Behind every game is an industry: leagues negotiating media rights, brands building athlete partnerships, teams competing for audiences that now span the world. This summer, Summer Discovery brings high school students to the University of Oregon to study how that business actually works.
The program is offered through the Lundquist College of Business, home to the Warsaw Sports Business Center. Warsaw was the first sports business program in the country housed within a business school, and it has spent decades training the people who now run brands, leagues, teams, and agencies around the world. Students take the course on the Eugene campus, taught by Lundquist faculty, and study the same concepts a business student would meet: strategy, branding, sponsorship, media, and fan engagement.
Oregon is one of the centers of the global sports industry. Nike's world headquarters, adidas North America, and Columbia Sportswear are all based in the state, alongside a dense cluster of sports technology and outdoor recreation companies. Eugene is home to Hayward Field, one of the most significant venues in track and field, and the surrounding region supports professional franchises across the NBA, WNBA, MLS, NWSL, and Minor League Baseball. Students study the business of sport in a place where that business operates.
Hiking Spencer Butte
Hayward Field, Autzen Stadium and Matthew Knight Arena
Downtown Eugene and Saturday Market
McKenzie River rafting
Eugene Emeralds at PK ParkUniversity of Oregon Lundquist College of Business Programs
The Lundquist College of Business is home to the Warsaw Sports Business Center, the first sports business program in the country housed within a business school. This summer, Summer Discovery students take one specialized course, taught by Lundquist faculty, exploring how the global sports industry actually operates.
Sports are global businesses connecting athletes, teams, brands, media companies, and millions of fans. Over two weeks, students examine the industry through brands, athletes, leagues, media, marketing, fan engagement, and emerging trends, working through case studies, discussions, and collaborative business challenges. Students analyze how organizations build brands, create fan experiences, and respond to shifts in technology and culture, then present recommendations supported by business research and industry analysis.
Instructor: Peter Stolpe, Assistant Teaching Professor of Sports Business and Undergraduate Program Manager, Warsaw Sports Business Center
Stolpe joined the Lundquist College of Business after 25 years in the global sporting goods industry, working with brands including Nike and adidas across product creation, marketing, sports marketing, sales, and communications.
Spend two weeks at the University of Oregon's Lundquist College of Business, examining the sports business across seven lenses: brands, athletes, leagues, media, marketing, fan engagement, and emerging trends. Case studies, discussions, and collaborative business challenges put you inside real decisions. How a league grows an audience. Why a brand signs one athlete and not another. What happens to a sponsorship when the culture around a sport shifts. You'll learn to see sport as a system, not a scoreboard.
The University of Oregon is nationally recognized for sports business education, and it's also home to world-class athletes and NCAA programs. Your course is taught in the Warsaw Sports Business Center's own building, by that same faculty, and it culminates in a real business problem of your own to solve. You'll take an industry question, work it through with your team, and build a recommendation supported by business research and industry analysis, then present it to your instructor and peers.
The industry runs on the NFL, the NBA, Major League Baseball, global soccer, college athletics, and the Olympic movement, and you'll study how business works across all of it. You'll also examine one of its fastest-moving stories: the rise of women's sports. The WNBA and NWSL are building commercial value at a pace few parts of the industry can match, female athletes are gaining visibility and influence, and Olympic sports including track and field and volleyball are expanding alongside them.
Academic Tuition
Housing
2 meals per day, lunch and dinner
Extracurricular activities and excursions every afternoon, evening, and all weekend long
Transportation for included activities
Application Fee
Airfare and airport transfers
Meals eaten off campus
Medical Expenses
Note: Some courses and academies have additional academic fees. Contact a program specialist for more information at +1 (516) 447-4907.
Tour athletic facilities, including UO's Hayward Field
Pick up games at the UO recreation center and athletic fields
Rafting on the McKenzie River and hiking near Eugene
Tour Nike's campus and visit the employee store
Attend a professional sports game (details to come)
Campus movie night"I learned and enjoyed my courses and I'm sure I'll be able to put them into practice in my future studies and college life. Without a doubt, I advise future Summer Discovery students to meet new people and enjoy every moment!"
CristinaSummer Discovery Alumni, UCLA
"Summer Discovery supported my dream of becoming a doctor. After being able to experience what studying medicine is like and learning about the different parts of the human body, diseases, or even doing lab practices in a real hospital, I know this career path is for me."
SofiaSummer Discovery Alumni. UT Austin
"I learned and enjoyed my courses and I'm sure I'll be able to put them into practice in my future studies and college life. Without a doubt, I advise future Summer Discovery students to meet new people and enjoy every moment!"
CristinaSummer Discovery Alumni, UCLA
"Summer Discovery supported my dream of becoming a doctor. After being able to experience what studying medicine is like and learning about the different parts of the human body, diseases, or even doing lab practices in a real hospital, I know this career path is for me."
SofiaSummer Discovery Alumni. UT Austin
