Panel discusses women in the sports industry

Students and community members came out to the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium Wednesday for the second annual sports symposium presented by Women in Sports and Events or WISE. 

This year’s WISE Symposium, called “A Word to the Wise: Testing the Limit," aimed to examine the future of sports events and contained a panel of eight professionals in the sports industry, including professionals from the Major League Baseball Network, Under Armour, ESPN and New York Road Runners.

Dennis Deninger, Professor of Practice in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, served as the moderator.

The panel discussed various sport related topics such as measuring the success of an event, social media and it’s importance in the field and advice to students entering the sports management field.

“It takes a lot of endurance to be in this business, this is a fun fun place to be”, said Shana Gritsavage, Director of global events for Under Armour. “We’re not saving lives, however we are making some people’s lives a little bit better and that’s what sports does.”

Laurie Orlando, senior vice president of talent developing and planning at ESPN, spoke about women entering the male-dominated sports industry, explaining to the audience that women sports professionals often need to work harder than the men in their field.

“The one thing I tell every single woman I meet with is you’ve got to be the best one in the room,” said Orlando. “If a woman makes a mistake like that, suddenly, ‘You know, I didn’t think she could do the job anyway’. But if a man makes that mistake, ‘Ah, you’ll get it next time.”