Alumnus Fuels Global Reach for McCormack

December 3, 2021

A global leader in sport management education, the McCormack Department is proud of its international footprint, comprised of alumni working in, and helping shape, the sport business ecosystems of cou

takehiko nakamura.jpeg
A global leader in sport management education, the McCormack Department is proud of its international footprint, comprised of alumni working in, and helping shape, the sport business ecosystems of countries across the world. For international students who enroll in Amherst for on-ground work, the picture of a typical career path is often anything but typical.

For McCormack’s 2015 “Alumni on the Rise” award winner Takehiko Nakamura (’04 MS), the course hasn’t always been clear. Nakamura’s home country of Japan historically assembled amateur sports leagues as platforms for corporate pride, rather than as part of an independent commercial enterprise. The seeds for a flourishing sport business industry were planted as the Japanese Professional Football League, or J. League, was founded in 1992. Momentum continued as Japan co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Witnessing these developments, Nakamura was part of the first wave of ambitious Japanese students who came to America to study sport management. Taking on the challenges of learning a new language and competing within a master’s-level cohort full of burgeoning future stars head on, Nakamura refined his skill set and became immersed in the business.

Upon graduating from the McCormack Department’s one-year master’s program in 2004, he moved to New York to join a startup league with big dreams: Major League Soccer (MLS). After six years serving as an international business manager with MLS, Nakamura took a job with La Liga’s FC Barcelona. Following a year with Barcelona, he joined a New York City–based startup, LeadOff Sports Marketing, as a consultant. Building bridges between east and west, all while continuing to learn English, Nakamura had established himself as an expert in international sports management and business development.

International Accomplishments

In 2015, Nakamura started to feel the itch for change. “I was jealous, everybody had something they were proud about regarding their native country. MLS was a new soccer league built by the Americans. FC Barcelona was a symbol of the Cataluña region and people. Alessandro Del Piero was a god to the Italian fans,” Nakamura explained. “I was always the international player on the roster. I felt like one day I wanted to help the Japanese sport industry be noticed and grow globally.”

Despite having graduated from UMass Amherst a decade earlier, in 2015, Nakamura felt an inspirational ‘nudge’ from his alma mater when he was awarded one of its most prestigious awards. “Many people have to be behind [the Rising Alumni Award] to select you, so it gave me a real confidence boost,” Nakamura reflected. “I thought, If I was given this award, I should really give it a try.”

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Nakamura moved quickly and founded Blue United later that year. Blue United is a New York City–based firm which provides international sports consulting services. Among his proudest accomplishments is Blue United’s efforts to found the Pacific Rim Cup, which Nakamura considers the “last frontier” for soccer. Hosted in Hawaii’s Aloha stadium, the Pacific Rim Cup showcases teams from America’s MLS as well as Japan’s J. League. (In photo at left, fans and players engage during the 2018 Pacific Rim Cup.)

Nakamura’s dedication to his roots extends to his McCormack family. In 2016, as Blue United continued to grow, he helped negotiate a partnership between McCormack and the J. League’s educational arm, Sport Human Capital. McCormack faculty members Janet Fink, Steve McKelvey, Matt Katz, and Will Norton traveled to Tokyo between 2015 and 2018 and delivered signature lectures to league executives and sponsors on sport sponsorship, sales, marketing, and consumer behavior.

Educational Connections

More recently, Nakamura facilitated an agreement between McCormack and Pacific League Marketing, a sales and marketing joint venture representing the six clubs in Nippon Professional Baseball’s Pacific League. As a part of this global partnership—now being renewed for another term—research and best practices from the McCormack curriculum are extended to Japanese baseball’s management ecosystem, facilitating collaboration and new research lines. These educational deals exist within the Department’s McCormack Center for Sport Research & Education, run by Director Will Norton.  

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“Take’s vision and work ethic are second to none. I enjoy working with him because he has a special knack for connecting east and west, and for keeping his eye on the educational synergies that can exist between our academic institution and Japanese sport industry practitioners in the field,” says Norton (pictured at right with Nakamura). “As he continues to evolve, he’ll always be a special member of our McCormack family. We’re grateful to call him an alum.”

This past year, Nakamura mentored Stefano Pacella, a master’s student from Italy enrolled in the program during the challenging year of Covid-induced remote learning. Grad mentors are a signature part of the master’s program, and a role that Nakamura has filled several times since his days as a student.

During their conversations, Nakamura realized that Pacella’s international experience and entrepreneurial spirit were a terrific fit for Blue United. Today, Pacella works for Blue United, spearheading efforts to develop expertise integrating NFTs (non-fungible tokens) within sport. Meanwhile, Nakamura remains a trusted advisor to international students like Pacella, and these relationships illustrate another way in which alumni support is so critical to department success and positive student experiences.

Nakamura views his connection with McCormack as a two-sided relationship. “Without the program’s help, I wouldn’t be here.” As he continues to forge his path, he knows that he can’t, and won’t, do it alone. He’ll continue to rely on the experiences and networks which he developed in Japan and as a member of the globally renowned UMass Amherst sport management program.

By Jack Davis '22 MBA/MS