I've Been Stung

Erica J. Lee
Jul 22, 2015
4 min read

On February 10th of this year I was afforded the amazing opportunity to attend a Charlotte Hornets informational session aimed at students. Due to the generousity of East Carolina University's College of Business and a collabrative effort with East Carolina's Sport Management Program (of the College of Human Health and Peformance), I was able to attend for the college student friendly price of $25. This was not bad considering that $18 of those dollars were for our after session game tickets and the other $7 provided our transport in the magnificent vessel provided by our university's Transit arm. The drive from Greenville to Charlotte is not an easy day trip to make, but our great driver and the anemitities of wireless internet, charging stations, and sataellite tv allowed us to travel in style. For the first time for many of us we received a peak of what it would be like to make a business trip. With such a condusive environment, I was able to complete the work I needed to stay up to date with the classes I would be missing for the trip. Another great plus.

When we finally arrive to Charlotte I could not get over how tall some of the buildings are. This was my first time visiting downtown Charlotte and I was absolutely startstruck! For a person like me who comes from such a small town, I felt axious, excited, and invigorated all at once. As we pulled into the bus station we could see so many eyes marveling at the decals on our bus.

Before our information and Q&A session we were able to go into the Hornest Fan shop and look around. Once inside I marveled at the sleek and sharp designs of the decals of the shop. Upon posting a photo of me outside the shop on Instagram the person who is actually responsible for the great graphic artwork: liked my photo. From a marketing and merchandising standpoint I thought the shop was very well executed. Not only did the highly recognizable purple and teal permiate the building, also the Jordan brand. I took high notice of this considering that the league currenly has a liscensing contract with Adidas, though it is set to expire after 2017 and will be taken over my Nike. It was clear that the boss was two steps ahead of the game. I also noted the memorabilia and jerseys of the retro Hornets of yesteryear (Muggy Bouges, Larry Johnson, Dell Curry). There were even Hornets starter jackets! I purchased a nice knit hat, lanyards for my parents, & a sticker for my professor who allowed me to miss class to attend. Next it was time for our session!

The information session was great. I really appreciated our four speakers being candid to us about what it took to be in the sport management world. They spoke of the long hours and sacrifices that must be made in order succeed in the field. Its enough to deter most people, but I found myself being more sucked in. It presents the type of challenges that I love and I am no stranger to hard work. Two items stuck with me from this session 1) How much the team learned for trying to market a brand with less equity such as the Bobcats. They were not bitter about the difficult experience because it made them better at their jobs. 2) What happens on the court is such a small part of what those who work in non basketball related positions worry about. This is because for one it is all about creating the experience for the fans and two what happens on the court is out of their control. I made it a point to take in the experience more so than the game later that night.

After the session I grabbed some pretty good hibachi chicken from the Epicenter. Then for the next two hours I walked around Charlotte which my newly minted friends and we visited such places like the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Wells Fargo's corporate building, & a fancy apartment complex.

Next it was time for the big show. The excitement that the fan experience created in the air was electric. Particles in the air were charged even before tipoff. It really said a lot considering it was a Tuesday night right before All-Star break and Charlotte is still considered a medium market despite its massive size. There were a lot of participatory games which were played during breaks in the action to keep the fans involved and they worked as I found myself excited and commenting as I glanced at the huge jumbo screen in the sky. Despite a loss to the Detroit Pistons I still felt in awe as I left the arena, passing a live band which blared pop hits. While I was worn out so much so that I fell asleep as I watched the Rockets play the Suns on the bus tvs, I left Charlotte knowing that taking the extra load of adding Sport Management a masters degree to my MBA, only nine months prior, was the right choice. I was stung this day and my interest in sport has only swelled!