In addition, more than 20 major sports sponsoring companies, including Anheuser-Busch, McDonald's, Coca Cola, NIKE, General Motors, and Ford, and half of the major sports media, including Sports Illustrated, FOX, ABC and Turner have been Sports Poll clients. The result of that work led to the his creation of the Sports Research Foundation in 2000. Currently, Dr. Luker consults with sports clients on strategic planning as applied to sports marketing and how to make the strongest connection with sports fans. Clients include Anheuser-Busch, BellSouth, MCI, Sony, and Sports Illustrated. Dr. Luker's goal for the sports marketing program at Concordia promises to enable students to gain experience in this growing field.
Most programs emphasize facilities and athletics management.
The opportunity Concordia has, being centrally located in the U. S., is to establish meaningful relationships with the major corporations involved with sports marketing. My hope is to be able to transition my business with these companies to Concordia based projects and services. Rich Luker earned his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. He has been on the faculty of Temple University, where he worked primarily with doctoral students conducting large media effects studies. Also, he has taught graduate level research courses at Temple University and Bowling Green State University.