Clark Haptonstall, who serves as the Chair of the Department of Sport Management, was recently quoted in an article by the Beaumont Enterprise, the newspaper for Beaumont, TX, providing advice for how Beaumont’s newest sports franchise can find success in the market.
The Texas Bighorns, Beaumont’s semi-professional arena football team in the inaugural National Gridiron League, will face an uphill climb as they enter a market that has seen four teams come and go in the previous 15 years. However, Haptonstall says there are some things the Bighorns could do to ingratiate themselves with the city.
“It can be working with the media, or speaking at events”, Haptonstall said. “[I]t can be a fan interactive event with Ford Arena, but there has to be a different touch point where people can experience the team and build brand equity… [which] can be made easier if the Bighorns find talent or staff with names that resonate in Southeast Texas.”
Many professors in Sport Management provide the media with their opinions. For example, Professor in the Practice Tom Stallings provided the Houston Chronicle with his insights about the economic effects of the Astros winning the World Series in 2017. Professor Haptonstall is uniquely qualified to discuss sports marketing and public relations as he previously ran his own sports marketing and public relations firm, where he worked with clients such as the Houston Dynamo’s Brian Ching and the Houston Texans’ James Casey.
Christopher Zupan, a senior from Houston, Texas, is double-majoring in Sport Management and Economics.