Full coverage of Rice at the 2024 Olympics
Rice University’s sport management students have had real-life learning opportunities at some of the world’s most prestigious professional sporting events, including the Super Bowl, World Series and more. Now they’re adding the Olympics to their list.
For three weeks during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, a group of 22 students from the program, which is ranked No. 1 in the country, are taking courses in venue management and the business of professional sports at the Rice Global Paris Center, located in the historic Marais district in the City of Light.
“When Rice first announced they were opening a campus in Paris, we immediately thought about the 2024 Olympics,” said Clark Haptonstall, professor in the practice and chair of the Department of Sport Management. “When they asked our faculty for classes that could be taught this summer, we jumped at the opportunity to be in Paris during the Olympics.”
“These classes are exactly the kind of learning experience that Rice’s campus in Paris is meant to foster — popular courses for our students that, because of this location, are able to engage with Paris’ robust sport management industry and doing so at the very time that the city will be hosting a once-a-century Olympic Games,” said Caroline Levander , Rice’s vice president for global. “Paris last hosted the Olympics in 1924, and Rice students who attend beach volleyball under the Eiffel Tower or tennis in the Stade Roland-Garros will carry these experiences with them for the rest of their lives.”
“Business of Olympics” is being taught by Tom Stallings , a sport management professor in the practice. The course will examine how the Olympic Games became a big business — from the vision of resurrecting the ancient Olympic Games to bring a world closer together to a global event that generates billions of dollars. The course will cover various revenue streams and historical perspectives of the business behind the Olympics.
“This has been an eventful 2024 for our students who have worked the college football national championship game, the NFL Honors ceremony, the Houston Open, the NHL Awards show, the ESPYs, Copa America and now getting to experience the Olympic Games in Paris,” Stallings said. “We are so thankful for the support of the School of Social Sciences and Rice Global for their help in making our undergraduates’ experience so meaningful and valuable.”
“Event and Venue Management” is offered by Steven Rackley , a sport management professor in the practice. The course will focus on the practical applications and principles relating to managing venues and events and how the various factors work together to create a positive experience for customers and clients.
Rackley said he is “so excited to play a small part in making this trip a success.”
“What an exciting opportunity for our Rice students to come over to Paris and be part of the Olympics,” Rackley said. “There’s not a greater sporting event in the world, and to be here in person is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Dr. Haptonstall, Professor Stallings and the Rice Global Paris Center staff have worked tirelessly to ensure the success of this trip for our students.”
Students will be attending four different Olympic events — track and field, soccer, tennis and beach volleyball.
“It’s especially exciting that our students will be visiting some of the main sport venues in France for these events, including Stade de France, which hosted the 1998 World Cup and many other major sport events; the Parc des Princes, which is home to the Paris Saint-Germain football club; and the Stade Roland-Garros, where the French Open is held each year,” Haptonstall said. “If that wasn’t impressive enough, the beach volleyball venue is located at the base of the Eiffel Tower.”
Part of the students’ work in both courses will involve comparing the venues to each other and to other well-known facilities they have visited in the U.S. Rackley said the goal of the class is for students to look at each event in a way they haven’t before.
“The students are learning to assess each event and truly evaluate all of the planning and detailed organization that has gone into it to make it happen,” he said.
Rice sport management student Julian Puerto said his interest in the Paris courses came from his curiosity for venue management and business in pro sports.
“When people talk about study abroad experiences being life-changing, it’s safe to say that when you combine a global city like Paris with the Olympic Games, you’re bound to get just that — a life-changing experience,” Puerto said. “Genuinely, though, the program has provided me with opportunities that seem beyond imagination. Whether it’s identifying the intricacies of venue management at renowned sporting venues like the Parc des Princes or exploring every corner of Paris and its culture — the sights are breathtaking — there’s never, ever a dull moment as a sport management student studying abroad.”
And the additional opportunity to travel across the world was impossible to pass up, Puerto said.
“All of it speaks to the dedication the Department of Sport Management and the university as a whole has toward providing opportunities to their students,” he said. “I’m thankful for them and for the professors who took the time and effort to make this happen as it’s creating amazing memories that will last a very long time.”
Anna Xia, an international student double-majoring in sport management and mathematical economic analysis, called the experience “eye-opening.”
“We are learning a lot about Olympic cultures — it’s my first time watching the Olympic Games in person — while fully exploring the city,” Xia said. “Together with my classmates, we’re exploring various French cuisines every day and the blend of classical art and modernity, which also enhanced our friendships. Every day with professors and classmates is a new adventure.”
While the students will not be attending the opening ceremony — which for the first time will not take place in a stadium but on the famed Seine River via boats for each country participating — they will participate in a watch party with other Rice students who are in Paris studying during the Olympics.
“Our students are the best of the best and have so many opportunities while studying in our department, but we fully expect they will look back on this as a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Haptonstall said.
More information on Rice’s Department of Sport Management is online here.