I plan to pursue a position within the sport upon my graduation next June.

Photo taken by Elmira College Athletics

Currently, I'm a writer for Baseball Prospectus, where I cover the New York Mets and the organizations minor league system. My position at BP Mets allows me a media credential, which means I'm allowed field and locker room access pre and post game, as well as a seat in the press box. I'm responsible for the vast majority of our minor league prospect coverage and report directly to the lead prospect writer for Baseball Prospectus, Jeffery Paternostro. I also write articles about the major league team and write a game recap for every Saturday Mets game. In addition to my work at BP, I am also the co-director of amateur scouting for the rSt. Louis Cardinals of the VBL. The VBL, short for the Virtual Baseball League, is a new startup fantasy league that is much more immersive and challenging than any fantasy league that's come before it. The league sold all 30 of it's teams this off-season, with the cheapest going for around $5,000 and the most expensive being $20,000. The league was created to allow fans with professional sport ownership aspirations to realize their dreams, as well as provide those who wish to work in professional baseball front offices' a chance to hone their skills. As co-director of amateur scouting, I'm responsible for overseeing our organizations efforts for the rMLB First Year Player Draft.

Image Credit: Myself 

Image Credit: Myself

This summer, I will be interning with the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox of the Cape Cod Baseball League. The Cape Cod League is far and away the best summer collegiate baseball league there is, as evidenced by the 253 alumni that were drafted in the 2017 MLB First Year Player Draft, which includes 10 first-round picks. I'll be working as a writer for the team, responsible for game recaps and feature articles on our team's top prospects, as well as some social media promoting. There will be thousands of major league scouts and executives in attendance at our team's games this summer, and I'm really looking forward to networking with them to soak up as much information as possible. I'll also be creating relationships that I'll use in my pursuit of a position with an organization once I graduate next year.

Our first week of class was action-packed: we learned how to get started on our blogs, listened to two guest presenters, and took a field trip to the Clemens Center. My favorite part of our first week was undoubtedly listening to Dr. Hufnagel, a wildly successful entrepreneur who has a passion for sports marketing. Dr. Hufnagel shared his knowledge in the field as well as advice for all of us in our future endeavors. I really enjoyed his stories and his presentation, and his advice was inspiring to us all. I also enjoyed our visit to the Clemens Center, as I was surprised by how nice it is in the building, as well as the quality of the entertainment that they have year round. Our visit inspired me to think about actually attending one of the many productions put on at the Clemens Center!

Image Credit: Myself

Image Credit: Myself

Image Credit: Myself

Our second week starts with facilitations by my classmates and includes a field trip to Corning Museum of glass, as well as a guest presenter, Paul Burke, who will talk to us about intellectual property rights in the entertainment industry. I'm really looking forward to it!