During his recent visit to Falk College, sports marketing expert Brandon Steiner (center) visited with sport management students. From left to right, Dashiell Geller, John Mastrangelo, Griffin Goldberg, Grey Gutfreund, Steiner, alumnus Andrew Amell, Erin Moore, Livia McQuade, and Tynan Weathers.

When you combine a great storyteller with a lifetime of great stories, you get . . . Brandon Steiner.

Steiner, who graduated from the University in 1981 and served as founder and chairman of Steiner Sports Marketing and Memorabilia for more than 30 years, visited the earlier this fall to speak with students from the Falk College’s Department of Sport Management. Steiner is chair of Falk’s .

From his humble beginnings growing up in a low-income neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, to working his way through ���ϲ�����, to the creation of Steiner Sports Marketing and Memorabilia, and to the formation of his current companies, and , Steiner had plenty of colorful stories and business advice to share with the students.

Steiner first met with students from two sport management classes: Assistant Teaching Professor ’ Principles of Sport Management class and David B. Falk Endowed Professor of Sport Management ’s Managing the Sports Organization class. Following the classes, Steiner had lunch with eight current sport management students (and one alumnus).

We asked two of those eight students, Erin Moore and Tynan Weathers, to discuss their experience with Steiner. Here’s what they wrote:

During Brandon Steiner’s meeting with sport management students, his “discussion on both the NIL space and women’s sports brought in real world cases of how he viewed issues and solutions,” Tynan Weathers says.

Erin Moore ’25, sport management major, emerging sport enterprise minor

“When given the opportunity to attend a lunch with Brandon Steiner, I couldn’t pass it up! From the moment he walked through the door, his passion for the sports industry was undeniable. Listening to his stories about working with New York Yankees legends like Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera was incredible and they showcased his passion for building personal relationships with clients and consistently delivering beyond expectations.

“It was also inspiring to hear how he’s mentoring younger players, like current Yankees infielder Oswaldo Cabrera, to help them develop not just on the field but in their careers beyond it. During the lunch, he stressed the importance of going the extra mile, thinking outside the box, and developing strong relationships—values that have been key to his success in the industry. Overall, I’m incredibly grateful to Mr. Steiner for taking the time to share his insights with us and to Falk College for offering such a unique opportunity.”

Tynan Weathers ’25, sport management major, food studies/business minors

“Talking with Brandon Steiner was certainly an enlightening experience. I thoroughly enjoyed the stories he detailed to us with subjects ranging from Derek Jeter to Oswaldo Cabrera. Mr. Steiner has a passion for the sports industry as well as a major passion for ���ϲ����� and specifically the sport management program. His discussion on both the NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) space and women’s sports brought in real world cases of how he viewed issues and solutions.

“However, my favorite portion of the discussion is the fact that he seemed genuinely interested in our backgrounds, as he asked questions to learn more about who we are and our areas of interest moving forward. A major piece of advice I took away is the importance of being able to dedicate time and make sacrifices that others aren’t willing to make. That’s what puts you ahead of your competition.”

Steiner Student Support Fund

Last academic year, Steiner worked with the Falk College advancement team and Department of Sport Management to create the Brandon S. Steiner Sport Management Student Support Fund that “supports health, housing, education and overall well-being of ���ϲ����� undergraduate students enrolled in the Department of Sport Management in Falk College.”

The Steiner Student Support Fund awards support for a single academic year, and students can apply for funds by completing . A student can’t be awarded funding more than twice.

In addition to the Steiner Student Support Fund, there are other opportunities and awards available to students in the Falk College. Please visit the page on the Falk website for more information on how to apply.

Kathrine Switzer, who has been at the forefront of change in women’s sports for more than 50 years, spent a recent afternoon speaking with students in the Sport Management “Race, Gender and Diversity in Sport Organizations” classes.

When Kathrine Switzer ’68, G’72, H’18 famously became the first woman to officially run in the Boston Marathon in 1967, women in the United States could not apply for, yet alone own, their own credit cards.

In fact, women weren’t allowed to own credit cards until 1974, when the enabled women and minorities to obtain credit cards and loans. That was a critical time for women in America, and Switzer continued the athletic and social revolution she started in 1967 by winning the New York City Marathon in 1974.

“In the 2024 New York City Marathon (on Nov. 3), there will be 52,000 runners and 27,000 will be women, and you can bet that all 27,000 have their own credit cards and will spend millions of dollars in New York City,” Switzer told students during a recent visit to the .

Kathrine Switzer will be the featured guest on an upcoming ’Cuse Conversations podcast with host John Boccacino. The podcast was recorded in the Falk College podcast room and is scheduled to air in early December.

Switzer, an emeritus member of the Falk College , visited ���ϲ����� and Falk College Oct. 24 for a variety of reasons, including a discussion with ���ϲ����� Libraries’ about creating a collection of Switzer’s artifacts related to her career and women in running. Switzer discusses this collection, her time at ���ϲ�����, her Boston Marathon experience and more in an entertaining ’Cuse Conversations podcast scheduled for early December.

At Falk, Switzer spent the afternoon speaking with students in the sport management “Race, Gender and Diversity in Sport Organizations” classes taught by , assistant professor of sport management. From breaking barriers in the Boston Marathon to becoming the driving force behind the inclusion of the women’s marathon in the Olympics starting in 1984, Switzer has been at the forefront of change in women’s sports, and she encouraged the students to “let your mind run wild” when thinking of the impact they can make.

“Look at the format of the (2024) Olympic Games in Paris and the events that took place there,” she said. “Whoever heard of half of these (sports), but they’re inspiring and viable. You have so many things you can get involved in and get creative with.

“Things may not be easy,” she added. “You’re going to hit a lot of brick walls, people may laugh at you, but stick with it, finish the job, and try to create something wonderful–and you will.”

Switzer has never stopped running–she is the first woman to run a marathon 50 years after her first one –and she has never stopped advocating for the inclusion of women in sports. In 2017, Switzer launched as a global nonprofit organization to empower and unite women through the creation of local running clubs, educational programs, communication platforms and social running events.

The number 261 is a nod to her bib number in the 1967 Boston Marathon that the race director tried to take from her. Switzer’s boyfriend, who was running along with her, pushed the director to the side and Switzer finished the race. Like Switzer on that day in Boston, 261 Fearless is focused on women’s empowerment and putting one foot in front of the other to finish the race.

“If you want to lift a woman up, show her how to run,” Switzer said. “We look at all the modern women out there running and there’s thousands and thousands of them, but there are also so many women across the world who are isolated or restricted by religious convention, or social convention, or social mores.”

Since its inception, 261 Fearless has trained and mentored over 500 coaches who have worked with nearly 7,000 women in 14 countries and five continents through education programs and women-only running clubs.

“After getting the women’s marathon in the Olympics Games, I thought that was great for women who can train and compete in a race. But what about those women under a burqa in Afghanistan or enslaved in their home with domestic abuse, how are we going to reach them?” Switzer said. “That’s what inspired us to create 261 Fearless.”

Brooke Siket ’25

“Suddenly, that old bib number became a number that meant fearless in the face of adversity,” she added. “From the worst things, come the best things. If something is wrong, there’s an opportunity to change it.”

At this year’s New York City Marathon–the 50^th anniversary of Switzer’s win in the event–261 Fearless created The Fearless 50, a team of 50 runners who are passionate about supporting women and understand the transformative power of running. As part of this initiative, The Fearless 50 hosted a fundraising brunch on Nov. 2. Falk College was a proud sponsor of that event, and Switzer was the featured speaker. The Falk College logo was also be featured on the bibs worn by The Fearless 50 runners.

Brooke Siket ’25, a sport management major in Falk and marketing minor in the , was one of the volunteers who worked at The Fearless 50’s events. Siket, who currently works as a facilities and game management intern for ���ϲ����� Athletics, was notified of this opportunity with The Fearless 50 through Internship Placement Coordinator and was offered the internship after an interview with Kim Chaffee, 261 Fearless’ administration and communications manager.

“I was invited to attend all their weekend events, including a panel with Peloton, a panel with Kathrine Switzer, the brunch to commemorate the 50th anniversary of her victory at the New York City Marathon and a cheer zone between Peloton and 261,” said Siket, who is a Falk College peer advisor and ambassador and a member of the team and the and (WISE) clubs.

“I am looking forward to marathon weekend as I will be able to interact with other volunteers, Kathrine Switzer and others,’’ Siket said before heading to New York City.

During the weekend, Switzer repeated various versions of the inspiring message that she gave to Falk College students during her visit when one asked about the best piece of advice Switzer had for them.

“Show up! Nothing happens when you stay at home,” Switzer told the students. “What’s out there may be scary, but you have to face it and that’s what opportunity is. When the world won’t give it you, you have to go out and get it.”

In 2018, Switzer delivered the Commencement address at ���ϲ����� and was awarded an honorary doctor of humane letters degree. To learn more about Switzer’s history and ongoing advocacy work, visit her website.

When then-high school junior Isabelle “Izzy” Kaplan visited ���ϲ����� in March 2023, the University had just announced it would be offering a new, first-of-its-kind degree program focused on esports starting in the fall of 2024. The program would be offered jointly by the and the .

Kaplan was already interested in majoring in communications, but she also enjoyed playing esports and was excited when she heard about this new major during her visit. When she later told her mother that she wanted to attend ���ϲ����� and enter this groundbreaking program, Emily Kaplan wondered what took her daughter so long.

“My parents support me being happy; they want the best for me,” Kaplan says. “They were there when I was told about this program, and they saw how my eyes lit up. When I mentioned it to my mom, she said, ‘You know, I’m surprised you’re just saying something about it now because I saw how you first looked, and I’d thought you’d immediately jump on that.’”

Kaplan, who’s from Long Island, New York, is now a member of the inaugural esports class. The program is unique because it features three tracks that combine elements of Falk College and the Newhouse School – esports business and management, esports communications, and esports media and design – and as Kaplan starts her academic career, she’s leaning toward the communications track.

But for now, first things first, and Kaplan is one of about 20 students taking Esports Executive Director and Professor of Practice ’s Introduction to Esports class. Gawrysiak says the introductory class is designed to help students understand the esports ecosystem how it operates in society and at ���ϲ�����, and to get them excited about the major because of the hands-on opportunities they’ll experience throughout all of their courses.

Esports Executive Director and Professor of Practice Joey Gawrysiak, shown here teaching the Introduction to Esports class, says ���ϲ�����’s esports program was built to prepare students for a successful career in esports and various other professions.

“An esports education is not about just classroom learning, and it’s not just about preparing students to work in esports,” says Gawrysiak, who built the esports program at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia, before coming to ���ϲ�����. “It’s about preparing them to have a very successful career by the time they graduate in whatever career it might be, whether it’s esports, esports adjacent, the entertainment industry, traditional sports, broadcast journalism, business, or whatever they might want to get into.”

As she navigates her first semester on campus, Kaplan is splitting her time with Newhouse and Falk, taking basic courses such as Communications 117 and 100 with Newhouse and Principles of Sport Management with Falk. To learn more about why Kaplan chose ���ϲ����� and the esports major, we sat down with her for this Q&A.

How did you get interested in esports? Had you ever considered a career involving esports?

I was 3 or 4 years old when I got my first video game. We loved playing Mario Kart and all the Super Mario games, and it’s been present in my life ever since.

I didn’t think about taking a career approach to it until about last year, because I actually found out about it when I toured ���ϲ����� for the first time. I was interested in communications, I was looking at Newhouse, and I met someone who was working on developing the (esports) program.

This was before any of these people (the esports staff) were here. So, it was still just an idea being developed and they said it’s a very new program, very experimental. Not a lot of other schools have tried it to this level, and I thought that was cool because I love video games, and I’m interested in the fact that it’s communications.

What was the discussion like with your parents when you told them you wanted to be an esports major?

They like innovation, and this was brand new. They were a little worried because especially over (COVID) quarantine, everyone was a bit of a hermit, and I was on video games a lot. And they were concerned that maybe I’d be playing it too much here.

But then I started explaining to them that it wasn’t really the playing aspect – it was more the communications, forming connections, and networking – and they were interested. They thought I could really do something with this, and they thought it was also super cool that this field is becoming more balanced with males and females.

Would you like to get more involved with the management and production side of esports events on campus?

Yes, I’d love to be involved. I’m helping right now with the development of a club team, which will hopefully be a varsity team next year.

And it’s not just me. Everything here is very group-oriented. You’re never alone doing this kind of stuff, which is nice, and I never feel like I have no idea what I’m doing. There’s always some sort of guidance or someone else who’s also clueless so you don’t feel as bad!

My main goal is to obviously be friendly with everyone here, but also find connections and network through this very connected area because everyone seems to know everyone in this. It’s a little scary, but it’s also super cool and convenient.

What do you envision your next four years will be like in this major?

For me and the program in general, everything is going to be very experimental because this is year one, it’s still brand new and so fresh. And I think that’s exciting because it’s a pilot program and everything’s still being developed. Classes are still being developed.

There are three paths that you could take with this, so that’s all still being figured out. And no one fully knows where you’re going to end up. But the fact that there’s a lot of flexibility with this makes it very interesting.

It’s going to be a good learning experience, not just as a student, but probably for everyone working here. And I think it’ll be successful.

This spring, Kaplan will have an opportunity to take the Business of Esports class with Gawrysiak, and the Esports Production class with Esports Communications and Management Co-Director and Newhouse Professor and College of Arts and Sciences Associate Professor . Gawrysiak says the students will be encouraged to engage in the program outside of the classroom by joining a team, helping to manage a team, managing one of the esports and gaming centers on campus, or taking advantage of travel abroad opportunities.

To learn more about the esports program, tracks of study, and experiential learning opportunities, please visit the web page.

Livia McQuade (center) with U.S. wheelchair rugby team members Joe Delagrave and Sara Adam. The team won a silver medal in Paris, and Adam became the first woman to compete on the U.S. wheelchair rugby team at the Paralympics.

For sport management major Livia McQuade ’25, the path from the to Paris for the Paralympic Games went like this:

After learning about an internship opportunity with the (OSG) on the Careers webpage, McQuade reached out to Internship Placement Coordinator for more information. OSG is a management and marketing agency that provides top sponsorship opportunities and marketing strategies for Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

Through Perez, McQuade learned that recent sport management graduates Elena Randolph ’24 and Jacob Bennett ’24 strongly endorsed OSG after both had interviewed with the organization and Bennett worked there as an athlete relations intern. From there, McQuade discovered that OSG’s Director of Athlete Relations ’16 was a sport management alumna and “connecting with her jumpstarted this experience from the first interview all the way to the Paralympics,” McQuade says.

“I preach that the Falk College is better known as the ‘College of Opportunity’ and this internship is the purest reflection of that,” McQuade says.

Thanks to her Falk connections and stellar academic background, McQuade spent this past summer with OSG in Loveland, Colorado. McQuade, the executive vice president of the in the Falk College and co-chair of the club’s 2024 , says she wants to work with the Olympic and Paralympic Movement following graduation and this internship has been an invaluable step in that process.

We asked McQuade to describe her experience working for OSG at the Paralympic Games in Paris and here’s what she wrote:

Livia McQuade (left) with Olympus Sports Group Director of Athlete Relations Jessica Leonard ’16. They’re standing in front of the Arc de Triomphe with the Agitos (the Paralympics logo) displayed on the Arc for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games (similar to the Olympic Rings on the Eiffel Tower).

“Over the summer and into this fall semester, I have been an athlete relations intern with Olympus Sports Group. I worked under OSG Founder and President and former U.S. speed skater Ian Beck and ���ϲ����� alumna Jessica Leonard, and much of my internship was centered around the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“Through the summer months and while four of our Olympic swimmers were competing in Paris, I worked on the backend reviewing and supporting contract negotiations for athlete partnerships, preparing athletes’ speaking outlines, updating athlete websites and project managing the upcoming book release for one of our most prominent athletes (Jessica Long).

“At the beginning of September, I took a hiatus from my classes in Falk to attend the Paralympics with OSG’s incredible leadership team and nine of our competing athletes. Our roles on the ground in Paris were largely dedicated to celebrating our athletes at their events; we cheered for Jessica Long in para swimming, Sarah Adam and Joe Delagrave in wheelchair rugby, Noah Malone and Susannah Scaroni in para track and field, Dennis Connors and Jamie Whitmore in para-cycling and Steve Serio and Trey Jenifer in wheelchair basketball. All while proudly decked out in USA apparel!

“All other responsibilities centered around any of our athletes’ media or speaking appearances. This included trips to Team USA House, Bridgestone House and Toyota House, as well as a luncheon with Bank of America and International Paralympic Committee Board members. Of all the places and moments we witnessed, the one that sticks with me the most is attending para swimming: Seeing the notorious Olympic/Paralympic-sized pool, being in a packed arena, and just being in that atmosphere was an ‘I made it’ moment for me.

“I am incredibly grateful and fortunate to work with Ian and Jessica at OSG. For the remainder of the fall semester, I am continuing to work with OSG in a limited role with the addition of our newly hired intern and capstonee sport management major (and ���ϲ����� track and field hurdler) Kirstyn Schechter ’25. While Kirstyn takes over the responsibilities I held this summer, I will focus mostly on coordinating media opportunities and schedules for the release of Jessica Long’s new book, “,” set to publish on Oct. 1!”

Interested in a career in the sport industry? Visit the webpage to learn more about academic programs, experiential learning, and career opportunities.

It’s the first partnership of this kind between an American college or university and a Japanese professional sports team. As part of this agreement, sport analytics students and faculty will work in different capacities with students and faculty from , which is located on the Japanese island of Kyushu.

Kumamoto Basketball Co., Ltd., President and Chief Executive Officer Satoshi Yunoue says partnering with ���ϲ�����’s prestigious sport analytics program will improve the team’s performance as it seeks to move from the Japanese B.League’s B2 league to the B1 league. The Volters open their season on Oct. 7.

“In recent years, the importance of data has been gaining attention, and we are confident that together with Kumamoto University, (���ϲ�����) will support us in the analytics portion and contribute to improving our winning percentage as we accumulate know-how in data analysis,” Yunoue said in a statement on the team’s website that was translated into English.

“We are excited to be able to work with ���ϲ�����, which is leading the way in data analysis in the field of basketball in the United States,” Yunoue added.

The Falk College’s partnership with Kumamoto is the next phase for sport analytics students, who already provide data analysis for 11 of ���ϲ�����’s athletic teams. In this photo, sport analytics major Dan Griffiths reviews performance data with track and field student-athlete Elizabeth Bigelow.

In serving as the Volters’ de facto analytics department, seven undergraduate and graduate students in sport management will remotely collect and analyze a variety of data, including player performance statistics, live game video, information from wearables that track performance data, and business and operations data.

“We are honored and excited about the partnership between Kumamoto University and ���ϲ����� Sport Analytics,” says Sport Analytics Undergraduate Director and Professor . “We look forward to providing statistical insights, building visualizations and models, and doing everything we can to help with the success of the Volters as we build what we hope to be a lasting collaboration with our wonderful partners at both Kumamoto University and the Volters.”

Under Paul’s leadership, sport analytics students have captured back-to-back National Sport Analytics Championships, and they have won numerous player and team analytics competitions in basketball, football and baseball. About 70 students are providing data collection and analysis for 11 of ���ϲ�����’s athletic teams, and other partnerships such as the one with Kumamoto are in the works both nationally and globally.

Previously, the Volters utilized staff members to analyze data on a limited basis. In addition to analyzing the Volters’ data, the ���ϲ����� students will help analyze data from opposing teams, and the collaboration with ���ϲ����� and Kumamoto University will help the Volters build their own data analysis team.

“We would like to use the Volters as a hub to connect university students in Kumamoto and America,” Yunoue says. “We are grateful for this connection, and we will become a team and work together as colleagues working toward this goal.”

Paul says this partnership speaks to the uniqueness of the sport analytics program because ���ϲ����� students will apply the skills they’re learning in the classroom to a variety of areas for the Volters that will benefit from data analysis.

“This is the next step in the evolution of our program where our students are working in a practical laboratory with a professional team in another country and all that goes with it,” Paul says. “These are the ways they can show off their skills, and with the different time zones they can wake up in the morning and see the score of the game and the results of what they did.”

Over the summer, sport management major Camila Malda ’25 (far left) interned with the Chicago Red Stars while sport analytics major Adelaide Gilley ’25 (far right) interned with the Houston Astros.

Adelaide Gilley, a senior in the Falk College’s program, already has an extensive resume of on-campus experiences. She is co-head of player performance for the ���ϲ����� men’s basketball team, vice president of membership for the Sport Management Club and co-chair of the club’s , to name a few. Now, she can add baseball operations intern for the to the growing list.

Adelaide Gilley

Gilley says a connection she made at a in Philadelphia that she attended through the Falk College last September helped her get the internship with the Astros for summer 2024. As a Houston native, Gilley says it was a dream come true to work for her hometown team.

Camila Malda, a senior in Falk’s , is originally from Mexico City, Mexico. She spent her summer as a corporate partnerships intern for the of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

Camila Malda

Her tasks included helping to organize and carry out the Red Stars’ Pride Night and a special game night at Chicago’s iconic Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs. The Wrigley Field game set a record for the highest attendance at a NWSL match with 35,038 spectators.

Malda says a fellow Red Stars intern in ticket sales is also a Falk College student, reinforcing a lesson she has heard from her professors: “You’re going to end up working with or under someone from ���ϲ�����.”

We spoke with both Gilley and Malda while they were in the middle of their internships this summer. The below videos highlight their experiences working with professional sports organizations.

During the academy, participants experience college life firsthand–residing in dormitories on campus, eating at dining halls, using university labs and facilities, and practicing with such industry software as Tableau and Excel.

“It’s helpful; moving in, especially. Knowing what I’ll need will make it easier a year from now when I’m moving into whatever dorm,” says Max Kaplan, a rising senior from Marietta, Georgia, who hopes that dorm is at ���ϲ����� next fall. Kaplan learned about the academy during a tour in March and plans to apply for early decision to the Falk College.

This summer’s schedule included trips to the ���ϲ����� Crunch, ���ϲ����� Mets, Highmark Stadium in Buffalo and the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown; speaking with industry professionals; and touring facilities. Back on campus, one of the activities had students complete NFL combine-style exercises while wearing Catapult Sports Technology vests that track performance data such as heart rate, blood oxygenation and energy expenditure. Students later analyzed that data and used it to hold a fun mock draft.

Students in the Berlin Sport Analytics academy take part in Esports Day, playing video games while filling out scouting reports to pick up on trends, strategies and behaviors.

“They’re getting a real taste of what it means to do sport analytics here at ���ϲ�����. A lot of what we’re doing is hands-on experience working with data in the same sort of way that they would as students here and as professionals,” says Assistant Professor , who organizes and oversees the Berlin Academy program.

This summer’s program included an esports day as Falk College prepares to launch its in tandem with the this fall. During the exercise, video games and analytics came together, demonstrating there is more to esports than just playing video games.

“While one person in the pair is playing, the other person is doing scouting reports. We are looking to do our best to simulate what in-game analytics would look like, the fast pace of it and marking off certain events that are happening, and looking at frequencies and strategies,” says Nick Riccardi, adjunct professor in the Falk College.

The academy brings students with an interest in the sport industry together, building long lasting connections and relationships.

Dani Dallas, an academy participant from San Francisco, was apprehensive after learning she was one of only three girls in her session, but those fears quickly went away.

“I’ve never felt singled out or different or like I don’t have as much knowledge about sports,” Dallas says. “Everyone has been super nice and welcoming. Even the guys in my class have just wanted to be genuine friends.”

Kaplan echoed a similar feeling about the group.

“Making friends is quite easy here because we’re all kind of in the same situation, so that’s been very nice and helpful,” Kaplan says.

. Visit the to learn more about the sport analytics program.

The Berlin Sport Analytics Academy is made possible through the generous support of Andrew Berlin ’83 and Falk College’s partners in the .

The , in collaboration with the and the Las Vegas-based guest experience agency , spent more than a year planning the event, which was held July 15-17 at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.

From left, Rick Harrow of Harrow Sports Ventures, Falk College benefactor David Falk ’72 and UNLV Sports Innovation Chief Operating Officer Jay Vickers are shown at the opening keynote address for the Sports, Entertainment and Innovation Conference (SEICon).

The event featured exhibitor pods, innovation labs, daily keynotes, seminars/sessions, alumni gatherings, networking events, roundtables and daily wrap parties with music entertainment.

“SEICon was a great success,” says Sport Analytics Professor , who helped organize the event. “The panelists were terrific, the Innovation Hub showed off incredible technology and the keynotes were incredibly informative. We are extremely proud of our partnership with UNLV and Circle and greatly look forward to future joint endeavors.”

Attendees met with industry executives while exploring the latest innovations in sports and entertainment, esports and gaming, sports sociology and diversity, broadcast brands and media, research and development, and more.

���ϲ����� Sport Analytics students Danny Baris ’26, Jessica Fackler ’26, Daniel Griffiths ’26, Marcus Mann ’26, Piper Moskow ’26, and Jonah Soos ’25 presented their research at SEICon’s Innovation Hub.

Among the ���ϲ����� alumni serving as panelists were Jesse Abrams ’13, Julie Nemeroff Friedman ’08, Jasmine Jordan ’14, Lori Robinson ’09, Chris Sotiropulos ’10 and Alyssa Wood ’15. Also, SEICon’s Innovation Lab featured alums Casey Miller ’08, Nick Twomey ’17 and Simon Weiss ’17.

Circle chief executive officer and Sport Management Advisory Council member Shawn Garrity ’86 serves as SEICon Director. The next SEICon event is scheduled for Nov. 19 in New York City.

In his work with the U.S. Track and Field team, sport analytics major Dan Griffiths attended the New York City Grand Prix Meet–the final meet for track and field athletes before the U.S. Olympic Trials.

The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics and Paralympics are here and representatives from the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics at ���ϲ����� will have an impact on this year’s Games–and, quite possibly, future Olympic Games.

The Falk College representatives who are involved in several unique ways with the Olympics and Paralympics include current Falk students Dan Griffiths and Livia McQuade, Department of Sport Management Associate Professor Jeeyoon “Jamie” Kim, and Sport Management graduates and former ���ϲ����� student-athletes Freddie Crittenden III ’17, Kristen Siermachesky  ’21 and Lysianne Proulx ’21.

Here are their stories:

Student: Dan Griffiths

Dan Griffiths spent this past academic year working with the ���ϲ����� cross country and track and field teams.

At ���ϲ����� and now with the U.S. Track and Field team (), sport analytics major Dan Griffiths ’26 is helping to revolutionize how performance data is collected and analyzed.

When Griffiths started working with the ���ϲ����� track and field and cross country teams before the 2023-24 academic year, the teams weren’t utilizing a data-gathering system. But the student-athletes were using Garmin wearables to track their own data, so Griffiths built his own application and a tool that transported all of their data into his application, which then created spreadsheets he used to analyze that data.

With Griffiths’ help, the ���ϲ����� women’s cross country team won its since 2011. Throughout the academic year, Griffiths conducted and presented his research at various national competitions and conferences, including the (he was runner-up in sport analytics research), and the inaugural Sport, Entertainment and Innovation Conference () last week in Las Vegas.

Griffiths’ success at ���ϲ����� and his interest in track and field led to his connection with USATF, which gave him the freedom to explore his areas of interest. Using a combination of the latest technology, Griffiths helped create three-dimensional models to best understand an athlete’s musculoskeletal forces.

“For throwers (discus, shotput, javelin), my work focused on using a pose estimation model to detect patterns that could be linked to longer, more powerful throws,” Griffiths says. “For sprinters and distance runners, I used pose estimation data to monitor overtraining and track progress throughout the season and before meets.

“I also conducted extensive research for multi-event athletes in the heptathlon and decathlon,” he adds. “This research aimed to understand how fatigue affects scoring in multi-events and how different training sequences can reduce fatigue.”

Griffiths shared his work with the coaches, and at least two of the athletes he analyzed will be participating in the Olympics: javelin thrower Curtis Thompson and 400-meter runner Alexis Holmes. During his time with USATF, Griffiths traveled to the New York City Grand Prix Meet–the final meet for track and field athletes before the U.S. Olympic Trials–and the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon.

“The thing we think about every morning is ‘How can we win another gold medal today?’” Griffiths says. “Having the opportunity to combine everything I’ve learned and truly be a trailblazer and innovator for USATF and those athletes, especially in a track and field biomechanics context, has made me uber-passionate about the work we are doing at ���ϲ����� and the future of AI/analytics and sports.”

The track and field events run Aug. 1-11.

Student: Livia McQuade

Sport Management major Livia McQuade will attend the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games to serve as a resource for U.S. athletes, their families and their sponsors.

Livia McQuade ’25 is a sport management major and sport event management minor who has spent this summer in Loveland, Colorado, as an athlete relations intern with . Olympus is a management and marketing agency that provides top sponsorship opportunities and marketing strategies for Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

In her role, McQuade has interfaced with athletes from the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams and their partners, and with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and other national governing bodies. Her projects have included reviewing contracts, building athletes’ personal websites and organizing outlines for athletes’ speaking engagements.

“I’ve had a truly incredible experience within the Olympic and Paralympic Movement–during a Games year of all times!” McQuade says. “Through it all, I’ve had the privilege to work with some of sport’s most impactful Olympians and Paralympians, including Apolo Ohno, Jessica Long, Noah Elliott, Sarah Adam, Alex and Gretchen Walsh, Alex Ferreira and Steve Serio.”

McQuade, the executive vice president of the in Falk College and co-chair of the club’s 2024 , says she wants to work with the Olympic and Paralympic movement following graduation and this internship has been an invaluable step in that process. Her experience with Olympus will continue in September, when she’ll attend the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games to serve as a resource for U.S. athletes, their families, and their sponsors. The Paralympic Games run from Aug. 28-Sept. 8.

“I could not be more grateful and excited,” McQuade says of her upcoming experience in Paris. “My leadership (at Olympus Sports Group)–Ian Beck and ’16–have thrown extraordinary opportunities my way, and they will remain valuable mentors long into my career.”

Freddie Crittenden III, shown here competing for ���ϲ�����, will represent the U.S. in the 110-meter hurdles event in Paris.

At the U.S. Olympic Trials in late June, longtime U.S. hurdler  ’17 qualified for his first Olympic Games by running a personal-best 12.96 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles. Crittenden finished second overall to teammate and three-time world champion Grant Holloway, who recorded a time of 12.86.

A public health major at Falk and former All-American for the ���ϲ����� track and field team, Crittenden just missed a bronze medal at the World Championships last summer and now at age 29, the Olympic Trials may have been his last opportunity to qualify for the Olympics.

“It feels amazing. Honestly, I’m still in shock and I’m trying to figure out what happened,” Crittenden said immediately after his Olympic Trials run. “But it’s an amazing feeling to come out here and accomplish what I’ve been trying to accomplish for the past 17 years. It’s beautiful.”

Two former sport management majors and ���ϲ����� student-athletes, rower Kristen Siermachesky ’21 and soccer goalkeeper Lysianne Proulx ’21, are alternates for the Olympics with .

Proulx is Team Canada’s third-choice goalkeeper, meaning she will be activated if either the starting or backup goalkeeper is injured. Although she didn’t start at ���ϲ����� until her junior season, Proulx recorded the fourth-most saves (281), second-most saves per game (5.3) and seventh-most shutouts (eight) in program history.

Since graduating from ���ϲ�����, Proulx has excelled in professional leagues in Portugal, Australia and now in the United States with of the National Women’s Soccer League. This past February, Bay FC acquired Proulx from Melbourne City for what Melbourne City described as a record-breaking transfer fee for an outgoing A-League player.

A native of Montreal, Quebec, Proulx represented Canada in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup and FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. She went to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup as Team Canada’s third-choice goaltender behind Kailen Sheridan and Sabrina D’Angelo, who have maintained their positions for the Olympics.

Former ���ϲ����� goalkeeper and sport management graduate Lysianne Proulx (center, with ball) is an alternate for Team Canada’s soccer team.

Like Proulx, Siermachesky will be available to her team if an injury occurs. But unlike Proulx, her path to Canada’s rowing team featured a different sport at ���ϲ�����: ice hockey. She played four years as a defenseman at ���ϲ����� and recorded a black-and-blue inducing 132 blocks in 125 games for the Orange.

After graduating from ���ϲ�����, the native of New Liskeard, Ontario, considered playing ice hockey overseas but decided to pursue her graduate degree in sports administration at North Carolina. She wanted to continue her athletics career, but North Carolina doesn’t have an ice hockey team. Then-���ϲ����� ice hockey coach Paul Flanagan suggested she try rowing and contacted the Tar Heels’ coach to make that connection.

Siermachesky’s athleticism and potential caught the eye of the Team Canada Development Team, which asked her to move to British Columbia to train with the national team. Just three years into the sport, she is now on the cusp of competing in the Olympics and it’s likely she and Proulx will remain in the mix for the next summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.

The rowing competition runs from July 27-Aug. 3, while the women’s soccer tournament started July 24 and runs through Aug. 10.

Associate Professor Jeeyoon “Jamie” Kim at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

Faculty: Jeeyoon “Jamie” Kim

 is an associate professor in the Department of Sport Management who studies the long- and short-term social and economic effects of hosting the Games and other major sporting events. Kim is the former manager of the Korean Olympic Committee, and on Aug. 8 she’ll present at the 11th International Sport Business Symposium in Paris.

Kim’s presentation will focus on how the , an Olympic-style event for athletes between 15 and 18 years old, can better impact their host city and support the aims of the Olympic Movement.

“The hope for Olympic sport participation legacy is grounded on the ‘trickle-down effect’ (i.e., watching Olympians compete will inspire youth to participate in sport),” Kim says in a recent Q&A. “For the Youth Olympics, the event can also be a steppingstone for younger athletes to compete on the international stage and grow to become Olympians. Additionally, the Youth Olympics offer many grassroots-level sport opportunities (e.g., sport camps, collaboration with local schools) to encourage the general youth to learn about Olympic sports.”

To combat youths’ dwindling interest in the Olympics, the International Olympic Committee added break dancing, sport climbing and surfing to the lineup for Paris. Kim says this is a critical time for the future of the Olympics as upcoming Games in Paris, Milan Cortina (2026), and Los Angeles (2028) will be held in traditionally strong sports markets where there are opportunities to increase interest.

“Paris 2024 will be the first Olympics to include breaking in the official program,” Kim says. “We will have to see how the event turns out. But, so far, looking at the Olympics qualifiers series and the ticket popularity, it seems like there is a lot of interest garnered for the sport.”

Kim spent five-and-a-half years with Korean Olympic Committee as a member of its International Games, International Relations and 2018 PyeongChang Olympics task force teams. While in Paris, Kim will conduct research in Korea’s Olympic Hospitality House and share her findings with students in her Olympic Sport Management and Olympic Odyssey courses.

And Kim plans to attend the women’s individual finals event of her favorite summer Olympic sport, archery. “Korea has been very strong in the sport historically, and it is always fun to watch a sport where my team does well,” Kim says.

So Darvin, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the in the , has dedicated her research and teaching career to creating greater equity in esports and gaming.

Lindsey Darvin

Darvin has emerged as a national leader in this area, and she was recently named a finalist for the (NACE) Scholar of the Year Award. The winner will be announced at the July 17-19 in Winter Park, Florida.

“It’s such an honor to be nominated for this award,” Darvin says. “I was thrilled to learn I was a finalist and excited to know that the work I have been doing to drive greater equity in the gaming and esports spaces has been recognized by scholars and practitioners across the industry.”

Nationally, Darvin is making an impact as associate editor of the (JEGE); co-chair of the esports mini-track at the January 2025 , where her goal is to advance esports scholarship and promote JEGE and publishing opportunities in the space; and a regular contributor to Forbes Magazine, where she writes columns such as about how an all-women’s Fortnite tournament is driving equity in esports.

On the ���ϲ����� campus, Darvin has been awarded Falk College seed grants to examine the culture of gaming for gender minoritized participants, and to study the processes of building community in gaming spaces for minoritized participants.

She also received a to work with two undergraduate students on a multi-level review of the underrepresentation of women and girls in esports and gaming (the manuscript is currently being developed). Overall, Darvin has received more than $22,000 in grants and awards for esports and gaming research projects.

Starting this fall, the University is introducing an , offered jointly by the Falk College and . The course that Darvin teaches, Race, Gender and Diversity in Sport Organizations, will be a required course in this new major.

Below, Darvin shares more about her motivation to create greater equity in the esports and gaming space.

For nearly three weeks, the students traveled from the Melbourne Cricket Ground to Cairns to the Great Barrier Reef to Sydney, Australia’s largest city. As part of their immersion trip, each student was required to contribute to , a blog that captured their day-to-day experiences.

The entire blog is worth a read, but here a few daily excerpts to get you started:

Rugby lessons in the park

Day 3: Julia Cronin ’26 (sport management major)

Our group walked to Victoria University, where we met with  Matthew Klugman, who taught us about the history and rules of Aussie Rules Football and the social impact of the game. After a captivating lecture, our group got lunch and headed to Flagstaff Gardens Park with Damian Hecker (“Damo”) to try out Aussie Rules Football. We started out with drills and then played a scrimmage game. I even surprised myself and scored a goal.

Later, we watched the St. Kilda Saints vs. Fremantle Dockers at Marvel Stadium (in Melbourne). We all got dinner at the stadium, and many tried the famous Australian meat pies and kangaroo meat! Our group understood the game much better after getting the chance to play it ourselves in the park earlier. Unfortunately, St. Kilda (Professor Burton’s favorite team) didn’t pull off the win but the game was so fun to watch nonetheless.

Day 6: Finley Dermody ’27 (sport management)

This morning, we started our day with a walk to the Twenty3 Group’s office, where we met with CEO  John Tripodi. He gave us a presentation on the (marketing) company that he started himself. It was fascinating to hear about his journey.

Next, we heard from Raphael Geminder ’82, G’84, a ���ϲ����� alum and chairman of the (packaging company) Pact Group, who flew in from Europe to speak with us. Geminder shared his experiences at ���ϲ����� and talked about sustainability initiatives at Pact. He talked about the circular cycle compared to the linear cycle, as well as the importance of a good role model over a good job.

We walked to the Melbourne Museum and had the chance to explore the museum prior to the official tour. We then had a guided tour at the Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre. The tour was very educational and gave us a deeper understanding of Aboriginal culture and history.

Snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef.

Day 9: Anna McDonald ’26 (sport management)

The trip to the Great Barrier Reef took about two hours through rough ocean waters. On the way there the boat crew taught us about the marine life we might see, proper scuba diving and snorkeling techniques, and told us what to expect from the day.

Arriving at the reef was beautiful, from the boat you could see some of the corals and the water was very blue. I got the opportunity to scuba dive for the first time, and it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. I got to see some many different types of fish and all the corals. After the first dive we ate lunch and had the opportunity to dive or snorkel again. This time I just snorkeled, which was just as cool.

Day 12: Leda Rossmann ’26 (history)

We arrived in sunny Sydney very excited for warm weather since it’s been pretty rainy in Melbourne and Cairns. We drove to Bondi Beach to visit the legendary Bondi Icebergs Swimming Club. The pools are saltwater and freezing cold. I was so excited to jump in. I was a competitive swimmer for most of my life so the water is one of the most calming and nostalgic places I can be.

Our bus driver took us on a guided tour of the Sydney sights. We saw The Gap and heard the story of Don Ritchie, who saved at least 180 people who were going to jump off the rocks. We also saw Lady Macquarie’s (rock) Chair, where she would look into the harbor to watch for ships bringing news of her family during the early colonization days. We saw some of Vivid Sydney, a light/art show in the harbor with lights into the sky and on the bridge and art projected onto the Opera House and other buildings.

Walking the Great Ocean Road.

Day 15: Doug Capdeville ’24 (communication and media studies)

After spending time on the beach and listening to a presentation about the local surf club, we headed to the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks rugby facility. There, we learned how to play rugby. The staff was super friendly and taught us the basics, which was really fun. We even got to try out some drills ourselves.

After that, we sat through a lecture by the Sharks’ staff. They talked about the team, their strategies and what it’s like to be part of the rugby community. It was really interesting to hear about the behind-the-scenes stuff.

The day ended on a high note with an exciting Sharks game, which was about an hour away from the rugby facility. The atmosphere was incredible—fans were cheering and the energy was off the charts. The game was intense and really fun to watch. From the beach to learning rugby and experiencing a live game, it was a day filled with awesome memories.

Day 17: Thomas Wildhack ’26 (sport management)

After an unforgettable two weeks, the final day had arrived. Fortunately, we had had another free morning, which gave some of us the chance to fit in one last adventure, and others to catch up on some much needed sleep.

I had previously found out that not only was June 1 the first day of winter, it was also the first day of whale season. Humpback whales would begin a great migration from Antarctica up the coast of Australia in search of warmer waters. I figured that whale watching would be a great way to go out on a big splash. Once we made our way into the ocean, it didn’t take long to find some activity. A few whales were splashing around, and swam over to the boat to show off their skills. I thought the whales would be scared of the boat, yet I learned many whales are incredibly curious creatures and often approach boats.

We finished off the trip with one final group dinner at the Great Southern Bar. We reflected on our favorite moments of the trip, and took one final group photo. All of us couldn’t believe how fast these last few weeks went by. We made memories that will last a lifetime and bonds that will last forever.

Visit the for the full story with daily excerpts. To learn more about other experiential learning trips, academic programs and career opportunities in the sport industry, visit the website.

During their immersion trip to Philadelphia in May, Sport Management students from the Women in Sports and Events (WISE) Club met with students from Temple University’s Women in Sport and Recreation Management (WSRM) Club.

The city of Philadelphia is one of 12 cities that host teams in the “Big Four” major sports leagues in North America: the Phillies of Major League Baseball, the Eagles of the National Football League, the 76ers of the National Basketball League, and the Flyers of the National Hockey League.  Also, the greater Philadelphia area has been the home of the Union of Major League Soccer since 2010.

In addition, Philadelphia hosts numerous sporting events throughout the year, including collegiate events and international competitions at world-class venues such as Citizens Bank Park and Lincoln Financial Field.

Over the course of four days in May, nine female students from ���ϲ�����’s visited Philadelphia to meet with numerous sports organizations and more than 25 sport industry professionals. The meetings included executives from several sectors of the industry, including PlayFly Sports, Zelus Analytics, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia Union, Leveling the Playing Field, Temple University Athletics and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA). The group also attended a Phillies game.

Jake and Suzanne Doft have sponsored the trip for the past three years in honor of their daughter, Class of 2022 Sport Management graduate .

The students on the trip included Jacqueline Dipaolo, Charlotte Howland, Kate Hubbard, Livia McQuade, Erin Moore, Marni Nirenberg, Brooke Siket, Ashley Stewart and Allison Vilms. The students, all members of the (WISE) Club from the , were accompanied by internship placement coordinator  and Sport Analytics program coordinator .

We asked McQuade ’25 to share her experiences and thoughts about the Philadelphia immersion trip, and this is what she wrote:

“This year’s WISE immersion trip to Philadelphia was nothing but extraordinary! We are so thankful for the incredible generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Jake and Suzanne Doft and their family for sponsoring this experience, and to the Department of Sport Management at Falk College and our two advisors, Beth Perez and Jackie Dorchester, for coordinating an amazing agenda.

Livia McQuade

“Our first day kicked off with an on-site visit to Playfly Sports, a sports marketing, technology and media organization that supports brands, teams and leagues. We gained a great perspective about mergers and acquisitions and the marrying of clients and brands, and topped off our visit by playing basketball on their indoor court.

“On day two, we headed to the Philly city limits to meet with the MLS team, the Philadelphia Union. A panel of Union executives gave us in-depth answers about both the Union’s and the league’s community-driven initiatives, as well as how they market themselves in a city that is both so passionate about, and saturated with, sports. We came away with great advice, and even snapped a picture at the corner of the pitch!

“After visiting the Union, we made our way back into the city to meet with a panel stacked with Philly-centric executives who represented Learn Fresh, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, the MLBPA and Zelus Analytics. With such a wide range of perspectives and sectors present, the group answered questions ranging from entrepreneurship, community relations, player performance technology, workplace dynamics, and even sports betting.

“To wrap up day two, we journeyed on a historic walking tour through Philadelphia, seeing everything from the Liberty Bell to Betsy Ross’ house to where the Declaration of Independence was signed, and even the ‘oldest continuously inhabited residential street in the United States.’ Our biggest takeaway: There wasn’t anything Ben Franklin couldn’t do.

“We kicked off day three by meeting with various individuals at Temple University, including the women that lead Temple athletics who gave their insight on NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) and how we can build communities with other women as we enter the industry. We then met with students from Temple’s Women in Sport and Recreation Management (WSRM) Club. It was an exciting and comforting experience to exchange ideas between the clubs and make new connections with aspiring industry leaders.

“In the afternoon, we toured Lincoln Financial Field, home of the Eagles. We saw the broadcasting suites, locker room (featuring the team’s Lombardi Trophy), press room and the NFL’s first sensory room. They played the runout sequence (flashing lights, music, signs) as we walked through the team’s tunnel onto the field! Needless to say, it was a one-of-a-kind experience! On top of everything else, we learned about what goes on behind the scenes at an NFL venue. I task you to look up how much maintenance goes into just the grass at Lincoln Field.

“We wrapped up the day by attending a Phillies’ game. Our pregame activities consisted of a networking event with some of the Phillies’ powerhouse women in brand marketing, legal, graphic design, sponsorship, special events, broadcast technology and retail marketing. They answered our questions, and we came away with new industry connections. When the game started, we made our way to our seats and met back up with the students from Temple’s WSRM Club to enjoy a great game against the New York Mets.

Sport Management students, from left, Livia McQuade, Kate Hubbard, Brooke Siket, Charlotte Howland, Ashley Stewart, Allison Vilms, Erin Moore, Marni Nirenberg and Jacqueline Dipaolo.

“On our last day, we had the privilege of meeting with (LPF), a nonprofit that combats the barriers to sport by redistributing sports equipment to local teams and leagues in need at no cost. LPF was started by ���ϲ����� alumnus Max Levitt ’11. The company has distributed $14 million of equipment and impacted more than 100,000 youth in sport.

“Our group loved meeting with LPF. We learned about their partnerships with the Philadelphia pro teams to collect equipment, the true difference they are making for youth teams and athletes, the life-changing impact they have on female athletes and the sheer amount of equipment they have in their warehouse that is free for those in need.

“Our group is thankful for this experience, to all the industry professionals we spoke with and for the incredible generosity of the Doft family. We recognize this was an extraordinary opportunity that will catapult us as we prepare for our careers in sport, and we will never forget it.”

Livia McQuade ’25 is a sport management major and a sport event management minor in the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics. She is executive vice president of the Sport Management Club and co-chair of the 2024 Charity Sports Auction. She’s currently a summer athlete relations intern for the Olympus Sports Group, where she’s assisting U.S. athletes before and during the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics.

Falk College sport management and sport analytics students!

For the NFL Draft in late April, the Detroit Sports Commission and –the city’s visitors bureau–did indeed utilize the talents of six female students from Falk College’s : Aryssa Hopps ’25, Grace Froehlke ’26 and Alivia (Ava) Uribe ’26 from Sport Management, and Anna Pierce ’25, Madelyn (Maddy) Forster ’26 and Claire Patin ’26 from the department’s program.

During their trip to Detroit for the NFL draft, the six Sport Management and Sport Analytics students from Falk College enjoyed a fun axe-throwing excursion. From left to right, Maddy Forster, Grace Froehlke. Anna Pierce, Claire Patin, Ava Uribe, and Aryssa Hopps.

During their three days in Detroit, the students worked a variety of volunteer roles, visited with female executives from the NBA’s Detroit Pistons, and networked with ���ϲ����� alumni at a dinner hosted by David Katz, chair of the Visit Detroit Board of Directors and the parent of a ���ϲ����� student. The students were accompanied by Sport Management Internship Coordinators , who organized the trip, and .

Perez says the genesis of the trip was a conversation between Falk College Dean Jeremy Jordan and Katz, who believed students would benefit from volunteer opportunities at the draft. In discussions with the Sport Management team, Jordan suggested that this experiential learning opportunity be reserved for female students, and Perez thought that was “a fantastic idea.”

“There’s a push for female leadership and providing opportunities for females in the sport industry,” Perez says. “As we know, they’re still the minority within the industry, so we wanted to make it a point to bring the most students we could to get this experience.

“As soon as we mentioned the NFL draft and having the opportunity to go, they without hesitation said yes, even before they figured out their schedules,” Perez adds.

To better understand the impact of this trip, we asked two of the students–sport management’s Hopps and sport analytics’ Patin, to share with us the highlights of their experience in Detroit. Here’s what they wrote:

Aryssa Hopps

“My time working in at the NFL Draft was truly an unforgettable experience. I was the first interaction all volunteers had before starting their shifts with the draft, meaning I was able to have an impact on every individual. Whether it be offering a warm greeting, asking them if they were excited about the draft, or just chatting about our favorite teams, I felt as though every person that I met truly impacted my experience in Detroit.

Sport Management major Aryssa Hopps (second from left, standing) with her fellow volunteers in Teammate Headquarters at the NFL Draft.

“Most volunteers lived in Detroit or other areas of Michigan, and others were from surrounding states. It was inspirational to hear the stories and different backgrounds of everyone I worked with. Every person had a different reason for why they wanted to volunteer and give back to the city of Detroit.

“While I was inside during my shifts at the and not outside with all the activities like the other women on our trip, I wouldn’t have wanted my experience to be any other way. I was able to form friendships with the small crew that I worked with, who made a lasting impact on my impression of Detroit. Over the course of two days, our crew became so close we all signed up to volunteer to work the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay, where we hope to meet up again someday.”

Claire Patin

“While in Detroit for the 2024 NFL Draft, me and my peers had the opportunity to experience so much in such little time. The night before the draft, David Katz hosted us as well as other ���ϲ����� alumni in his home for a dinner and networking event. There were people from all different classes and majors from ���ϲ�����, most of them working in the sport industry in some type of way. It was amazing to talk to everyone and build connections with them. There were so many successful people in the industry I want to go into in one room, and it was a great opportunity to have conversations with all of them.

Claire Patin with Detroit Lions center Frank Ragnow at the autograph signing tent at the NFL Draft.

“The first day of the draft, I worked at the autograph signing tent helping with the lines, directing people, and taking pictures of fans with players. One of the players signing autographs was Frank Ragnow, a center for the Detroit Lions, who was a fan favorite. It was fun to see fans so excited to meet him and be right there to take their picture with him.

“I love the culture that sports creates, and I got to see this with hundreds of people who wanted an autograph from their favorite player. All of the fans were so nice, and just so excited to be at the draft. I feel really lucky that I not only got to experience it myself, but also be a part of the positive experience for the fans. Overall, it was an unbelievable experience to be working the NFL draft.”

Future Opportunities

As with an NFL team after the draft, Perez and Knighton went back to work soon after returning to ���ϲ����� to start looking at opportunities for next year and beyond for female students and all students from Sport Management. For example, after the positive experience the students had in Detroit, they’ve already started talking about how they can get students to the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four in Detroit in 2027.

“We have a good push for elevating our female students and trying to provide them experiential learning and leadership opportunities and now we can be strategic and build partnerships to make that happen,” Perez says. “We definitely have the mindset of, how can we provide more of these experiences for all of our students?”

Visit the to learn more about the Department of Sport Management and its academic programs, experiential learning and career opportunities.

Analytics is the sport industry’s most popular tool as it’s transforming every aspect of the game, from player performance and team strategy to fan engagement and business models.

Over spring break, 20 sport analytics majors from the enjoyed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit Italy and witness first-hand the impact of analytics on the highest level of soccer. The eight-day trip to Milan, Bologna, Florence and Rome was part of Professor sport analytics course which explores how data is revolutionizing soccer.

“The international experience, in general, is extremely important for our students, but it also gives them a perspective of how analytics are used in different sports at different levels internationally,” says Paul, director of the program in Falk College. “The students were not merely observers, they actively wrote and presented sport analytics research to the clubs we visited.”

From left to right, students Nick Rovelli, Jack Taliano, Aidan Corr, Theo Schmidt, and Ben Jennings present to Bologna FC Club officials Luca Saputo, Director of Business Optimization, and Yuri Dell’Atti, Chief Data Analyst.

The students met with analytics staff members and other team officials from elite soccer clubs across Italy while also exploring the culture, history and food of the ancient European country that’s surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea. As one of the trip’s many highlights, the students attended an Italian Serie A league game between AC Milan and Empoli before more than 70,000 fans at Milan’s San Siro Stadium ().

The students were accompanied on the trip by Paul, Sport Analytics Program Coordinator G’10, and co-faculty member Ed Lippie, who worked with AS Roma of the Italian Serie league from 2013-20 as a senior performance consultant and head performance coach.

“With our connections we had the privilege of behind-the-scenes access, demonstrating to the students the variety of positions their skill sets match and the opportunities that exist internationally,” Dorchester says. “The value is building on ���ϲ�����’s Academic Strategic Plan by allowing the students to participate in a study abroad or study away setting, with considerations to their academic goals and financial circumstances.”

Students Jake Graff ’24 and Zachary Silverstein ’26 say it was fascinating to learn how Italian soccer clubs utilize data compared to sports teams in the United States.

“Clubs with all levels of financial resources and historical success are embracing analytics and finding ways to utilize them in areas that are best for them,” says Graff, a sport analytics major with an information management and technology minor. “Everyone collects and uses data differently, so being able to see numerous perspectives from a league like Serie A was eye-opening.”

Adam Goodman ’25, a sport analytics major with an economics minor, admits he’s not the biggest soccer fan but says it was valuable for his career goals to understand how soccer teams at the highest level approach their analytics.

“I think the main takeaway in terms of my career was the change in the way I think,” Goodman says. “The program allowed me to immerse myself in all aspects of soccer analytics, which, going forward, will change the way I approach future research.”

For the full story and a video about the trip to Italy, please visit the .

While in Italy, sport analytics students enjoyed visits to cultural landmarks such as the Colosseum in Rome.

David Falk (back row, center), a noted sports agent whose most famous client is Michael Jordan, hosted a reception April 15 for many of the sport analytics students who represented ���ϲ����� in national competitions this spring.

, the director of the program in the , says two of the key cornerstones of the program are research and competition.

“Our students diligently work on research and internal competitions during their classroom activities, various sport analytics clubs and individual research projects,” says Paul, a professor in the in the Falk College. “We pride ourselves on being willing to compete with anyone at any time and to show off our work in competitive settings.”

This semester, sport analytics students and faculty have had a lot to show off.

Falk College benefactor David Falk (center) says the sport analytics program is “the crème de la crème of what ���ϲ����� can offer.”

From player and team analytics competitions in basketball, football, and baseball to the National Sport Analytics Championship to the presentation of research at prestigious conferences, the sport analytics program showcased students and faculty at competitions throughout the country.

In mid-April, Falk College benefactor and noted sports agent David Falk hosted a reception for many of the sport analytics students who participated in the competitions this year. Falk, who has long been recognized as one of the sport industry’s leading figures and most talented innovators, compared the students’ achievements to a Major League Baseball player’s most coveted feat: Winning the triple crown (leading the league in batting average, home runs and RBI).

“At ���ϲ�����, you guys have won the analytics triple crown: baseball, football and basketball,” Falk said. “To me, that’s beyond incredible. This program, in my opinion—and our Chancellor (Kent Syverud) knows how I feel—is the crème de la crème of what ���ϲ����� can offer.”

Sport analytics major Danny Baris, who won two undergraduate paper competitions, says the curriculum is designed to prepare students to excel at these events.

“The main advantage that I think the sport analytics program gives us is that our curriculum mainly focuses on usable skills rather than theory,” Baris says. “This makes what we learn in the classroom very applicable in these competitions. The program also places a heavy emphasis on presentation skills, and one thing that has set us apart in many of these competitions is presentation quality.”

Paul agrees that the key to the program’s success—and the key to graduates finding desired jobs in the sports industry—is this emphasis on marketable skills.

“High level mathematics and statistics, intense coding and statistical modeling, a wide overview of key economic and business theories and models, a focus on effective communication, and a foreign language requirement span across a wide range of jobs and careers in many industries in today’s society and into the future,” Paul says. “We just happen to study and apply these topics to the fascinating world of sports.”

Back-to-Back

From left to right, Collin Kneiss, Nicholas Kamimoto, Marissa Schneider, and Tyler Bolebruch won the business analytics category at the AXS National Collegiate Sports Analytics Championship in Dallas, Texas.

In late February, a team of four sport analytics students captured ���ϲ�����’s second consecutive title in the in Dallas, Texas.

The four students finished in the top 13 in the : Nicholas Kamimoto (5th), Collin Kneiss (seventh), Tyler Bolebruch (11th), and Marissa Schneider (13th). Those finishes enabled ���ϲ����� to capture the ahead of the University of Iowa, University of Oklahoma and host Baylor University.

“Our team felt good about our chances of winning the team title after the competition,” Kamimoto says. “We knew that we put out great work and we also thought that we were the only school to have every student advance past the first round.”

The students won the 2024 business analytics category. In 2023, ���ϲ����� won the game analytics category that was not part of the competition this year.

“The overall performance of our team was great,” Kamimoto says. “Although we were bummed that none of us ended up winning first individually, having everyone in the top 13 is pretty incredible.”

For more about the Sport Analytics program’s success this spring, please visit the .

“Falk College has experienced extraordinary growth, particularly in its renowned sport management program, over the last 20 years, thanks in large part to its innovative faculty and the relentless energy and leadership of former Dean Diane Lyden Murphy,” says Vice Chancellor, Provost and Chief Academic Officer Gretchen Ritter. “With the growth of sport participation domestically and globally, there is unprecedented demand for talented practitioners and leaders. The Falk College of Sport will produce hundreds of students every year who are educated across multiple disciplines and well-prepared to lead in the burgeoning sports field.”

Reimagining Falk College

Since launching its sport management program in 2005 and later adding programs in sport analytics and esports communications and management, Falk College has achieved prominent status as a national leader in sport education. This transformation will make Falk College the first standalone college on an R1 campus that specifically focuses on sport through a holistic academic lens.

Dean Jeremy Jordan, who was appointed last July, says this transformation will expand and enrich sport scholarship at ���ϲ�����.

“���ϲ����� has long been a leader in the development of sport-related programs,” says Jordan. “From creating the first-ever sports analytics program to the recent launch of an esports major, the University and Falk College have demonstrated the value of and important role sport plays in the day-to-day lives of people, and not just elite athletes. This reimagination of Falk College is a bold step in solidifying ���ϲ����� as the preeminent institution for sport-related academic study in the country.”

The reimagined Falk College of Sport will house academic programs in sport management, sport analytics, exercise science, nutrition and, jointly with the Newhouse School, esports. It will focus on four areas of academic excellence: Sport Business, Human Performance, Sport Technology and Innovation, and Community Sport and Wellness. The college will also launch a new research institute focused on sport, which will leverage an interdisciplinary, cross-campus approach to drive innovation in sport and health outcomes and integrate expertise in business, digital media, and technology, among other areas of academic focus. It may include creating new or expanding partnerships among the University’s schools, colleges and academic units, such as the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, the Whitman School of Management, the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, the College of Law and others.

Today’s announcement follows a months-long exercise during which a Sport Management Task Force, consisting of faculty, staff and academic leaders, was charged with identifying ways to enhance and extend Falk’s excellence in sport-related programs. The task force, co-chaired by Jeff Rubin, senior vice president for digital transformation and chief digital officer, and Jamie Winders, associate provost for faculty affairs, submitted a report to Provost Ritter earlier this academic year. Recommendations outlined tangible action the University can take to connect, align and integrate teaching and research related to sport across the academic enterprise.

“The task force concluded that there is a timely opportunity for Falk to build on its strengths and capitalize on relevant marketplace trends,” says Rubin. “As someone who has worked in this space for nearly three decades, there is no better time for ���ϲ����� to take this bold step than now. Organizations across the country and around the globe are looking for career-ready talent. Falk College is poised to meet that need.”

The work happening in Falk College aligns with the University’s commitment to applying an entrepreneurial and innovative philosophy to elevating sport across the campus. In addition to enhancing sport-related academic opportunities, the University has also taken steps in recent years to widen the availability of esports–academically and recreationally—and has grown current and created new club sport programs.

Shaping the Future of Human Dynamics

As part of the Falk transformation, ���ϲ����� will invest in a strategic reimagination of human dynamics academic programs with the goal of positioning them for future success and impact. To support this work, Provost Ritter will convene a Human Dynamics Task Force, consisting of academic leaders, department chairs and program directors, faculty, alumni and community partners. The task force will be charged with reviewing the college’s human dynamics programs and identifying future pathways for their growth and success. These academic programs include human development and family science, marriage and family therapy, public health and social work. Students enrolled in these programs and beginning at ���ϲ����� in Fall 2024 will not be impacted by the University’s reimagination of its human dynamics portfolio.

Provost Ritter says given the increasingly complex public health landscape and the growing global need for health and human services and credentialed professionals, the time is right to reimagine these longstanding academic programs to meet emerging demands in their fields.

“The Human Dynamics Task Force will determine prospects for expansion, innovation and alignment with the University’s overall Academic Strategic Plan, ‘Leading with Distinction,’” says Ritter. “These programs have a deep history at ���ϲ����� and have had a profound impact on the City of ���ϲ�����, Central New York and communities around the globe. The faculty who teach and research in these disciplines will have the opportunity to review, reimagine and shape the future of the programs with the full support of the University.”

Provost Ritter has asked Associate Provost for Academic Affairs Lois Agnew and newly-appointed Associate Dean for Human Dynamics Programs Rachel Razza, associate professor and previously chair and graduate director in the Department of Human Development and Family Science, to lead and guide the reimagination of the human dynamics programs. The task force will be supported by an external consultant to help it execute on its charge. Additionally, given the significant synergy between the programs and the City of ���ϲ����� and Onondaga County, ���ϲ����� Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens and Deputy County Executive for Human Services Ann Rooney have also agreed to serve on the task force.

“I am grateful to Lois, Rachel, Deputy Mayor Owens and Deputy County Executive Rooney for their willingness to collaborate on this important work, and I look forward to partnering with the other members of the task force,” says Provost Ritter. “These areas of academic excellence are not only central to our University’s mission but also critical to the communities, particularly those who are currently underserved, that our students will eventually serve as the next generation of social workers, therapists, public health professionals and human services providers.”

The Human Dynamics Task Force will receive its charge from Provost Ritter by the end of the spring semester. It will begin its work in earnest over the summer and submit its findings to the provost by the end of October.

Himself.

Steiner, who graduated from ���ϲ����� in 1981 and is now chairman of the , grew up in a low-income neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. His father left the family when he was 5, and while his mother, Evelyn, operated a beauty salon, it was a struggle financially for her to raise Brandon and his two brothers.

After 30 years as founder and chairman of Steiner Sports Marketing and Memorabilia, Brandon Steiner is running two new companies, The Steiner Agency and Collectible Xchange.

Despite a low SAT score, Steiner convinced a ���ϲ����� admissions counselor that she “will never regret letting me in,” he wrote in his 2012 book “You Gotta Have Balls.” Steiner was admitted and his family did receive enough financial aid to pay for tuition, but there was still one problem: He didn’t have any additional money to live from day to day.

Steiner has never forgotten those days. Working with Falk College Assistant Dean for Advancement and Sport Management Chair and Director , Steiner has created the Brandon S. Steiner Sport Management Student Support Fund that “supports health, housing, education and overall well-being of ���ϲ����� undergraduate students enrolled in the Department of Sport Management in Falk College.”

“Look at a kid like me,” Steiner says. “I was willing to work full-time in college; otherwise, going to ���ϲ����� probably wouldn’t work. If I just went up and wasn’t willing to work full-time–and I’m not talking about work study, I’m talking about a 40-hour-a-week job–I don’t think I could have made it up there.

“But I don’t know if that can work in today’s age,” he continues. “I want to focus on poorer kids who have something special going on and if we can get them additional help, they would come.”

The Steiner Student Support Fund awards support for a single academic year, and students can apply for funds by completing . A student can’t be awarded funding more than twice.

Students in the Department of Sport Management, including sport analytics and sport venue and event management students, are encouraged to apply for internships and work as much as they can in the sport industry while they’re attending school. As part of their degree requirements, they complete a 12-credit Senior Capstone with a full-semester experience at a sport organization.

The new Steiner Support Fund is the latest of several ways Brandon Steiner (far right) has given back to ���ϲ�����. In the spring 2023 semester, Steiner connected Sport Management student Tracey Edson (second from right) and public relations major Samantha Messina with New York Yankees player Oswaldo Cabrera to create a marketing deck for Cabrera.

With the rigorous demands of the program, it can be difficult for students to work the kind of hours that Steiner worked as a student to help pay for food, housing, fees and supplies, and other critical student needs. Steiner says he hopes his fund will help all students, but particularly underrepresented students who, like Steiner, might need support but are future stars in the sport industry.

“We have to make it easier for them to come here,” Steiner says. “And the reality is, the teams, leagues and players are all diverse and we want to be diverse with the students we’re sending into the industry.”

At ���ϲ�����, Steiner attended the because his mother suggested he major in accounting. Utilizing his work ethic, ingenuity and ability to make an impression on people, Steiner served as founder and chairman of Steiner Sports Marketing and Memorabilia for more than 30 years.

In 2019, he launched two new companies: , the nation’s premiere independent athlete procurement source, and , an online platform for fans, collectors, store owners, celebrities, athletes and teams to buy and sell collectibles.

The Steiner Student Support Fund is the latest way Steiner has given back to ���ϲ����� and Falk College’s Sport Management program, which he played a key role in creating more than 20 years ago. He says attending ���ϲ����� “gave me the biggest break I ever got,” and he wants his fund to provide opportunities for students like him who will become the next generation of sports marketing trailblazers.

“There’s nothing like the feeling of pride you get from passing the torch to the next generation,” Steiner wrote in his book. “I can’t wait to see all the innovative products they come up with.”

In addition to the Steiner Student Support Fund, there are other opportunities and awards available to students in Falk College. Visit the page on the Falk website for more information on how to apply.

More than 50 students volunteered at the 2023 Falk College Department of Sport Management Charity Sports Auction on Nov. 28 at the JMA Wireless Dome.

The at ���ϲ����� raised $48,000 for Tillie’s Touch as a result of its 19th Annual Charity Sports Auction.

During the ���ϲ����� men’s basketball game on Nov. 28, supporters purchased items and placed bids on sports memorabilia, electronics, jewelry, gift baskets, experiences, books and trips, among other items. In addition to the in-person event, an online auction was held where online supporters placed bids on hundreds of items.

strives to make children’s dreams of playing a sport possible while helping them to achieve academic excellence. Tillie’s Touch provides the necessary sports and/or school equipment for a child when their family is unable to do so.

served as the title sponsor for the 2023 auction.

Sport management seniors Jacob Geisinger, Zach Roth and Alex Grossman (pictured left to right) served as co-chairs for the 2023 event.

Sport management seniors Zach Roth, Jacob Geisinger and Alex Grossman served as co-chairs for the event.

The SPM Club is a student-run organization in the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics’ . Since its founding in 2005, the club has raised more than $712,000 for local charities. Previous beneficiaries of the club’s annual charity auction include Boys & Girls Clubs, Golisano Children’s Hospital, the Ronald McDonald House Charities of CNY, the Central New York SPCA, the Upstate Cancer Center, Special Olympics New York, Food Bank of CNY, the Salvation Army, Rescue Mission Alliance, American Diabetes Association, Make A Wish CNY, Meals on Wheels, the Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation, McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Center and Vera House.

“Our Sport Management Club was founded on the principles of teaching our membership the value of civic engagement, community service and social responsibility through sports,” says , Rhonda S. Falk Endowed Professor and director of sport management, who also serves as the organization’s faculty advisor. “The countless hours of dedication by these students to ensure that the proceeds from our charity auction would benefit our community is extremely gratifying.”

The Sport Management Club meets weekly during the academic year. For more information about the annual Charity Auction, visit , ,  or the .

To promote the auction, student organizers appeared on WSYR’s “” program, and .

Mike Mangano

That’s why Mangano has fully embraced the partnership between the University’s and the in the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics that’s allowing nearly 50 students majoring in sport analytics to provide real-world data to assist the coaching and athletic performance staffs of 11 of ���ϲ�����’s men’s and women’s athletic teams.

The specifics vary from sport to sport, but in general, most students are collecting performance data from the student-athletes’ wearable devices, analyzing that data from training, practices and games, and interpreting that data to provide insights to coaches and staff.

When Mangano was an assistant athletic trainer for the men’s soccer team, he says that kind of data helped coaches determine the optimum workload for each player. Once the players started maintaining that weekly goal, soft tissue injuries decreased. “So, for me, it’s great. I don’t have to do as much work,” Mangano says, laughing. “But at the same time, my philosophy is, do the work on the front end. If you can prevent injuries–and obviously you can’t prevent them all–but if you can prevent most of the injuries and add that kind of education for the student-athletes and coaches, then (the analytics) are working for us.”

The genesis of this partnership between athletics and analytics can be traced to Mangano’s interest in analytics and sport performance and conversations he had with , the program manager for the program and a former soccer standout at Le Moyne College in ���ϲ�����. Riverso encouraged Mangano to earn his , which Mangano did last year, and they arranged for sport analytics students to start collecting, analyzing and interpreting data for the men’s soccer team in 2022.

Sport analytics students also started working with the women’s lacrosse team last season. The men’s soccer team won the 2022 Division I national championship, while the women’s lacrosse team reached the 2023 Division I Final Four.

Sport analytics student Danielle Napierski at the JMA Wireless Dome, where she attends practices and games to collect data on the ���ϲ����� women’s basketball team and its opponents.

“The role of our student analysts has been integral to our program’s success,” says , men’s soccer head coach. “The student analysts are responsible for collecting and interpreting all GPS data and providing detailed post-match and post-training reports. These reports are presented to the coaching staff with concise information that enables us to make objective decisions around training load and managing student-athletes’ minutes in games. “In addition to the GPS data, the student analysts provide half-time and post-match reports of pre-determined categories that allow us to see how we are playing, and how we can make the necessary adjustments,” says McIntyre.

The partnership expanded this academic year to include the following teams: women’s and men’s basketball, field hockey, football, ice hockey, women’s and men’s lacrosse, women’s and men’s soccer, softball and track and field.

“The coaches were open to having students who were passionate about working with this type of data metrics and analysis, and this was a perfect opportunity to start utilizing my knowledge and applying what I learned in the classroom,” says second-year student Danielle Napierski, who is one of seven sport analytics students working for the women’s basketball team.

, assistant provost for student-athlete academic development at ���ϲ�����, says the sport analytics students are available to all athletic teams and the athletic department plans to make this a long-term arrangement with the sport analytics program.

“This collaboration represents an exciting opportunity to merge the worlds of athletics and data analysis, further enhancing our ability to make informed decisions and drive success both on and off the field,” says ���ϲ����� Director of Athletics . “Together, we will harness the power of analytics to gain a competitive edge and propel our student-athletes and teams to new heights.”

, director of the sport analytics program and a professor in the Department of Sport Management, says the partnership provides sport analytics students with a one-of-a-kind opportunity to apply the data analytics skills they’re learning in class. “It not only provides the students with real-world experience in sports but gives them the chance to see it applied directly to the University sports teams they already love and support,” Paul says.

Second-year student Dan Griffiths says when he first toured the campus, his guide said the sport analytics program partnered with some of the teams, and Griffiths figured it was only the football and basketball teams. But now, two years later, Griffiths is working with his favorite sport, track and field.

“This is exactly why I came to ���ϲ�����,” Griffiths says. “After my first year, I was very committed to being a part of the team, and I saw that I could have this opportunity as long as I had the initiative to take it on myself.”

To get a better understanding of this partnership, we talked to sport analytics students Griffiths, Napierski and Caden Lippie about their roles with the athletics department. Visit the to read more about their experiences.

As vice president of University Union, Molly Gross (second from right) helped organize events such as the Block Party on April 29, 2022, at the JMA Wireless Dome that featured A-Trak, 070 Shake, 2 Chainz, and Baby Keem. With Gross in the photo are, from left to right, Beck Patrone, Mackenzie Glaubitz and Mo Morris.

Molly Gross ’22, G’23 is proof that it’s never too late in your academic career to change your career goals.

In Spring 2022, Gross was set to graduate with a public health degree. She was a work-study student in the Falk College admissions office, and Director of Admissions asked Gross if she was excited about graduating and starting her career. “I said, ‘Actually, I don’t know.’ I was stressing a little bit because I didn’t know if that’s what I wanted to do anymore,” Gross says.

Gross had more conversations with Golia and her staff and told them she had enjoyed organizing concerts as a member of the . “With Molly’s public health background, she initially considered a PA (physician assistant) program for graduate school,” Golia says. “However, during her time at ���ϲ�����, she was involved with the student union organizing events, where she realized her passion was in live music and events. “She contemplated finding a job and then potentially pursuing graduate school,” Golia adds. “But as a student employee in the Falk admissions office, we kept driving her to consider the Forever Orange opportunity.”

Molly Gross says ���ϲ����� “gave me the opportunity to learn so many different things and working with UU (University Union) was an experience that really formed where I am now.”

The provides half the tuition for students who enroll full-time in a qualifying graduate degree or certificate program at ���ϲ�����. The scholarship is automatically available to graduating seniors who are eligible for admission and commit to attend graduate school immediately after graduation.

Golia connected Gross with , director and chair of the Department of Sport Management at Falk College, who met with Gross to discuss the department’s one-year (SVEM) master’s program. “I talked it over with my parents and the (Forever Orange Scholarship) was a large factor because I don’t know if I could have gone without it,” Gross says. “I looked at the (SVEM) program and the connections it has and the value it brings that could help me learn more about the industry and help me get more exposure and progress faster in that career.”

Gross’ decision was a smart one as she received the 2023 Outstanding Graduate Student Award from the Department of Sport Management and is now the event manager for the Oak View Group entertainment company based in Atlantic City, New Jersey, about an hour’s drive from her hometown of Cinnaminson, New Jersey.

We recently caught up with Gross to talk about how her passion for the live music industry developed at ���ϲ�����, the value of her public health degree and her new position coordinating live events. Here’s that conversation:

Q: You entered ���ϲ����� as a biology major but then switched to public health as a sophomore. What prompted that change?

A: I took one (public health) class in the first semester of my sophomore year, and it was a service-learning class where we worked with an organization in ���ϲ����� (Vera House) and helped them in any way they needed and produced a project out of it. The class was really engaging, and after that class I switched over to public health because I was thinking that maybe I’d go to the medical side and PA school.

I didn’t really think about staying at ���ϲ����� (for graduate school) or switching to the event side until the end of my senior year. I was vice president of the University Union (UU), and in high school I never had exposure to the entertainment world to even know that was what I wanted to do. ���ϲ����� gave me the opportunity to learn so many different things and working with UU was an experience that really formed where I am now.

Q: Where did you get your love of live music?

A: Where I grew up, there’s the River Line (train) that would take us to Camden, New Jersey, and we would go to what’s now called the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion. They would have concerts all summer and my friends and I would go no matter who was performing. I always liked being in that environment; I love seeing people attend events and get excited and follow their favorite performers.

Q: You started the SVEM program in July 2022 and worked closely with the staff at the JMA Wireless Dome. What was that like?

A: Both in the Fall and Spring semesters we had (Dome Director) and (Associate Director) as professors and it was great to hear about their experiences because they have worked in so many positions and places within the entertainment industry and in the Dome.

In the fall semester, we had a ‘secret shopper’ event where Tom gave us tickets to a basketball game and we acted as if we were spectators, but we were really observing the environment. How were the security lines? How were ticket takers and concession staff interacting with guests? How clean was the area? So, we were thinking critically about our experience and reporting back to him.

As event manager for the Oak View Group entertainment company based in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Molly Gross oversees events such as Disney on Ice that recently appeared at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall.

Q: Did the program involve any additional experiential learning?

A: The way the program was structured, it was as much about the experience you gained outside of the classroom as inside. We had projects where we reached out to network with people; looked into different jobs that we wanted to potentially hold one day and what path could get us to that; and made phone calls to ask other people about their different experiences in the industry.

I worked in the (���ϲ�����) Oncenter box office, ���ϲ����� Amphitheater, and with the operations team in the JMA Dome, I felt like they were always encouraging us to use our time outside of the classroom as wisely as possible. It was always in the back of my mind that if I was going to spend this money and time in this program, I was going to make the most of it. I was going to spend every second trying to gain as much as I could, whether it was working this event at the Dome or that event in the community. It’s always shown me that it comes back around and the experiences I had with those things did help me later.

Q: What are you doing in your current position in Atlantic City?

A: SVEM has us do a nine-credit practicum and I did that in the summer (of 2023) as an event coordinator at the Convention Center and Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. I was recently promoted to event manager, and I work between the client and the building to make sure they have everything they need, whether that’s setting up, connecting with food and beverage, or their internet and AV (audio-visual) needs.

At the Convention Center, our clients are conventions, trade shows, meetings and luncheons. At Boardwalk Hall, it’s concerts, indoor auto racing, Disney on Ice and events like that. I go from working a convention from 7 to 4 on a Monday to working a concert on Friday night. I really like that about my role; I’m getting to see it all.

Q: What role does your public health background play in your career?

A: The general manager where I work right now is put in situations where he has to make decisions or plan for situations that you might not ever think you had to, like he was leading a lot of the decision-making when COVID hit and had to decide certain plans and procedures for the company and the venue. I hope to get to one of those positions one day and I think that what I learned in the public health program at ���ϲ����� will always be valuable.

And whether I use it in my career or not, it’s also been valuable to my life in general, understanding the complexities of health and the world. There were so many classes where we talked about the social determinants of health and how everybody is experiencing different things that affect their health—understanding that diversity helps no matter what you’re doing.

Q: What would you say to other students who may be in the position that you were in as they approach graduation?

A: Always have the conversation. If you’re not happy where you are, talk to an advisor and have that conversation. With how the majors are structured, time is limited, so I would act on it sooner than later. I know if I’m feeling that way, I’d rather act on it than regret it later.

I don’t think any decision is final. Just because you make a decision now doesn’t mean everything is closed off forever.

Danielle Cantor (center left) and David Falk (center right) answered questions from sport management students during a presentation moderated by Michael Veley (far left) and Dennis Deninger (far right). “I love being able to connect with students,” Cantor said.

With a massive 6-foot-10 frame and deep voice, former Georgetown University basketball coach John Thompson was an imposing figure and “my toughest critic,” says , the renowned sports agent who represented Thompson.

“I know I was afraid of him,” said a smiling , executive vice president and partner of Falk Associates Management Enterprises (FAME), which was co-founded by Falk.

As Cantor rose through the ranks at FAME, Falk made sure she had a seat at the table whenever they met with Thompson. Eventually, Cantor knew she had gained Thompson’s trust when at the end of one meeting, he turned to her and asked, “What do you think?”

As a key member the FAME team, Cantor (far left) became the first female National Basketball Players Association-certified player agent.

It was yet another moment in her trailblazing career when Cantor realized she was indeed making progress in the male-dominated sport industry. Now, as the first female National Basketball Players Association-certified player agent, Cantor enjoys sharing stories about her journey with young women and men who want to work in sports.

Cantor and Falk, who has long been recognized as one of the sports industry’s leading figures and most talented innovators, visited the Oct. 26 and spent more than three hours speaking with students from classes taught by , director and chair of sport management, and professors , and .

Their main theme was women in sports, but they touched on a variety of topics, including Thompson’s impact on Falk (“He was the most influential man in my life,” Falk says); how Cantor landed a four-year, $85 million contract for her first client (Malcolm Brogden) that doubled the contract he was previously offered; and, of course, Falk’s most famous client, Michael Jordan.

“I love being able to connect with students,” Cantor said. “You never really know how it’s going or how they’re feeling because we’re doing so much talking, but then they line up and want to talk after class to say, ‘This is amazing and thank you so much for being here and we learned so much.'”

“That’s what it’s all about, being able to share real-life experiences and real-life stories as opposed to just theories that you read about,” she added.

Cantor said she was impressed with the students’ questions. One of them came from Samie Haber ’24, who is interested in ecommerce and digital merchandising with a sports apparel company. She asked Cantor for advice on how to get started as a female in the business world.

“She said it’s about connections and told me to have Professor Deninger give me her email and she would help me with those connections, which is very helpful,” Haber said. “It was interesting to hear about her experience from a woman’s perspective, and I feel like together they were able to provide a lot of insight for us.”

In 2017, Sports Business Journal wrote a “Game Changers” that highlighted her ascent to the NBA’s first female player agent. Cantor said she hadn’t paid much attention to the gender issue, but that story helped her understand her impact on the industry.

“That was a turning point in that a lot of work that I would do after that became about helping young women in sports and making sure there are more opportunities for everyone to be in positions of power,” Cantor said.

200 White Hall was filled with sport management students for the presentation.

During their presentations, Cantor and Falk discussed the evolution of those opportunities and highlighted what has worked—and what hasn’t—for women’s sports and female athletes in terms of creating a product that consumers want to buy.

“My biggest takeaway was that women are getting more involved in sports, and I think that’s very important because of how things were in the past and we want to progress into the future,” Haber said.

In 2010, a gift from Falk and his wife, Rhonda S. Falk ’74, at ���ϲ�����. Falk, the co-founder of FAME who earned an economics degree from ���ϲ�����, says he enjoys returning to campus and engaging with the future leaders of the sport industry.

“I’m really proud of what Michael Veley has created over the last 18 years (with sport management),” Falk said. “It’s a unique program because it’s structured to be experiential, like with what we had today (with the presentations). We have amazing professors, the quality of the students is so high, and I’m so proud that it’s something that bears my name.”

The second annual Jonathan B. Wanderstock “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility in Sport” symposium featured, from left to right, panelists Leashia Lewis, Amy Reed, Kwame Agyemang and Dom Cambareri, keynote speaker Kevin Clayton, and moderator Rockwell Brown Burton.

At the start of his keynote address at the Oct. 12, Jonathan B. Wanderstock “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility in Sport” lecture, had one request for the large gathering of students in attendance in the Dineen Hall. “If nothing else, I want you to walk away with one new concept or tool that will help you on your journey to success,” said Clayton, senior vice president and head of social impact and equity for the Rock Entertainment Group, which includes the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers.

It’s safe to say that the students—and everyone else who attended—walked away with more than one concept to consider and a far better understanding of what it means for an organization to practice what it preaches when it comes to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA).

Keynote speaker Kevin Clayton is the Senior Vice President and Head of Social Impact and Equity for the Rock Entertainment Group, which includes the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers.

Clayton explained that his job title is his “what,” but it’s a person’s “why” that has more impact because your why is your purpose. For Clayton and the Cavaliers, their “why” became clear after George Floyd, a Black man, was murdered by a Minnesota police officer in May 2020.

“It wasn’t until post-George Floyd that we knew our why: connect the platform of sports to social justice,” Clayton said. “We’re the only city where three sports teams [the Cavaliers, the NFL’s Browns and MLB’s Guardians] have met every two weeks for the past three years around issues for social justice. We focus on law enforcement, education and voting/civic engagement, and for all three teams to be involved the impact is like 1+1+1 equals 100 and not 1+1+1 equals three.”

The “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility in Sport” lecture series is made possible through a generous gift to the from alumnus Jonathan B. Wanderstock, who earned his undergraduate degree in public communications and management from ���ϲ����� and is a for the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus.

The second annual event featuring Clayton and four other sports industry executives was hosted by the Department of Sport Management in conjunction with the ���ϲ����� College of Law’s Office of Career Services and Entertainment and Sports Law Society.

“The establishment of the Sport Management DEIA symposium by Jonathan Wanderstock has impacted the lives of hundreds of students across campus, not only those attending the symposium but from having our panelists attend eight classes as part of their supportive contributions,” said , director and chair of the Department of Sport Management.

“Our department stands in solidarity with our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility as we focus on areas of awareness, training and education,” Veley added. “We seek to use sport as a platform for social justice and social responsibility while encouraging open, honest dialog, including those related to racism, privilege and allyship.”

In addition to Clayton’s keynote address, the event featured a panel discussion moderated by , associate dean for inclusivity, diversity, equity and accessibility at the . The panel included:

• , George and Betty Blanda Endowed Professor in sport leadership and director of the Future of Sport Institute at the University of Kentucky;
• , volunteer executive director of ���ϲ����� Challenger Baseball and founder and board member of the Carrier Park Field of Dreams All-Inclusive Sports Park;
• , assistant athletic director for diversity, equity and inclusion at Villanova University; and
• , head women’s basketball coach and diversity, equity and inclusion athletics director at Rochester Institute of Technology.

The panelists explained their roles in DEIA and social justice initiatives and answered questions from Brown Burton. After a Q&A with the students, Clayton and the panelists remained for one-on-one discussions with students.

The DEIA symposium “has impacted the lives of hundreds of students across campus,” says Michael Veley, director and chair of the Department of Sport Management. This photo shows students during this year’s event at the College of Law’s Dineen Hall.

In his address, Clayton said one of the ongoing issues with DEIA is that “we have not come to a universal understanding of what diversity is.” He said the Cavaliers and NBA have defined diversity as the “collective mixture of our fans, team members, properties, teams and partners characterized by our differences as well as our similarities.”

He said it’s possible to have diversity but not inclusion unless you create a trusting environment in which all are included, respected and supported. And equity, Clayton says, is building an “organizational landscape where all are empowered to be their authentic selves and contribute.”

At the end of the Q&A, Lewis—a ���ϲ����� native who attended Villanova University—offered advice for students courtesy of a conversation she had with renowned political activist, author and University of California professor Angela Davis, who notably once said, “I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.”

“I asked her, ‘What hope do we have?’” Lewis said. “She said, ‘Ask the youth; they are the future.’”

“I came away from that meeting (with Davis) asking myself, ‘What am I going to do to help (students) be ready to fight for social justice?’” Lewis said. “So, I would say that we all have a role to play.”

Michael Veley, the Department of Sport Management’s founding director and chair, speaks at the news conference announcing the launch of the groundbreaking Sports, Entertainment & Innovation Conference.

On July 14, and ���ϲ����� University’s , in collaboration with the Las Vegas-based guest experience agency , proudly announced the launch of a first-of-it-kind Sports, Entertainment and Innovation Conference (SEI-Con) hosting thought leaders and subject matter experts from across the globe to educate, collaborate and create dynamic ventures together.

The inaugural conference will be held in Las Vegas with an opening reception on July 15, 2024, and the three-day conference from July 16-18. The event will include exhibitor pods, innovation labs, daily keynotes, seminars/sessions, roundtables and daily wrap parties with music.

“There has been momentum building in the area of professional sports throughout Southern Nevada in recent years, and the economic growth that comes along with it is undeniable,” says University of Nevada, Las Vegas President . “Through business and workforce development, and of course innovation, UNLV is a key partner in this growth, and SEI-Con is the latest example of our collaborative work to reinforce Las Vegas’ reputation as the world leader in tourism, sports and entertainment.”

Analysts predict the global sports market to reach $2 trillion, which is 2% of the $100 trillion world economy, bolstered by an influx of money from new sources, emerging technologies and growing demand. Already the entertainment capital of the world, Las Vegas has become an emerging sports destination and is perfectly positioned to host an annual conference focused on the intersection of sports, entertainment and innovation.

“The opportunity for our students to work on this world-class event captures the essence of our experiential-based academic programs,” says , founding director and chair and Rhonda S. Falk Endowed Professor in the in Falk College. “We, along with our nationally acclaimed advisory council of industry executives, fully embrace the collaboration with UNLV’s premier programs, the creative genius of Circle, and business partners and sports entities in one of the most dynamic sports and entertainment markets in the world.”

From left to right, Shawn Garrity (Circle), Rodney Paul (���ϲ�����), Michael Veley (���ϲ�����), Sport Management alum Chris Sotiropulos ’09 (vice president of stadium operations for the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders), Jay Vickers (UNLV Sports Innovation) and Vickers’ daughter, Juliana, gather to celebrate the launch of SEI-Con starting in July 2024.

Attendees will have opportunities to meet industry executives and explore the latest innovations in sports and entertainment, esports and gaming, sports sociology and diversity, broadcast brands and media, research and development and more.

“Through collaborations with academic partners and the sports and entertainment industry, we are training the next generation of sports scientists and sports business professionals through interdisciplinary education and research,” says UNLV Sports Innovation Chief Operating Officer . “SEI-Con will produce opportunities for education and collaboration that will result in unprecedented deal-making that will undeniably have a positive impact for our universities, students and the sports and entertainment industry.”

The event will also recognize leadership in sports, entertainment and academia, and connect audiences dedicated to the future of these industries.

“We are eager to display the work being done by our faculty directly in sports, including innovative programs in sport management, sport analytics and our newest program in esports, plus other elements of the college such as sports-related research in exercise science, nutrition and other areas,” says , director of the program and a professor in the Department of Sport Management at Falk College. “We are most excited, however, to show off our greatest asset, our students, on the world stage in the great city of Las Vegas.”

The July 14 kickoff news conference was covered by several media outlets, including the and . from the SEI-Con announcement featuring Veley and Vickers.

The impressive list of SEI-Con speakers for next summer’s conference includes David Falk, Falk College benefactor and one of the sports industry’s leading figures as an NBA player agent; Brandon Steiner, Falk College Department of Sport Management Advisory Council president and a sports marketing expert; ���ϲ����� Director of Athletics John Wildhack; Sport Management Associate Professor and Undergraduate Director Gina Pauline; and Veley and Paul.

For more information about SEI-Con, including a FAQ and how to register, visit the .

Sport management students presented their marketing decks to New York Yankees player Oswaldo Cabrera in early June. From left to right, are the following: Elizabeth Ellis, Alison Gilmore, Brandon Steiner, Tracey Edson, Cabrera, Samantha Messina, Cecilia “CJ” Westwater, Kate Lawton, Dylan Canell and Dave Meluni.

During the Spring 2023 semester, students in the Department of Sport Management’s Sport Sponsorship and Promotion class partnered with New York Yankees player to help build his brand and create his marketing deck.

The class culminated with a trip in June to New York City, where seven students met with Cabrera to share their final projects.

“We had the opportunity to share our decks and our thought process and explain the importance of Oswaldo working to grow his brand as he continues to grow as a player,” says sport management major Tracey Edson ’24. “The word that comes to mind to describe this experience is ‘grateful.’ Projects like this are what separate the ���ϲ����� sport management department from other sport management programs.”

The connection with Cabrera started with conversations between Assistant Teaching Professor , who teaches the Sport Sponsorship and Promotion class in the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, Management Advisory Council President ’81, a sports marketing expert. Steiner was impressed by Meluni’s groundbreaking work with his Name, Image and Likeness class, and Steiner wanted to explore sports marketing opportunities for students.

Steiner, the founder of the Steiner Agency, Athlete Direct and CollectibleXchange, has a long-running relationship with the Yankees from his days as founder of Steiner Sports, a sports memorabilia business. Steiner thought the 24-year-old, bilingual Cabrera had a lot of marketing potential, and Cabrera’s agent told Steiner he could use marketing help because his expertise was in contracts, not marketing.

Meanwhile, as part of the class, Meluni assigned a “sports money endorsement” project where the students would analyze former athletes and determine their current marketing potential.

“For example, Muhammed Ali, what would he be worth today?” Meluni says. “Then we thought it would be fantastic to take this project and use it for an existing athlete. When the opportunity with Brandon and Oswaldo came up, we gave the students the option of using legacy athletes or Oswaldo, and more than 20 chose Oswaldo.”

Sport management student Tracey Edson presents her team’s marketing deck to New York Yankees player Oswaldo Cabrera.

The students met Cabrera via Zoom during the Yankees’ spring training camp in February to give them “an idea of what he’s about off the field,” Meluni says. They then used the sales prospecting software Sponsor United to research brands that would best fit Cabrera’s lifestyle. Throughout the semester, students also researched social media trends of athletes that compared to Cabrera and began building his social media strategy.

In addition, Steiner visited campus in April to talk with the students and guide them as they finished their marketing decks.

“Each of the conversations (with Cabrera and Steiner) helped us put our sponsorship decks together,” Edson says. “We worked for weeks building the presentations with information regarding Oswaldo, his background, social media and engagement rates, athletes that are comparable to him based on where he is at in his career, and five potential brands that could be beneficial for him to partner with. With each brand we developed a rationale behind it and suggestions for activations he could pursue.”

For her project, Edson teamed with Samantha Messina ’23, a public relations major in the . “Working with Samantha was beneficial for both of us because we each brought different learned experiences that helped us in creating a project that was eye-catching for both Oswaldo and Mr. Steiner,” Edson says.

The final projects were shared with Steiner, and the top students were selected and awarded a trip to Yankee Stadium to watch a game and meet Cabrera. The students were Edson, Messina, Dylan Canell, Elizabeth Ellis, Alison Gilmore, Kate Lawton and Cecelia “CJ” Westwater.

Unfortunately, the Yankees’ game against the Chicago White Sox that night was postponed due to the hazardous air quality conditions created by the Canadian wildfires. Still, the students met with Cabrera and Steiner for more than an hour at a hotel in New Rochelle where the students were spending the night.

Based on their research, the students shared with Cabrera the types of companies in New York City and his native country, Venezuela, that are spending money on marketing products that align with Cabrera’s interests. They also discussed social media, and the students suggested he talk more about his family on .

Sport management student Tracey Edson (second from right) worked with public relations major Samantha Messina on a marketing deck that was “eye-catching” for both New York Yankees player Oswaldo Cabrera and sports marketing expert Brandon Steiner.

The next day, Cabrera posted a photo of him and his brother, Leobaldo, who’s also a professional baseball player. That post received nearly 21,000 likes and a 14% engagement rate, which Meluni says “is staggering.”

“He had already taken what the students presented to heart,” Meluni says.

Meluni says the foundation of his teaching philosophy is experiential learning, and he has been talking to Steiner about partnering with another professional athlete for the class this fall. Marketing agents working with athletes on their brands is a growing field, and Meluni says these partnerships with athletes will enable students to walk into a job interview and show agency-level work.

In the case of Cabrera, an engaged alum in Steiner and a forward-thinking professor in Meluni found an opportunity for students to build a portfolio that included the type of athlete who would be an ideal client for a marketing agency.

“I am truly appreciative of the tireless work and support that the sport management department and alumni around the world show to current students,” Edson says. “Moments like this with Oswaldo would not be possible without them. Thank you to all the faculty and staff in the SPM department and to the many alumni who take the time to help students develop professionally and personally.”

, an assistant teaching professor at ���ϲ�����’s Falk College who studies veterinary social work, says we need to do prioritize the well-being of horses. Please see her comments below. If you’d like to schedule an interview with her, please reach out to Vanessa Marquette, media relations specialist, at vrmarque@syr.edu.

Professor Aviva Vincent

Professor Vincent writes: “Yes, there should be outrage about the equine deaths. And, equestrians should be questioning the humane and welfare considerations for competing at elite levels.

The tragedies that have occurred at Churchill Downs leading up to the race is not unique to racing, or unfortunately, equestrian sports. Too often the public learns about post-mortem tragedies of horses competing at the most elite level of competition. Yes, this season death was on the race track, but we learned of equine deaths during the last Olympics (eventing) and other widely viewed, elite competitions.

Riding horses, physically getting on their back, goes against the very nature of their prey instinct.  And yet, horses and humans have found a unique way to achieve partnership and connection. In this regard, the core attributes of a successful, bi-directional interspecies relationship are trust, respect, and acceptance. Equine welfare is at the core of understanding the bond between humans and animals. There should be a bond, especially in high-stakes competition. Riders, therefore, have a responsibility to their horses to ensure that the work they do is harmonious, promoting physical and mental relaxation of the horse. This is achieved through trust and respect for the rider by the horse, and a rider’s attitude of an empathetic leader and partner who does not hinder the horse physically or mentally.

This is not to say that trust, respect, and love were not present between the rider and horse in each tragedy. But, at what point does trust, respect, and love reshape the desire to compete at such extremes, or change the expectations of competition (i.e., those beyond the rider engaged in the sport- owners, trainers, course developers, investors…). Perhaps there is space to reposition the value of the horse on love and life, rather than a vehicle for competition.

Yes, I too am angry. But I am not surprised. The horse needs to be an equal competitor, not just a vehicle in competition. Then we can prioritize welfare in sport.”

The new undergraduate dual degree program will prepare students to be versatile, multidisciplinary and future-leading thinkers in careers related to sport management and business.

The new undergraduate sport management/business dual degree program is an innovative program that combines rigorous business training with in-depth knowledge of the high-growth area of sport management. This new dual degree program will prepare students to be versatile, multidisciplinary and future-leading thinkers well-prepared for careers related to various aspects of sport management and business.

This dual degree program is offered in a streamlined format. For the undergraduate dual program, students can complete the degree with a minimum of 148 credits and can graduate in four years.

“There is so much potential for this new dual-degree program as the areas of sports and business continue to overlap. We have seen this recently as part of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) regulations for student-athletes; the commercial aspects of sports and related events, merchandising, marketing and entrepreneurship; and the emergence of the business side of esports, among other areas. Having our students become stronger interdisciplinary thinkers about these issues is truly beneficial,” Whitman School Interim Dean Alexander McKelvie says. “We’re also delighted to partner with Falk and its outstanding sport management program. We hope that this will continue to pay dividends for preparing our students for the future.”

“Falk College has been a national leader in educating future industry professionals in sport business, marketing and analytics for two decades,” says Falk College Dean Diane Lyden Murphy. “The new undergraduate dual degree program between Falk’s sport management program and the highly regarded Whitman School capitalizes on synergies between sport management and business disciplines to give students a competitive edge in the job market. By gaining specialized skillsets in both sport management and business, students will be well-equipped to meet new emerging and evolving sectors of the thriving global business of sport.”

“We are confident that this new dual degree sport management and business program will attract highly qualified and diverse students based on the quality and unique approaches of both schools. We hear with great regularity from students and their families about the demand for this type of program,” McKelvie says.

Admission requirements will remain similar for both programs and emphasize both academic credentials and leadership potential. Dual degree programs are highly demanding, and students should possess both strong analytical abilities and the soft skills needed for leadership positions.

For more detailed information about new dual programs, visit the .

“Since it launched nearly two decades ago, the Department of Sport Management has been enormously successful in attracting high-performing students and preparing them for careers in the sports industry,” says Provost Ritter. “This is an area of distinction not only for the Falk College but for ���ϲ����� and creates an opportunity to leverage our faculty’s intellectual property to capitalize on a significant and emerging field of study and professional industry. I appreciate the task force’s commitment to this work and look forward to reviewing its findings and recommendations.”

The task force will explore and recommend ways that a new School of Sport Management will connect, align and integrate with other areas of teaching and research related to sport on the ���ϲ����� campus.

Jeffrey Rubin, professor of practice in the School of Information Studies, special advisor to the Chancellor on eSports and digital transformation, and founder of Sidearm Sports, and Jamie Winders, associate provost for faculty affairs, will co-chair the task force. Other members include:

• Keonte Coleman, assistant professor, broadcast and digital journalism, director of assessment and program review, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
• Lindsey Darvin, assistant professor, sport management, Falk College
• Brad Horn, professor of practice, public relations, associate dean for strategic initiatives, Newhouse School
• Kristen Konkol, associate teaching professor, exercise science, Falk College
• Rodney Paul, professor, sport management and director, sport analytics program, Falk College
• Gina Pauline, associate professor and undergraduate director, sport management, Falk College
• Tommy Powell, assistant provost for student-athlete academic development
• Lori Robinson G’09, Emerging Leaders Council, Falk College, Department of Sport Management

This task force will undertake its work at the same time the search is underway for the next dean of the Falk College, who will be responsible for overseeing the implementation of the plan to elevate the new School of Sport Management. This will be the second school to be established within the Falk College, which already includes the School of Social Work.

In other words, we make our own luck. And that’s exactly what Falk College sport analytics major John Asel ’23 did this past summer at the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) Analytics Conference in Baltimore, Maryland.

John Asel, shown here presenting at the 2022 Society for American Baseball Research Analytics Conference, received an award at the conference and impressed the Baltimore Orioles, who hired him for next season.

Utilizing the preparation and communication skills he learned from his family members and sport analytics mentors, Asel received the for best oral presentation at the conference. Asel also used the opportunity to network and among the industry leaders he met at the conference was Sig Mejdal, assistant general manager of the Baltimore Orioles.

Mejdal was impressed by Asel and remembered his award-winning presentation. Asel subsequently applied for a position with the Orioles and was recently notified that he will start a job in the team’s analytics department in the 2023 baseball season.

(Access Asel’s PowerPoint presentation, “Meta Pitch Tracking: How The Changes In Pitch Tracking Technologies Should Change How We Look At The Data They Collect,” on the .)

Asel, who is working on additional baseball research with , assistant professor of sport management, spent summer 2022 as a performance analytics intern with the Tampa Bay Rays. He says he was confident he had given a strong presentation at the conference but was shocked that he won the award, which is named after the late baseball researcher Doug Pappas.

“The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, especially regarding my delivery of the presentation,” Asel says. “Perhaps my favorite compliment was one attendee asking if I was a drama student because I had been so expressive. In our Falk education we hear a lot about the value of being able to communicate the analytics and it was amazing to see firsthand the kind of reception communication can receive.”

Asel shared his experiences from the SABR conference and his thoughts on winning the prestigious award:

“This August I attended the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) annual convention in Baltimore. I had attended twice before, even writing about my first experience in my college admissions essay. Everyone’s love for baseball and in-depth research on the most niche topics makes the hotel boardrooms feel like home. Only this year it was different: I was presenting.

John Asel’s team of supporters at the Society for American Baseball Research Analytics Conference included his mother Mary Asel (left) and grandmother Mary Petersen.

“There were nerves leading up to the presentation but as soon as I got going, they all went away. The body language of the audience was positive and there were friendly faces in the front row. My parents, grandmother and my high school journalism and math teachers had made the drive from Virginia to support me.

“To those faces in the front, I owe a lot of thanks. They had each taken time to indulge my enthusiasm for baseball at various stages. In my parents’ case, they had even helped me with my presentation up to the night before. They were both crucial in encouraging me to submit my research and refine my script. The task of telling a story about data at 8:30 a.m. on a Saturday was daunting and they helped me get over the hump.

“With reflection, the project I presented encapsulates what Falk’s sport analytics major teaches: They give you the coding skills to answer questions harnessing big data and emphasize being able to communicate your findings in an understandable way. The value of doing so was well exemplified in the reaction to my presentation.

“As my family was leaving the last panel we planned on attending, I was pulled aside and informed I had won the Doug Pappas Award for the best oral presentation. It was shocking. I thought I had given a strong presentation, but as a first-time presenter I did not have awards on my radar.

“The convention was surreal. Along with my presenting experience, I spoke with Sean Forman, founder of Sports Reference; Mark Armour, president of SABR; Sig Mejdal, assistant general manager of the Baltimore Orioles; and Dan Evans, former general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. A packed weekend to say the least.

“Hopefully, it is the beginning of a long journey in Baltimore as I have accepted an offer to join the Orioles’ analytics department this upcoming season. Funny enough I will be working with Mr. Mejdal to bring a World Series to Baltimore. Go Birds!”

To learn more about the Falk College sport management and sport analytics academic programs, career paths and experiential learning, visit the .

Falk College student Elena Randolph (fourth from right) was among the winners of the 2022 Michigan Sport Business Conference BIG Initiative Award. She is shown here with fellow winners at Michigan Stadium.

Elena Randolph ’24, a sport management major in the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, was recently named a 2022 BIG Initiative Award Winner by the Michigan Sport Business Conference (MSBC), an honor presented to 11 high-achieving sport management students in the United States and Canada. BIG stands for “Build, Inspire, Grow.”

Randolph attended the prestigious conference Oct. 28-29 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She heard from featured guest speakers and industry professionals, including ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro and WNBA Chief Marketing Officer Phil Cook.

“I am honored to be chosen as a BIG Initiative Award Winner,” Randolph says. “Having the opportunity to attend this conference and connect with students dedicated to being the future leaders of the sport industry was so important to me. I am thankful to have met professionals of color who encouraged me to keep pushing boundaries and creating space for other young professionals of color.”

Launched in 2013, the BIG Initiative annually recognizes outstanding student leaders in sport business who have achieved an exceptional level of success. Each year, the MSBC attracts top applicants from across the nation. Those receiving the honor are selected on the basis of demonstrated entrepreneurship, creativity, innovation and leadership. Nominees must be students with a passion for the sport industry who demonstrate a truly remarkable curriculum vitae.

“I am thankful to have met professionals of color who encouraged me to keep pushing boundaries and creating space for other young professionals of color,” Elena Randolph says of her experience at the Michigan Sport Business Conference.

Randolph attended networking sessions and breakout panels on topics such as sport and fashion, NIL (name, image and likeness) and sport storytelling. She also met with representatives from the Detroit Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers and the NBA. BIG Initiative winners also attended a Detroit Red Wings game, complete with a facility tour.

“It was amazing to network with representatives from those organizations,” Randolph says. “Working for the NBA is my goal, so it was beneficial to hear from these professionals and learn about opportunities to gain more experience working in basketball.”

Randolph interned with the WNBA in summer 2022. She previously interned with ���ϲ����� Athletics in Facilities and Game Operations. Randolph is the president of the Sport Professionals of Color Club and was a 2021 Peer Advisor in Falk College. She studied abroad in London in spring 2022.

Eimbinder took advantage of academic coaching with CLASS and went from, “I actually might be in trouble here,” to becoming an academic coach himself, thanks to the skills he learned. “My coach, who now works in cybersecurity at a well-known company, was my role model. I made a connection with him and learned such skills as memorization techniques that I used to master the detailed information about sports commissions, rules and collective bargaining agreements that I needed to learn.”

Left to right: Joao Paulo Forman Murray, Sport Management Professor Dennis Deninger and Josh Eimbinder celebrating at 2022 Commencement.

Eimbinder found coaching so helpful that he wanted to get involved. He reached out to the CLASS leadership team. At the time he didn’t have the required GPA, but he was so persuasive that he was provisionally hired and trained as an academic coach—on the condition that he keep his GPA over 3.0.

That’s when his fellow women’s basketball team manager and sport management major, Joao Paulo Forman Murray ’22, got interested. The native of Sao Paolo, Brazil, was looking for different things to do on campus and had helped Eimbinder study math. Forman Murray came on board because, “I saw how Josh really evolved academically in the program.”

Both friends say they believe what they have learned as coaches will benefit them in their careers. “I think communicating with multiple audiences and diverse people with different backgrounds, interests, opinions and behaviors is the key to any job,” says Forman Murray. He primarily served as a coach for science and engineering students, which isn’t a field he knows well. Over the course of his time as an academic coach, he found ways to connect with students, encourage them to keep an open mind and learn to ask good questions that uncover the information they need.

“As someone going through coaching, I really learned time management, prioritization and how to hold myself accountable, in addition to the specific study and review techniques,” Eimbinder says. “As a coach, I learned how to connect with all kinds of people, meet them where they are and celebrate their successes. It’s super exciting as a coach to hear from your past students that they’re succeeding.”

Forman Murray is looking forward to taking his leadership skills into his summer capstone project and is hoping to find a job in the United States after he finishes. Eimbinder believes that his experience as a coach will benefit him in his post-graduate work at United Talent Agency. “In a job, you work with vague instructions.  In school, every professor isn’t clear and concise.  If you can understand how to ask questions and interpret vague instructions and run with them, it becomes super valuable down the road.”

On Comfrey Crescent in Orléans, a suburb of Ottawa, there was one thing that always brought the children out of their yards and houses and onto the street.

No, not the ice cream truck. Instead, Sarah Thompson would come out to play.

By the time she was 12 years old, Thompson had turned into a fantastic hockey player. She would strategically place her hockey net in the street to avoid hitting cars, rifling shot after shot off her shooting pad in the net.

“All the little kids would come out because Sarah’s outside and they wanted to play with her,” says Annette Thompson, Sarah’s mother. “They would sit on the grass watching her take her shots. She was a real role model for the little ones.”

Starting on Monday, Thompson will be surrounded by a new group of children who are eager for role models. Thompson ‘24, a sport management major in and a forward on the ���ϲ����� women’s ice hockey team, will be in Buenos Aires, Argentina, teaching children from a low-income neighborhood how to play street hockey.

Thompson’s “Sticks Together” project is part of a sport development humanitarian program organized by .

Thompson will be joined in Argentina by Tracey Edson ’24, a sport management major who will also teach sports and chronicle the trip by filming Thompson tutoring the children. The program will run for three weeks, and Thompson and Edson arranged to have nets, hockey sticks, plastic pucks and T-shirts shipped to Argentina for the children.

Thompson learned about the impact an adult can have on a child from her mother, who has been a teacher at Our Lady of Wisdom elementary school in Ottawa for 25 years. She also remembers attending sports camps as a child, and how she looked up to the young adults who were teaching her.

Now, it’s her time to be the teacher.

“I think of all the opportunities that I had to play so many different sports, and there’s kids in these underprivileged communities that all they have is a soccer ball and that’s all they get to play,” Thompson says. “What if you stink at soccer? I know I stink at soccer, that’s not my favorite sport to play.

“I was lucky enough to play everything, and I think that’s what’s special about teaching another sport,” she continues. “I’ve always loved the idea of teaching kids sports and what better way than going to a place where they often don’t get to have those experiences where someone can teach them something new.”

Game On

When she was 6 years old, Thompson was one of those kids in the grass watching the bigger kids play. She had started playing ice hockey, collecting hockey cards, and watching NHL games, and she was captivated by the street hockey being played by the older boys in the neighborhood.

“I started playing on my own, just to see if I could keep up with them, and eventually I would just sit on the sidelines and poke my head in and see if they’d let me play,” Thompson says. “And it eventually became, yeah, you can go in next if you want and I was like, ‘Sure!’ They’d strap me in there (in goal) and that’s how I started to get invited.”

As soon as they got home from school, Sarah Thompson (left) and her sister Kate would bring out the sticks and net and play street hockey with their neighbors. (Photo courtesy of Annette Thompson)

The boys, as Thompson says, were “nice about it”–they shot tennis balls when Thompson was playing goalie instead of the traditional hard rubber street hockey balls. But soon enough, the boys needed help keeping up with Thompson, who played for premier youth teams in Ottawa and Ontario, and for Canada’s under-18 team in the Canada-U.S. Summer Series and the 2019-20 World Championships.

Through it all, the neighborhood remained the center of Thompson’s hockey universe. When Sarah, her younger sister Kate, and her mother Annette Thompson would get home from their schools at 3:30 p.m., the nets would come out, the fruit would be sliced up for snacks and it was game on.

“By then the kids were coming from three streets down,” says Annette Thompson. “We moved homes (in Orléans) when Sarah was 12 and Kate was 8, but when we brought out the nets the kids would still come ripping around to play.”

Thompson entered ���ϲ����� in the Fall of 2019 and played in 19 games for the Orange as a freshman. This past season, Thompson played in all 32 games for a that finished with a 15-11-6 overall record, won the College Hockey America (CHA) regular season and tournament titles for the first time in program history, and secured the team’s second appearance in the NCAA Division I Tournament, where the Orange reached the regional semifinal.

After helping establish ���ϲ����� as a hockey school, Thompson has now set her sights on turning a neighborhood in Argentina into a street hockey hotbed.

Sticks Together

Thompson wanted to make a humanitarian trip last summer, but it was put on hold by the COVID-19 pandemic. Thompson says the delay was “a blessing in disguise” because it gave her another year to prepare for her “Sticks Together” project. Thompson collected donated new and used equipment, created a , and started a to pay for travel expenses, shipping the equipment, and the International Volunteer HQ program fees that cover housing and two meals per day.

“It just kind of spiraled. I told my mom and she said, ‘It’s crazy, it’s a lot, but I love it’ and she said I have no doubt that you’ll figure it out,” Thompson says. “I had so many people I had to connect with to help me put it together.”

One of those people is Edson, who worked with the hockey team as an intern with the ���ϲ����� Athletic Communications Department. As an intern, Edson was learning under one of the best sports communications experts in the business, her mother, executive senior associate athletics director/communications .

Tracey Edson (right) will join her friend Sarah Thompson in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and create a video of Thompson tutoring the children.

Tracey Edson had heard through a friend that Thompson was planning a trip to Argentina to teach street hockey.

“I thought that’s a great story to promote that the athletes are doing these meaningful things outside of their sport and outside of school,” Edson says. “We had a meeting in the fall about her trip and by the end of it, I asked if there was someone down there who’s taking pictures or video that they can send to us. I’m thinking about the media side of it.”

When Edson asked that question, Thompson asked her, “What about you?”

“She invited me and I was honored,” Edson says. “It’s going to be a trip of a lifetime and to be able to do it with one of your really close friends, that’s something that a lot of people can’t say that they did.”

Edson, who played basketball and golf growing up, will also work with the children when she isn’t filming.

“We both have found a passion for sports and a passion for teaching so to be able to share that with those kids and be a role model for them will be special as maybe it’s something they continue within their lives,” Edson says. “Sport brings a lot of great things and I want those kids to experience that.”

Impact on Kids

Thompson has worked extensively with International Volunteer HQ on the logistics of the after-school program, which will involve children from Recoleta, a neighborhood in the northern part of Buenos Aires near the Rio de la Plata (River Plate). Thompson and Edson will spend two weeks instructing about 15 children and some teachers who can then instruct the children after Thompson and Edson leave.

Thompson and Edson will have interpreters provided by International Volunteer HQ to help bridge the language barrier with the Spanish-speaking children. All the equipment they transport to Argentina will stay with the school.

Sarah Thompson (in goal with her sister Kate on the left) is taking her passion for street hockey and love for neighborhood games to children in Argentina. (Photo courtesy of Annette Thompson).

Field hockey is a popular sport in Argentina, but the way a field hockey player holds a stick is much different than the way a hockey player holds a stick. Ice hockey is a foreign concept in Argentina, where the summers are ridiculously hot, the winters are warm and the last significant snowfall was in 1975.

“I’m curious to see if they’re going to have any idea what (hockey) looks like,” Thompson says. “It’ll be cool if we can bring a computer and show them me playing (at ���ϲ�����) and the NHL and that this is ice hockey.

“We have no idea what we’re walking into, and the exciting part is that as much as we’ve been planning this project forever, you’re not going to really know until you’re there,” Thompson adds.

Even so, that hasn’t stopped Thompson and Edson from contemplating a similar trip to South Africa next year. And Annette Thompson, Sarah’s mother, won’t be surprised if her daughter turns these trips into a lifelong journey.

“She wants to have an impact with kids, and this could be a door opening to her where she can work with a nonprofit organization that brings sports to children,” Annette Thompson says. “She has spent a lot of time with organized sports, but this trip will remind her of her fondest memories of playing pickup hockey with her friends.”

Visit Thompson’s to learn more about her Sticks Together project. To donate for this year’s trip to Argentina or next year’s humanitarian trip, visit the Sticks Together .

Matthew Mulvaney, an associate professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Science and chair of the Faculty Council, thanked all faculty members who submitted nominations and the nominees who provided documentary support for the council’s consideration.

“This is both one of the most rewarding and one of the challenging parts of serving on the Faculty Council. We had a large number of nominations that came in, all of them were excellent, and all (faculty members) are making very important contributions to the college. It’s always a hard decision and this year was no exception,” said Mulvaney said.

Here’s a look at the 2022 honorees with comments from their award presenters:

• , director of online and distance education and assistant teaching professor in the School of Social Work

Falk Faculty of the Year Award for Excellence in Service

From presenter Yvonne Smith, associate professor in the School of Social Work:

“In 2021 Dr. Marfilius simultaneously served as director of the Undergraduate Social Work Program and the Online Master of Social Work Program, roles which, in their own right, require extraordinary vision, dedication, organization, and time. In light of his exemplary service, he was named director of online and distance education. This new position—a first for Falk College—puts him at the helm of five rapidly growing online programs that make Falk College’s graduate curricula increasingly accessible to students across the nation and around the world.

“The significant challenge of designing, staffing, and managing these nascent programs is hard to overestimate. Dr. Marfilius, a veteran of the United States Air Force, has proven to be a steady, competent pilot who can, as we often say at Falk College, ‘build the plane as we fly it.’ In 2021, Dr. Marfilius’ exemplary service was recognized with the ���ϲ����� Center for Disability Resources 2021 Faculty Recognition Award and the ���ϲ����� One University Assessment Award for best use of results.

“But his achievements in college and departmental leadership roles are only some of the ways Dr. Marfilius has served our community. He routinely mentors students and serves as a liaison to the D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families at ���ϲ�����. Notably, Dr. Marfilius has emerged as a leading public voice on the mental health needs of returning veterans and their families. He has done all of this while teaching graduates and undergraduates and serving as PI (principal investigator) or co-PI on multiple research and training grants.”

• , assistant teaching professor in the Department of Sport Management

Evan Weissman Memorial Faculty of the Year Award for Teaching Excellence

From presenter Jane Burrell, associate teaching professor in the Nutrition Science and Dietetics program:

“Dave is a teacher who consistently receives excellent student evaluations. He is at the forefront of innovations in teaching, both in terms of classroom practices and course development, to meet emerging trends in the field. He also is exceptionally strong at developing collaborations with high-profile industry leaders to complement course content and provide students with real-world engagement opportunities.

“In 2021 Dave taught seven courses. As his nomination letter highlights, Dave is an exceptional teacher ‘specializing in courses that are challenging to find qualified faculty to teach.’ Dave teaches students to connect to real-world experiences in sales and marketing that prepare graduates to obtain highly competitive and lucrative employment opportunities. Dave is ahead of the curve in teaching and innovation. A prime example includes the rapid development of a new course, ‘Name, Image, and Likeness,’ which he created in response to the NCAA’s 2021 ruling that enables student-athletes to monetize their name. This was the first and only such course in the country that provides guidance and tangible skills that will prepare student-athletes and their advocates to benefit from their name and talents.

“Dave also brings his expertise to bear outside of the classroom by overseeing the sales club, which was very successful in the National Collegiate Sales Competition. As a teaching professor, preparing highly qualified students and graduates is essential. Dave’s experience in the profession, his infectious enthusiasm, and his willingness to help his students grow and interact with industry make him an exceptional teacher.”

• , assistant professor in the Nutrition Science and Dietetics program

Falk Faculty of the Year Award for Excellence in Research

From presenter Patrick Walsh, associate professor in the Department of Sport Management:

“Dr. Ramalingam, who is in her second year in Falk College, had an extremely productive 2021. She published eight peer-reviewed articles, several of which are in top-tiered journals in nutrition, and one in a highly respected journal in the field of cardiovascular sciences. In addition, she co-authored five conference presentations and was invited by ���ϲ�����’s Department of Biology to give a research talk titled ‘Early life programming of obesity.’ On top of the publications and presentations, Dr. Ramalingam submitted five internal research grants as PI (principal investigator) totaling $48,000, all of which were funded, and submitted an impressive eight external research grants totaling over $1 million.

“Her commitment to research is also evident through the mentoring of students. Her mentorship as advisor to two master’s students in Nutrition Science and nine undergraduate students in her research lab has led to student publications, SOURCE grant funding, and a Pre-Doctoral Fellowship award from the American Society of Nutrition, the first time a nutrition science student at ���ϲ����� has received this honor.

“Dr. Ramalingam notes that her work ‘focuses on the role of bioactives, specifically fish oil, in preventing maternal and paternal obesity. Approximately 30% of the women of reproductive age suffer from obesity. Dietary intervention during this critical fetal developmental window might provide opportunities to decrease the burden of metabolic disease later in life.’ It is Dr. Ramalingam’s research goal is to provide additional scientific evidence to reduce/prevent obesity using non-pharmacological approaches.”

Seven days in Los Angeles, meeting more than 70 executives from 23 sports-related organizations, and riding at 125 mph in an official NASCAR pace car!

Allison Rosen’s LA Immersion Trip included a chance meeting with U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team head coach Gregg Berhalter at O’Hare Airport in Chicago.

That’s how Allison Rosen ’24 and 17 of her Department of Sport Management classmates from the Falk College spent spring break as they immersed themselves in LA’s sports industry.

“If I had to sum up the 2022 Los Angeles Immersion Trip in one word, that word would be INCREDIBLE!” said Rosen.

The trip to Southern California is part of the Sport Management LA Immersion course (SPM 358) where students interact with industry executives and practitioners from nearly every sector of the industry.

The course explores business practices, marketing strategies, branding initiatives, social media outreach and the organizational culture of competing sports franchises and entities in the greater Los Angeles market.

“This course exposes students to the many differences of managing sports entities on the West Coast compared to the East,” said , director and chair of Sport Management and Rhonda S. Falk Endowed Professor who teaches the SPM 358 course.

“Los Angeles has become the sports capital of the world and markets to an extremely diverse population of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. More than a dozen students who have taken this course have obtained jobs based on professional networking connections made on the LA Immersion Trip.”

Los Angeles is home to 11 professional sports teams and has/will host the 2022 Super Bowl, 2022 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship Game and 2028 Summer Olympics, among other major sporting events.

We asked Rosen to share her experiences and thoughts about the Los Angeles Immersion Trip, and this is what she wrote:

One of the highlights of the LA Immersion Trip was a visit with NBA legend (and Grateful Dead fanatic) Bill Walton, shown here with Allison Rosen (right) and Sydney Orszulak displaying ���ϲ�����-themed Grateful Dead T-shirts.

“I am so thankful for the opportunity to take this trip after COVID-19 put a two-year halt to it. None of it would have been possible had it not been for our incredible donors, Jeff and Andrea Lomasky. On behalf of everyone on this trip, we thank the Lomasky family for their generosity.

“We met with more than 20 organizations and 70 executives across different aspects of the sport industry over the course of our trip. It was somehow both exhausting and energizing at the same time! As someone who dreams of working in soccer, visiting the Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) and the LA Galaxy were two highlights for me.

“Other organizations we met with included the Los Angeles Rams, Hoag Classic, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Marathon, Legends, AEG, the Rose Bowl, and even NASCAR. We also met with (NBA legend) Bill Walton, which was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I loved learning about what makes each sport unique and comparing the sport industry on the West Coast to that on the East Coast.

“Top experiences included walking on the ice before an LA Kings game at Crypto.com Arena; being on the NFL Network; riding at 125 mph in an official NASCAR pace car (not my mom’s favorite part to hear about!); touring SoFi Stadium; eating tacos about two feet from the beach in Santa Monica; and walking through the LA Marathon setup at Dodger Stadium. Another highlight, which was by chance and not part of our itinerary, was running into U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team head coach Gregg Berhalter at O’Hare Airport (in Chicago) before catching our connecting flight to ���ϲ�����.

“From a business perspective, we learned about the importance of embracing your community, differentiating yourself in a saturated market, target audiences, and the impact social media has had on the industry. In addition to career advice, we received life experience advice.

The students visited the Auto Club Speedway and rode at 125 mph in an official NASCAR pace car.

“One of my favorite pieces of advice came from Martin Jarmond, director of athletics at UCLA. He said, ‘You can’t lead others until you lead yourself.’ This really stuck with me as this is something people need to hear more often. It falls in the same category as leading by example and self-confidence. If you don’t believe in yourself, how can you expect others to?

“Across the board, whether the industry professionals were ���ϲ����� (some even LA Trip) alumni or not, something I noticed was the passion to give back and grow the next generation. Everyone was so welcoming and, as a woman who wants to work in the industry, it was encouraging to have so many females in our meetings. Someday, wherever I end up, I hope there’s an immersion trip headed my way because I will 100 percent participate and host students at my office.

“We all owe a big thank you to Sport Management Director Michael Veley, Sport Management Internship Placement Coordinator , and all of the executives we met with for making it such a worthwhile experience.”

During their trip, the students visited the Hoag Classic Country Club, Los Angeles Dodgers, UCLA Athletics, Los Angeles Football Club, NFL Network, Los Angeles Rams, So-Fi Stadium, Anheuser-Busch, Los Angeles Kings, Anschutz Entertainment Group, LA Sports & Entertainment Commission, Los Angeles Clippers, Auto Club Speedway, Rose Bowl, Dignity Health Sports Park, Westwood One Radio, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles Marathon, Crypto.com Arena and Legends.

To learn more about the students’ experiences, check out their 2022 .

Allison Rosen is a sport management major and public communications studies minor who is a current member and former communications co-chair for Women In Sports and Events (WISE) at ���ϲ�����; a student manager and photographer/content creator for the University’s women’s soccer team; an intern for ���ϲ�����’s Athletic Department Creative Services; and chair of the ���ϲ����� Sport Management Club’s Charity Sport Auction Donations Committee.

Four years ago, O’Connor visited Boston for the first time with his father, Dave O’Connor, to tour the headquarters of sports footwear and apparel company . On that same trip, the O’Connors drove to ���ϲ����� to tour ���ϲ�����’s David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics and meet with sport analytics academic advisor .

One of the highlights of the Berlin Scholars’ trip to Boston was a tour of the New Balance headquarters. In the front row, from left to right, are John Asel ’23, Kevin Ivers ’22, Michael O’Connor ’22, Kylie Dedrick ’23, Mackenzie Mangos ’22, Connor Meissner ’22 and academic advisor Francesco Riverso. In the back row, from left to right, are Ward Walton ’22, Seth Warner ’22, James Hyman ’21, Assistant Professor of Sport Management Justin Ehrlich, Preston Klaus ’22, Samual “Ben” Ayers ’22, Daniel Nagle ’22, Charles “CB” Garrett ’19 and Cooper Shawver ’22.

That was Michael’s first and only time on campus before he enrolled in the Falk College’s in the fall of 2019. Now majoring in sport analytics with a minor in sport management/economics, O’Connor is set to graduate in May and start his professional career in sport analytics.

The Berlin Scholars went to Boston to attend the , an annual event for professionals and students to discuss the increasing role of analytics in the sports industry. When the Falk College launched a degree in sport analytics in 2016, University Trustee and alumnus Andrew T. Berlin ’83 made a $1 million gift to provide scholarship and financial assistance to select undergraduate sport analytics students, support faculty research and allow students to participate in student-focused sport analytical competitions and academic symposiums such as the Sports Analytics Conference.

O’Connor shared his thoughts about attending the conference and visiting New Balance (and his father!):

“The MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference returned to Boston for the first time since before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and having the opportunity to attend in-person as a senior was incredible. I attended the conference last year virtually, but I learned very quickly that the benefits that come with an in-person conference just can’t be captured in online breakout rooms. This event was one I’d been looking forward to since before arriving at ���ϲ�����, so to finally be able to network and attend incredibly informative panel discussions with my friends and peers was a great experience.

“Personally, I enjoyed the wide variety of panels that the conference had to offer. This year offered more coverage of topics that aren’t discussed often enough in the sports landscape; for example, I attended the Title IX discussion and the conversation on transgender athletes in sports, two topics that have seen increased coverage over the last few weeks after recent events in Utah and the NCAA Swimming Championships.

“Providing opportunities for those with a background in data to broaden their perspectives and challenge their beliefs is one of the first steps in making meaningful change, and I thought those were two of the most informative and impactful panels of the conference.

“In addition to listening to those panel discussions, students attended various networking workshops, had industry professionals review their resumes and explored various research projects that students from numerous colleges and universities had been working on. I enjoyed meeting with the authors of those research projects to gain insight on their process and methodology. I also met students from other universities that I had worked with virtually, and I hope those relationships will form stronger bonds between the various sport analytics cohorts at colleges across the country.

“We not only got to experience everything that the conference had to offer, but we also had the opportunity to tour the New Balance headquarters in Boston, along with the Boston Bruins’ practice facility and ‘The Track’ at New Balance, a brand-new multi-purpose athletic facility that is set to open to the public soon. My father, Dave O’Connor, is a national sales manager for team sports at New Balance and coordinated a walkthrough of their facilities and discussed opportunities available at New Balance, along with Francesco Riverso, our academic advisor.

“While this may not have been the most ‘analytically driven’ aspect of the weekend, it was an interesting opportunity for students to realize that there are opportunities to get involved in sport analytics that may not follow their traditional understanding of working in the industry but provide the same advantages and benefits as working for specific sports teams.

“Touring The Track at New Balance was definitely a highlight of the trip. I ran track and field in high school and have been closely following the construction of the new venue, so to get a first look at the building before it opened to the public was incredible. New Balance also has a sports science lab located on the first floor of The Track; a state-of-the-art facility that incorporates sports science and analytics to produce better results for athletes. There aren’t many labs like this elsewhere, let alone ones that allow tours for students with a passion for sport analytics.

“Every aspect of the tour was a wonderful experience, both from an educational and entertainment perspective. I’m incredibly grateful for Mr. Andrew Berlin for providing us the opportunity to attend the MIT Sloan Sport Analytics Conference and hope that future classes will enjoy similar opportunities!”

Michael O’Connor is a member of the Sport Analytics Learning Community, a resident advisor, president of Falk’s Football Analytics Club and president of the University’s Otto Tunes tenor/bass a cappella club.

Burton, who worked as the chief marketing officer for the U.S. Olympic Committee in 2008, discussed the allegations brought out by tennis star Peng Shuai and her recent disappearance following these allegations. Burton said, “It doesn’t matter where the games are, there’s controversy that something is not right.” Burton went on to say that if you are a top sponsor for International Olympic Committee, “you know what you’re getting into.”

Burton, who wrote this commentary, discussed the NCAA’s recent decision to create a Transformation Committee. He questioned, ‘Is it reasonable assuming the NCAA—recently shut out by the Supreme Court (a 9-0 whitewashing) and stomped by various state legislations on name, image and likeness (NIL)—can recast itself into something else? Is it possible to transform the lumbering battleship into a jet fighter? Perhaps.’

Angela Marsh-Coan ’18

But for Langdon and Marsh-Coan, both graduates of the sport management program in the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, that’s not the best part of their journey. The best part, they say, is that through their NFL jobs–Langdon as health and safety senior coordinator and Marsh-Coan as social justice coordinator–they are making a positive impact on countless lives.

“Since I started working with player health and safety (in 2017), I feel my work is impacting the game and the players’ lives and making a safer game for fans who get to see the players they love on the field rather than on the sideline,” says Langdon.

Marsh-Coan works for the NFL’s Inspire Change initiative that supports social justice programs and provides funding for organizations that assist communities that have been historically underrepresented and excluded.

“I enjoy what I’m doing, I’m getting to make an impact and the fact that this role and opportunity even exists says a lot about the commitment that’s being made to this initiative,” says Marsh-Coan.

Langdon and Marsh-Coan will return to Falk to discuss their prominent NFL positions during a “Sport Management Alumnae in the NFL” panel discussion on Oct. 15 as part of the fifth annual sport management alumni event, “SPM Alumni in #SportsBiz: Now We’re the Pros.” Nicole Cost, internship placement coordinator for sport management, arranged the panel discussion because she knew of several Falk female alums who are working for the NFL or with NFL teams.

Other members of the panel include Hannah Sanford ’16, community engagement manager for the Seattle Seahawks, and Jordyn White ’17, public relations specialist for the NFL (White majored in communication and rhetorical studies in the College of Visual and Performing Arts and minored in sport management).

Other Falk alumnae working in the NFL include Lori Robinson ’09, player engagement for the Baltimore Ravens; Kaitlynn Miller ’21, who was recently hired by the Washington Football Team as coordinator of strategic partnerships; and Caroline Davis ’20, a marketing associate for the NFL based in Los Angeles who’s pursuing her master’s in communication and media studies from the Newhouse School of Public Communications.

The Women in Sports and Events student organization assists internship placement coordinator Nicole Cost with the alumni event by creating promotional materials, encouraging student RSVPs and moderating alumni workshops. Here at the 2019 event are student organization members, from left to right, Chloe Moss ’23, Megan Sheehan ’23, Juliana DiCenso ’23 and Kate Eliou ’21.

“Since the inception of our program, we’ve cultivated opportunities for our female students to become change agents in sports. As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Title IX, I could not be prouder of the accomplishments of these pioneering women working in the NFL,” says Michael Veley, founding director and chair of the Department of Sport Management. “Very few universities, if any, have so many female graduates working in managerial roles within professional football.”

The keynote speaker for the alumni event is Deidra Maddock ’97, vice president of sports brand solutions, Disney Advertising Sales for the Walt Disney Company and a senior advisory council member for the Department of Sport Management. Another panel discussion will feature alumni who have started their own businesses, and more than 20 alumni representing the NBA, MKTG, Genius Sports and other companies will engage with more than 150 current students in professional workshops following the panel discussions.

“The event began five years ago when I wanted to create a professional development opportunity for our students navigating careers in the sport and entertainment world,” Cost says. “When I started to brainstorm employers to connect with, I realized that we had sport management alumni working almost everywhere our students wanted to potentially be one day. The best people to help guide our current students are alumni; we love keeping the sport and entertainment industry Orange!”

Helping to Create Change

While in high school in Washington, D.C., Marsh-Coan was a student manager for sports teams and that sparked her interest in sport management. She attended an open house at the Falk College and was sold on the idea that it offered the support of a small liberal arts college while providing the excitement of a larger university.

Charma Harris ’13, a consultant for The Clearing, and Elijah Biggins ’16, integrated marketing strategist for Genius, were two of the alumni to attend the last in-person Falk alumni event in 2019. Harris and Biggins are members of sport management’s Emerging Leaders Council.

“I worked as a marketing intern for [���ϲ�����] basketball and football games, while also serving as the community service chair for the Student African American Society,” Marsh-Coan says. “When I graduated, I realized I could pursue both my interests in sports and my passion for community engagement. I’m grateful I had the opportunity to explore my interests at Falk and in the context of what I could be doing professionally.”

Marsh-Coan worked for the NBA’s Washington Wizards and Atlanta Hawks before joining the NFL in November 2020. The timing was right for Marsh-Coan as the Inspire Change initiative took on added importance in the wake of the social and cultural unrest that was occurring throughout the world.

Inspire Change has four pillars: criminal justice reform, police-community relations, education and economic advancement. Marsh-Coan says the NFL supports 27 different non-profit organizations that promote change in those pillar areas.

“My primary role as the social justice coordinator is to assist the social responsibility team on all things related to Inspire Change,” Marsh-Coan says. “On a day-to-day basis, I manage communications between the league and our 27 Inspire Change grant partners.”

The NFL’s social responsibility team works in collaboration with the Players Coalition, club owners and NFL players to “ensure that access to opportunity is a reality for all.”

“I’m definitely grateful to be in this position and for the commitment [the NFL] has made to this work,” Marsh-Coan says. “The team is growing and evolving to tell the story of these partner organizations, and we’re looking to continue to be authentic in this space.”

Keeping Players Safe

Cady Langdon ’16

Langdon, who’s from Westchester County, New York, in the Hudson Valley, wanted to transfer for her junior year of college and had ���ϲ����� at the top of her list. Langdon and her father, alum Simon Langdon, went to a basketball game on their visit and “that’s really all you need to sell you on the school,” Langdon says, laughing.

Langdon, who played soccer in high school, was accepted into the sport management program and jumped right in by joining the Sport Management Club and participating in fundraising events such as the Annual Charity Sports Auction. She spent the summer and fall of 2016 on her capstone project with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills as a graduate assistant member of the events and guest experience staff.

“I was able to meet great speakers at Falk from many professional sport leagues who I’m still connected to, and in my classes, we covered ticket sales, marketing and all the areas you can get into in sports,” Langdon says. “My capstone with the Bills came through the help of ���ϲ����� internship coordinators and staff who have so many connections and they’re constantly monitoring job opportunities for students.”

Langdon joined the NFL’s broadcasting department in 2016 and spent a year working with clubs to find stories that could be highlighted on the broadcasts. She then transitioned to player health and safety, where she focuses on innovation and protective equipment.

Working with experts such as data scientists, engineers and epidemiologists, Langdon’s team collects and organizes data and performs video reviews of injuries that occur in an NFL game (taking into account factors such as weather, playing surface and the type of cleats, helmet, shoulder pads and other equipment worn by the player). The data is central to informing rules changes and improving protective equipment–two centerpieces of the league’s efforts to reduce injuries, specifically concussions.

The NFL, in collaboration with the NFL Players Association and appointed biomechanical experts, conducts laboratory testing for all helmets. The results are displayed on a poster and the helmets are ranked as green (best to use), yellow or red (prohibited). Langdon says at the start of the 2018 season, 41% of the players were wearing helmets that ranked in the top-performing green category.

At the conclusion of the 2020 season, because of this research and a commitment to educate players, 99% of the players wore the top-performing helmets and the league realized a 25% decrease in concussions over the past three years.

“This has been a large effort, and over the years we’ve made helmet choices a prominent part of conversations in the locker room between players and equipment staff,” Langdon says.

‘Headed in the Right Direction’

Making a positive impact through their NFL positions isn’t the only thing that Langdon and Marsh-Coan have in common. Their messages to students during the Oct. 15 alumni event will also be similar: Find out what you want to do and go for it.

“It’s OK to get a job in one area and switch to another,” Langdon says. “I started in events with the Bills and then broadcasting and now health and safety, so you don’t have to feel you’re stuck in one position for the rest of your career. Sports provides you many opportunities to dive into different areas.”

Marsh-Coan says students should take advantage of Falk’s vast network of alums and she credits her Falk connections for helping her land jobs in the NBA and NFL.

“This [alumni] event is a good opportunity for students to see women in this space, especially Black women in this space, and I look forward to encouraging students to explore all opportunities,” Marsh-Coan says. “Don’t take a job just to meet people; reach out to people on your own. We should encourage students to go after what they want rather than what people say they should go after.”

It’s that attitude that has led Marsh-Coan, Langdon and other Falk alumnae to prominent positions in a once-archaic league where NFL used to stand for “Not For Ladies.”

“My department alone is made up of four women out of six and there are so many women here in executive and senior vice president roles,” Langdon says. “It’s amazing to have mentors in those spaces.

“There’s a lot of progress to be made and I hope to see women being head coaches one day, but we’re certainly headed in the right direction,” she adds. “You just have to be confident and go with what you know and make sure your voice is being heard.”

“The first thing to understand about NIL is that nobody fully understands NIL.”

Actually, there’s a group of 28 students in the who, by the end of this semester, will fully understand NIL. This fall, those students are taking a “Name Image and Likeness” course from the that is believed to be the first undergraduate course of its kind in the country.

Sport management assistant teaching professor David Meluni has more than 20 years of experience in collegiate athletics.

The course is being taught by , an assistant teaching professor in sport management who has more than 20 years of experience in collegiate athletics, first as a baseball player at Ithaca College and then by working in ticketing, marketing, sponsorship and digital roles at Ithaca, Cornell, Florida State and ���ϲ�����.

Last year, a patchwork of states started passing laws mandating that college athletes were allowed to profit off their images. After asking Congress to pass a uniform set of rules (it didn’t), the NCAA threw up its hands and said that starting July 1, 2021, all athletes could benefit financially from their name, image and likeness.

Falk’s course includes the model of NIL. Students are collaborating with professionals in the industry while learning how to build a brand and ultimately monetize opportunities. The students are involved in proposal writing, infographic design and the development of marketing and social media plans.

“Our department prides itself on creating courses that connect our students to contemporary issues in the sport industry,” says , Rhonda S. Falk Endowed Professor and Department of Sport Management director and chair. “The NIL legislation will change the business model of Division I college athletics going forward. When you match the teaching skills of Professor Meluni with the expertise and collaborative partnership of (the sponsorship sales company) SponsorUnited, this course will be a game-changer.”

In this Q&A, we ask Meluni how the class came together, the impact of NIL and what his students are learning.

Q: The NCAA announced its decision on July 1 and less than two months later you’re teaching a “Name, Image and Likeness” course. Tell us how that came together so quickly.

A: I’m always looking at trends in the sport industry, and as a former student-athlete I have been keeping an eye on NIL for a few years. Once the NCAA tabled a decision in January 2021, we knew something had to happen this past July so I started planning at that point.

Q: As Michael Veley says, NIL–and this course–are game-changers. Can you explain why this is such a groundbreaking rule change?

A: Think multi-media rights holders, licensing and merchandising, just to start. If a brand can associate with an athlete, how does that impact the corporate partner of an athletic department? Brands want engagement, and the athlete can drive that.

Q: You have a varied and extensive background in collegiate athletics. How did that help you develop the curriculum for the course?

A: Spending 10 years selling corporate sponsorships in collegiate athletics at ���ϲ�����, followed by six years in digital media at SIDEARM Sports, I navigated the many challenges that brands experience. An athlete can provide an avenue that brands traditionally struggle with. Brands want engagement, and no one is better to provide that than athletes who essentially have become influencers.

The students in the NIL course are collaborating with professionals in the industry while learning how to build a brand and ultimately monetize opportunities.

Q: What are your students learning and what are some of the skills they’re acquiring through this course?

A: Students are learning how to prospect for a potential partner by using industry leading sales software provided by SponsorUnited. They are evaluating the social media Instagram accounts of collegiate athletes to predict pricing and trends and using Canva to create graphics for themselves as if they were a student-athlete or consulting for a student-athlete.

Q: Your class is working closely with , a sponsorship sales company. Explain how that partnership started and what SponsorUnited is providing to your students.

A: We are the only university in the country right now with this kind of relationship. We have been working with SponsorUnited in different capacities for two years and its software is the industry leading prospecting tool for organizations to vet brands. The software updates daily and allows you to track sponsorship prospects and industry trends. SponsorUnited is amazing to work with and we are proud to use their software as a supplement to the textbook.

Q: Your textbook is Malcolm Lemmon’s “.” The title is certainly fitting, but what’s inside the book that makes it so useful for this course?

A: Everything! When I decided to create the course, I wanted to use this book because it’s an amazingly easy read, it touches upon everything from how to deal with media to social media importance, and there is nothing in it that’s not covered within the scope of NIL. Malcolm hit a home run with this book before NIL was even here.

Q: What has been the reaction so far from students in your class and–we have to ask–are there any student-athletes who are taking the class this fall?

A: The class discussions are outstanding. Students in our department are connected to hot topics in the sports industry and this is certainly the hottest one right now. This semester, we have several student-athletes in the class, along with a handful of team managers who are majoring in sport management, sport analytics and broadcasting. It is the perfect mix of students, and next semester will likely be the same.

Meluni says there are discussions to expand opportunities for students and industry professionals who want to learn more about NIL through an online NIL course from the . More details will follow. Visit to learn more about the Department of Sport Management and its academic programs, and follow Meluni on and .

Brian Meyer at the 2016 Rio Olympics

The Tokyo Olympics brings together an untold number of stories of athletes and their struggles, determination and victories. Brian Meyer ’11 is helping bring those stories to light to their fans and to the world.

Meyer is account director at the creative agency 160over90, the lead marketing agency for Visa’s Olympic and Paralympic athlete sponsorship program, “Team Visa,” which sponsors athletes from all over the world. Meyer helps manage the Team Visa program, working with a team to coordinate the athletes’ media and marketing appearances.

“In the years leading up to the Games, we help to build the strategic marketing plan for the program, conduct research and make recommendations of athletes to partner with, negotiate contracts and then ultimately manage the relationships with the athletes and their agents,” Meyer says.

In the lead up to the Games and throughout the Olympics, all the work comes together as athletes are front and center to the world.

“We manage all of the activations and ways in which Visa presents their athletes; this could include managing creative approvals, appearances (in-person or virtual) and social media posts,” he says.

Brian Meyer ’11 with gold medal snowboarder Jamie Anderson as she signs her autograph on items at the PyeongChang Olympics

For the Tokyo Olympics, Team Visa includes 102 athletes from around the world, representing 54 countries and 28 sports. The team includes Simone Biles of the U.S., gymnastics; Megan Rapinoe of the U.S., soccer; Katie Ledecky of the U.S., swimming; Oksana Masters of the U.S., para cycling; Gabriel Medina of Brazil, surfing; Mariana Pajon of Colombia, BMX racing; Kanoa Igarashi of Japan, surfing; PV Sindhu of India, badminton; and Sky Brown of Great Britain, skateboarding.

Meyer, who graduated with a sport management degree from the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, is in Tokyo for the Games. “Most of the Visa team is based in central Tokyo, in the area known as Marunouchi, near Tokyo Station, which is close to the Visa office,” says Meyer, who took part in the Falk College’s inaugural Olympic Odyssey class and trip, which explores the history of the games and includes a trip to visit Olympic cities.

What’s the best part of working with the Olympians? “Getting to know and develop relationships with athletes from all different countries, sports, backgrounds and cultures, and having the opportunity to hear and help tell their stories,” Meyer says.

Brian Meyer, right, at the PyeongChang Olympics

Meyer, who worked with athletes for the Rio 2016 games and the PyeongChang 2018 games, is excited to see all of the athletes’ hard work come to fruition. “Getting to see our athletes—with whom we’ve built relationships for years—compete and succeed is always what I look forward to. Because for most of them, they only get a chance to be in the spotlight every four years; it makes it extra special,” he says.

Revisiting a city he came to know after the PyeongChang Olympics will also be a highlight.

“I’m excited to get back to Tokyo to experience the city and culture there,” Meyer says. “I went there for a few days after the PyeongChang Games in 2018 and have been looking forward to returning ever since.”

Jamie Jeeyoon Kim, an assistant professor of sport management, at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang

The Tokyo Olympics will have a different vibe from other games. No fans in the stands will make for quiet venues. And what impact might that have on drawing young viewers into watching the games and participating in sports in general?

For the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, Jamie Jeeyoon Kim, an assistant professor of sport management in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, researched how young people were drawn into watching the games and more importantly whether they were then motivated to participate in sports—always a primary interest for host countries and those involved in the Olympic movement.

Kim has a deep background in the Olympics beyond her research. Before coming to academia, she used to work for the Korean Olympic Committee, assisting Korea’s successful bid for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics and serving as a manager of the Korean national team.

For the 2018 Olympics, the PyeongChang Organizing Committee’s “New Horizons” vision was to expand winter sports in Asia, bolstered by what some in the sports industry described as the youngest and fastest-growing winter sports market in the world with the largest aggregate youth population.

To better understand the impact of the games and develop strategies for drawing in young people, Kim was awarded $18,000 as part of the International Olympic Committee’s advanced Olympic research grant for her project, “Building a Sport Participation Legacy Through the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.”

Through her work, Kim says that “social influence was found as the most influential factor in the Asian younger generations’ decision-making for Olympic consumption.” In Japan, that element might be missing at the upcoming games—as it will be hard to show how people are missing out from an experience when no one is in the stands.

Kim also received a $7,500 Falk College Seed Grant for the project, “Building Korea’s Brand Personality and Equity with the Olympic Brand and the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics,” looking at the nation branding effects of hosting the Olympic games.

In this Q&A, Kim answers a few questions about her research on the legacy of sport participation from the Olympics, her longstanding connection with the Olympics and the thrill of the games.

Q: What did your research involve regarding your project on “Building a Sport Participation Legacy Through the 2018 Winter Olympic Games”?

A: As reflected in the vision of “New Horizons,” the primary goal of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics was to boost sport participation and spectatorship among younger generations in the Asian market through the “trickle-down effect” (i.e., watching the Olympics will inspire people to watch and play sport).

Based on “negotiation of motives and constraints,” a project identifying and testing the interaction among and assessing pre-post changes of key internal and external motives and intrapersonal, interpersonal and structural constraints was conducted with late adolescents in Korea and China. The project was funded by the 2017-2018 Advanced Olympic Research Grant from the International Olympic Committee’s Olympics Studies Centre.

Motives and constraints already known to affect general sport participation and spectating (e.g., enjoyment, escape, cost, time constraint) were found to affect Asian younger generations’ decision-making for Olympic consumption. Notably, social influence and curiosity newly emerged as context-specific factors with strong influences.

The scarcity of the event—being held every four years and the rare opportunity to attend—altered how certain factors affected sport participation and spectatorship (e.g., lack of knowledge about a sport is usually a constraint but functioned as a motive in the study).

Additionally, the exposure to the 2018 games brought short-term boosts of Asian younger generations’ intentions for Olympic sport participation and spectating.

Q: What outcomes were there that might be applied to other Olympics, including these upcoming summer games? How do you see the lack of in-person fans at the upcoming Olympics as impacting sport participation?

A: Among the motives and constraints, social influence was found as the most influential factor in the Asian younger generations’ decision-making for Olympic consumption. Social influence—being influenced by friends or family or to follow the trend—is a factor similar to the “fear

Jamie Jeeyoon Kim, an assistant professor of sport management, at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang

of missing out” that can be an influential motive as well as a moderator facilitating one’s overcoming of constraints.

For the Tokyo Olympics, it will be difficult to promote “social influence” among the Japanese audience, as banning in-person spectating hinders the building of the perception that “you do not want to miss out when many others are enjoying Olympic sport.” The fact that the majority of Japanese are preferring the postponement or cancellation of the games is another hindrance for forming “social influence.”

Q: What was the most satisfying part of your work serving with the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics Bid Committee and Korean Olympics Committee?

A: I cannot forget the moment when “PyeongChang” was announced as the host of the 2018 Winter Olympics. It was a moment of excitement and fulfillment, but I also felt relieved that the bidding process was finally over. It was one of the very few moments I’ve cried out of joy.

Attending the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics was also a satisfying experience. I was able to attend the event as a researcher. Seeing the Olympic bid plan actually being realized and being able to catch up with former colleagues were great enjoyable experiences.

My experience with the Olympics helped me stay involved with the Olympic movement in a researcher capacity. I have worked in a research consortium developing a bid strategy for the 2032 Seoul Summer Olympics and a legacy education program for the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics. I also am working with the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and its 29 member NOCs on a project about NOC sponsorship. Being able to conduct research that assists practitioners and seeing it making an impact is very rewarding.

Q: What are you most looking forward to with the upcoming Olympics? What is your favorite sport to watch?

A: The IOC allows organizing committees to add certain sports to the Olympic program. For Tokyo, baseball/softball, karate, skateboarding, surfing and sport climbing will be added. These sports were strategically selected to appeal to the younger generation and the host country residents.

Personally, I am excited about skateboarding, surfing and sport climbing as they make their debut at the Olympic stage. These sports are dynamic, energetic and fast-paced, and I believe the sports will bring more excitement and attract more of a younger generation to watch the Olympics.

My favorite sport to watch is not in the summer program. It is short-track speed skating in the Winter Olympics. I like the sport as it is one of the most fast-paced sports, very competitive and always nail-biting. As the former team manager of the Korean national team, the fact that Korea has been pretty successful in the sport did affect my preference of the sport.

“Seeing there is a community of really amazing women in the industry, no matter how small, is proof I can succeed there as well. This has been a real inspiration for me, and I imagine it will be for other women,” says Brown, who is a member of the Baseball Statistics and Sabermetrics Club and the newly formed Sport Analytics Women (SAW) Club, where she serves as vice president.

During the Fall 2020 semester, the Sport Analytics Women Club hosts Olivia Stasiuk, marketing analytics manager, Dallas Cowboys. Founding club organizer and president, Mackenzie Mangos, pictured front, facing forward, manages the virtual meeting.

For women in the University’s sport analytics program that admitted its fifth class this past fall, networking with female role models in sports is essential as they enter a traditionally male-dominated field. With ongoing national efforts to encourage more young women to pursue science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM fields, female students in Falk’s sport analytics program are inspiring a new generation to follow in their footsteps.

“Our female sport analytics majors are truly trailblazers, jumping in headfirst to apply their skills and knowledge to this important aspect of sports business,” says Rodney Paul, professor of sport management and founding director of the sport analytics program. “They recognize they are role models and genuinely value, respect, and honor that role. They are leading the way for young women who love both sports and STEM programs in middle school and high school to careers in sports.”

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that through 2024, mathematical science occupations, such as data analysts and statisticians, are expected to grow at rates higher than average. From analyzing player performance to evaluating the effectiveness of sponsorships and advertising, sport organizations rely more than ever on trained professionals to process and analyze data.

Brown grew up watching her brother play sports, spending her free time studying baseball. She credits her calculus and studio art teachers for the skills and confidence to pursue a career in sport analytics and feels that inspiration is important to pass on. In addition to serving as a peer advisor and teaching assistant for first-year students, Brown also mentored high school students during Falk College’s Summer 2020 Berlin Sport Analytics Academy to enhance their analytical problem-solving and presentational skills. The academy is made possible through generous support from ���ϲ����� Trustee and alumnus Andrew T. Berlin ’83.

Having siblings on travel sports teams that took her family across the country fueled Alison Gilmore’s passion for sports. Gilmore, a first-year sport analytics major, is pictured here (L-R) with sister, Rachel and brother, Graham.

Like Brown, having siblings on travel sports teams that took her family across the country fueled Alison Gilmore’s passion for sports. “I was pretty good at writing but loved math, and I wanted to combine my passion for math with sports,” says Gilmore, a first-year sport analytics major.

During her sophomore year of high school, her father mentioned ���ϲ�����’s new program in sport analytics he’d heard about at work. She researched the program that night. “It was exactly what I wanted. There was nothing else like it. And if I went anywhere but here, it would not have been the same. I am just very grateful for this opportunity.”

Gilmore is also a member of the Baseball Statistics and Sabermetrics Club and Sport Analytics Women Club. “Our program is very networking-oriented from the beginning. It is amazing and gratifying so early to have access to these professionals. It sets us up to succeed because we see what skills are needed to get to their levels,” says Gilmore.

Referencing professional broadcasters Holly Rowe and Maria Taylor, as well as San Francisco Giants coach Alyssa Nakken as role models for aspiring female sport professionals, Gilmore says, “given the roles these women are in, younger girls see these are attainable goals and gain confidence.”

Second-year sport analytics student Mackenzie Mangos has minors in economics and information management and technology, and plans to graduate in three years. As a high school student-athlete who captained her teams in soccer, basketball, softball and volleyball, Mangos always loved math, envisioning her major to follow that path. “The sport analytics major bridges two things I love: sports and math,” says Mangos, who plans to finish her degree in 2022.

Leadership qualities she fostered throughout high school continued when she arrived at ���ϲ�����, participating in the prestigious SABR Diamond Dollars Analytics Competition at New York University as a first-year student. It was a natural transition for her to start the Sport Analytics Women Club at ���ϲ����� this fall.

“I felt that this club would be a place for women to feel welcome as soon as they get on campus or even before arriving,” says Mangos. The club’s membership, currently at 13 and growing, welcomes students from all across campus. The group hosted three guest speakers virtually during the Fall 2020 semester, including Olivia Stasiuk, a marketing analytics manager with the Dallas Cowboys; Dafna Aaronson, a performance and people analytics specialist for the Los Angeles Kings; and Bria Grant, senior manager of business intelligence with the Brooklyn Nets.

The group is currently focused on research projecting how women’s college basketball players will perform in the WNBA and plans to host tutorials on programs like R, Tableau and SQL.

Mangos believes seeing the success of other females in a predominantly male field will inspire more females to enter the industry. “Females are a minority in sport analytics, but there is so much opportunity for us,” says Mangos. “I hope our successes will encourage more women to pursue this career and want to enroll in this major here at ���ϲ�����.”

To learn more about Falk College’s programs in sport analytics, contact Professor Paul at rpaul01@syr.edu.

The Juice livestream is dedicated to supporting, promoting and encouraging professional development and social interaction among young professionals in the sports and entertainment industry. Experienced professionals will engage in dialogue, offer guidance in professional development and answer questions submitted by the students through a weekly live webinar series.

The first Zoom webinar session is slated for 2 p.m. (ET) Wednesday, July 15, and is titled “The Importance of Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace.” This event, moderated by sport management Professor , will address how and why diversity is important, challenges companies and professionals encounter throughout their careers, success stories and ideas for how every person can help foster a more inclusive work environment. Featured panelists will share their strategies and successes building and working with diverse teams as well as highlight the positive impact diversity and inclusion can have on a corporate culture, business success and a company’s bottom line.

Hear from licensed clinical psychologist and ���ϲ����� Falk College alumna Dr. Tasha Brown ’10, as well as Spelman College Assistant Professor Danielle Dickens, whose research includes identity negotiation, stereotyping and prejudice in the workplace. Brown and Dickens will be joined by WarnerMedia Executive Director Josette Sprott and sport and entertainment professional Orestes Hernandez. More details, including registration information, is available at

The ���ϲ����� ELC exists as a core group of the Sport Management Department’s most committed and influential young alumni that are focused on providing guidance in various ways to current sport management, sport analytics, and sport venue and event management students.

Members of the Department of Sport Management’s Sabermetrics Club participated in the Society of American Baseball Research Analytics’ Spring Diamond Dollars Case Competition. Members from one of the two winning teams from the University were (from left) Steven DiMaria, Hughston Preston, Samual (Ben) Ayers, Joey Deaton and Cameron Mitchell.

For the sixth straight year, members of the Department of Sport Management’s Sabermetrics Club participated in the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR) Analytics’ Spring Diamond Dollars Case Competition. Due to Covid-19, the ���ϲ����� students did not travel last month to Phoenix, Arizona, but instead presented virtually from campus on March 13.

The competition is for undergraduate and graduate students from universities across the country to compete against each other by researching and presenting on a baseball analytics topic.

Four ���ϲ����� teams competed in the research-based case competition, with two SU teams winning their respective divisions. Students on the University’s winning teams were Steven DiMaria, Hughston Preston, Ben Ayers, Joey Deaton and Cameron Mitchell, as well as Joe Pickering, Sean Kenney, Brendan McKeown, Cooper Shawver and Drake Mills.

Members of the Department of Sport Management’s Sabermetrics Club participated in the Society of American Baseball Research Analytics’ Spring Diamond Dollars Case Competition. Members from one of the two winning teams from the University were (from left) Joe Pickering, Sean Kenney, Brendan McKeown, Cooper Shawver and Drake Mills.

Their assignment was to analyze the factors that contribute to a starting pitcher’s effectiveness when navigating a lineup for the third time in a game. Teams made their presentations by using such programs as R, Excel and Tableau. They virtually presented their analysis and recommendations to a panel of judges in Phoenix that included Major League Baseball executives T.J. Barra (MLB), Paul Bien (San Francisco Giants), Cody Callahan (Arizona Diamondbacks), Tani Cohen (MLB), Evan Eshleman (Colorado Rockies), Ben Jedlovec (MLB), Katie Krall (Cincinnati Reds), Travis Petersen (MLB), Joe Rosales (Baseball Info Solutions), Kevin Tenenbaum (Cleveland Indians), Max Weinstein (Los Angeles Dodgers) and Keith Woolner (Cleveland Indians).

With the help of gifts from Falk College donors Jeff and Andrea Lomasky and Andrew Berlin, 20 ���ϲ����� sport analytics students were able to compete in this prestigious event.

Read more about the .

The Sport Management Club presented a check for $57,021, the proceeds from the Annual Charity Sports Auction, to representatives from Make-A-Wish Central New York.

The Sport Management Club at ���ϲ����� (SPM) raised $57,021 for Make-A-Wish Central New York as a result of its 15th Annual Charity Sports Auction. During the Orange men’s basketball game on Nov. 16 at the Dome, supporters placed bids on more than 500 items, including sports memorabilia, electronics, jewelry, gift baskets, trips and tickets to sporting events.

The SPM Club is a student-run organization in the Falk College’s Department of Sport Management. Since its founding in 2005, the club has now raised $524,000 for local charities. Previous beneficiaries of the club’s annual charity auction have included Meals on Wheels, Boys & Girls Clubs, Golisano Children’s Hospital at Upstate, the Ronald McDonald House Charities of CNY, the Central New York SPCA, the Upstate Cancer Center, Special Olympics New York, Food Bank of CNY, the Salvation Army, Rescue Mission Alliance, the American Diabetes Association and the McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Center.

“Once again, the outstanding ���ϲ����� Sport Management students have exceeded our expectations,” says Diane Kuppermann, president and CEO of Make-A-Wish Central New York. “Their energy, effort and passion for our mission was evident throughout the process. Their professionalism and drive resulted in this extraordinary gift that will benefit local kids battling critical illness. Their contributions to the most vulnerable in our community will have lasting impact.”

Make-A-Wish serves 15 counties around Central New York, granting wishes and helping strengthen and empower children battling critical illnesses.

“Our Sport Management Club was founded on the principles of teaching our membership the value of civic engagement, community service and social responsibility through sports,” says Michael Veley, Rhonda S. Falk endowed professor and director of sport management, who also serves as the organization’s faculty advisor. “The countless hours of dedication by these students to ensure that the charity auction would make wishes come true for local children and their families is extremely gratifying. Collectively, we are honored to support our community.”

The Sport Management Club meets at 7 p.m. Tuesdays during the academic year in 200 Falk 200. For more information, contact SPM Club president Sam Marteka at svmartek@syr.edu.

For more information about the annual Charity Sports Auction, visit and , as well as .

Sport analytics majors Luke Scheetz ’21, C.B. Garrett ’19, Zak Koeppel ’21, Justin Perline ’19 and Trevor Olofson ’21 teamed to win the 2017 SABR Diamond Dollars.

Assembling a championship-caliber team and a profitable business organization is a challenge that sports owners, executives and managers face every day in the ultra-competitive world of sports. Increasingly, they are turning to data analytics for an advantage. Whether it is predicting player performance, athlete injury recovery or enhancing an organization’s bottom line, analytics is changing the methodology of how teams, leagues and sport managers are competing to make better, quantifiable decisions.

Sport analytics is a growing segment of the industry, where many young, aspiring sport professionals are choosing to make a career. They’re data-driven—and they’re catching the eye of sports teams all over the world.

Professor Rodney Paul with students in the Milton Conrad Sport Technology Lab.

Evan Weiss, a senior sport analytics student in the , was hired as a junior to work with the Buffalo Bills during the Fall 2018 semester. He returned to campus in January to complete his degree and will continue working for the Bills after graduation in May. Fellow senior Justin Perline has accepted a full-time analytics position with the Pittsburgh Pirates after interning with the team in summer 2018.

Weiss and Perline are some of the University’s first sport analytics majors. In fall 2016, the program welcomed its first official class as the first undergraduate degree of its kind in the nation. The intensive program with coursework in economics, mathematics and computer programming has attracted competitive students from around the world.

The degree includes a foreign language requirement to prepare students for the international sport industry. Sport analytics students can choose to study abroad in places like Florence, Strasbourg, London and others through ���ϲ����� Abroad. Other global hands-on experiences are also available to students.

In August 2018, Perline presented at a conference in London with senior C.B. Garrett on “Minor League Team Success and Its Impact on MLB Player Performance.” Then Perline spent part of winter break in the Dominican Republic scouting for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Nick Riccardi wins the AEF competition in Tampa.

Meanwhile, back in ���ϲ�����, fellow classmates Dylan Blechner, Zak Koeppel, Will Friedeman and Cameron Johnson were diligently working on a project for the NFL’s inaugural Big Data Bowl competition. The competition provided participants with access to NFL player-tracking data to create proposals on one of three topics: player speed, game rules and receiver routes. Their entry, “Route Clustering,” placed in the top nine from more than 100 submissions and was one of five entries to receive an honorable mention.

Research, competitions and presentations as individuals and teams are a regular part of student work outside of the classroom, in addition to the required senior thesis. “Celebrity Attraction in the Minors: The Case of Tim Tebow,” a paper by seniors Cody Barbuto, C.B. Garrett and Kyle Liotta, was published by the Journal of Economics and Finance in January 2019.

Barbuto presented another paper, “GINI Coefficients in the NBA,” conference in Tampa, Florida, in February. Barbuto’s classmate, junior Nick Riccardi, won the student paper competition with his study, “Canadian Hockey League Game-To-Game Performance.” Riccardi also presented his study at the ACC Meeting of the Minds conference at the University of Louisville in March.

���ϲ����� sport analytics students have wasted no time in putting the University’s young sport analytics degree program on the map. Another milestone in the rapid and successful start to the new program will take place April 3 in Chicago at the inaugural Andrew T. Berlin Sport Analytics Symposium, hosted by the Falk College’s Department of Sport Management.

Falk College is home to degrees in sport management, sport analytics, and sport venue and event management. For more information, visit .

Drew Carter ’19, Jonah Karp ’20, sport management professor Dennis Deninger and Jackson Ajello ’19 rep ���ϲ����� on Radio Row during Super Bowl LIII Media Week in Atlanta. (Photo courtesy of Jonah Karp)

For three Newhouse broadcast and digital journalism students, the opportunity to cover Super Bowl LIII Media Week in Atlanta was a big score. The sportscasting trio of Jackson Ajello ’19, Drew Carter ’19 and Jonah Karp ’20 logged endless hours, producing an array of entertaining and insightful content for student-run stations Z89 radio and as well as for ���ϲ����� NPR affiliate .

“It was a wonderful learning experience for three aspiring broadcasters,” says Dennis Deninger, a professor of practice in the program at Falk College who organized the trip. “They have now covered the largest sporting event held each year in the United States, and they’re still undergraduates.”

Last year, in his popular course, The Super Bowl and Society, Deninger, a former longtime ESPN production executive, floated the idea of a ���ϲ����� student team covering the Super Bowl’s Media Week in Atlanta. Karp was a student in the class, and when Deninger shared a slide of St. Bonaventure students covering the event in 2018, Karp spotted a high school friend and former broadcasting partner in the picture. It inspired him to approach Deninger and start working on a plan to attend the 2019 gathering.

Karp recruited Ajello and Carter, who had previously taken Deninger’s course, and all three had experience working together at the campus media outlets. With Deninger’s help, they secured media credentials from the NFL and created a game plan for the trip. “It’s cool to have your brainchild come to life,” Karp says. “At the same time, I wouldn’t have been able to do this myself.”

Sports Talk on Radio Row

They arrived in Atlanta on Sunday, Jan. 27—a week before the Big Game—and set up shop on Radio Row, headquarters for all the sports talk radio shows, in the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC). “Right between NBC Sports Radio and CBS Sports Radio,” Deninger says.

During the week, they did three hours of live sports talk daily for Z89 in the noon-to-1 p.m. and 10 p.m.-to-midnight slots. They also produced live broadcasts for CitrusTV and packages for WAER. All told, they rolled through 32 interviews, featuring numerous luminaries from the world of sports talk radio; producers and executives from CBS, the NFL Network, ESPN and Westwood One; NFL executives and players, including former Orange standout and Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Cameron Lynch ’14; and even the host of “American Ninja Warrior.”

Most prominently, they tapped into the legendary ���ϲ����� sportscasting network, landing interviews with the likes of Damon Amendolara ’01, Scott Hanson ’93, Sarina Morales ’08, Adam Schein ’99, Andrew Siciliano ’96 and Adam Zucker ’98. For the three Newhouse students, the interviews with Orange alumni were fun and rewarding. Karp, for instance, quizzed Schein, one of his favorite talk show hosts, about his notable slicked-back hair look. “People always talk about athletes playing through pain,” said Schein, who hosts shows on SiriusXM and the CBS Sports Network. “I’ve got to deal with my hair issues every day.”

Tales of Opening Night

Drew Carter ’19 does a live shot for CitrusTV at Super Bowl Opening Night in the State Farm Arena in Atlanta. Behind the camera are Jonah Karp ’20 (center) and Jackson Ajello ’19. (Photo by Dennis Deninger)

Media Week’s main attraction was undoubtedly Super Bowl Opening Night, a Monday evening extravaganza staged in the State Farm Arena that drew 2,000 media members and 10,000 fans. “That was our first pinch-me moment,” Karp says. While select players from the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams fielded questions at separate press conferences, other teammates roamed the floor.

For CitrusTV, Ajello caught up with Rams punter Johnny Hekker for a segment titled, “Punters are people, too,” and Carter hunted down Patriots special teams player Matthew Slater, who always calls “heads” for the Patriots on the coin toss. “I’ve got a quarter here. Can we do a little coin toss?” Carter asked, with Slater responding: “You know what I’m calling.”

Karp, looking to mine personal insights from players, posed humorous questions about such things as their preferred condiments on a hot dog and favorite karaoke song. “You have to have a little bit of confidence and a little bit of shoulder and get in there and ask people questions,” Deninger says. “That was a really good experience for them.”

The following night they attended the official media party put on by the Atlanta Super Bowl Host Committee at the Georgia Aquarium. One highlight was celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck serving up some extraordinary dishes, including Peking duck. “I liked everything,” Karp says. “Oh, my goodness.”

Later in the week, the trio explored the Super Bowl Experience, the NFL’s interactive theme park at GWCC, where they tested—and videoed—their skills in NFL Combine drills. “I’m not very athletic, at least compared to the other two,” Karp says.

Behind the Scenes

Deninger turned to his network of connections to help arrange a visit to the CBS broadcast compound in the depths of Mercedes-Benz Stadium (they were chauffeured there in an eight-seat golf cart). Thanks to Brian Seeling ’03, an associate director of CBS Sports, they took in the preparation and action behind the scenes. They checked out the ESPN broadcast set and interviewed ESPN senior coordinating producer Seth Markman ’93. Deninger also connected them with his friend and former ESPN colleague Onnie Bose, now vice president of events for the NFL, and Mark Quenzel, NFL senior vice president in charge of all programming.

“They saw much more than if they were just sitting on Radio Row. They got to see so much of the effort and the planning—the sheer scope of coverage that goes into every year’s Super Bowl,” Deninger says. “Mark gave us insight into the machinations of halftimes and how the NFL integrates entertainment into the sports package.”

Orange Connections

They were also thankful for all the Orange connections. Don ’89 and Rachel Vassel ’91, ���ϲ����� assistant vice president of multicultural advancement, hosted them throughout the week at their Alpharetta home. Howard Deneroff ’89, executive producer for Westwood One—which broadcast the Super Bowl on radio—reached out when they arrived on Radio Row and provided them with a free ethernet connection for their live broadcasts.

Deneroff also helped arrange an interview with Kevin Harlan, Westwood One’s play-by-play announcer. Karp considers Harlan the best in the business and appreciated the advice he offered: “Don’t care about the job you get right out of school. The more you do, it adds up. Do whatever you can to get in front of a microphone. Always be your own advocate. Listen to your tapes. Be honest with yourself.”

Solid advice. And since the experience counted as a one-credit independent study for Ajello, Carter and Karp, they will share their tales and insights in a presentation to Deninger’s Super Bowl class later in the semester. “The Super Bowl is so much more than a game,” Deninger says.

In the NPR episode, Burton provides some of his Olympics insight to the Los Angeles-based show, as the city looks ahead to LA’s hosting of the 2028 summer games.

At the European Sports Economics Association Conference in Liverpool, England, in August are, from left, CB Garrett, Justin Perline and Professor Rodney Paul, who presented “Minor League Team Success and Its Impact on MLB Player Performance.”

Students Justin Perline ’19 and Charles “CB” Garrett ’19 in Falk College’s sport analytics program attended and presented at the European Sports Economics Association (ESEA) Conference in Liverpool, England, from Aug. 29-31. ESEA is the premier sports economics conference held annually in Europe where sports economists present on a variety of theoretical and empirical models related to the economics of sports.

Their paper, “Minor League Team Success and Its Impact on MLB Player Performance,” with sport management professor Rodney Paul as a co-author, is an academic treatment of the research by Perline and Garrett that was featured in Baseball America, a top website in the world of baseball.

Their research investigates positive externalities from minor league team success as it relates to marginal revenue product of a baseball player, measured by WAR (Wins Above Replacement). The results illustrate that winning has a positive impact on individual performance later in a player’s career and has economic implications for baseball teams and for the workplace in general.

Perline is a dual major in sport analytics and in newspaper and online journalism. Garrett is a dual major in sport analytics and broadcast and digital journalism.

“It was a great experience to get exposure for our research in front of international industry professionals,” Garrett said. “The other presentations helped enhance our knowledge of the field and will be put to use in our upcoming thesis.”

Paul also presented “The Role of Uncertainty of Outcome and Team Success on Attendance Outside the NHL: Comparing the top Leagues in Europe to the Minor Leagues in North America” at the ESEA conference.

“As undergraduate students, the acceptance of the paper for the ESEA conference is especially impressive,” Paul said. “Justin and CB gained valuable experience presenting to a premier audience of researchers in sports economics. They did an excellent job and received terrific feedback on their project. We are thankful for the Berlin gift, which made this possible for our students.”

Earlier this year, a $1 million gift was made by ���ϲ����� Trustee and alumnus Andrew T. Berlin ’83, partner owner of the world champion Chicago Cubs and its minor league affiliate, the South Bend Cubs, to benefit student-focused initiatives in Falk College’s sport analytics program.

Brian Meyer ’11 works with the Visa Olympic Sponsorship team, managing the 54 Olympic and Paralympic athletes for the 2018 Olympics who Visa sponsors and their media and marketing appearances in South Korea.

At the Olympics in PyeongChang, Brian Meyer ’11 is cheering on a roster of international athletes.

Meyer, an account manager with Endeavor (formerly WME|IMG), works with the Visa Olympic Sponsorship team, managing the 54 Olympic and Paralympic athletes for the 2018 Olympics who Visa sponsors and their media and marketing appearances in South Korea.

“Team Visa” is made up of athletes from around the globe, including Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States, alpine skiing; Chloe Kim of the U.S., snowboard—halfpipe (who won a gold medal today); Jamie Anderson, of the U.S., snowboard-slopestyle and big air (who won a gold medal Monday); Mark McMorris of Canada, snowboard—halfpipe and big air (who won a bronze medal Sunday); Sara Takanashi of Japan, ski jumping (who won a bronze medal Monday); Kamil Stoch of Poland, ski jumping; Oksana Masters of the U.S., para cross-country skiing/biathlon; Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue of Canada, figure skating-ice dancing (who won a team gold medal Sunday); and the Nigerian women’s bobsled team. Since 2000, Visa has provided support to a selected group of international athletes each Olympics to help them as they pursue their goals.

“Olympians and Paralympians work just as hard—if not harder—than some of the more visible athletes when you compare them to players with the NFL, NBA, etc., but they often don’t get the recognition or fame as interest in their sports peak every four years,” Meyer says. “In that way, they have a tendency to be more approachable and relatable. The humility that you find in a lot of these athletes is contagious and you can’t help but root for them.”

Brian Meyer ’11, at right, with a friend at the halfpipe run at the Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, today when snowboarder Chloe Kim won the gold medal

Their appearances can range from press conferences to marketing stunts to autograph signings. “It’s a huge undertaking from the full team to get these appearances coordinated and done on the ground,” says Meyer, a graduate of the sport management program in . “Pre-games, I served as the lead on all things athlete-related for Visa. This included research and recommendation of talent, contract negotiation and day-to-day relationship management with the athletes.”

Meyer is with the athletes through the work they do with Visa, but he also connects with them and their journeys, through their ups and downs.

“After working with some of them for the better part of three years—some longer in my past roles, I’ve developed a connection with them and it goes both ways; when they succeed it’s great, and when they don’t it really sucks,” he says.

While at ���ϲ�����, his studies in sport management helped him build toward his professional life. “SPM prepared me by allowing—and encouraging—me to do a lot of learning outside of the classroom as well as in it,” Meyer says. He was involved in the Sport Management Club and its Charity Auction, and ���ϲ����� Steiner Sports Collectibles, and interned each summer during college.

“I took my capstone as seriously as I would a full-time job, and that helped me to parlay it into a full-time job,” he says. “I also took part in the inaugural Olympic Odyssey class and trip [which explores the ancient and modern games and includes a trip to visit Olympic cities], and that really helped solidify my passion for global sport and the Olympic movement, and actually has helped to open some doors for me within the Olympic world.”

Brian Meyer ’11 with gold medal snowboarder Jamie Anderson as she signs her autograph to items

Throughout his career, Meyer has mostly worked in client services. “Finding the balance between ‘the client is always right’ and getting your viewpoints across can be a fine art,” he says. “It’s rewarding to see things that you’ve worked on, such as an advertising campaign, come to life, and seeing athletes you work with succeed.”

Although he worked on the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games, this is his first time at the winter games. Meyer has attended the Olympics in London in 2012 and Rio in 2016. “I’m really excited to see our athletes perform and show the world what they’ve got. I’ve also never been to Asia, so I’m excited to experience the culture, eat the food and meet the people,” he says.

Although he’s busy working with Team Visa, Meyer hopes to get in some time seeing some of the excitement of the games.

What’s his favorite winter Olympic sport to cheer on?

“I got sucked into bobsled in 2014; it’s honestly addicting when you understand it!” Meyer says. “This year, I’m going hard on the freeski/snowboard events, and alpine skiing.”

About ���ϲ�����

Founded in 1870, ���ϲ����� is a private international research university dedicated to advancing knowledge and fostering student success through teaching excellence, rigorous scholarship and interdisciplinary research. Comprising 11 academic schools and colleges, the University has a long legacy of excellence in the liberal arts, sciences and professional disciplines that prepares students for the complex challenges and emerging opportunities of a rapidly changing world. Students enjoy the resources of a 270-acre main campus and extended campus venues in major national metropolitan hubs and across three continents. ���ϲ�����’s student body is among the most diverse for an institution of its kind across multiple dimensions, and students typically represent all 50 states and more than 100 countries. ���ϲ����� also has a long legacy of supporting veterans and is home to the nationally recognized Institute for Veterans and Military Families, the first university-based institute in the U.S. focused on addressing the unique needs of veterans and their families.

Sport analytics majors Luke Scheetz, CB Garrett, Zak Koeppel, Justin Perline and Trevor Olofson, from left, teamed to win the 2017 SABR Diamond Dollars Case Competition at NYU.

The teams were tasked with creating a model to determine a player’s BABIP (Batting Average on Balls In Play), both for hitters as well as the BABIP that pitchers allow. They were then asked to use this to determine the players who are going to see the biggest increases and decreases in their BABIP next season.

The teams were given five days to collect data, create a model and prepare a 30-minute presentation on the topic to be given in New York City on Nov. 17. Judges for the competition included Ben Jedlovec (Baseball Info Solutions), Chris Pang (New York Mets), Tom Tippett (consultant, formerly of the Boston Red Sox) and Cameron Barwick (Major League Baseball).

“I’m very proud of the students who competed in the Diamond Dollars Case Competition,” says sport analytics Professor Rodney Paul. “The new analytics program has accumulated very talented students and I look forward to their continued interaction with each other, their progress through the curriculum and their present and future successes in the field. Our students are a genuine pleasure to teach and I look forward to future classes following in their footsteps.”

This is the fourth year that SU has competed in this event. Also competing for SU this year were sport analytics majors Evan Weiss ’19, Kyle Liotta ’20 and Colby Olson ’21, as well as sport management major Mike Cavalier ’19 and sport analytics minor Chris Karasinski ’19.

In 2016, Falk College announced its new bachelor of science in sport analytics to provide students with a deep understanding of math, statistics, research methodology, sport economics, database management, finance and computer programming integral to sport analytics. The inaugural class of sport analytics majors arrived in August 2017. With growing numbers of sport organizations embracing data analytics’ powerful role in understanding and prioritizing information to maintain a competitive advantage, there is increasing demand for sport analytics professionals to guide data-driven decision making.  Falk’s sport analytics program prepares students for a variety of different possible analytics career paths on the player evaluation side, business side or both.

To learn more about the Baseball Statistics and Sabermetrics Club, which meets every Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Falk College, Room 104, or Falk’s sport analytics academic offerings, visit .

“The presence of Paris and Los Angeles tells Western sponsors that the games are going to be really good in seven and 11 years,” said Burton. “There will be a premium based on the games coming back to those two continents.”