The partnership between AUT and Auckland FC is providing invaluable opportunities for the university’s first-year sport marketing and management students to engage first-hand with a professional sports organisation.
AUT’s Sport & Recreation Senior Lecturer, Dr Sarah Wymer, says, “What makes the AUT | Auckland FC partnership so valuable is the access our students have to the club’s real-world challenges. It’s not just a case study, the organisation has been open with us and that means students can engage with current, complex issues that professionals are actively working on.
“At the start of the semester, AUT alumni who are now working at Auckland FC visit our class to introduce the club and outline key challenges from the inside. From there, students spend the semester researching those challenges and developing strategic marketing initiatives in response. This level of openness is rare. It gives students a true understanding of how sport marketing plays out in practice and helps them see how their learning connects to future careers,” she says.
Commenting on how AUT’s partnership is impacting her studies, AUT Bachelor of Sport, Exercise and Health student, Tara Murphy says, “Through our Auckland FC assessment work, we’re being given opportunities to broaden our understanding and perspectives, while also connecting us to the community and a range of diverse initiatives taking place at the club.
“We’re gaining real-world experience of the different factors and roles in successfully managing a sports organisation. Our studies are very much connected to the club’s everyday challenges and scenarios and we’re fortunate to also get the chance to network within the sector,” she says.
AUT graduate and current Auckland FC intern Amy Walker says, “I recently finished studying sport and recreation at AUT which opened the door to an internship with the club. Within just three months of graduating, I found myself back with AUT, this time speaking in a lecture to first-year students in what felt like a full-circle moment, having so recently been in their shoes. I have enjoyed staying actively connected to the AUT community and I hope to continue doing so,” she says.
Auckland FC assessments are embedded throughout the semester and to support this work, students are introduced to “Jack”, a custom-designed AI industry agent who plays the role of Auckland FC’s marketing manager.
Jack gives students personalised feedback on their ideas, challenges their thinking, and simulates the kind of strategic back-and-forth that happens in real sport marketing roles. Jack helps students refine their initiative by asking questions like, “What’s your call to action here?” or “How will this stand out to fans already bombarded with content?”
Weekly news about the club including match results, media coverage, and social media activity is also woven into classroom discussions and tasks, helping students stay close to the pace of professional sport and build confidence applying theory to practice in real time.
A selection of standout student marketing ideas will also be shared with Auckland FC at the end of the semester, giving students a chance to see their work considered in a real-world context.