Huntington High School sports marketing students rode into Manhattan on the Long Island Railroad for a behind-the-scenes look at Madison Square Garden, one of the world’s legendary arenas.
The teenagers participated in an all-access tour of the famed sports and entertainment temple located on 7th Avenue at 33rd Street, above Penn Station.
Huntington High School business teacher Paige Furman.
Teacher Paige Furman and 23 of her business students looked forward to the trip for weeks. The group had an opportunity to experience up close and personal the marketing principles of product, price, place and promotion. Business teacher Suzi Biagi also accompanied the students.
Once at their destination, group members were given a VIP tour, complete with a history of the storied site and details of a recent multi-billion dollar renovation.
“There was a great addition to the tour this year that included an interactive virtual reality experience, where the students were able to use VR headsets and experience a Billy Joel concert and a Rangers game,” Mrs. Furman said. “It felt like we were on the actual stage and it gave us a whole new understanding and appreciation of how stadiums work.”
Mrs. Furman has been bringing her students to Madison Square Garden for many years. The tour and displays around the arena fit perfectly into the course curriculum and provide many opportunities for valuable on-site teaching moments. Students thoroughly enjoyed the time they spent at the facility.
“My favorite part was getting an inside look at the suites and going on the court,” freshman Jack O’Brien said. “The locker rooms were really interesting and I liked getting to experience the virtual reality goggles.”
Highlights of the day included stops in the New York Knicks and New York Rangers locker rooms and visits to the Lexus suites, Delta lounge and Chase Bridge concert seats as well as floor level seating areas.
Mrs. Furman earned a BS degree in marketing at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia in May 2004 and a master’s degree in business education at Hofstra University in December 2011.
She worked at Chanel, Inc. as a marketing coordinator from August 2004 until November 2007, when she moved to Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy as a marketing manager, a position she held until January 2010.
Prior to coming to Huntington, Mrs. Furman worked as a leave replacement business teacher in the Sewanhaka (January-May 2012) and Plainview-Old Bethpage (August-November 2012) school districts.
Huntington’s sports marketing course is a one semester, half-credit course offered to students on every grade level, but recommended for college-bound business and marketing majors and “anyone interested in the field of sports and its impact,” according to the high school curriculum guide.
“This half-year course is designed to provide an insight into the executive level decision-making and analyzing in sports marketing,” states the curriculum guide. “Case studies and news media will be used to position the student in the role of a sports marketer. Suggested topics that will be explored are: an orientation to marketing as it relates to the sports industry, market analysis, athletes making economic choices, professional sport trades, supply and demand in sports, financial analysis of teams, the sports labor market, discrimination in sports and sports promotion. Classroom instruction will be reinforced through outside use of guest speakers, a field trip to a stadium, videos and the internet.”
