Morgan Bates ’22 grew up in Houston as an avid sports fan, a passion she would later use in her future career endeavors. According to Bates, Rice’s prestige and network provided the ideal opportunity to discover and follow her passions.
“As a Texan, Rice was the obvious choice," Bates said. “As the most prestigious degree in Texas with connections in Houston, I knew that I could discover my academic and personal passions at Rice. Moreover, I was attracted to the small class sizes and access to faculty, which has completely transformed my college experience.”
Another reason why Bates was intrigued about furthering her academic pursuits at Rice was because of Rice’s unique Social Policy Analysis degree. According to Bates, in addition to the Social Policy Analysis major, her lifelong interest in collegiate sports led her down another academic route, Sport Management.
“After growing up a huge collegiate sports fan, I was drawn to the Introduction to Sport Management course, even though I didn’t actually need to take it for my Social Policy Analysis major," Bates said. "I quickly fell in love with the content of the degree path and the faculty. In that class, I was exposed to the reality of working in the sports industry.”
Once Bates declared the Sport Management major, the time came for her to pick one of the major’s three concentrations. According to Bates, the Sport Law concentration worked out perfectly as she was able to combine her passions.
“My degree concentration is in Sport Law,” Bates said. “Ultimately, that aligned my passion for policy and sports perfectly. Through the Sport Law concentration, I was exposed to the best courses to take to prepare for law school.”
Like every Sport Management major at Rice, Bates was required to complete an internship during her time in the program. According to Bates, the reality of working in the sports industry came to fruition when an internship under a Rice graduate provided new avenues for her to explore collegiate sport law.
“I interned for Bond, Schoeneck, and King, PLLC in the Collegiate Sport Law Division, under the guidance of Richard Evrard, a Rice alum,” Bates said. “My experience at BSK was unmatched. I was tasked with researching the new Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) regulations and how they differ across states. Through this internship, I was exposed to the practice of collegiate sport law in a large firm, which is one of my main career ambitions.”
"Morgan performed with confidence and maturity beyond her years," Evrard said. "We were all quite impressed with her understanding of the somewhat complex matters that she was asked to respond to and especially with the product that she produced for her assignments. Morgan has an internal gear that gives her the ability to quickly comprehend, reason through and respond to the task at hand. We are grateful for Morgan's participation and contributions to our practice."
Following her internship and continued studies, Bates went on to establish her own LLC, Main Street Sport Consulting. According to Bates, her motivation behind Main Street Sport Consulting was to help Rice athletes adapt and benefit from the NCAA’s NIL policy changes.
“I created Main Street Sport Consulting to represent Rice athletes in and around the Rice University area,” Bates said. “With the new rules on name, image, and likeness, I wanted Rice athletes to have the opportunity to participate in the new benefits.”
Bates currently has eight clients including Nicole Lennon (volleyball), Antonio Cruz (baseball), and Ashley Messineo (cross country/track & field). Once her LLC was formed, Bates was then tasked with finding potential partners who matched her clients’ needs and interests. According to Bates, she was focused on strengthening the ties between Rice athletes and the local communities.
“I am extremely passionate about the relationship between university athletics and local communities,” Bates said. “Given the resources provided for Division I athletic programs, I believe that athletic programs and athletes should have the opportunity to give back and represent the community around them. At Rice, I aimed to connect Rice athletes with local businesses in Rice Village and surrounding areas.”
Through her internships and work experience, Bates has paved a path that has allowed her to pursue her academic and personal passions during her time at Rice. Following her graduation from Rice in May, Bates will enroll into the School of Law at the University of Texas.
Reed Myers, a junior from Paradise Valley, Arizona, is double-majoring in Sport Management and Psychology.