BALTIMORE, Md. – Morgan State Vice President/Director of Athletics,
Dena Freeman-Patton, participated in the Baltimore Business Journal's panel on The Business of Sports. The event was held at M&T Stadium, Home of the Baltimore Ravens.
The event opened with a fireside chat with speakers Baltimore Ravens President, Sashi Brown and Baltimore Orioles President of Business Operations, Catie Griggs.
Freeman-Patton was a part of a five-member panel that discussed the NIL landscape to business leaders, as they learned more about the business industry in a networking environment.
A full list of panelists can be found below:
Mandy Allendorfer, Executive Director, One Maryland
Sean Eggert, SVP, Global Sports Marketing, Under Armour
Dr. Steven Eigenbrot, Vice President of Athletics, Towson University
Dena Freeman-Patton, Vice President/Director of Athletics, Morgan State University
John Minadakis, President, Jimmy's Famous Seafood
Freeman-Patton Quotes from the Event:
Opening Statement and Personal Background with NIL…
"We were always in the mindset of thinking bigger and doing what's best for our student athletes. Building that culture. The conversation about NIL was never about whether we would provide these opportunities, it was more about how."
On the NIL Landscape and Its Impact on College Sports…
"I think there has been a change in the landscape and how we do things. I think it impacts recruiting. We don't talk about that as much but it does. Getting players and keeping players. We had a football player, who had the opportunity to transfer. We don't talk about culture enough but it's still important; that you have the right culture and culture sells. His name is Elijah Williams. You may be familiar with him now. He's in the NFL playing his rookie season with the Minnesota Vikings and made the 53-man roster. He could've left Morgan, but he did not. He graduated and got his degree. He had an NIL deal with Harbor Bank. Even though we're not giving the millions and hundreds of thousands of dollars out, as long as we do right by our students and give them something and make them still feel valued while they're with us, I think there's an opportunity to grow. We have more opportunities now with NIL than we had in the past and we at Morgan do look at it as an opportunity."
