At the Twin Cities Campus’ Carlson School of Management in April, teams presented a marketing strategy case for Midco Sports to be able to compete with similar large companies, such as ESPN, Amazon Prime, and Bally Sports, in both linear broadcasting and streaming.
Students composing UMD’s team were Kale Johnson (Professional Sales and Marketing double major), Brenden Mayhew (Professional Sales and Marketing double major), Kiley Reno (Marketing and Professional Sales double major), Ryder Rolbiecki (Health Care Management and Business Analytics double major), Henry Ross (Marketing major), Savan Sant (Marketing Graphic Design major), and Lauren Simkins (Professional Sales and Marketing double major).
“Our team worked closely together to brainstorm and refine a variety of strategic ideas for the case,” said Johnson, who graduated in May.
“We used the slogan ‘Every Game is a Home Game’ because we wanted to target the Midwest homey feeling of games to reach audiences from all over who have a previous connection to Midwest sports and those who don’t have a connection but could be interested because of special deals,” said Simkins, who also graduated in May.
Each person had a role in the creation of the case or presenting.
“I introduced the theme of our presentation and set the scene for what our team was trying to accomplish with our marketing strategy,” said Simkins.
Rolbiecki, also a May graduate, helped with the marketing research related to Midco Sports and its industry of sports broadcasting. He also helped create and present one of the team’s business initiative proposals.
“Understanding the core principles of marketing and communication provided me with the framework to build my research and findings,” he said.
“As president of our chapter, my role in the competition was to ensure that every aspect of our project was thoroughly executed and nothing was overlooked,” said Reno, an incoming senior. “I also took the lead on conducting primary research to strengthen our recommendations and ensure our strategy was grounded in real-world insights. So overall, my focus was on keeping the team aligned, detail-oriented, and driven by data throughout the process.”
Johnson was responsible for creating and presenting the slides focused on pricing and promotional strategies for his team.
“Specifically, I covered our cable and streaming bundle recommendation, along with a zip code–based streaming model that allows users to access teams in their local area instead of choosing sports by category. I also helped shape how we would promote these strategies through targeted advertising and in-game promotions, including announcer mentions and short teaser ads during broadcasts.”
Mayhew, an incoming senior, helped identify the target market and create the consumer personas.
“I also designed the mock-up of the website and app redesign for Midco Sports with the help of Sant.”
Helping to create slides and presenting to judges were also tasks Sant, an incoming senior, undertook, while Ross, an incoming junior, researched social media initiatives and solutions.
The valuable skills and specific knowledge gained in classes were applied by students in their competitions.
“My coursework has helped me build strong presentation skills, understand core marketing concepts, and become comfortable conducting research and developing insights for strategic projects,” said Johnson. “Having a foundation in these areas made it easier to step into leadership role during the competition and deliver with confidence.”
He is starting a full-time position in sales with HILTI.
“Marketing research played a key role in helping me prepare for the competition,” said Reno. “I used what I learned to design a survey for our primary research, which helped us gather meaningful insights to support our strategy. Understanding how to frame questions, interpret data, and turn it into actionable recommendations gave our project more depth and credibility.”
“My Capstone Sales class with Dr. Stephen Castleberry helped me for this competition by making me more confident when speaking in front of people,” said Simkins. “I also think that Dr. Matthew Lunde’s Social Media Marketing class was beneficial for this competition because we practiced making content, learned about what works on a social media page/website, and created our own marketing strategy for Duluth businesses.”
Additionally, the students recognized the importance of participating in competitions.
“They push you to apply what you've learned in a high-pressure, real-world setting,” said Reno. “They help build critical thinking, time management, and teamwork skills—while also giving you a chance to see how your ideas stack up against the others. For me, it was an opportunity to step into a leadership role, think strategically, and really test my marketing knowledge in a hands-on way.”