Syracuse Sport Management and Sport Analytics 2020-2021 Newsletter

Zooming Forward

In This Issue.

Director's Greeting

Several years ago, during the embryonic stages of this program, we embarked upon a strategic planning initiative. I called it “20-20 Vision,” as we planned for what the sport industry would be like in the year 2020. I can assure you that no one predicted a global pandemic would occur and shut down most of the world, proving for the first time in our nation’s history that sports are no longer recession proof. 

No one envisioned online courses, virtual classrooms, Zoom sessions, webinars, and limited or no social activities, including sports competition without spectators. Now, we again ask ourselves, “How will the sport industry change and evolve during the next decade? Quarter century?” Social activism, and diversity, gender equity, inclusion and access in sports will push the industry in a new and needed direction. Esports, legalized sports wagering, Name, Imagine and Likeness, Virtual and Augmented Reality, emerging digital platforms and social media innovations will all change how sports fans receive and engage in content and create new career paths. 

Sports seemed inconsequential with so many people losing their lives during the pandemic. Like society, our entire University has lived through an unprecedented time, and I salute our students, faculty, and staff for learning to adapt and pivot quickly, persevere, be resilient, overcome obstacles and finish strong. These life lessons over the past 18 months will pay dividends as the Class of 2021 embarks upon their careers. 

I am extremely proud of our faculty and staff, who have worked tirelessly under these pandemic conditions on behalf of our students to ensure they received a quality education and achieved the qualifications to earn their degree. 

Sport Management conferred the largest number of degrees in our department’s history with 121 students graduating from Sport Management, Sport Analytics, and our graduate program in Sport Venue and Event Management. 

Eighty-one Sport Management students successfully completed their Senior Capstones—nearly all of them virtually—in fields of study that included marketing, data analytics, business, finance, communications, public relations, social media, sales, event management, player representation, facilities management and operations, corporate sponsorship and branding and non-profit organizations, among others. 

We graduated the first recruited cohort of students from our Sport Analytics program, the nation’s first undergraduate degree in this field, led by Dr. Rodney Paul. 

Final proceeds of the Sport Management Club’s 16th Annual Charity Sports Auction— our first online auction—netted $43,500 for Meals on Wheels Syracuse and we have now raised $567,754 for charities in our community. Special thanks to senior president Sam Marteka, and auction co-chairs Kaitlynn Miller, Jakob Fox and Devan Dachisen. 

Our graduate students, under the direction of Dr. Gina Pauline, planned, implemented, and hosted a powerful five-hour virtual symposium titled “More Than a Game: Mental Health and Student Athletes,” an exceptional educational program that featured an all-star lineup of speakers and guest experts. 

Sport Analytics students won national competitions, presented research at prestigious conferences, received unprecedented academic honors and have helped make this degree program the best in the nation. 

To the members of the Class of 2021: I realize this is not how you envisioned your final year of college, both academically and socially. None of us did. Getting a job is lot like sports. It is about skill, timing, and positioning. Accept that denial and failure is part of that process. Learn from the disappointment, but remember, if you are not hired for a specific job or internship, “No” is only a temporary pause in your life. No. N-O really means Next Opportunity. 

You are not the first class to endure difficult challenges. Our first two graduating classes in 2008 and 2009 faced a daunting challenge when the Great Recession crippled our economy. You will overcome this challenging economic climate and job market, just as those graduates did. As the sports world returns to normalcy, so will your opportunities, so continue to persevere! 

San Antonio Spurs head coach Greg Popovich said, “The measure of who we are is how we react to something that doesn’t go our way.” 

You cannot script your life and ALL of us are experiencing that first-hand. It’s you vs. you. Everyday. Always has been. Always will be. Don’t be down on your luck. Battle through this temporary challenge because beginning your career is about offense. You will not reach your potential by being passive and playing defense. Succeed because you are determined to. 

As always, Be Loud, Be Proud, Be Orange!! 

Sincerely, 

Michael Veley , Director and Chair , Rhonda S. Falk Endowed Professor of  Sport Management 

From the Dean.

Each August as the new academic year begins, a very special enthusiasm blankets our campus. It is especially apparent to all of us in Falk College as we welcome our students back to Syracuse University after being physically apart as a campus community for much too long. 

This year, understandably so, being together means more than ever. As we look to the future with hope and optimism, we are excited to see the collective impact of Falk College and its Department of Sport Management continue. 

As you will read in the pages ahead, numerous members of the Class of 2021 were honored for excellence, including Jonathan Bosch, a sport analytics and math double major who was one of only 12 graduating seniors named a Syracuse University Scholar. 

Our students continue to excel when matched with their peers across the country, securing top finishes in the nation’s most prestigious competitions including the Diamond Dollars Case Competition on Baseball Analytics, N.B.A. Hackathon, M.I.T./Sloan Sports Analytics Conference and the Academy of Economics and Finance, among others. Similarly, our faculty, staff, advisory councils and industry partners lead the way in modeling best practices for teaching, advising and support. We are exceedingly proud and very grateful. 

With many in-person events returning to campus this year, I hope your travels bring you to Syracuse University and Falk College. Together we move ahead toward better, brighter days. 

— Diane Lyden Murphy, M.A. M.S.W., Ph.D., Dean, Falk College 

Read the most recent news from the Department of Sport Management at Syracuse University. 

Students.

Congratulations to the Class of 2021.

On May 23, 2021, Syracuse University held Commencement ceremonies for the Class of 2021. The Department of Sport Management congratulates 81 Sport Management undergraduates, 24 Sport Analytics undergraduates, and 16 Sport Venue and Event Management master’s graduates who received their degrees as part of the Class of 2021. 

Eighteen Sport Management/Sport Analytics students in the Class of 2021 graduated with honors with a G.P.A. of 3.4 or higher. Seventeen students graduated Magna Cum Laude (G.P.A. of 3.6 or higher) and 23 students graduated Summa Cum Laude (G.P.A. of 3.8 or higher). 

The following members of the Class of 2021 graduated with double majors: Jonathan Bosch (Sport Analytics/Math); Joseph Deaton (Sport Analytics/Economics); James Hyman (Sport Analytics/Neuroscience); Colin Krantz (Sport Analytics/ Economics); Alejandro Pesantez (Sport Analytics/Economics); Justin Philbin (Sport Analytics/Economics); and Kushal Shah (Sport Analytics/Economics). 

Twenty-two students received the Director’s Academic Achievement Award for earning a G.P.A. of 3.4 or higher for each of their consecutive semesters at Syracuse University: Ryan Beaury, Jonathan Bosch, Bailie Brown, Matthew Diemand, Steven DiMaria, Katherine Eliou, Oliver Glavin, James Hyman, Max Josef, Josephine Kiesel, Seth Kourpas, Colin Krantz, Hannah Kuo, Nicolas Lemaire, Kaitlynn Miller, Cameron Mitchell, Jonathan Offit, Jenna Parker, Alejandro Pesantez, Simone Saputo, Dylan Schwartz and Kushal Shah. 

Department Marshals were Kaitlynn Miller (Sport Management), Jonathan Bosch (Sport Analytics) and Kayla Scognamillo (Sport Venue and Event Management). Max Josef (Sport Management) served as the Falk College Marshal. 

Sport Analytics majors Jonathan Bosch, James Hyman, Samuel Marteka, Alejandro Pesantez and Kushal Shah were named Falk College Scholars. 

Jonathan Bosch was named a Syracuse University Scholar. 

The Department of Sport Management traditionally celebrates its graduates during Commencement Weekend in May by holding an award ceremony and reception for seniors and their families, as well as faculty and staff. Due to COVID-19, this ceremony was not held. Here is a list of the senior awards: 

• Director’s Award – Samuel Marteka 

• Academic Excellence Award – Kaitlynn Miller 

• Matt Brodsky Philanthropic Excellence Award – Kristen Siermachesky 

• Sport Management VIP Award – Max Josef 

• Professional Engagement Award – Marc Orlin 

• Jason Morales Perseverance in Sport and Life Award – Daniel Cott 

• Director’s Award for Academic Promise – Josephine Kiesel 

• Kate Veley Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility Award – Caroline Johnson 

• Outstanding Graduate Student Award – Kamille Cooper 

• Sport Analytics Academic Excellence Award – James Hyman 

• Sport Analytics Research Excellence Award – Jonathan Bosch 

• Sport Analytics Research Excellence Award – Kushal Shah 

• Sport Analytics Director’s Award for Academic Promise – Colin Krantz 

• Sport Analytics Director’s Award for Academic Promise – Alejandro Pesantez 

• Sport Analytics VIP Award – Zachary Koeppel 

• Sport Analytics Game Changer Award – Bailie Brown 

Also, the M.S. in Sport Venue and Event Management program concluded its ninth year.

Visit Sport Management’s online resources:

Be sure to check out our website for department information, program news, club meeting dates and activities, and other special events. 

Also, be sure to follow Sport Management on Twitter @SUSportMgmt, and “like” us on Facebook at S.U. Falk College Department of Sport Management. 

Sport Venue and Event Management Master’s program graduates its ninth class. 

The Department of Sport Management’s master’s program in Sport Venue and Event Management (S.V.E.M.) welcomed its ninth class of graduate students to campus in July 2020. The program comprises 36 credit hours of intensive classroom learning, skill development and experiential opportunities in settings like Syracuse University’s stadium. 

The 2020-21 cohort included 15 students, with a diverse mix of educational backgrounds and from a variety of geographic locations. Students worked toward completing their practicum work in Summer 2021 and will continue in Fall 2021 with organization such as Winning Streak Sports, The National Diversity Council and Syracuse University Athletics. 

In addition to their classwork, graduate students took part in professional development seminars conducted by Falk College Career Services and Sport Management internship placement coordinators on networking, cover letters, resumes, strategic interviewing, salary negotiation, career guidance and using LinkedIn. 

In the Spring 2021 semester, students worked with associate professor Dr. Gina Pauline in the advanced event management course to plan a webinar focusing on the mental health of student-athletes.

Students in the first nine cohorts have immersed themselves in the program’s academic and experiential opportunities, and leveraged relationships to launch their careers in the industry. Graduates have secured positions at Dover Speedway, Brown University, Spectra Venue Management, Legends Hospitality, Spartan Race Inc., Country Music Hall of Fame, Syracuse University Athletics, Recreation Services at Syracuse University’s Barnes Center, Met Life Stadium, Boston Celtics, Boise State University, Nike China, and Tulsa Sports Commission, among others. 

The 10th S.V.E.M. graduate class began in July 2021. The S.V.E.M. curriculum is designed to provide graduate students with a set of courses focused on the management and operations of facilities and events in the realm of sports and entertainment. Additionally, the S.V.E.M. coursework contains theory-to-practice elements where students apply concepts learned in the classroom to actual industry settings in a hands-on manner. 

Learn more about the graduate program.

Practicum list for Sport Venue and Event Management master’s program:

Fall 2020:

• Madison Derita, Mercy High School 

• Jake Pickard, Sponsor United 

• Kayla Robinson, United Worldwide 

Spring 2021: 

• Yuqi Liu, Syracuse University Sustainability 

• Tiana Mangakahia, ACC network 

• Ziyny Shang, GORINK Training Center 

Summer 2021:

• Kamille Cooper, National Diversity Council 

• Mike Okin, Winning Streak Sports 

• Morgan Widner, Team Impact 

• Yuqi Liu, Syracuse University Dome Operations 

Welcome Class of 2025 undergraduates.

Sport Analytics:

California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Thailand, Utah, Virginia, Washington.

Sport Management:

California, China, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont.

Congratulations to the following students for achieving an overall cumulative G.P.A. of 3.4 or higher, as of the end of the 2020-2021 academic year:

Sport Management:

Sport Analytics:

Senior Capstone Experience

Among the most valuable attributes of the Department of Sport Management is its connection with the sport industry, which impacts students in numerous ways, including the Senior Capstone experience. As a part of their degree requirements, Sport Management students must complete a 12-credit Capstone providing an opportunity to gain valuable hands-on experience in the sports industry before graduation.

Since the Capstone is the culmination of one’s academic experience, the planning process begins during a student’s freshman year. The process concludes with the full-semester experience with a specific sport entity or organization as local as Central New York to across the United States and around the world.

A Capstone requires students to work with a sport-related organization for a minimum of 540 hours over the course of one semester, gaining experience in areas such as sales, marketing, finance, analytics, event management, collegiate athletics, communications, law, community relations, and more. 

Listed below are Sport Management students and the organizations where they completed their senior Capstone in 2020-2021. We are grateful to our growing list of Capstone partners, who continue to provide tremendous learning opportunities for our students. This all happens under the leadership of Sport Management internship placement coordinators Nicole Cost, Lisa Liparulo and Kevin McNeill.

Summer 2021:

Justin Abrams, IMPACT Sports and Entertainment

David Chow, Football Marketing Association

Robert Crawford, Rookie Road

Daniel Cott, Premier Partnerships

Tasha Getten, Wasserman

Ryan Harteveldt, Milwaukee Brewers

John Kindig, Canada-U.S.A. Sports L.L.C. - Batavia Muckdogs

Hannah Kuo, Allegiant Airlines

Henry Little, C4 Live

Yueqi Liu, C.A.A. - China

Cayne Mandell, CollectibleXchange

Emily Rubinshteyn, Wasserman

Keith Rubenstein, The Digital Renegades

P Bennett Sheppe, Camp Winnebago 

Aidan Wisher, The Players Impact

Spencer Weissman, Queensboro F.C. 

Capstone: Relevent Sports provides industry insight.

By Simone Saputo, S.P.M. ’21.

During the Spring 2021 semester, I had the opportunity to complete my senior Capstone with the Relevent Sports Group, an organization based out of New York City. 

Relevent Sports boasts a large array of organizations within its portfolio, including the International Champions Cup (I.C.C.) soccer tournament and LaLiga North America, Spain’s first division of soccer. I worked with the I.C.C. and LaLiga throughout my remote internship.

Throughout this experience, I learned a variety of skills in the Sales and Partnership Department for the I.C.C. and LaLiga North America. I was fortunate to work for two separate organizations, thus gaining insight in two distinct areas within the sports industry.

Over the course of the four months, I assisted with a variety of tasks, including prospecting for potential partners that would align with the organization. I helped to run activations with our existing partners, which included meet-and-greet events with LaLiga players. I oversaw how the event was built and executed. 

I also worked to maintain Relevent’s relationships with current partners by creating activation ideas that would meet the goals of both organizations. It was fulfilling to see my ideas implemented across a variety of platforms. 

Since graduating from Syracuse University in May 2021, I am looking to use the knowledge and experience that I have gained from my courses and internships to work in the sports industry, specifically in the domain of partnerships and marketing.

Capstone: Remote Capstone teaches time management, independence.

By Karis Felton, S.P.M. ’21.

In the Spring 2021 semester, I completed my senior Capstone with Grit Player Services as a Social Media Marketing intern. 

Grit Player Services was founded in 2020 by Jake Miller and Syracuse University Sport Management graduate David Jaffin ’18, as a social media agency for athletes. Grit acts as an advocate, providing athletes support in personal brand-building via digital media and business development. 

A benefit of completing my Capstone with a start-up company was experiencing all aspects of the company. Every day, my tasks were different. I researched influencers, pulled highlights from our clients’ podcasts, and even got to work on the recruiting of future athletes. 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all Grit Player Services employees work virtually, which allowed me to complete my Capstone from Syracuse University’s campus. Having a remote Capstone taught me about time management and completing tasks without being monitored. It also introduced me to new ways to connect with team members, including one-on-one calls that took the place of talking with people in person at the office. These calls helped me feel more comfortable during the internship and connecting with my colleagues as more than just a name on a screen. 

My senior Capstone with Grit Player Services taught me so much about working in the sport industry. I am honored to have been offered a part-time position with Grit as a Growth Specialist in their sales department focusing on the recruitment of athletes. 

Capstone: Capstone leads to job with Montag Group.

By Caroline Johnson, S.P.M. ’21.

During the Fall 2020 semester, I completed my senior Capstone with The Montag Group, a company that specializes in talent representation, strategic consulting, media communications and content creation. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, I was unable to work in person at The Montag Group’s New York City office. My remote Capstone experience was invaluable in so many ways.

Throughout my time at T.M.G., I had the opportunity to explore multiple verticals that the company specializes in. I mainly concentrated on speakers, talent representation, and strategic consulting divisions. This rotational aspect allowed me to gain a broad set of skills as well as form connections with numerous members of the Montag team.

Two projects come to mind as being the most rewarding experiences. While conducting research in the talent representation division, I suggested a young newscaster named Brhett Vickery to an agent, who ended up signing her as a client a few weeks later. T.M.G. helped Vickery land her next job, where she was able to jump over 30 television markets. In the consulting division, I continuously contributed to deck formation and client meetings for our client Q-Collar. Having the opportunity to see my research presented to executives was very rewarding. I am extremely proud of my time at The Montag Group, which sparked my interest in consulting.

I am grateful for my entire senior Capstone experience and look forward to starting my career at The Montag Group as the Executive Assistant to Chief Executive Officer Sandy Montag. 

Capstone: Nashville provides senior on-site live event experience.

By Matt Diemand, S.P.M. ’21.

During the Spring 2021 semester, I completed my senior Capstone on location at the Nashville Sports Council and TransPerfect Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tennessee. 

As an events intern, I helped plan and execute major sporting events in Nashville, highlighted by working in person at the 2021 S.E.C. Men’s Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena. 

COVID-19 had a major impact on my Capstone experience, however, I was lucky enough to move to Nashville in January 2021, and stay through May, working in the office a few days a week.

Many of the Sports Council’s events were canceled or postponed, or had reduced capacity, such as the S.E.C. Basketball Tournament being limited to a 20 percent capacity. 

Despite COVID-19 limitations, I learned so much about the inner workings of planning a major sporting event, from volunteer recruitment to creating production schedules to setting up on-site fan engagement and sponsorship activation zones. I gained valuable experience organizing and facilitating a new virtual speaker series and events, including a Zoom speaker series with Vanderbilt kicker Sarah Fuller, S.E.C. Commissioner Greg Sankey, and E.S.P.N.’s Holly Rowe. 

I assisted the Nashville Sports Council with various assignments, including membership sales and social media postings to engage the Nashville community. 

My Capstone was truly amazing and allowed me to gain on-site live event experience in a year when so much shifted virtual. This Capstone built upon my event planning and game-day activation skills that I will take with me as I begin my post-graduation career as an event trainee at Octagon. 

S.P.M. Club raises $43,500 at 16th Charity Auction.

The Sport Management Club at Syracuse University raised $43,500 for Meals on Wheels Syracuse as a result of its 16th Annual Charity Sports Auction. In November 2020, online supporters placed bids on more than 300 items, including sports memorabilia, electronics, jewelry, gift baskets, trips, clothing, and tickets to events. The money raised will help Meals on Wheels serve 11,000 meals to people in need in the Syracuse-area community. 

The S.P.M. Club is a student-run organization in the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics’ Sport Management Department. Since its founding in 2005, the club has raised more than $567,000 for local charities. Previous beneficiaries of the club’s annual charity auction have included Boys & Girls Clubs, Golisano Children’s Hospital, the Ronald McDonald  House Charities of C.N.Y., the Central New York S.P.C.A., the Upstate Cancer Center, Special Olympics New York, Food Bank of C.N.Y., the Salvation Army, Rescue Mission Alliance, American Diabetes Association, Make A Wish C.N.Y., and McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Center. 

“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,” said 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 proceeds from our charity auction would help feed families in need in our community is extremely gratifying.” 

The Sport Management Club meets at 7 p.m. Tuesdays during the academic year. For more information, contact S.P.M. Club president Blake Taub at bltaub@syr.edu. 

For more information about the annual Charity Auction, visit Twitter @SPMAuction as well as their website. 

Pictures with captions in this section include: Auction co-chairs Jakob Fox ’22, Devan Dachisen ’22 and Kaitlynn Miller ’21 (from left) stand in front of a large cardboard cutout of the Syracuse University men’s basketball team that was auctioned off as part of the 2020 event. 

Sponsorship class pairs students with Bowl Games.

In Fall 2020, students in Sport Management assistant teaching professor Dave Meluni’s S.P.M. 324 Sponsorship and Promotion class partnered with the Football Bowl Association (now named Bowl Season) for a class project. Each of the 29 students in the class were paired with a Bowl game and had a direct line of communication with their respective Bowl. 

Executive Director Nick Carparelli, who is a member of the Sport Management Advisory Council, helped pair students with executives at each Bowl game, where they worked with Sponsor United software to build a sales deck using real-life potential corporate sponsor prospects. 

The students were paired with Sun Bowl, Boca Raton Bowl, Texas Bowl, Cactus Bowl, First Responders Bowl, Independence Bowl, Gator Bowl, Los Angeles Bowl, Liberty Bowl, Quick Lane Bowl, Military Bowl, Holiday Bowl, Fenway Bowl, Cure Bowl, Frisco Bowl, Las Vegas Bowl, Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, Cheez- It Bowl, New Orleans Bowl, Bahamas Bowl, Arizona Bowl, Citrus Bowl, Armed Forces Bowl, Pinstripe Bowl, Alamo Bowl, Music City Bowl, New Mexico Bowl, Outback Bowl and Duke’s Mayo Bowl. 

“The students received real-world experience using Sponsor United to provide their Bowl Game a genuine corporate prospect,” Meluni said. “They also collaborated to build a sales deck that the Bowl could use in the marketplace.” 

In the Spring 2021 semester, the S.P.M. 324 class worked with the Charlotte Hornets, while Meluni’s S.P.M. 215 sales classes worked with Sponsor United, Spotify and Disney. 

Esports companies provide real-world scenarios:

In Spring 2021, students in Sport Management endowed professor Rick Burton’s S.P.M. 300 Esports Management class received feedback on real-world projects for industry-leading companies such as E.S.L. Gaming, Copa 90, N.B.A. 2K, and Riot Games. 

Students represented sport management “agencies” for each of the above companies. Their job was to address challenges detailed by their “clients” and bring in solutions or new brand sponsors for leagues, tournaments and festivals. Leveraging tournament broadcasts, social media and on-site activations, students were tasked with creating compelling partnership platforms for brands to reach the company’s fanbase. The class was split into seven five-person agencies that created partnership programs or creative solutions to reach esports fans in unique, creative and authentic ways. 

Executives from the various companies provided feedback on the ideas and selected the top proposals for each assignment during the semester. 

“It’s always rewarding for students to get real-world practitioner feedback,” Burton said. “Working with industry giants like Riot Games, E.S.L. Gaming and the N.B.A., plus a major international brand like Copa 90, really made the class come to life and gave students a shot of confidence for future classes and their careers.” 

A letter from the S.P.M. Club president.

By Sam Marteka, S.P.M. ’21, S.P.M. Club President.

What a crazy, crazy year it was. From having a wonderful start to Spring 2020 in person, to navigating the challenges of remote learning and online club meetings, to holding our first-ever virtual charity sports auction, the students in the Sport Management Club at Syracuse University had the most unique club experience ever. And wow, they certainly rose to the occasion! 

The Sport Management Club, under the guidance of Professor Veley and phenomenal student leaders, provides invaluable experiential learning opportunities that expands our professional, academic, and social skillsets. Our trademark event, the annual Charity Sports Auction, which went completely virtual in 2020 for the first time in 16 years, raised $43,500 for Meals on Wheels Syracuse under the leadership of co-chairs Kaitlynn Miller, Devan Dachisen, and Jakob Fox. 

The S.P.M. Club welcomed numerous guest speakers in person and via Zoom from a variety of organizations throughout the 2020-21 year, including executives from the Pittsburgh Penguins, Genius, the N.B.A., Madison Square Garden, ISlide, and Syracuse University Football, among others. We also held professional development events to help students navigate applications, internships, cover letters, and resumes, and started a peer mentor initiative which connected upperclassmen with underclassmen in the club to provide advice and make new connections. 

I am proud to have led such an amazing group of students for the past two years who pledged their time and effort outside of class to the Sport Management Club every week. I look forward to seeing how the next wave of S.P.M. Club rock stars continues the legacy of those who went before them. I am grateful for the opportunities this club provides to its students, and I am confident the S.P.M. Club will continue to make an impact on the Syracuse University community and beyond for years to come. 

Pictures with captions in this section include: A majority of the S.P.M. Club meetings during the Fall 2020 semester were held via Zoom, making it challenging to plan its signature event, the Charity Sports Auction. 

Students receive assistance from scholarship funds.

Annual scholarships assist students with the financial aspects of completing summer internships or senior Capstones.

Jennifer Corn Carter Fund:

The Jennifer Corn Carter Senior Capstone Award for Sport Management supports students in the department during their senior Capstone experiences. 

For the 2020-21 academic year, two students were honored with this award: Caroline Johnson, who interned with The Montag Group in Fall 2020; and Kaitlynn Miller, who interned with Bowl Season in Spring 2021. Each received $1,000.

Jennifer Corn Carter is a graduate of Syracuse University, with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Social Work. She was honored with Falk College’s 2010 Alumna of the Year Award for her on-going support of our students and Syracuse University. Her vision and support created the Jennifer Corn Carter Resource and Career Center in Falk College.

Student Learning Fund:

Nine Sport Management seniors were awarded scholarships from the Sport Management Student Learning Fund during the 2020-21 academic year. Each received $500 to $1,500.

In Summer 2021, two students earned the scholarship: Yueqi Liu (Creative Artist Agency) and Henry Little (C4 Live Entertainment).

In Spring 2021, two students earned the scholarships: Andrew Bush (Queensboro F.C.) and Jack Rothstein (Radegen).

In Fall 2020, five students earned the scholarships: Oliver Glavin (SportsCastr), Margaret Haggerty (Bowl Season), Max Josef (Exclusive Sports Group), Seth Kourpas (Radegen), and Marc Orlin (Super Fan Fundraising).

Undergraduate Summer Internship Fund:

The Sport Management Summer Internship Fund is used each year to provide support to undergraduate students pursuing unpaid summer internships, enabling them to gain industry experience.

Twelve students were awarded scholarships for their 2021 summer internships: James Beck (Winston-Salem Dash), Jackson Beers (Carry Golf Investing), Mitchell Bereznay (Bowie Baysox), Anna Genter (Super Fan Fundraising), Andrew Licciardi (The Season Ticket), Connor Meissner (Danbury Westerners), Noah Minsky (Sussex County Miners), Joao Murray (ThePostGame), Benjamin Paglia (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Rail Riders), Danielle Parr (Talent Resources Sports), Matthew Penn (Newark Pilots) and Benjamin Wachtel (CoachMePlus).

For more information about the funds, contact Sport Management internship coordinator Lisa Liparulo at lmliparu@syr.edu or 315.443.0450.

A.C.C. honors 20 student-athletes.

Twenty student-athletes from Syracuse University’s Department of Sport Management were named on the Atlantic Coast Conference Honor Roll for the 2020-21 academic year. The Honor Roll is comprised of student-athletes who participated in a varsity-level sport and registered a grade point average of 3.0 or better for the full academic year. The honorees are:

Kambel Beacom, ice hockey; Jackson Boeheim, basketball; Megan Carney, lacrosse; Peter Dearth, lacrosse; Joseph Eovaldi, track and field; Nicolas Giancola, basketball; Asa Goldstock, lacrosse (graduate student); Nicholas Hapney, lacrosse; Josephine Kiesel, rowing; Logan McGraw, soccer; Michael Midkiff, football; Anthony Queeley, football; Kristen Siermachesky, ice hockey; Marie Sommer, field hockey; Sarah Thompson, ice hockey; Jenna Tivnan, soccer; Connor Toomey, crew; Haley Uliasz, rowing; Elizabeth Vogt, rowing; Morgan Widner, lacrosse (graduate student).

Sport Professionals of Color Club building membership base.

The Department of Sport Management’s Sport Professionals of Color Club is an organization that strives to connect students who identify as people of color with sport professionals from across the industry.

The organization was formed during the 2014-15 academic year with the purpose of helping to guide young professionals in their pursuit of success and career establishment in the industry. The club strives to improve members’ professional skills, host speakers, foster networking growth, and take part in experiential learning opportunities.

In Fall 2020, the Club welcomed author/consultant Will Baggett, who spoke about his path to success and how minorities should navigate post-college life. Former N.F.L. player Jed Collins also virtually spoke to the club. Committees are being formed to help the club grow its membership and campus presence. 

The club is always looking for new members to take part in its activities and meetings. Past events include an N.F.L. Draft watch party, co-hosting a panel discussion on women in sports titled “Competing to Win” with Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., as well as hosting a Madison Square Garden internship panel. The club has welcomed numerous guest speakers over the years, including executives from E.S.P.N., the Houston Texans, C.N.N., and Turner Sports, among others. 

Meetings are open to all Syracuse University students.

To get involved with this organization, email club president Elena Randolph at edrandol@syr.edu. 

Women in Sports and Events (WISE).

Women in Sports and Events (WISE) is a nationally recognized group whose goal is to be a leading voice and resource for women who currently work in, or aspire to be a part of, the professional field of sports and events. In 2009, Syracuse University was voted in as the first collegiate chapter of WISE’s national organization, and since its inception on campus, has offered professional development opportunities for members. Students in WISE are involved with numerous events and activities over the course of the academic year, including networking trips, fundraisers, interview workshops, professional development seminars, community service, and assisting with S.P.M. events. 

A main focus for the Spring 2021 semester was pairing with the University of Pittsburgh’s WISE Chapter to host a webinar titled “The Women Behind Pro and Collegiate Basketball.” The webinar featured S.P.M. alumna Drina Domic ’19 (N.B.A.), Natalie Dumin (H.B.S.E./ Philadelphia 76ers), Beth Kane (N.C.A.A.) and Audrey Stapleton (Charlotte Hornets). WISE also co-hosted a “Women in Sports Journalism” panel with The Women’s Network Syracuse, featuring Syracuse alumna Sarina Morales (L.A. Rams) and Maddy Glab (Buffalo Bills). 

“Working collaboratively with other student organizations to put on events like this is what makes being a member of WISE so important,” said 2020-21 WISE president Devan Dachisen (S.P.M. ’22). “Hearing from inspiring women in the industry is invaluable to our members, who are all striving to expand our networks and find success in the sport industry one day.”

In January 2020, partnering with Syracuse University women’s basketball, WISE co-hosted a “Professional Women of Syracuse” event at the Carrier Dome featuring panelists who shared their insights on working in athletics. 

WISE members often volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House in Syracuse to cook and serve meals to families staying at the facility. The group also co-hosts workshops focusing on campus resources and resumes; partners with Witty Wicks, a homemade candle company, and Chipotle, to fundraise for networking trips and events; and welcomes numerous guest speakers to campus or virtually. 

“WISE provides a fantastic way for young women to hold leadership positions and create opportunities for members, such as hosting events or collaborating with other on-campus groups,” said WISE co-advisor Nicole Cost, who is also an internship placement coordinator in the Department of Sport Management. “These are great talking points when networking as well as on interviews, not to mention a solid way to learn skills for when they leave campus.” 

Keep up with Syracuse University’s WISE Club on Social Media: Twitter: @WISE_SU; Instagram: WISE_Cuse; and Facebook: Women in Sports and Events at Syracuse University. 

The club officers for 2020- 21 were Caroline Johnson, Devan Dachisen, Cailtin Donoghue, Chloe Moss and Megan Monzo. 

The WISE Club includes women from all majors on campus interested in pursuing careers in sports and events. For more information, email WISE co-advisors Nicole Cost at nfimbrog@syr.edu or Lisa Liparulo at lmliparu@syr.edu, or club president Maddy Huzjak at mghuzjak@syr.edu. 

Blazing Her Own Trail.

First woman completes sport analytics degree at Syracuse.

Bailie Brown graduated in May 2021 from Syracuse University’s Falk College with a Bachelor of Science degree in sport analytics, becoming the first woman to complete the four-year undergraduate program since its inception five years ago. Her 23 classmates are men.

“It’s definitely an honor,” Brown said. “I think there’s a little bit of pressure that goes along with being the only female in the senior class. I feel like I need to be successful.”

Syracuse University and California Baptist University in Los Angeles began offering a four-year undergraduate course of study in sport analytics in 2016. Brown chose Syracuse after discovering the program by chance.

“I was just kind of searching for different opportunities and ran across this one and knew immediately it was exactly where I wanted to go. There wasn’t any question,” said Brown, who was salutatorian of her high school class in Florence, South Carolina. “I’ve always loved sports, baseball in particular, and math in high school was fun for me, for some reason, so it was kind of a no-brainer to put the two together.”

The opportunity at Syracuse was there, thanks in large part to the efforts of professors Michael Veley, founding director of the university’s sport management program, and Rodney Paul, director of the sport analytics program. Falk College’s 275 applications for the incoming class in August are the most for the program, up more than 11 percent from 2020, and 31 are women, more than triple last year’s total of 10.

Brown is in a good place at a seemingly opportune time. Women are gaining traction in management positions at the top echelons of professional sports, opening more doors for others to follow into a realm that’s been dominated by men.

“If you look at what’s going on in the sports world in general of women breaking down barriers that have been in existence for decades in terms of becoming a general manager of a major league baseball team, an official at an N.F.L. game, women coaching men’s sports, it’s starting to open up opportunities,” said Veley, adding that the school also is achieving its goal of attracting more minorities and international students. “We feel that women in the analytics field can be pioneers.”

Two years ago, Valerie Camillo became the first woman hired as president of an NHL franchise when she took the position with the Philadelphia Flyers. The Miami Marlins hired Kim Ng as general manager in October, the first female G.M. in the four major North American professional sports leagues. And in mid-April, Lucy Rushton, an analytics whiz, was hired as G.M. of D.C. United, just the second woman in Major League Soccer history to be a full-time general manager, after Lynne Meterparel with the San Jose Clash in 1999.

“It’s scary to think that it’s taken a good 20 years for the next one,” Rushton said. “Obviously, it’s a bit of a privilege to be in that position. It kind of gives me that little bit extra incentive to kind of create a pathway for women going forward. If I do a good job in my role, hopefully it does open up doors for other women.”

That Brown isn’t an athlete didn’t faze her one bit. Her foundation was developed by going to her younger brother’s Little League games and asking questions, lots of questions.

“I coached my son in Little League and she was always out there with us, asking me questions after the games and after practices,” said Ken Brown, Bailie’s dad. “We didn’t have the typical conversations. It was talking strategy about the game and what they should do. She has such a deep interest in the actual game and all the strategy. I’m very, very proud of her. She’s fulfilling her passion.”

“I love it! That’s amazing,” added Jessica Gelman, a pioneer in her own right as C.E.O. of Kraft Analytics Group in Foxborough, Massachusetts, and co-founder 15 years ago of M.I.T.’s Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. “Analytics kind of evens the playing field for women, so I’m glad to see that there are women who are taking interest in pursuing this area. Obviously, the past few years there’s been a huge focus on enhanced equality for women and under-represented minorities.

Rushton, a native of Reading, England, and a former soccer player for her hometown club (Reading F.C.), said she was surprised when she was hired a short time after receiving a Master’s degree in sports performance analysis from the University of Wales Institute in 2008. “You’re just waiting for that break and you just need someone to just take a risk on you,” she said.

Brown, 21, already has found that someone. She completed her final college semester remotely because of COVID-19 restrictions in upstate New York, and that dovetailed nicely with her new job working on baseball strategy as an operations apprentice with the Houston Astros, where Sarah Gelles is director of research and development.

“I hope this is opening up more opportunities for more girls to come to Syracuse and follow in my footsteps and my classmates’ footsteps so it’ll get to a point where it isn’t a big deal,” said Brown, who moved to Houston in April 2021. “It’ll be normal for women to be graduating with these kinds of degrees and working in fields such as sport analytics.”

(This story was originally published by Syracuse University in May 2021 and picked up by more than 50 national media outlets.) 

Pictures with captions in this section include: Bailie Brown poses in a cap and gown in front of the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, where she graduated with a degree in sport analytics in May 2021. Sport Analytics students Bailie Brown ’21, Dean Preston ’22, Christopher Thomas ’22, Brendan McKeown ’22 and Sean Kenney ’22 (from left) traveled to Phoenix, Arizona, during Spring Break in 2019 to compete in the National Sabermetrics Competition. 

Stepping Up to the Plate.

By Sarah H. Griffin, Syracuse University.

Sport management major aims to put his education to work for greater diversity and equity in the sport industry.

The game started at 7 p.m. Thirteen-year-old Christian Buonadonna sat with his aunt and uncle in the “nosebleed” section of the baseball stadium. Far below, their Philadelphia home team battled the opposing team into extra innings. As the night wore on, the crowd gradually thinned and Buonadonna and his family moved closer. Soon they were in prime seats and perfectly positioned to catch the foul ball that popped into the air and soared toward them. “It was the whole experience—being there on a summer night for 18 innings, up until 3 a.m., going home with a ball—I really fell in love with the game,” Buonadonna says. 

At first, Buonadonna’s interest in sports revolved primarily around baseball and the statistics of the game. When he first applied to Syracuse University’s David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, he thought he’d want to study sport analytics. But as he explored the range of Falk’s programs during his first year, he became captivated by the dynamism and interdisciplinary nature of sport management, which he eventually declared as his major. “Sport management brings in aspects from many other fields—business, communications, marketing, psychology. I like that you pull insight from all these different areas and then apply them in a sport context,” says Buonadonna, who is planning to graduate in 2022. 

Worthy Goals.

As he envisions his career plans, Buonadonna hopes to address issues of diversity and equity in sports and sport industries. “I always go back to the concept of intersectionality,” he says. “There are athletes who identify in multiple ways—some with identities they might even hide. I think it’s important to shine a light on what those athletes may deal with—the oppression they may feel—and also highlight ways teams can support them and really celebrate the diversity in athletic communities.” 

Buonadonna’s own life experiences inform his commitment to issues of diversity and inclusion and influence the empathy he brings to this work. He and his younger sister were born in South Korea and adopted as infants by white American parents. At times he has faced challenges as a Korean American who is racially different from his parents, but he appreciates the perspective and insight that those challenges have helped him develop.

Buonadonna—who often adds his Korean given name, Jung, to his signature—has found ways to explore and embrace the Korean side of his identity. One of the most meaningful has been his practice of the Korean martial art Tang Soo Do. 

“It has provided life lessons and helped me appreciate certain values, such as humility, self-control and integrity, which are part of our honor code and which I try to hold myself true to, to this day,” he says. 

He also participates in and leads programming at the Syracuse University Catholic Center, and says his faith has been an important source of guidance and community.

Putting His Education Into Practice.

Buonadonna serves as a resident advisor with the Office of Student Living and works with members of the Syracuse football team and the men’s and women’s basketball teams living in an apartment complex on South Campus. It’s a role that lets him put into practice event planning skills he’s gaining from his studies. Even before the pandemic, it took some creativity to organize successful community-building activities, he says, because of the athletes’ full schedules and their tendency to retire to their apartments rather than gather in the communal lounges. Buonadonna’s responsibilities include planning two events a month for the residents he serves. 

“I’ve realized the success of these activities depends largely on the way I market them and how and when I communicate to the residents. This connects to what I’m learning about in some of my courses—so I just keep adapting my techniques,” he says.

He works with other students and staff in the Office of Multicultural Affairs to organize programming for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, which the University celebrated in April. He hopes to build on this experience in the guided internship he’ll complete in Fall 2021 as part of the sport management curriculum. In their final year, sport management majors complete a 12-credit Capstone that entails gaining hands-on experience in the sport industry. As he firms up plans for which organization he’ll work with, Buonadonna looks forward to being in a professional setting and expanding his knowledge of the ways different organizations are addressing issues around diversity and inclusion.

“There are so many people doing this important work already, and advocating for diversity and equity,” he says. “But there’s also still a lot of room for growth. I know I will find my place.”

(This story was originally published by Syracuse University in April 2021.)

Pictures with captions in this section include: Sport management major Christian Buonadonna ’22 has worked with Syracuse University’s Office of Multicultural Affairs to organize programming that celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage. 

Virtual combine a highlight for Sales Club.

The Sport Management Sales Club was established in 2015 to act as a medium for earning members hands-on experience in the sport sales industry. In a job market with increasing demands for preliminary experience, students can add practical sales experience to their resumes. The club welcomes guest speakers in person and virtually each semester, holds workshops and events for members, while also pairing with Syracuse University Athletics to help sell tickets. 

The focus of the Spring 2021 semester was on holding a virtual sales combine in collaboration with executives from the New York Mets, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Brooklyn Nets. Students benefited from sales training followed by head-to-head, scenario-based competition in the format of a combine. The event was held in person on campus on Spring 2020. 

During the Fall 2020 semester, the Sales Club partnered with the Boston Red Sox for its first-ever “Red Sox Premium Sales Project.” S.P.M. alumnus Sandor Kopitz ’15, who is the manager of the Red Sox Sales Academy, helped form the partnership between the students and the organization. Club members were split into groups and asked to research a specific business in the greater Boston area. Students then created and presented a 10-minute sales deck on why that business should purchase premium seats with the Red Sox. This allowed club members to practice their real-world research and sales skills. 

“It was great to partner with the Syracuse University Sport Sales Club to provide their members hands-on sales presentation experience,” Kopitz said. “My goal was to share a bit about our sales process here with the Red Sox and give Syracuse University Sales Club members a taste of what premium season ticket sales are like, how we sell and market them at Fenway Park, and highlight the tactics we use to build value during a sales presentation.” 

Students usually pair with Syracuse University Athletics each Fall to help sell tickets for Syracuse University football, and men’s and women’s basketball games. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this was not able to happen in Fall 2020. The partnership will begin again in Fall 2021. 

During the Fall 2019 semester, club members cold-called businesses near and far to solicit table sponsorships for the Department’s 15th Annual Charity Sports Auction benefiting Make-A-Wish Central New York. In February 2020, club members had the opportunity to get face-to-face selling experience through the annual Select-A-Seat event hosted by Syracuse University Athletics. Fans in attendance had the ability to try out and select seats for the upcoming football season. S.P.M. Sales Club members were on hand to qualify buyers and walk them through the process. 

The club officers for 2020-21 were Ian Benepe, Casey Millar, Sam Crampton, Nick Costanzo, Alex Guo and Richie Clarke. 

The Sales Club meets weekly during the academic year. For more information, contact Palczak at jcpalcza@syr.edu. All Syracuse University students are welcome to attend. 

Sport Media and Marketing Club:

The Department of Sport Management formed a Sport Media and Marketing Club in Fall 2020 in hopes of providing students an opportunity to learn more about these particular segments of the sport industry. The club’s mission is to provide real-world experiences for students by taking part in projects as well as connecting with peers, faculty advisors and industry professionals. Club members are interested in hosting guest speakers, marketing Falk College’s student organizations and events via social media, participating in marketing case study competitions and providing training on MailChimp, Canva and other commonly used programs in the industry. 

Club officers for 2020-21 were Alex Guo, Blake Taub, Maeva, Matthew Penn and Faith Porter. 

Analytics.

Sport Analytics students waste no time putting Syracuse degree program on the map.

Sport analytics is a fast-growing segment of the sport 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. In fall 2016, Syracuse University’s Sport Analytics program welcomed its first official freshmen 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 students from around the world.

Since its launch, Sport Analytics at Syracuse has celebrated many successes. The program has established student-industry collaborations with EDGE10, X.F.L., Spotted, and Syracuse University Athletics, among others. Students have secured professional job placements prior to graduation as well as internships with top sport industry organizations and major league teams. Students and faculty have published and presented research internationally and competed in prestigious industry and academic competitions, including S.A.B.R. Diamond Dollars, M.I.T. Sloan Sports Analytics, A.C.C. Meeting of the Minds, Carnegie Mellon, and the Academy of Economics and Finance National Conference, among others. The program graduated four students in 2019, 13 in 2020, and 24 in 2021. 

Here are some program highlights from 2020-2021: 

Twelve seniors were named Berlin Scholars for the class of 2021: Zachary Anhalt, Jonathan Bosch, Bailie Brown, Jacob Cummis, Drew DiSanto, James Hyman, Zachary Koeppel, Colin Krantz, Samuel Marteka, Cameron Mitchell, Alejandro Pesantez, and Kushal Shah. The scholarship is named for Andrew Berlin, who donated $1 million to Syracuse University’s Sport Analytics program in 2018.

Eight seniors completed the Sport Analytics program in three years. Joseph Deaton, James Hyman, Colin Krantz, Cameron Mitchell and Kushal Shah plan to continue their studies in Fall 2021 through the Applied Data Science master’s program housed in Syracuse University’s iSchool. Also finishing in three years are Bailie Brown, who began a job with the Houston Astros in May 2021; Steven DiMaria, who interned with the New York Yankees in Summer 2021; and Davis Showell, who plans to attend graduate school at Temple in Fall 2021. 

Eight seniors completed the Sport Analytics program in three years. Joseph Deaton, James Hyman, Colin Krantz, Cameron Mitchell and Kushal Shah plan to continue their studies in Fall 2021 through the Applied Data Science master’s program housed in Syracuse University’s iSchool. Also finishing in three years are Bailie Brown, who began a job with the Houston Astros in May 2021; Steven DiMaria, who interned with the New York Yankees in Summer 2021; and Davis Showell, who plans to attend graduate school at Temple in Fall 2021. 

Women in Sports Tech, Inc. (W.I.S.T.) awarded Mackenzie Mangos ’22 (Sport Analytics major) and Jenna Tivnan ’21 (Sport Management major/Sport Analytics minor) fellowships for Summer 2021. Each received a $5,000 grant to pursue summer projects in their chosen area of sports technology. Tivnan interned with Comcast SportsTech and Mangos interned with K.O.R.E. Software. 

The Sport Analytics Learning Community took part in a Tableau Workshop in Fall 2020, which included a competition element. Dr. Jeremy Losak assisted with the project as well as Dr. Rodney Paul and Sport Analytics academic advisor Francesco Riverso. The Learning Community hosted guest speakers from Major League Baseball’s Diversity and Equity Department, took part in a virtual “Beat The Bomb” team-building exercise organized by Sport Management alumnus Tiffer Valente, and held a research event featuring presentations from Sport Analytics upperclassmen. 

Kushal Shah, James Hyman and Dominic Samangy won the Academy of Economics and Finance (A.E.F.) undergraduate student research paper competition, which was held virtually in February 2021. The title of their research is “Poisson Betting Model with a Kelly Criterion Element,” which focuses on using production-based metrics to determine outcome probability combined with the optimization of bet amount and distribution. Their research was also selected for a presentation and research poster display at the 2021 M.I.T./Sloan Sport Analytics Conference, the top conference in the Sport Analytics field. 

Zachary Koeppel and Dominic Samangy ’22 won the 2021 Falk College Student Research Competition. Koeppel’s research is titled “How to Allocate the N.F.L. Salary Cap with a Highly Paid Quarterback.” Samangy’s research is titled “Under the Radar: An N.B.A./N.C.A.A. Player Similarity Model Utilizing a Factor Analysis and Radar Plots.”

Jonathan Bosch, Bailie Brown, James Hyman, Zachary Koeppel, Colin Krantz, Mackenzie Mangos, Cameron Mitchell and Kushal Shah participated in SportsPro’s 2021 Hackathon. The topic of the hackathon was “Sustainability in Sport” and the prompt was to develop a product/service/business/event/other that met the “triple bottom line” of making sport more socially, environmentally, and financially sustainable.

Also at the A.E.F. conference, Zachary Koeppel presented his senior thesis titled “How to Allocate the N.F.L. Salary Cap with a Highly Paid Quarterback.” Sport Analytics associate professor Dr. Jeremy Losak, along with Sport Analytics majors Samuel Marteka and Mackenzie Mangos, also presented their research at A.E.F. titled “The Impact of College Conference T.V. Networks on College Football and Basketball Attendance.” Their research also was awarded an A.C.C. Initiatives grant worth $2,700 from the A.C.C.-C.R.I.A. Innovation Initiative Small Grant Program. 

Dylan McGee ’21 presented his research on “Reclassifying Relief Pitchers” at the Fall 2020 UConn Sport Analytics Symposium. Using “K-Means Cluster Analysis on Standard, Batted Ball and P.F.X. Data,” McGee can cluster relievers into new roles based off their strengths/weaknesses. 

Sport Analytics professors Dr. Shane Sanders and Dr. Justin Ehrlich , as well as students Colin Krantz, Kushal Shah, James Hyman and Dominic Samangy, virtually presented their research at the Fall 2020 Midwest Sports Analytics Conference. 

Jonathan Bosch, Nick Riccardi ’20 G’21 and James Hyman presented their research to Syracuse University’s Lubin Society via Zoom in Spring 2021. The students are SOURCE Grant recipients, have published research in peer reviewed journals, and had papers presented at multiple conferences and competitions. They are also the team behind the “Falk Index of Team Success,” which they presented to the N.B.A. in fall of 2020. 

Bruce Liska ’24 presented his research on “The Big Ben Effect: An Analysis of how Injuries Impact Players in Fantasy Football” at the Fall 2020 Carnegie Mellon Sports Analytics Conference. 

During the 2020-21 academic year, Sport Analytics students assisted Syracuse University Athletics with various projects, including analyzing season ticket sales and revenue, and pricing of premium seats/suites. Analytics students also worked with the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open of the P.G.A. Tour related to analyzing/modeling their social media.

Jeremy Rosenbaum ’23 virtually presented his research at the Summer 2021 North American Association of Sport Economists Conference. Rosenbaum was the only undergraduate student to present at the national event. Dr. Jeremy Losak also had his research accepted for presentation at the conference. 

Class of 2020 Sport Analytics graduates Dylan Blechner, Kyle Liotta, Nick Riccardi, Joseph Sabel and Nicholas Schloop worked as graduate assistants for the program in 2020-21. The five spent the 2020-21 academic year enrolled in Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies’ Applied Data Science master’s program. 

Here’s a sampling of where Syracuse University Sport Analytics students interned in Summer 2021: S.B.R.net, SponsorUnited, Hookit, Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox, Perfect Game U.S.A., K.O.R.E. Software, Pittsburgh Penguins, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Sony/M.L.B. The Show, RotoUnderworld/PlayerProfiler.com, Los Angeles Kings, Genius Sports, Luker on Trends/S.R.S.S., FantasyAlarm.com, U.S. Naval Academy, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, among others. 

As of May 2021, 37 students at Syracuse University are minoring in Sport Analytics. 

Falk College will welcome 60 Sport Analytics freshmen to campus in Fall 2021. 

Pictures with captions in this section include: Twelve Sport Analytics seniors were named Berlin Scholars for the class of 2021. Shown above are 10 of the 12 scholars, including (from left) Jonathan Bosch, Zachary Anhalt, Samuel Marteka, Zachary Koeppel, James Hyman, Colin Krantz, Drew DiSanto, Alejandro Pesantez, Cameron Mitchell and Kushal Shah. Missing from the group photo are Bailie Brown and Jacob Cummis.  Sport Analytics students took part in a Zoom call with Andrew Berlin, who donated $1 million to Syracuse University’s sport analytics program in 2018. 

Jonathan Bosch earns Syracuse University’s top honor.

Congratulations to Falk College Sport Analytics major Jonathan Bosch, who was one of 12 seniors named as the 2021 Syracuse University Scholars, the highest undergraduate honor that the University bestows. Bosch is also a mathematics major in the College of Arts and Sciences. The Syracuse University Scholars Selection Committee selected the 2021 scholars using criteria that included coursework and academic achievement, independent research and creative work, evidence of intellectual growth and/or innovation in their disciplinary field, a personal statement and faculty letters of recommendation. Bosch is the first Sport Analytics or Sport Management student in the department’s history to earn this honor. 

Analytics Clubs abound for all interests.

In the classroom, Falk College Sport Analytics students take a deep dive into analyzing data in sport, while incorporating studies in arts and sciences with professional electives and liberal arts requirements. Outside of the classroom, students are encouraged to join organizations that fit their interests, educational goals and career aspirations. All student organizations meet weekly during the academic year. Visit the sport organizations page or more information.

Baseball Sabermetrics and Statistics Club:

Sabermetrics is the study of advanced baseball statistics. This club conducts in-depth discussions about everything related to baseball, with members taking part in a fantasy baseball league and guest speakers brought in on a variety of topics throughout the year.

In Spring 2021, for the seventh straight year, Club members participated in the Society of American Baseball Research (S.A.B.R.) Analytics’ Spring Diamond Dollars Case Competition. Due to Covid-19, the students did not travel in March 2021 to Phoenix, Arizona, but instead presented virtually from Syracuse University’s campus.

A team from Syracuse University was among the winners at the 2021 S.A.B.R. Virtual Case Competition. Undergraduate teams were separated into virtual competition rooms, where they presented to judges via Zoom. The Syracuse team that won its room featured Sport Analytics majors Sam Auerbach ’23, Brent Huot ’23, Kevin Ivers ’22, Preston Klaus ’22 and Seth Warner ’22. This team was one of four that competed from Syracuse University’s Falk College. 

Students were asked to devise an improved metric for Game Score to evaluate the performance of starting pitchers.

Mackenzie Mangos ’22 was awarded the Diversity, Inclusion and Equity scholarship to attend the conference.

“We are very proud of the way our students compete at these events,” Sports Analytics director Dr. Rodney Paul said. “It’s a terrific way for them to showcase their research in front of industry professionals as well as gain experience outside of the classroom.”

With the help of gifts from Falk College donors Jeff and Andrea Lomasky as well as Andrew Berlin, Syracuse University sport analytics students are able to compete at numerous prestigious events and competitions throughout the year.

In Spring 2021, club members also worked with data provided by the Fordham University baseball team and are currently working on a project to adjust 2020 Major League statistics based on quality of the divisions.

The club hears from numerous guest speakers throughout the year via in-person visits and virtual presentations, including Major League Baseball executives, baseball publication writers and baseball analytic professionals. Joining the Club virtually during 2020-21 were Jim Callis, writer at M.L.B. Pipeline; Mitch Colahan, assistant director of amateur scouting for the New York Yankees; Seth Daniels, director of diamond sports for Rapsodo; Bobby Evans, former general manager for the San Francisco Giants; Zac Fieroh, analyst for the Yankees; Rohan Gupta, baseball operations associate for the Yankees; Jesus Lantigua, international crosschecker for the Pittsburgh Pirates; and Syracuse University alumnus Justin Perline, quantitative analyst for the Pirates.

Officers for the 2020-2021 academic year were Steven DiMaria, Brendan McKeown, Hughston Preston, Brianne Quinlan and Seth Warner.

Basketball Analytics Club:

The Syracuse University Basketball Analytics Club concluded its fifth year in 2020-2021 with more than 40 members who strive to uncover fascinating statistical trends in basketball through research as well as maintaining a fun environment to discuss and debate all things basketball.

The organization was assembled to conduct analysis on the N.B.A., N.C.A.A., and high school basketball and has expedited the process of recording large sums of data at an efficient pace. Club members are working on research on a variety of topics focusing on professional and college basketball organizations, teams, players and business strategies.

The club spoke (via Skype and Zoom) with N.B.A. analytics executives as well as other industry professionals throughout the academic year, including Stephen Pelkofer of Sports Info Solutions and Justin Jacobs of the Orlando Magic.

Officers for the 2020-2021 academic year were Davis Showell, James Hyman, Jimmy Beck, and Dominic Samangy, as well as senior project coordinators Jon Bosch, Preston Klaus, Brendan McKeown and Alejandro Pesantez.

Pictures with captions in this section include: A team from Syracuse University was among the winners at the Society of American Baseball Research (S.A.B.R.) Analytics’ Spring 2021 Diamond Dollars Case Competition. The Syracuse team that won its room featured Sport Analytics majors (from left) Kevin Ivers ’22, Sam Auerbach ’23, Preston Klaus ’22, Seth Warner ’22 and Brent Huot ’23. 

Football Analytics Club:

The Football Analytics Club was established during the 2017-18 academic year and became an officially recognized Syracuse University student organization in Fall 2019. The club started with four members, grew to 40 the next year, and now features more than 100 members. The club meets weekly discussing all things related to football, conducting research, competing in trivia contests, and welcoming guest speakers, among other activities.

The club spent the majority of the Spring 2021 semester working on an offseason simulation, in which each member acted on behalf of an N.F.L. franchise and signed free agents, made trades, and completed a full seven-round N.F.L. Draft. This activity allowed members to use their skills and football knowledge to test their ability to successfully lead a team through an offseason while competing against 31 other teams.

In Summer 2020 and Summer 2021, club members competed in Sports Info Solutions’ Football Analytics Challenge. During the Fall 2020 semester, club members took part in a Mock Case Competition. The students were divided into groups and tasked with projecting the contracts and future performance for certain N.F.L. free agents. The groups presented their findings to a panel of upperclassmen and faculty.

Club members have also worked on numerous research projects over the past few years, exploring topics such as “Do N.F.L. Players Perform Worse After Receiving a Large Free Agent Contract;” “Do N.F.L. Referees Display Bias Towards Certain Calls or Teams;” “How Winning/Losing Streaks Impact Future Winning Chances and Betting Lines;” and “How Player Arrests Affect Team Winning Percentage in the N.F.L.”

The Football Analytics Club routinely welcomes sport industry guest speakers, including Neil Hornsby, founder and C.E.O. of Pro Football Focus; Bryan Kilmeade and Sam Schwartzstein, of the X.F.L.’s football operations department; Tucker Zeleny, director of sports analytics at the University of Nebraska; J.T. Busco, Syracuse University football assistant coach; and Ryan Smith, analyst and account manager at Pro Football Focus. These speakers, among others, gave students insight into the use of analytics in both professional and college football.

Officers for the 2020-21 academic year were Zak Koeppel, Cameron Mitchell, Will Friedeman, Joe Pickering and Preston Klaus.

Pictures with captions in this section include: Members of the Football Analytics Club took part in a Mock Case Competition in Fall 2020. Among those participating were (from left) Cameron Mitchell, Jared LaVigueur, Justin Krebs, Tyler Bolebruch, Connor Shanahan, Zach Roth and Eli Buto. 

Hockey Analytics Club:

The Hockey Analytics Club is a student-run organization that meets weekly during the academic year to discuss trends and events in the world of hockey. The Club also conducts analytical research and has worked with the Syracuse University women’s ice hockey team, the A.H.L.’s Syracuse Crunch, and the Tennity Adult League.

During the Spring 2021 semester, members worked on a project for the Los Angeles Kings. In Fall 2020, club members discussed and analyzed the unique 2020 N.H.L. playoffs. The club uses analytics in its research and discussions, and features students from numerous majors on campus.

Pictures with captions in this section include: Club officers for 2020-21 were Josh Freson and Ryan Song. Former club leaders Dante Giugliano and Evan Baum acted as project team leaders.

Soccer Analytics Club:

The Soccer Analytics Club, which was founded in 2018, conducts analysis and research on the various soccer leagues around the world. The club’s major success has been achieved in the form of papers being selected for various conferences, including the 2021 M.I.T. Sloan Sport Analytics Conference, 2020 Midwest Sport Analytics Conference, and 2020 Carnegie Mellon Sport Analytics Conference. The club also won the award for Best Undergraduate Paper at the 2021 Academy of Economics and Finance and received an Honorable Mention at the 2020 Carnegie Mellon Sport Analytics Conference.

Club members strive to improve the scope of analytics in the world of soccer, putting it on par with professional basketball and baseball. Students are busy with research projects, meeting with executives and analytics professionals from the soccer industry, attending conferences to present their research, and participating in competitions. Find examples of their work on Twitter @CuseAnalytics. 

The club provides a platform for students with a passion for soccer to discuss the sport and work together, conducting research using a variety of statistical methods and analytical tools. Students from all majors on campus are welcome to join.

Officers for the 2020-21 academic year were Kushal Shah, Drew DiSanto, James Hyman, and Dominic Samangy.

Soccer Analytics Club members Kushal Shah, James Hyman and Dominic Samangy virtually presented their research at the 2021 M.I.T. Sloan Sport Analytics Conference. 

Sport Analytics Women (SAW) Club:

Formed in Fall 2020, the Sport Analytics Women (SAW) Club strives to create a group of like-minded women to build relationships, assemble a support system and study sport analytics during their time at Syracuse University and into their post-graduate careers. The club’s mission is to collaborate and serve as a positive advocate for women in Sport Analytics by connecting with each other as well as with professionals in the industry.

The goal of creating relevant opportunities for club members is achieved through tutorials on programs such as R, S.Q.L., Python and Tableau, group research projects and hosting guest speakers. In Fall 2020, club members learned more about interactive pitch charts in tableau. They brainstormed ideas for research projects and decided to project how female college basketball players will fare in the W.N.B.A.

During the 2020-21, the club welcomed several virtual guest speakers, including Olivia Stasiuk, Dallas Cowboys consumer insights strategist; Bria Grant, Brooklyn Nets senior manager of business intelligence; Dafna Aaronson, a performance and people analytics specialist; Neda Tabatabaie, San Jose Sharks vice president of business analytics and technology; Christina Williamson, New York Yankees performance science analyst; and Liz Brown, of U.S.A. Triathlon.

Club officers are Mackenzie Mangos, Kylie Dedrick, Jenna Elique, Marissa Schneider and Alison Gilmore. 

Pictures with captions in this section include: The Sport Analytics Women (SAW) Club was formed in Fall 2020 and hosted numerous sport industry executives via Zoom over the course of the 2020-21 academic year. 

Senior thesis culminates academic careers.

As part of their degree requirements, Syracuse University Sport Analytics students complete a senior thesis to apply their skills, undertake a research project, and have a completed project to display to potential employers. 

The thesis encompasses a two-semester research project into the sport (or sports) of the student’s choice. Topics focus on athletes, teams, businesses or a combination as it relates to the sports industry. The thesis centers on an original idea of which the students conduct background research, gather data, create models, run statistical relationships, visualize the relationships, and explain the results across a variety of formats. 

Students work one-on-one with a professor in the program to perform analytical research and analysis. 

“The senior thesis gives the students the opportunity to show off all they have learned in the program,” said Dr. Rodney Paul, Sport Analytics program director. “Their research will serve as a calling card of their skills and capabilities to the industry.”

Here are the Syracuse University Class of 2021 Sport Analytics graduates and their thesis research topics: 

Zach Anhalt: Real-Time Data Models for Setting Live Proposition Player Performance Betting Lines.

Jonathan Bosch: N.B.A. Leverage Index: Quantifying the Context of Field Goal Attempts in Basketball.

Bailie Brown: How M.L.B. Starting Pitchers are Affected by Pitches and Days Rest.

Jacob Cummis: Quantifying Whether a Premier League Player’s Contract Value is Justified by Their Play.

Joseph Deaton: An Economic Analysis of the Labor Market of International Basketball for N.B.A.-Hopefuls.

Steven DiMaria: Projecting a Contract Extension for Aaron Judge.

Jack Dolitsky: Mid-Season and Off-Season N.B.A. Coaching Changes Effect on Team and Player Success..

William Friedeman (December 2020 graduate): Esports Financial Analysis.

Nicolas Giancola: Exploring the Effects of Changes to the Three-Point Line in N.C.A.A. and N.B.A. Basketball.

James Hyman: Decision Making in W.N.B.A. Basketball Players.

Cameron Johnson (December 2020 graduate): Personality Assessment and the Evaluation of Youth Soccer Players.

Colin Krantz: Simulating P.G.A. Tournament to Predict Player Finishing Positions.

Nathan Kellar: Did the N.B.A. Bubble Cause a Rise in Offensive Production.

Zachary Koeppel: How to Allocate the N.F.L. Salary Cap with a Highly Paid Quarterback.

Sam Marteka: Examining the Skillsets of P.G.A. Golfers from 2004-2020 and the Relationships to Scoring Average, Top Ten Finishes, and Seasonal Earnings.

Dylan McGee: Reclassifying Relief Pitchers.

Cameron Mitchell: Analyzing Trades in Major League Baseball Using W.A.R.

Trevor Olofson: A Comprehensive Analysis on the Volatility of Relievers in Major League Baseball.

Colby Olson (December 2020 graduate): Clustering Major League Baseball Pitch Type Selection.

Alejandro Pesantez: Hierarchical Clustering Analysis on Offensive Skill Positions in the N.F.L.

Harrison Platt: Exploring Fantasy Baseball Player Pricing.

Justin Philbin: Analysis of Factors Impacting the Success of Rookie N.H.L. Defensemen.

Kushal Shah: Clustering Attacking Possessions to Evaluate Different Play Styles for Soccer.

Davis Showell: Draft Eligibility and the W.N.B.A.

Dax Speakman: Did the Environment of the N.B.A. Bubble Change Game Trends?

Sport Analytics senior jumps at chance to intern with Buffalo Bills.

Syracuse University Sport Analytics major Drew DiSanto ’21 spent the Fall 2020 semester working on-site for the N.F.L.’s Buffalo Bills. Although the full-time, paid internship meant taking a leave of absence from his Syracuse University classes for the semester, DiSanto knew it was an opportunity he could not pass up.

“I applied knowing that if I was offered the position, there was no way I could turn it down,” said DiSanto, who has been with the team since July 2020. “I knew I would need to take the semester off from classes, but the opportunity to work for an N.F.L. team does not come around very often. This internship is a great resume builder, and it has taught me many valuable, outside-the-classroom aspects of working in sport.”

DiSanto worked in the Bills’ Analytics and App Development Department as a Data Analytics Intern. Using Microsoft S.Q.L., he managed stored procedures and views, and analyzed the Bills’ opponents to find their strengths and weaknesses, as well as opportunities or threats they may pose on gameday.

“I learned a lot about communication, and how to convey the data we utilize to the coaches and scouts on a daily basis,” he said. “I know I’m in the right workplace when my 10- to 12-hour days feel like three hours.”

DiSanto, who is from Williamson, New York, returned to Syracuse University’s campus in January 2021 to continue his classwork in Spring 2021 and Fall 2021, with a goal of graduating in December 2021. Does he hope to continue to work in football?

“I am not sure yet about my future plans,” he said. “I am considering pursuing my master’s degree in Applied Data Science at Syracuse. However, everyone at the Bills has been incredibly kind and I am very fond of this organization.”

Pictures with captions in this section include: Drew DiSanto ’21 spent the Fall 2020 semester working on-site for the N.F.L.’s Buffalo Bills in their Analytics and App Development Department.

Female Sport Analytics students look to transform their love of math, sports into STEM careers.

For women in Syracuse University’s sport analytics program that admitted its fifth class in Fall 2020, 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.” 

Syracuse University senior Bailie Brown was the first female to earn a bachelor’s degree in sport analytics from Falk College when she completed her coursework in May 2021. She is grateful for connections made with women in sports through events, assignments, and participation in student organizations. 

“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 was a member of the Baseball Statistics and Sabermetrics Club and the Sport Analytics Women (SAW) Club during her time at Syracuse University. 

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, 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 Syracuse University Trustee and alumnus, Andrew T. Berlin ’83. 

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 Syracuse University’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 Syracuse University, participating in the prestigious S.A.B.R. 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 Syracuse in Fall 2020. 

“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 is focused on research project-ing how women’s college basketball players will perform in the W.N.B.A. and plans to host tutorials on programs like R, Tableau and S.Q.L.

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 Syracuse University.” 

(This story was originally published by Syracuse University in January 2021.) 

Pictures with captions in this section include: During the Fall 2020 semester, the Sport Analytics Women Club hosted Olivia Stasiuk, marketing analytics manager for the Dallas Cowboys. 

Inaugural Football Analytics Blitz competition kicks off at Falk.

On February 26, 2021, students in Falk College’s Sport Analytics program hosted the inaugural Football Analytics Blitz, a case competition for undergraduate college students from around the country. This virtual competition was led by Sport Analytics students Zachary Koeppel ’21 and Ben Ayers ’22, who saw a void in analytical competition opportunities for students interested in football. 

“The SABR Diamond Dollars baseball case competitions were influential to growing my professional skills, so I wanted to give an opportunity similar to that for students whose primary focus is football,” Koeppel said. 

With the help of assistant professor Dr. Jeremy Losak and Sport Analytics academic advisor Francesco Riverso, the Syracuse University students partnered with Pro Football Focus (P.F.F.), the data supplier for all 32 N.F.L. teams. Koeppel and Ayers worked with Eric Eager, P.F.F.’s vice president of research and development, who also served as a judge for the competition. P.F.F. provided competition teams with facet grade and play-by-play data, which the teams were required to use in their analysis. P.F.F. gave members of the overall winning team free memberships to its services. 

The competition featured 20 teams from 14 college and universities. Teams were tasked with solving the prompt of “Optimizing the Pass/ Run Ratio in Different Sections of the Field.” They were given one week to analyze the prompt and create a 30-minute PowerPoint presentation that was presented live via Zoom on competition day.

Teams were separated into four virtual competition rooms, where they presented to judges via Zoom. The four room winners were the University of Pennsylvania, University of Oklahoma, Syracuse University and Duke University. The judges then selected Oklahoma as the overall winner of the competition. 

Pictures with captions in this section include: Students Jenna Elique ’22, Kylie Dedrick ’23, Marissa Schneider ’24, Mackenzie Mangos ’22 and Alison Gilmore ’24 (from left) teamed to win their respective room at the inaugural Falk College Football Analytics Blitz, which was held virtually on February 26, 2021. 

Syracuse University to offer CAS in Sport Analytics.

Syracuse University will begin offering a Certificate of Advanced Studies (C.A.S.) in Sport Analytics in 2022. This C.A.S. will provide an overview of key topics and necessary skills in the growing field of Sport Analytics. The program is open to anyone with a bachelor’s degree, but is likely to be of particular interest to those with degrees in sport management, various business disciplines, journalism and sport media, exercise science and kinesiology, etc. 

Each class in the four-course C.A.S. covers specific items related to the field of sport analytics: 

SAL 601 gives an overview of the use of sport analytics across the major sports in North America and around the world as it relates to player and team performance. 

SAL 602 covers coding in R, data wrangling, the use of tidyverse, joining data, data visualization in R, basic modeling of statistical relationships, creating simulations, and more. 

SAL 603 covers coding in Python, data structures, NumPy, Pandas, data storage and management, and data cleaning, wrangling, and prep. 

SAL 604 covers the basics of modeling relationships between variables. 

For more information on the C.A.S. in Sport Analytics, email program director Dr. Rodney Paul at rpaul01@syr.edu or call 315.443.9881. 

High schoolers test drive analytics at summer academy.

More than 50 high school students enrolled in Syracuse University’s Summer 2021 Berlin Sport Analytics Academy. The program, which was delivered virtually in two separate sessions (July 19 to August 6 and August 9 to 27) provided students the opportunity to explore data’s role in understanding and prioritizing information to maintain a competitive advantage in the sports industry. 

Students were shown how analytics are used in a variety of sports, discussed major sport economic and analytics concepts such as the Moneyball revolution and four-factor models, and learned skills in various applications that are used in Sport Analytics courses and in the sport industry. 

Sport Analytics professors Dr. Shane Sanders, Dr. Justin Ehrlich and Dr. Jeremy Losak led the sessions, and were assisted by Alejandro Pesantez ’21 and Sport Analytics majors Kylie Dedrick, Mackenzie Mangos, Michael O’Connor, and Seth Warner. 

First Black Sport Analytics student graduates from Syracuse University.

In May 2021, Davis Showell became the first Black student to graduate with a degree in Sport Analytics from Syracuse University. 

Showell served as the president of the department’s Basketball Analytics Club, where he contributed to multiple club projects, including a paper analyzing the decline of play in the fourth quarter for starters who play excessive minutes. Showell was also a member of the department’s Soccer Analytics Club, assisting on club research and interacting with industry professionals. 

Examples of his research include a Minor League Baseball attendance project for the Birmingham Royals and working with EDGE10 on a project about Australian Rules Football. The topic of Showell’s senior sport analytics thesis was “Draft Eligibility and the W.N.B.A.,” where he analyzed the W.N.B.A. rule regarding when college players can enter the draft. 

Outside of campus, Showell gathered data for Opendorse, and acted as an analytics consultant with the Papillion (Neb.) La Vista High School basketball team. 

Showell is continuing his education at Temple University’s School of Sport, Tourism, and Human Management, where he is pursuing a Master’s Degree in Sport Business with an Analytics concentration. 

News and Events.

New course tackles race, gender, and diversity in sport.

Falk College’s Department of Sport Management introduced a new course in Spring 2021 titled “Race, Gender, and Diversity in Sport Organizations.” The three-credit course was taught by Dr. Mary Graham and Sport Management alumnus Chris Robinson ’15. Among other topics, the course covered identity, the history and policies of demographic categorization, intersectionality, and diversity management best practices, all with an emphasis on race, ethnicity, and gender in sport settings. The course culminated with students designing and implementing a final outreach, creative, or scholarly project. 

Guest speakers included Thomas McMahon, associate dean for diversity, racial equity, and inclusion at the University of Texas at Arlington; Liz Mills, head coach of the Kenyan men’s national basketball team; Dr. Salatha Willis, associate athletic director for diversity, culture, and climate at Syracuse University; Dr. Deborah Coolhart, associate professor of Marriage and Family Therapy at Syracuse University; and B.J. Johnson, Director of College Scouting and Player Evaluation for the Brooklyn Nets. 

Students worked in groups on projects focusing on comparing racial inclusion in NASCAR versus Formula One; harassment of women in sport media; athlete voice and protests; a Public Service Announcement to encourage more women coaches; extending the Rooney Rule to the N.B.A.; and social justice activism by members of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team versus activism by players on W.N.B.A. teams. 

“I enrolled in the class because it had the word sport in its title,” said Sport Analytics major Benjamin Gansenberg ’23. “I left the class having never felt more aware of other humans, and the way that negative words and actions have much larger implications than just hurting somebody’s feelings. I feel comfortable, confident, and quite honestly, expected, to take a role in combatting the negativity that surrounds race, gender, and ethnicity.” 

Pictures with captions in this section include: Dr. Salatha Willis, Syracuse University’s associate athletic director for diversity, culture, and climate, guest lectured in the class. 

Graduate students host webinar on student-athlete mental health.

Falk College’s Sport Venue and Event Management (S.V.E.M.) master’s program hosted “More Than A Game,” a virtual symposium dedicated to promoting athlete mental health awareness, on April 21, 2021. Speakers included Syracuse University student-athletes as well as industry professionals.

Brittney Sykes ’17 (current W.N.B.A. player for the L.A. Sparks), Cam Lynch ’15 (former N.F.L. linebacker), Morgan Alexander ’21 (Syracuse University women’s lacrosse), and Quincy Guerrier ’23 (Syracuse University men’s basketball) served as panelists. Keynote speakers included Valorie Kondos Fields (P.A.C. 12 Women’s Gymnastics Coach of the Century), Dr. Jessica Bartley (Director of Mental Health for the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committees), Breyah Richardson (former Loyola New Orleans women’s basketball player and founder of B.R.E.A.T.H.E., an organization designed to bring mental health resources to the Black community), Matt Davidson (Founder and President of the Excellence with Integrity Institute), Resa Lovelace (Founder of R.B.L. Theory, an organization dedicated to promoting workplace diversity and inclusivity), and Dona Rodgers (Founder of Morgan’s Message, which strives to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health within the student-athlete community and equalize the treatment of physical and mental health in athletics).

The topic of mental health was selected for its relevance in society, particularly sporting communities, where, regardless of age, race, gender, and/or sexuality, nearly 35 percent of professional athletes cite that they are coping with some form of a mental health issue.

A core component of Falk College’s S.V.E.M. graduate program is a semester-long assignment for each cohort to collectively organize an event that they host during the spring semester. The students were in charge of contacting speakers, promoting the event, social media activation, event set-up, and media coverage.

“This event provides students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in event planning from start to finish,” said Sport Management associate professor Dr. Gina Pauline, who has taught the Advanced Sport Event Management course for the past six years. “Students learned how to work on marketing, sponsorship, operations, and more through the executing of this virtual symposium. In what is a very different academic year for everyone, the students found an opportunity to develop their skills while focusing on such a meaningful topic.”

“More Than a Game” was a first of its kind within the program’s history as a completely online event. Past S.V.E.M. cohorts planned charity golf events or fundraising dinners/silent auctions in conjunction with Syracuse University Athletics. 

Guest speakers 2020-21.

Pictures with captions in this section include: Guest speakers from around the world joined classes virtually during the 2020-21 academic year, most via Zoom, including this class with college benefactor and sports agent David B. Falk. 

Faculty and Staff.

The 2020-21 academic year was unique in many ways for the Department of Sport Management’s faculty and staff as travel was limited due to COVID-19 while numerous classes were taught remotely. Faculty members virtually presented their research on campus, domestically, and internationally. Our faculty and staff continue to bring new and important perspectives impacting today’s most critical issues in sport. Listed below is a small sampling of select accomplishments. We invite you to visit the Falk College and Department of Sport Management website regularly to stay current with S.P.M. news. 

Rick Burton, David B. Falk endowed professor:

Burton is in his seventh year serving as Syracuse University’s Faculty Athletic Representative to the N.C.A.A. and A.C.C. The former commissioner of the Australian National Basketball League is concurrently working on a number of new books and movie projects, and is a regular contributor of co-authored columns to Sports Business Journal. Burton teaches courses on managing the sport organization, esport management, and the history of baseball.

Dennis Deninger, Professor of practice:

The former E.S.P.N. production executive and three-time Emmy Award winner teaches Sport Communications, the Super Bowl and Society, and Sports, Media and Society courses. Deninger was the founding director of the Sports Communications graduate program at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School. His new book, Live Sports Media: The How and Why of Sports Broadcasting, will be published in Fall 2021.

Dr. Justin Ehrlich, Assistant professor:

Dr. Ehrlich finished his second year at Syracuse University teaching sport analytics classes as well as mentoring students on research projects. He presented his research at the Midwest Analytics Conference, as well as had his research published in leading sport industry journals. Ehrlich is in his second year of a four-year grant titled “Virtual Reality Opportunities to Integrate Social Skills.” The $246,745 grant was secured through the U.S. Department of Education to help teach social skills to students with autism.

Dr. Mary Graham, Professor:

Dr. Graham co-published a paper in the Journal of Organizational Behavior, entitled “Women Executives and Off-the-Job Misconduct by High-Profile Employees: A Study of National Football Team Organizations.” She continues her work on strategic human resource management in supply chains, funded this year by a grant from Syracuse University’s Intelligence Community Center for Academic Excellence.

Dr. Jeeyoon Kim, Assistant professor:

In Spring 2021, Dr. Kim was awarded a $15,000 FIFA Research Scholarship for her co-authored research on “Exploring FIFA Video Games as a Channel to Promote Football Participation, Football Literacy, and Psychosocial Well-being.” She also has research focusing on all aspects of the Olympics, including “Olympic Sponsorship in Small States; Strategies and Partnerships for Caribbean National Olympic Committees.” Kim has also worked with the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee on a project for the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics Legacy Education Program and the 2032 Seoul Summer Olympics bid strategy.

Dr. Jeremy Losak, Assistant professor:

Dr. Losak finished his second year at Syracuse University teaching sport analytics classes as well as co-advising the Sport Management Club and Baseball Statistics and Sabermetrics Club. He received an A.C.C. Initiatives grant worth $2,700 for research titled “The Impact of College Conference T.V. Networks on College Football and Basketball Attendance.” Losak is a 2016 Syracuse University Sport Management graduate, who completed his Ph.D. in economics at Clemson.

David Meluni, Assistant teaching professor:

Meluni spent four years as an adjunct professor in Sport Management before joining the faculty full time in 2018. He has 20 years of experience in the sport industry, including at Florida State Athletics, I.M.G. College (Syracuse Athletics) SIDEARM Sports, New York Collegiate Baseball League and Skoresheet. Meluni teaches sales, marketing, sponsorship and promotion courses at Syracuse University, and also serves as the faculty advisor for the Sports Sales Club. He will teach a new course in Fall 2021 on Name, Image, Likeness.

Dr. Rodney Paul, Professor, sport analytics program director:

Dr. Paul presented his research at the 2020 European Sports Economics Association International Conference and the 2021 Academy of Economics and Finance Conference. Dr. Paul, a world-renowned sports economist who has been quoted by media outlets around the world, serves as co-advisor of Syracuse University’s Baseball Statistics and Sabermetrics Club, teaches Sport Analytics courses at Syracuse University and oversees sport analytics senior thesis projects.

Dr. Gina Pauline, Associate professor, undergraduate program director:

Dr. Pauline, who has taught at Syracuse University since 2006, works on curriculum, course development, academic affairs, assessment planning, and is involved with Syracuse University Project Advance in the offering of sport management classes to high school students. Dr. Pauline is an advocate for women in sport and has pioneered several initiatives. She also teaches in Falk College’s Sport Venue and Event Management graduate program.

Dr. Jeff Pauline, Associate professor, graduate program director:

Dr. Pauline leads the Sport Venue and Event Management master’s program. His research was accepted for presentation at the 2020 Association for Applied Sport Psychology (A.A.S.P.) national conference. He serves on the A.A.S.P. Continuing Education Committee and is also a member of A.A.S.P. and the Syracuse University Appeals Board.

Patrick Ryan, Associate teaching professor:

Ryan, who spent more than 30 years working in the technology industry before coming to Syracuse University in 2006, retired in 2021.

Dr. Shane Sanders, Professor:

Dr. Sanders, who has taught at Syracuse University since 2016, was promoted to full professor in 2020. His research is annually accepted at conferences around the world. Sanders published his first book in December 2020, The Economic Reason, and has served as an analytics consultant for a Euroleague basketball team for the past five years.

Michael Veley, Director and chair, Rhonda S. Falk endowed professor:

Veley, who has worked at Syracuse University since 1995, is the founding director of the Sport Management program at Syracuse University. He serves as vice president of the Syracuse Sports Corporation, is the public address announcer for Syracuse University football and basketball games, and the advisor of the Sport Management Club. Veley spent nearly two decades working as a Division I athletic administrator.

Dr. Patrick Walsh, Associate professor:

Dr. Walsh’s research was accepted for presentation at the 2020 Sport Marketing Association Conference and the 2021 North American Society for Sport Management National Conference. He currently serves on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Sport Management and the Journal of Global Sport Management, and is a co-author of a Sport Marketing textbook that was published in the spring of 2021.

Dr. John Wolohan, Professor:

Dr. Wolohan published two books this past year, including Sport Analytics: An applied introduction to how numbers are changing sport with his son J.T., as well as the eighth edition of Law for Recreation and Sport Managers. He published a chapter in The Handbook on International Sports Law and wrote a monthly Sports Law Report in Athletic Business. Wolohan, who also teaches in Syracuse University’s College of Law, was invited to teach at Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, Sheffield Hallam University in the U.K. and Bond University in Australia.

Sport Management staff updates:

Margie Chetney finished her eighth year in Sport Management as an administrative assistant. She works closely with students and faculty, manages department calendars and events, serves as editor of the S.P.M. newsletter and handles social media and news for the department.

Nicole Cost (S.P.M. class of 2008) finished her fifth year as an internship placement coordinator in Sport Management. She works with seniors on Capstone guidance, undergraduates on internships and advising, and is the liaison for alumni. She chairs the department’s Emerging Leaders Council for young alumni and is the co-advisor of the Women in Sports and Events club. Cost teaches S.P.M. 201 and S.P.M. 455 and in Fall 2021 will begin as a Lead Instructor for F.Y.S. 101.

Lisa Liparulo finished her third year as an internship placement coordinator in Sport Management. She guides S.P.M. seniors through the Capstone process, as well as works with undergraduate and graduate students on advising and internships. She is the co-advisor of the S.P.M. Women in Sports and Events (WISE) Club and teaches S.P.M. 201 and S.P.M. 455. She will begin as a Lead Instructor for F.Y.S. 101 in the Fall of 2021.

Kevin McNeill joined the department as an internship placement coordinator in 2019 after spending 12 years at Le Moyne College as associate athletics director for marketing. McNeill will transition into the role of assistant teaching professor in Falk College in Fall 2021 to teach the Sport Technology courses.

Francesco Riverso finished his sixth year in the department, and second full year as the program manager for Sport Analytics. He advises Sport Analytics majors, connecting them to industry internships and jobs, as well as working to develop partnerships to benefit the program. He assists in the coordination of all aspects of the Sport Analytics program, as well as teaches S.P.M. 201.

Kathryn Tunkel, who celebrated her 28th year at Syracuse University in 2021, is the administrative assistant to S.P.M. director Michael Veley. She works closely with students and faculty, handles all S.P.M. course scheduling, classroom assignments, Intra-University Transfer and S.P.M. minor applications, and student enrollment.

Upon retirement, longtime S.P.M. professor Pat Ryan named Emeritus.

Sport Management associate teaching Professor Pat Ryan, who joined Syracuse University’s Department of Sport Management in 2006, announced his retirement in May 2021. Upon his retirement, he was named a Syracuse University Professor Emeritus. 

Over the course of his teaching career at Syracuse University, Ryan taught numerous courses, including Principles of Sales in Sport, Technology in Sport Management, Foundations of Olympic Sports, Olympic Odyssey, New England Immersion, Game Day Technology and Operations, and Sport Ticket Sales. 

“Patrick Ryan is a consummate professional and a valuable and versatile member of the Department of Sport Management,” said Michael Veley, Sport Management Director and Chair. “His work with students is exemplary and he surely made an impact on his fellow faculty and staff. We all wish him the best of luck in his retirement.” 

Before entering academia, Ryan amassed a highly distinguished global body of work in the technology and sales management sectors of several Fortune 500 companies, including Cisco Systems, Burroughs, Data General and 3Comm for nearly three decades. His vast and expansive professional experience, both domestically and internationally, played a significant role in his classroom instruction, curriculum development and student’s research interests with sports technology.

The lifelong Boston Red Sox fan served as a member of the Falk College Curriculum Committee, co-advisor to Sport Management Sales Club, faculty representative to the Sport Management Learning Community, volunteer for the S.P.M. Club’s Charity Sports Auction and the Sport Venue and Event Management’s charity events, and was a regular speaker for Partners for Education and Business for the Syracuse City School District. 

Statement of Commitment, Department of Sport Management:

The Department of Sport Management at Syracuse University stands in solidarity with our communities who are voicing their anguish, anger, and deep frustration with acts of violence and hatred, and with systems that oppress and devalue Black lives. We unequivocally condemn these and all acts targeting any group, whether on our campus or in our society. 

Systemic and institutionalized racism such as the callous killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbrey, Elijah McClain and countless others must end. Enough is enough. We reject racism, bigotry and hate. We have watched the division across the country with sadness and pain as we work to process the disrespect, abuse, and murder of Black and Brown people by police. We pledge our sincere commitment and responsibility to help impact positive change through the Black Lives Matter movement. 

Systemic racism exists in our society. We acknowledge that collectively we have much work to do in this regard, in our academic programs. The #NotAgainSU movement has raised public consciousness and exposed shortcomings of our overall campus culture. We invite creative and open-minded people to help us be agents of positive change. 

Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion continues with focus on important areas of awareness, training, and education. We are actively engaged with Falk College and Syracuse University in these efforts to ensure that human rights are secure for Black people, persons of color, and other underrepresented populations. This embodies the Falk College mantra of teaching social responsibility and social justice and our department mission of using sports as a platform for social change. 

We will encourage open, honest dialog both inside the classroom and one-on-one, including those related to racism, privilege and allyship. We are committed to working toward the substantive changes that embody social justice, equity, and inclusion. We are committed to working toward creating a campus community where we all feel welcomed and valued.

By intently listening, we believe open dialog and critical thinking will help to re-shape our department, college, and University culture.

We know other marginalized groups also experience racism, discrimination, and exclusion. Please be assured the Department of Sport Management will continue its commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion for all marginalized and underrepresented groups.

We hope to ensure everyone sees themselves represented and included within the Department of Sport Management. This is a journey and we are committed to listening, learning, and implementing the work needed to move forward together.

Advisory Councils.

Sport Management Advisory Council.

Mission: To be the preeminent student-centered experiential learning, scholarship and teaching institution, by forming a unique partnership among students, faculty, high-profile industry leaders and staff, all collaborating to maximize academic, professional and personal growth. 

The Sport Management Advisory Council is comprised of a “Who’s Who in Sports.” This esteemed group of sport industry professionals and practitioners provides an inner circle of advisors and supporters for the Department of Sport Management. The council provides input and guidance for short- and long-term goals, student internships, employment opportunities, curriculum development and classroom instruction. It champions the program to prospective supporters, students, business colleagues and the community. 

Chair Members:

Brandon Steiner, Advisory Council Chairman; Founder, The Steiner Agency and CollectibleXchange.
David B. Falk, Chair Emeritus; Founder, Falk Associates Management Enterprises (FAME).

Board Members:

Ronald C. Bernard, Senior Advisor, Alvarez & Marsal; President, LWB Consulting.

Russ Brandon, Sports Industry Executive.

Nick Carparelli, Executive Director, Bowl Season.

Howard Deneroff, Executive Vice President, Executive Producer, Westwood One Sports.

Kelly Downing, Marketing Industry Veteran, Consultant.

Michael Duda, Co-Founder/Managing Partner, Bullish Inc.

Patti Kleinman-Fallick, Managing Director, Broadcast Operations, U.S.T.A.

Shawn Garrity, Chief Executive Officer, Circle T.P.R.

Mark Geddis, President and C.E.O., Geddis Holdings, Inc.

Pamela Hollander, Marketing Professional.

Cliff Kaplan, Chairman, Equity Sports Partners.

David Kleinhandler, Founder and President, New Venture Financial Wellness.

Robert L. Konrad, Chairman, Alterna Financial.

Christopher J. Lencheski, Chairman, Phoenicia Sport and Entertainment; Chief Executive Officer, Winning Streak Sports.

David Levy, Sports Industry Veteran.

Deidra Maddock, Vice President of Sports Brand Solutions/Disney Advertising Sales, Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution.

Sandy Montag, Chief Executive Officer, The Montag Group.

Laurie Orlando, Senior Vice President, Talent Strategy, C.B.S. News.

Michael J. Patent, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Culture Group.

Kevin Rochlitz, Senior Vice President/ Chief Sales Officer, Baltimore Ravens.

Jeffrey Rubin, Founder and C.E.O., Sidearm Sports.

Mike Tirico, Play-By-Play Commentator, Anchor, N.B.C. Sports.

John Wildhack, Director of Athletics, Syracuse University.

Roland Williams, President and Chief Executive Officer, All Pro Catalyst; Super Bowl Champion. 

Emeriti Members:

Ben C. Sutton Jr., Founder and Chairman, Teall Investments.

Kathrine Switzer, President of Marathon Woman & AtAlanta Sports Promotions, Inc.

Michael Wohl, President, Coral Rock Development Group.

Mike Tirico, Play-By-Play Commentator, Anchor, N.B.C. Sports.

John Wildhack, Director of Athletics, Syracuse University.

Roland Williams, President and Chief Executive Officer.

Find out more information on members of the Sport Management Advisory Council.

Emerging Leaders Council.

The Syracuse University Emerging Leaders Council (E.L.C.) 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. This guidance includes staying in tune with the trends of the sport industry; assisting with capstone, practicum, and internship placements; and being strong advocates for the academic program in their community.

Members:

Daniel Anyaegbunam, Esq, Attorney.

Harrison Avigdor, U.S.A. Basketball Analyst, National Basketball Association.

Danielle Berman, Founder and C.E.O., Tackle What’s Next.

Elijah Biggins, Integrated Marketing Strategist, Genius.

Nicole Cost, Internship Placement Coordinator and Instructor, Syracuse University.

P.J. Davidson, Vice President of Sales, Queensboro F.C. 

Jim Geant, Senior Manager, Business Development and Strategic Partnerships, New York Road Runners.

Jenna Harmer, Senior Manager of Volunteer Programs, Make-A-Wish New Jersey.

Charma Harris, Consultant, The Clearning, Inc.

Harrison Laifer, Associate Manager, Merchandising Partnerships, National Basketball Association.

Jeremy Losak, PhD, Assistant Professor, Sport Analytics, Syracuse University.

Hugo Marsans, Partnership Manager, Culture Group.

Ian McFate, Director of Growth, Sports and Entertainment, Aramark.

Ari Moskowitz, Business Development Manager, FanHub, by Genius Sports.

Ben Norowski, Youth Soccer Sales Supervisor, New York Red Bulls.

 Jeff Petrino, Director, Turner Ignite Sports, WarnerMedia.

 Jeremy Philipson, Senior Software Engineer, FanDuel.

Kevin Reese, Senior Account Executive, Articulate Productions.

Lori Robinson, Ph.D., Player Engagement Manager, Baltimore Ravens

Kate Ruben, Manager, Sports Partnerships, CLEAR.

Benjamin R. Rubenstein, Business Development and Expansion Lead, Snackpass.

Carlos Ruiz II, Manager of Digital Production, Major League Baseball.

Hanna Sanford, Community Engagement Manager, Seattle Seahawks.

Steven Shur, Esq, Attorney, K&L Gates.

Jake Silverman, Deputy Athletic Director for Administration, Brown University.

Jonathan Stahler, Esq, Founder, Stahler Sports & Entertainment Law.

Bradley Trust,  Assistant Film Coordinator, Hofstra.

Tiffer Valente, Chief Operating Officer, Beat the Bomb.

Tyler Wasserman, Salary Cap Analyst, National Basketball Association.

Alex Wood, Project Manager, TeamWork Online.

Alyssa Wood, Senior Manager, Sponsorship Strategies and Activations, M.K.T.G.

Find out more information on members of the Emerging Leaders Council.

Alumni.

Support the Department of Sport Management.

We continually strive to offer a variety of opportunities to support our students. From scholarships and financial assistance to immersion programs and experiential field trips, along with inviting distinguished guest lectures to campus and hosting relevant symposiums, Falk College’s sport management/sport analytics education goes beyond the textbooks and the walls of our classrooms. David Salanger, Falk College assistant dean for advancement and external affairs, welcomes the opportunity to talk and/or meet with you to discuss program support and student learning opportunities. Please contact Salanger at 315.443.8989 or dasalang@syr.edu. 

To our Sport Management, Sport Analytics, and Sport Venue and Event Management alumni…

To say the past year and a half has been tumultuous would be an understatement. We navigated sport industry lows, far too many virtual meetings and classes, and multiple job changes. Thankfully, what hasn’t changed through it all is our alumni commitment to making sure our students feel supported throughout their undergraduate career. Whether you participated in a mentorship team for our first-year students, offered to host a case-study workshop during S.P.M. Week, hired our students for Capstones, internships, or full-time positions, or even simply responded to an email or phone call from a student, you have helped to boost their Syracuse University experience. 

You helped make this remote year feel less isolating, and for that, we are eternally grateful. We can’t wait to see you in person on campus soon.

In the meantime, please continue to stay connected to us by following Sport Management on Twitter @SUSportMgmt, and “like” us on Facebook at Syracuse University Falk College Department of Sport Management.

To post a job or view job postings, join the Falk College Alumni Page on LinkedIn.

If the employment information on the following pages is inaccurate, please email your updates to records@syr.edu to be sure Syracuse University has your current information on file. 

If you want to get involved but aren’t sure how, email me at nfimbrog@syr.edu or call me at 315.443.7418. We love to hear from our esteemed alumni. 

Thank you for your unwavering support! 

—Nicole (Imbrogno) Cost, S.P.M. ’08, internship placement coordinator.

Alumni Updates.

Sport Analytics:

Sport Management:

Sport Venue and Event Management:

Pictures with captions in this section include: It was a great day to be Orange at The Steiner Agency in Summer 2021 when Jordan Wolffson ’21, S.P.M. alum Alec Bieber ’19, Syracuse University alum Brandon Steiner ’81, Syracuse University alum Nick Thyrre ’90 and Cayne Mandell ’21 all found themselves in the office together. Wolffson and Mandell completed their Senior Capstones with Steiner over the summer, while Bieber and Thyrre work at the company. 

S.P.M. Alumni in #SportsBiz hits fourth year.

The Department of Sport Management’s fourth annual “S.P.M. Alumni in #SportsBiz” event went virtual in Fall 2020 as students and alumni connected via Zoom on October 23 to enhance their networking and professional growth.

Sport Management director Michael Veley welcomed participants before turning the program over to keynote speaker Roland Williams, a former Syracuse University football player who is now the President and Chief Executive Officer for All Pro Catalyst. He’s also a former Super Bowl Champion and entrepreneur.

Williams told students and alumni to set goals for themselves, gather all the information they can, and then work on connecting the dots to find success.

“One season doesn’t make a career,” he said. “Set realistic goals and then focus as much as you can on executing your assignment and focusing on your technique, so you can achieve those goals.”

After the keynote, event participants took part in panel sessions on topics such as Careers in Sports Betting; Sport and Social Justice; and Contingency Planning After COVID-19. 

Alumni Evan Weinberg, Jack Van Erman, Joey Sabel, Elijah Biggins, Lori Robinson, Chris Robinson, Sydney Leiher, Jenna Harmer, Joy Essaghof, Emily Dumas, Jeremy Losak, and Katie Rudy took part as moderators and panelists.

The event concluded with a mentorship hour between alumni and students.

“We are so fortunate to have fantastic and caring alumni who want to help our current students in and out of the classroom,” said event organizer Nicole Cost ’08, an internship placement coordinator in Sport Management. “We were not sure what to expect by switching this to a virtual event. But of course, our amazing alumni stepped up yet again to help us make the event a success.”

The fifth annual “S.P.M. Alumni in #SportsBiz event” is planned for Friday, October 15, 2021 on campus. Email nfimbrog@syr.edu for more information.

Annual job-shadowing program goes virtual in 2021.

The department of Sport Management’s third annual Students and Professionals Meet (S.P.M.) Week was held virtually January 11–15, 2021. Unlike in years past where students job shadowed alumni in their geographical location for a day, the 2021 event turned virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of hosting students on site, our alumni hosted topic-based online workshops. Alumni provided the parameters for their workshops. Students were then tasked with conducting research relative to each specific workshop, and then came prepared with their case study findings to the workshops. 

“I really enjoyed the virtual job-shadowing event because I got to be creative and see what I could find out about the company in advance with the data that was provided,” said Jenna Tivnan ’22. 

The workshop topics were:

“The case study discussion was definitely worthwhile,” Grassadonia said. “The best kind of brainstorming and collaboration is involving different thoughts and ideas from various people.”

Thirty-four sport management, sport analytics and sport venue and event management students took part in the week-long series of online workshops. 

“Not only was this a great opportunity to provide students with valuable content-based workshops over their long winter break, but it opened doors for them to expand their professional networks as they look for internship opportunities in the future,” said S.P.M. Internship Placement Coordinator Lisa Liparulo, who coordinated the event. 

S.P.M. alum Nolan Cooney signs with N.F.L.’s Saints.

Syracuse University Sport Management Class of 2020 graduate Nolan Cooney, a former punter on the Orange football team, signed with the N.F.L.’s New Orleans Saints in May 2021. 

At Syracuse University, Cooney earned honorable mention All-American and third team All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors in Fall 2020. He overcame testicular cancer while attending East Greenwich (Rhode Island) High School, where he played soccer, baseball and basketball. He was the recipient of Syracuse University’s Jim DaRin Courage Award in 2019 and the A.C.C.’s Brian Piccolo Award in 2020, given to the most courageous player in the league.

“He basically was like an unrecruited walk-on that kind of just showed up at our door,” said former Syracuse University special-teams coach Justin Lustig, who is now at Vanderbilt. “He’s unbelievable. One of my favorite players I’ve ever coached. I haven’t been around a guy that works harder than Nolan.”

In New Orleans, Cooney will compete with Blake Gillikin, last year’s undrafted rookie, to replace longtime standout Thomas Morstead, who was released in a wave of salary-cap cuts in the offseason.

Meet Casey Miller, S.P.M. ’08, Director of Platform Product and Business Development, Tagboard.

Starting at Syracuse University in 2004, I knew I wanted to work in sports media. Little did I know that I would go from ticket sales to media technology in a span of 13 years. 

In 2008, I started my career in ticket sales and operations with Sky Blue F.C. and the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. One thing I learned from Professor Pat Ryan’s sales class was that having a sales background was key to long-term growth in the sports industry. He was right. 

Around 2010, I noticed the future of the industry was shifting toward going fully digital. I spent just over six years at I.O.MEDIA, working in project management and partnerships for 3D ticketing technology. I also worked for Omnigon (now InfrontX) in digital consulting and account management, and then at Grabyo, a cloud video production platform. I finally found myself in the sports content and technology space I always wanted to be in. At Grabyo, I built the U.S. Customer Success Team and led strategic partnerships and business development globally. Just over two years later, I left Grabyo for Portland, Oregon, to join Tagboard, doubling down on working on the content side of the media landscape. 

Tagboard is an intuitive storytelling cloud production platform that creates interactive live programming, for any connected screen. At Tagboard, I lead global partnerships, channel sales, and lead the platform product team, working closely with Twitter, TikTok, Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, and Snap, among others. You have likely seen Tagboard in action via on-air Tweets during N.B.A. games on T.N.T. or while watching the N.F.L. on Fox. 

I have been lucky enough to offer internships to S.P.M. students during my time at Grabyo and Tagboard and it has been great to see the growth of the program. My advice to current students is to network, take risks and expect the unexpected. I wouldn’t be where I am today if the S.P.M. program hadn’t helped me build the foundation needed to work in this industry. 

Meet Keith Benson Hines , S.V.E.M. ’16, Marketing Project Manager, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Syracuse University’s Sport Venue and Event Management graduate program introduced me to something I had never done nor ever envisioned would be part of my career that I enjoy the most: Sponsorships. 

I came to Syracuse in Summer 2015, joining the 2015-16 S.V.E.M. class that would go on to host the first S.V.E.M. Charity Golf Tournament. It was during this planning process that I got a small taste of sponsorships. 

I should mention that I am from North Carolina, where golf is played every month of the year. In Syracuse, however, that is not the case. So, during the chilly Fall semester and into the dead of winter, I had no clue how I was going to convince companies and individuals to commit to sponsoring, and being part of, a golf tournament that was months away. At that moment, I did not even know if the ground, covered with 18 inches of snow, would even thaw in time for the May tee off. 

Equipped with the skills we learned in our S.V.E.M. courses, our class pressed our way through our reservations and the snow to meet the task head-on. We surpassed our goal of raising $5,000 for Vera House by raising $15,000, and thus helping to shape my future. 

I use the skills learned at Syracuse University in my current role as Marketing Project Manager at the Frank Porter Graham Student Union on the Campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Each year on the Sunday before the first day of class, we host Fall Fest, a celebration of student life with competitions, performances, and giveaways. I have served on the event sponsorship committee for the past three years, helping to raise funds and secure in-kind donations for this spectacular event. 

For me, none of this would be possible without the knowledge and experience I gained from Syracuse University’s S.V.E.M. program. For that, I will always owe a debt of gratitude. 

Meet Blake Johnson , S.P.M. ’16, Navigation Outreach and Inclusion Lead, I AM A.L.S.

I came to Syracuse University as an undeclared major, and also a member of Syracuse University’s women’s soccer team. I knew I wanted to work in a space that combined community development and sports, which is how I ultimately chose Sport Management as my major. 

Each S.P.M. professor assisted my development in their own unique way, which is what makes the Syracuse S.P.M. program so special. You can go to any professor or administrator and walk away with something different each time … a laugh, motivation, a new goal, a new person to network with, helpful feedback, a new internship to apply for and yes, more homework. 

As a senior, I landed a Capstone with the N.B.A.’s Atlanta Hawks in their Community Basketball Programs department working in community/grassroots marketing and generational fan building. I worked to provide inclusive opportunities for youth to stay active and learn the game of basketball. 

After my Capstone, I was able to transition into a full-time role with the Hawks as an assistant in their Community Basketball Programs, and then as the senior coordinator. I created and oversaw the Hawks’ Lady Ballers Program and community and adaptive sports partnerships with organizations such as BlazeSports Wheelchair Basketball, Special Olympics, Boys & Girls Clubs and Y.M.C.A.s. I also managed our part-time staff, which helped with all on-court programming. 

The job was perfect for me: a lot of fun and chaotic at times. I worked on summer camps, 3vs3 tournaments and mentoring programs, each aimed at providing safe learning spaces and helping to create Atlanta Hawks fans at a young age. As a Hawks employee, I also served as a Poll Manager for the 2020 election and received “M.L.K. True to the Dream” recognition for my community service outside of work. 

It was my roles at the Hawks that helped me better understand my passion for servicing, learning from, and building relationships with marginalized communities. After five years with the Atlanta Hawks, I transitioned in Summer 2021 to a new role in the non-profit space with the I AM A.L.S. organization in Austin, Texas. 

Calling all alumni:

To be sure Syracuse University has your most up-to-date information, please email your current mailing address, phone number, e-mail, employer, title, business e-mail, and business address to records@syr.edu. This ensures that you will receive important communication from the University as well as Falk College and the Department of Sport Management. And don’t forget to send us photos from your work, family or alumni gatherings.

Pictures with captions in this section include: Shown above are Syracuse University Sport Management alumni Austin Towns, Caitlin Burke, Olivia Lavelle and Alex Wood (from left) at a Cleveland Indians game in June 2021. 

Connect.

Connect with Syracuse University Department of Sport Management:

Department of Sport Management 
Syracuse University
402 MacNaughton Hall
Syracuse, New York 13244
315.443.9881 or 315.443.2630.

Michael Veley
Director and Chair
mdveley@syr.edu.

Gina Pauline
Undergraduate Program Director
gapaulin@syr.edu.

Jeff Pauline
Graduate Program Director
jspaulin@syr.edu.

Rodney Paul
Analytics Program Director
rpaul01@syr.edu.

Francesco Riverso
Analytics Advisor
friverso@syr.edu.

David Salanger
Assistant Dean, Advancement, Falk College
dasalang@syr.edu.

Kathryn Tunkel
Administrative Assistant to Michael Veley
kmtunkel@syr.edu.

Margie Chetney
Administrative Assistant
mchetney@syr.edu.

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