Oakton Partners with Chicago Wolves to Provide Sports Marketing Experience

(September 21, 2015) Learning by doing. That’s the premise behind Oakton Community College’s new relationship with the Chicago Wolves that provides sports marketing students the chance to develop a ticket sales campaign for the professional hockey franchise.

The Wolves, which compete in the American Hockey League (AHL), are working with Oakton and other college classes across the Chicago area to provide students with real-world marketing and selling experience.

“Student success is our highest priority at Oakton, and this partnership with the Wolves gives our students a leg up by providing real-life experience in sports sales to supplement what we are learning in the classroom,” said Randy Felsenthal, who teaches marketing and sales courses at Oakton. “Not only are our students exposed to a professional sports organization and gaining valuable experience, the Wolves get to know our students, faculty and programs.”

The Wolves’ college ticket program teaches the business operations and selling strategies of the organization. Students learn basic selling skills, marketing campaign development, Wolves franchise history and the team’s unique sales model from Wolves executives.

“It’s pretty cool,” said Magali Ortiz, a marketing student from Des Plaines. “The class is very excited. We’re sports fans, and I think that being able to sell these tickets and to capitalize on and expand the popularity of the Wolves will be fun.”

Students also have the privilege of receiving an exclusive tour at a Chicago Wolves game to gain behind-the-scenes knowledge and to experience the excitement of working for a professional sports franchise.

“We look forward to partnering with Oakton Community College this season,” said Wolves President Mike Gordon, who spoke to a classroom full of students at Oakton Thursday afternoon. “This is a great opportunity to engage Oakton’s students and work together on a real-life project.”

The students will be working on marketing the Wolves’ 7 p.m. contest vs. the Manitoba Moose on Wednesday, Dec. 2, at Allstate Arena in Rosemont.

“Working with Randy and the class has been extremely rewarding,” said Wolves Group Events Specialist Holly Simms. “After our presentation to the class, the students talked with Mike about marketing campaigns they were already contemplating. We love seeing their creativity so early in the project.”

The team is working closely with the instructor to ensure its learning points can be applied to what is being taught in class, to establish a grading scale, and to determine the best reward structure for top sellers. Students have access to a Chicago Wolves executive as a resource and the opportunity to strengthen their resumes with the experience and knowledge gained from this program.

“I think the program here at Oakton is really strong,” Ortiz said. “Our teachers are really well-connected, and they really bring their passions to the class.”

“It is our hope to use this relationship to provide an ongoing supply of interns and employees to the Wolves organization,” Felsenthal added.