Sport management students head to Milwaukee

The Mathy family was generous again this year, and gave Viterbo students the funds necessary to attend the Sport Management Night opportunity with the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday, April 10. Various students from all majors (primarily sport management and leadership) took a bus down to Milwaukee, Wis., to attend a day filled with both fun and professional events. Professors Alissa Oelfke and David Waters, along with career services Alyssa Gostonczik facilitated this event for Viterbo students.

The Productions and Operations Management class (MGMT-447) students took a tour of the Milwaukee Brewers Miller Park and the Miller brewery. Professor Alissa Oelfke said, “We got a real behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to run a facility as large as Miller Park, including sizeable heating and A/C units, beverage transport (through lines that feed through the entire facility), grounds-keeping (using sun lamps to grow the grass on non-game days), scoreboard operations, team operations (food and laundry service, etc.) and press operations.”

There they were able to see the original property where the brewery began and where the beer was stored in “caves,” an underground facility that was kept cool by using large chunks of ice brought in during the winter months which kept the product cold all through the summertime. Touring them, they saw the giant brewing tanks and learned about the process of making beer, and how alterations in the way the grains are roasted help change the flavoring and coloring of the beer.

They were able to see the production facility where cases of beer were coming off the line quickly. She said, “We were surprised at how few workers there were in that facility due to the great deal of automation.” Being able to see the loading docks and warehouse facility and having students learn about the volume of cases of beer being put into storage and then loaded onto trucks every day. What a great experience for this class while also being able to relate it to their material.

The sport management and leadership students then continued on to the Fiserv Forum for the Milwaukee Bucks Career Day. They toured the new arena and got the chance to interact with professionals in the sport industry. Later on, after the professional activities were over, students got to roam Milwaukee and try their preferred cuisine, and then attend the Milwaukee Bucks versus the Oklahoma Thunder game. The Milwaukee Bucks were defeated at their home court by the Thunder 127-116.