The Applied Sport Management Association (ASMA) is one of the largest annual gatherings in the United States of scholars and practitioners. And since the focus is on sports, why not add some friendly competition to the conference?
Imagine the sold out crowd of basketball fans cheering wildly as Archa pulls an arrow from her quiver and dips its tip into a cauldron of fire. She flexes the bow, and then launches the burning arrow, with pinpoint precision, across the arena just as the members of the St. Louis Arch emerge from a smoke-filled tunnel and dribble onto the court. The inaugural season of women's professional basketball in St. Louis is underway.
The WNBA has already announced three expansion teams that will join the league over the next two years, and the league has said it will add a 16th team to begin play in 2028. Will that team be in St. Louis? Four Saints made a pretty compelling case.
Adam Pfleegor, Ph.D., associate professor of management, hand-picked his team to compete in this month's Dr. Samantha Roberts Case Study Competition at the University of Cincinnati. One month prior to the conference, participating institutions receive case study information and guidelines. This year, they had to choose a city for WNBA expansion and develop a marketing plan that would generate buzz and drive ticket sales.
"We didn't want to pick an obvious city, but we did want to choose a location that would have all of the right ingredients," said Abby Trinkle '26. "The more research we did, we thought St. Louis was perfect."
Abby and her teammates – Abby Daly '26, Joe Lemry '26, and Anthony Rouse '25 – produced their case study document, which included details on the team name, mascot, and more, and made their pitch to a panel of judges over a 15-minute presentation. A total of 26 colleges and universities participated and Siena finished third within its division. That's pretty good, right?
"We hate losing more than we love winning," Abby joked. "But we were proud of the effort we put into our presentation and how it turned out."
While in Cincinnati, the Siena squad also toured the city and participated in a team building adventure at Activate – the world's first active gaming facility.
"We had an incredible time working together and playing together," said Pfleegor. "I am very proud of the Siena case team this year. They represented Siena and the Siena College Sport Management Program extremely well. While at the conference, they also got a chance to network with faculty and practitioners across the country and attend sessions on contemporary issues in sport."
And if the WNBA announces a new St. Louis franchise for 2028, you heard it here first.
