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Throughout the programme, the students of the MSc in Sports Industry Management benefit from company visits allowing the cohort to experience first-hand what working in the sports industry entails and discover the different business sectors within this industry.

On Monday March 24th 2014, the current cohort took a field trip and visited the international sports brand Babolat, best known for its strings and tennis rackets which are used by several top players including Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick. During their visit, the students met with 12 representatives of the company.

The day started off with a welcome coffee with the Human Resources team of Babolat. Communication Director, Thomas Auton, joined the group and introduced the history of Babolat and the role of the Communication Department within the company.

The visit continued with Gaël Moureaux, Rackets Product Manager, accompanied by EMLYON student Eric Perez doing an apprenticeship at Babolat. Both of them presented the Product Marketing activity of the company as well as one of their latest products: the PURE DRIVE PLAY racket. The students also met with two representatives of the Euro-Subs Trade Marketing Department, Philippe Julien and Naomi Bearcroft, an EMLYON graduate now working for Babolat. Furthermore, Jean-Christophe Verborg and Marion Cornu, a student of EMLYON interning at the company, highlighted the partnership and sponsorship policies of Babolat which was particularly interesting to the students.

After getting a good insight into the Sports Marketing activities of Babolat, Giovanni Pietra, Sales Director, presented the three key markets of the company to the students: the United States, Japan, and France. At the end of the day, the cohort took part in a Round Table session and met with Eric Babolat, company owner, who took the time to answer the students’ questions and share his experience with them. 

"I definitely enjoyed the visit. I play tennis myself so Babolat is one of the companies I am the most interested in. The entire day was very interesting and one moment in particular stands out: Eric Babolat spent time with us and shared his insights on the company and his personal background. He was very welcoming and very down to earth despite all the success he has had with the company. Furthermore, we had just spent a week studying product marketing and product development and that was directly applicable to everything we learned about their latest product BABOLAT Play, the first connected racket." Leslie Hureau, current student of the MSc in Sports Industry Management programme

Company visits are great opportunities for the students of the MSc in Sports Industry Management to see for themselves what working in the sports industry means, ask questions to sports industry experts and build their professional network while searching for an internship.

Want to know more about the programme and the different networking events students take part in? Follow this link: http://graduate.em-lyon.com/en/MSc-in-Sports-Industry-Management/Careers-Network