FIFA MASTER ALUMNI - WHERE ARE THEY NOW? – SEAN DEMPSEY

Sean Dempsey

Current Position: Vice President, Global Sponsorships - Sports and Governance at Citi

Year of Graduation: 2015 (15th edition)

Nationality: American

 

What does your current role involve?

At Citi, I work on the Global Sponsorship team in a role with dual responsibility; sponsorship governance and strategy and property activation.  My primary function upon joining was oversight of the global sponsorship portfolio through data analysis, risk management, and strategic guidance of property acquisition. As our sponsorship portfolio expanded with an increased focus on global sport properties, I have taken on added responsibility in the day-to-day management of current properties in the Premier League, Formula 1, PGA Tour, and Major League Baseball along with work streams related to general sporting landscape analysis for new property acquisition. 

 

Which aspects of the FIFA Master course have helped you most in your career?

The structure of the FIFA Master programme promotes both a diversity in cultural understanding and nimbleness in knowledge application. In moving from module to module or sport to sport, the course enhances one’s ability to adapt in the work place providing alumni with the ability and expertise to capitalize on diverse projects in our globalized industry. Since graduation, I’ve performed two different roles in two different functions within sport. The FIFA Master provides a foundation for its alumni to be more proactive in defining their career in sport due to the unique and broad experience you attain in your one year on the course. Similarly, the opportunity to engage with like-minded yet diverse classmates and alumni accelerates the acquisition of the soft and hard skills necessary to become effective leaders within our future organizations. 

 

What advice would you give future students on the course?

Listen. 

Through the FIFA master, you are injected into a pseudo – reality show with 30 strangers with their own experiences, expertise, and goals. Whether you come to the course as a lawyer, marketer, journalist, or seasoned sport executive, you should truly listen to your classmates and lecturers and engage the experience with a beginner’s mind. Your level of engagement with and openness to the course, and all that comes with it, will determine the value you receive but more importantly offer to those you interact with throughout the year.

 

 

FIFA Master - International Master in Management, Law and Humanities of Sport, ranked No.1 Course in Europe 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019 by the SportBusiness International global rankings.

Organised by CIES in partnership with De Montfort University (United Kingdom), SDA Bocconi School of Management (Italy) and the University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland).

Discover more examples of inspiring FIFA Master alumni career paths by clicking here.