After studying Formula One for much of the past academic year, MSc Sports Economics student, Ronan Fahy, has secured a leading role with AIM Sport, one of the world’s foremost sports marketing companies.
Impressed by Ronan’s research into trends that determine F1’s viewership figures in the United States, AIM Sport offered him the opportunity to start with the Swiss based company.
As part of the MSc, I looked at what drove Formula One viewership figures in the US.
To try and explain the peaks and troughs, I studied things like race scheduling, the quality of the field, and competing broadcasts.
Ultimately, my objective was to discover the factors that drive audience numbers in the US.
Although I didn’t know it at the time, my research aligned with what AIM Sport do in the world of football.
As a Sport’s marketing company, Aim Sport work with broadcasters, elite clubs and globally renowned brands to manage the pitch side advertising systems that we all see in some of Europe’s most prestigious competitions.
Having developed intricate advertising models to promote the objectives of brands, clubs and broadcasters, AIM Sport have become one of Europe’s leading sports marketing companies.
As such, Ronan will be working with a team that deals with nearly 400 football clubs across Europe, including some of the biggest and most prestigious in the game.
It’s an incredible opportunity for me. I’ll be working beside facilities staff who manage the perimeter advertising at venues, electricians, graphic designers, along with representatives from clubs and sponsors.
I’ll be joining the company as an understudy to the Chief Growth Officer to learn about the business and its operations.
As part of the role, I’ll also get the opportunity to deploy some of the econometric models that I leaned on in my research project.
The role will also allow Ronan to explore some of the challenges he encountered during his tenure as the captain of UCC Swimming from an alternative vantage point.
Like most student clubs and societies, UCC Swimming is perennially attempting to raise money or secure enough sponsorship to help students compete at intervarsity events.
This meant that throughout his time as the Club Captain, Ronan worked with colleagues to connect with local businesses and helped to stage creative fundraising events.
Running a club can be challenging from a financial perspective. Your pot of money can only go so far, but you want to be able to support every member.
We had doubled the size of the club, which is a testament to the work that we were doing, but it also meant that our financial challenges had grown in tandem.
So, in order to support all our members, we needed to fundraise and to reach out to businesses for sponsorship.
We achieved our goal after we staged a series of fundraising events and MCX Training & Development came on board to support us.
I was a little surprised when the guys at AIM Sport mentioned how impressed they were at what we had achieved, which goes to show how these experiences can add up for you in the end.
Originally an Arts graduate, Ronan has not followed the conventional path into the world of sports marketing.
Although Ronan had majored in economics as an undergrad, his knowledge of specialist subject areas like econometrics and mathematical economics was limited.
However, after receiving guidance and support from Dr Robbie Butler, Ronan excelled and even worked as a tutor within the Economics Department.
Dr Robbie Butler was hugely excited by my research proposal when I first approached him about the MSc.
He immediately recognised that Formula One hadn’t received much attention from researchers and that it would prove a unique case study.
Even before I had formally enrolled in the programme, Dr Butler was sending me papers on similar research that had been undertaken in Germany so that I could hit the ground running.
He was always on hand to offer support while also encouraging me to think independently.
With the support of Dr Butler, Ronan is in the process of finalising his research thesis, before submitting and formally joining AIM Sport as their new Bid and Business Associate in the Autumn.