Published on November 6, 2015 by Kara Kennedy  
Sports Marketing

Samford University’s Brock School of Business sports marketing program has entered into an alliance with Affinio, a leading audience-insights company based in Canada. Samford students will use Affinio’s unique social media analytics tools to develop unprecedented insights into fan behavior related to college and professional sports teams, sports leagues, sports brands, sports sponsors and high-profile athletes, according to Darin White,  founder and coordinator of the program.  

Through this alliance, Affinio will provide Samford sports-marketing students the ability to undertake projects with college and professional sports teams that reveal previously untapped insights that exist within a team’s fan base. These projects will shed light for the first time on the diverse personas that make up the fan base, and what players and brands they are most influenced by, discuss, share, and ultimately care most about.

“Our alliance with Affinio reflects our focus on developing the next generation of sports industry executives,” White said. “With Affinio, our aim is to equip Samford students with an outstanding business education, highlighted by a unique sports social media analytics curriculum.”

Samford’s sports marketing program in Brock School of Business is one of the only programs of its kind housed in an AACSB-accredited business school.

“Samford’s sports marketing program is a unique opportunity,” said Affinio CEO Tim Burke. “Professor White’s students are already exposed to some of the most innovative marketing methods in the industry, and we’re looking forward to seeing how the next generation of sports industry executives implements Affinio’s insights.” 

Samford’s sports marketing program offers students a chance to develop their skills for a career in the $500 billion global sports marketplace. With faculty considered leaders in their field and out-of-classroom experience, students can combine their passion for sports with professional training unmatched by any other AACSB business school in the South.

White is a leader in the field of sports marketing. He serves as chair of the American Marketing Association Sports Marketing SIG, the premier international academic body responsible for advancing scholarly research in the field of sports marketing.

For more information about the program, go to samford.edu/business/sports-marketing-concentration.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.