Spencer Brod Blog - 5/23

Sleeping in until 11:00 AM felt like an absolute blessing. I’ve been totally drained the last few days and two extra hours of sleep fueled me up for an exciting day. We left the hotel around 11:05 to meet Chinese students at the China University of Political and Science and Law, which was around an hour away. 

Once we got to the school, a 24-year-old sports law student named Daphne picked Ryan, Jason and I up from the bus and took us to the dining hall. The dining hall looked quite different from the ones at Syracuse — more spacious with various options. I got thick noodles with beef, which were pretty solid but messy. During the lunch, I learned that Daphne is a hard-core runner and avid soccer fan. We spent around 45 minutes in the dining hall before heading over to a classroom for a lecture and case study. 

When we got to the classroom, Professor Wolohan prepared a slideshow on American football and its growth. While some information was repetitive to me and the Americans on the trip, American football isn’t very popular in China, so it was an informative lesson for the Chinese students. Still, I learned some interesting new information about the birth of football and how it developed. For example, I discovered that Rutgers beat Princeton 6-4 in the first football game ever, in 1869. American football also evolved from rugby, which I didn’t know about. In addition to learning about how American football was born, the slideshow included some mind-blowing numbers on the sport’s economic growth. In May 2026, the Big Ten reported roughly $1.47 billion in revenue for the term running from July 2024 to June 2025. In 2023, the NFL generated $18 billion — a testament to how fast the sport has grown recently. 

Then it was time for a case study competition. We broke up into groups of four (with a few exceptions), and Jason and I were paired with Chinese students named Xavier and Jerry, who are studying sports law. Our goal was to determine and analyze the flag football market in China and assess whether expanding into the country is viable. The four of us spoke about BOTH the positives and negatives of possible expansion, citing the sport's safety and inclusivity as reasons for optimism, but competition from other sports (e.g., badminton) as a negative. Xavier and Jerry’s English wasn’t perfect, but they were still able to speak the language. The project followed similar guidelines to our group project for the trip, with an emphasis on the 4 P’s and a target audience. Since flag football is most popular among youth in the US, we decided to target teenagers, both male and female, to ensure inclusivity. 

The case study was super time-sensitive, but made me think critically in a short amount of time, a skill I’m actively working to improve. From a business and marketing perspective, I think we presented strong arguments both for and against expanding flag football into China. Our group collaboration was outstanding, as we all contributed an equal share to the overall project. It was an absolute pleasure to work with Jerry and Xavier, and I even got Xavier’s Instagram afterward. 

After a quick pit stop at the hotel, we headed to Workers Stadium to watch a Beijing FC soccer game. I’m not the biggest soccer fan, but the atmosphere was epic, even if security was a hassle. Beijing ultimately lost, but was up 1-0 when I left around the 65th minute. While soccer is far from my favorite sport and I didn’t have my glasses to see the field clearly, attending a sporting event in another country is an experience I’ll never take for granted. 

Overall, I’d give the day a solid 8/10. I felt fresh and ready to go in the morning, and working with Jerry and Xavier was definitely a highlight. Navigating security at the game brought the grade down, but it was still a fun experience.