The University of Oregon has launched an Olympic Studies Hub as part of the Lundquist College of Business, making it the first United States member of a network of Olympic research centers.

The Olympic Studies Hub will be housed in the Warsaw Sports Business Center and will focus on the study of the Olympic Games and the “Olympic Movement,” a global initiative that uses sports to promote understanding. 

According to Yoav Dubinsky, the operational director of the studies hub, there will be a focus on four key pillars: Experiential learning, research and studies, business and philosophy and multidisciplinary collaborations.

“It’s not just something small (that starts and ends) at Warsaw and Lundquist College of Business,” Dubinsky said.

Dubinsky recognized the long history and relationship between UO and the Olympic Games through Nike, as the Nike company is a partner of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committees.

According to the center’s website, Eugene’s long-standing connection with track and field, the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials and more than 100 alumni who have competed in the Olympics makes it a “special place in the country’s Olympic ecosystem.”

“Much of what the Olympic Studies Hub will do is further emphasize (what) has manifested so far through guest lectures, site visits and study abroad programs where we meet different Olympic stakeholders,” Dubinsky said.

Part of the research of the Olympic Studies Hub is scholarly work at the university level, including sports business courses like SBUS 255, Business of the Olympic Games. It will also include research collaborations with other units of UO like the School of Journalism and Communication and the Bowerman Sports Science Center, and other members of the Olympic Studies research network. 

Lausanne, Switzerland is home to the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic Studies Centre and was named the Olympic capital of the world. 

According to Dubinsky, it recognizes 80 academic institutions from 29 countries as part of the research network. To become a member, UO had to meet criteria which included having a course in the curriculum, like SBUS 255, and ongoing activities that engage both the academic and professional world with a focus on sports business.

Some of the collaborations include study abroad programs. Dubinsky is the faculty leader of the study abroad program Global Sports Business, where students can learn about business strategies and priorities in London, England. 

For students in the Sports Business Masters of Business Administration program, they have opportunities to visit New York City or various cities in Europe to visit Olympic stakeholders or previous Olympic host cities.

Dubinsky said that as Los Angeles will host the 2028 Olympics and Salt Lake City will host the 2034 Winter Olympics, other schools will likely “see value” in the research network and begin to participate.

“There is significance in being the only one,” Dubinsky said. “But I’m not sure that we will be the only ones going forward.”