UD grad turns passion for sports into career

In 1992, Scott Janess graduated from the University of Dayton with a degree in sports management. At the time, this new degree field was not widely offered by many colleges and universities. But today, with the sports industry one of the fastest growing in the U.S., many students are choosing the field of study.

Janess graduated from high school in Chicago and chose UD mainly because his older siblings attended.

“I went to Catholic grade school and high school and wanted to continue that experience,” Janess said. “It was a natural progression for me to go to UD.”

Like many freshman, Janess hadn’t yet decided on a major and enrolled as “undecided.”

Janess’ love of basketball led him to the sports management program and eventually, an internship in Cleveland with IMG, a sports and talent management company, during his junior year that helped launch his career in marketing sporting events. After graduation, he moved to Cleveland to work for IMG full-time.

“I started out working on a project with IMG’s founder, Mark McCormick,” Janess said. “He was a pioneer in sports management.”

The company, now a global leader in sports, events, media and fashion, helped Janess jumpstart his career and when he was just 24, he was transferred to Dallas to open a new IMG office.

“I ended up doing behind the scenes work for PGA golfers,” Janess said. “I ran Serena Williams’ first tennis tournament in 1997.”

But in 2000, Janess left IMG to return home to Chicago and launch his own company, inPLAY Events, which he would develop for the next 14 years.

“I come from an entrepreneurial family,” Janess said. “It’s in my blood. I like the idea of calling my own shots.”

By the time Janess sold his company in 2014 to KemperLesnik, a Chicago-based company that specializes in sports marketing and public relations, his business was producing 88 wine and food festivals across the country. Janess is now vice president of events for KemperLesnik and oversees a team selling, producing and staging the events the company owns or produces for others.

In December, Janess was excited to be managing an event with UD’s men’s basketball team, that took place in Chicago.

“We own the Maui Invitational and UD has also played in that,” Janess said. “We run the McDonald’s All American Games, an elite high school tournament and we handle CBS Sports classics as well as virtual reality tours for NASCAR.”

And when Janess looks back at his time at UD, he said he is grateful that the university had a program that helped him turn his passion into a successful career.

“The overall sports management program was interesting to me at the time because it was all still being defined,” Janess said. “I didn’t know whether I would be going in and selling sponsorships or working with ball parks. I was exposed to a lot of unusual things along the way.”

Janess credits the UD program for helping him get the coveted internship at IMG, a company that frequently received nearly 1,000 resumes for only 25 intern positions.

And over the years, he has learned how best to reach audiences and successfully market events.

“Technology has opened up all sorts of opportunities to follow teams people wouldn’t normally be exposed to,” Janess said. “Now you can catch international soccer games and watch them on your phone.”

Janess’ company works to target younger audiences where they are – through social media and the Internet, which he called “game changers” for the company.

“The way we program advertisements to our events has certainly changed over the years,” Janess said. “We no longer do those traditional media buys for 60- or 30-second spots and the industry is more competitive than ever.”

The sports management industry started out attracting 10,000 candidates and today, nearly 100,000.

“People look at this as their passion,” Janess said. “But I suggest that young people volunteer at sporting events to build their resumes. What I noticed at the age of 22 was how important it is to build a solid network. It’s a foundation that won’t go away.”

Janess’ brother and his family still live in the Dayton area so he returns regularly.

“I love seeing the progress of the university,” Janess said. “Students today are so fortunate. The new buildings are spectacular and it’s a true college town. When I was at UD I truly believed it was the best school in the nation for me. And I still believe that.”

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