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NBC Sports Management Guest Speaker

By Alecia Sexton
Staff Writer

Amy Schaffler, a planning director for advertisements and commercials at NBC’s Telemundo, spoke to students in the health and physical education department on Monday, Nov. 13 about her experience in the sports management field.

Photo by Alecia Sexton

Although Schaffler’s professional title is planning Director, she plays a huge role in things that affect average people every day, by managing both the money and business behind the commercials and sponsors that affect viewers’ decisions. A 2005 Syracuse University graduate, Schaffler worked behind the scenes on the Food Network for two and a half years. After that, she worked at ESPN for five years followed briefly by a CBS marketing position. The experiences she gained in these jobs led to her current position at NBC.

Schaffler put emphasis on the important steps of achieving a high position, whether it be in sports management or marketing or any area. She stated that it is not only important to work at a few different places, but to also spend time there. “When employers are looking at resumés, they want to be able to say ‘Oh wow, this person has had a wide variety of experience and has really put in the time at each place,’ which is definitely a benefit and sets you apart from other applicants,” she said.

Schaffler gave spoke about the deal between the NFL and media companies CBS, FOX, NBC, and ESPN to explain her work in sports management. In 2014, sports management planning directors put together the $39.6 billion agreement that assured these companies that until the year 2022, the Super Bowl would be aired on one of these stations, rotating the host every year. Over 115 million Americans tune into the Super Bowl each year, making commercial time for this event precious. Depending on the length of the ad, the host station charges between $2 to $5 million per commercial.

Schaffler also shed light on the multiple career options within sports management. Between devising campaigns with incentives and contracts that catch the eye of companies so they can buy advertising space on the network, securing liability policies, and juggling the multifaceted nature of balancing money and intercompany agreements, this field is jam packed with hands on advertising and marketing work.

Schaffler had one last word of advice for students. “Always be open to things. Don’t think that just because you went to college for one thing means that’s what you HAVE to do,” she said. “Your career post college will evolve. It can change and I think that [students] should embrace that and keep [their] eyes open. Talk to as many people as you can because everybody was in your shoes at one point.”

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