Syracuse Department of Sport Management 2023-2024 Newsletter

The Future Is Now

Inside

Congratulations to the Class of 2024

Esports Communications and Management Update

Immersion Trips and Experiential Learning

Sports, Entertainment and Innovation Conference (SEICon)

Sport Analytics program success

Alumni news

Welcome

As we begin the 2024-2025 academic year, I am honored to serve as Chair of the Department of Sport Management. As seen throughout the history of sports, following a legendary coach or star player after their retirement is never an easy task, and I believe that sentiment is very appropriate at this point in time for our department. Throughout his tenure as Director and Chair of the Department of Sport Management, Professor Michael Veley had a steadfast focus and vision to be the preeminent sport management program in the country. 

We can promise as faculty and staff that vision will not change as we move forward in what is an exciting time for our department, Falk College, and the sport industry. We will continue to provide meaningful real-world learning experiences and opportunities for our students, produce innovative research which expands knowledge while impacting and informing the industry, adapt our teaching and curriculum to meet the needs of a dynamic and constantly evolving sport industry, and be a welcoming community to all. 

Within this Newsletter you will find many examples of how our students across Sport Management, Sport Analytics, Sport Venue and Event Management, and our newest program in Esports Communications and Management are delivering on this vision. Within the past academic year, our students completed Capstones with sport organizations from all over the world, raised money for local charities, competed in national competitions, presented at conferences, completed class projects with industry partners, networked on immersion trips, led student clubs, received prestigious honors from the university, and so much more. 

As you read through this Newsletter I hope you do so with great pride in being connected with our department as alumni, parents, supporters, Advisory Council and Emerging Leaders Council members, and friends of the program. Everything we have accomplished, and will continue to do so, cannot be done without your support. 

We look forward to continuing to share our collective success stories throughout the academic year and encourage you to stay involved with us as we continually position ourselves to be a leader in the sport management academic field. 

Sincerely, 
Patrick Walsh, Ph.D. 
Professor, Department Chair 

From our Dean…

Hello students, alumni, and friends of the Department of Sport Management, 

As I reflect on my first year as Dean of Falk College, I am truly amazed at what all our students have accomplished. In this newsletter, you will see just a few examples of the remarkable accomplishments of our students and faculty in sport management, sport analytics, and esports. Our programs are established national leaders, and it thrills me to say that we’re just getting started. 

Earlier this year, Syracuse University announced that the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics will become the Falk College of Sport, focused exclusively on sport-related disciplines. These include nutrition, exercise science, sport management, sport analytics, and esports. In addition, the college will also launch a new research institute focused on sport, which will connect business, digital media, and technology, and other areas to fuel innovation in sport and health outcomes. 

As we look to the future of this college, there is immense opportunity to further establish ourselves as industry trailblazers in high-impact areas like sport business, community sport and wellness, human performance, and sport technology and innovation. As alumni and friends of Falk College, I invite you to stay connected and get involved as we build forward. We need you to help us achieve the goals that lie ahead. 

Thank you for your ongoing support of our college and its students. 

Sincerely, 
Jeremy S. Jordan, Dean and Professor, Falk College 

Contents

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

Students 

Congratulations to the Class of 2024 

The Department of Sport Management would like to congratulate 91 Sport Management undergraduates, 43 Sport Analytics undergraduates, and nine Sport Venue and Event Management master’s graduates who received their degrees as part of the Syracuse University Class of 2024. 

Our Department’s traditional celebration of graduates during Commencement Weekend was held for seniors and their families, as well as faculty and staff, on May 10 in Falk College. 

We are very proud of our Sport Management, Sport Analytics, and Sport Venue and Event Management graduates. The Class of 2024 will be remembered with distinction. Of the 91 students graduating in Sport Management, 61.5 percent graduated with honors, and more than 81 percent of the Sport Analytics majors graduated with honors, the most ever for both programs. Six students earned a Certificate of Advanced Study (CAS) in Sport Analytics. 

Alison Gilmore (Sport Analytics) served as a Falk College Marshal. Department Marshals were Marissa Schneider (Sport Analytics), Sydney Topper (Sport Management) and Erica Trobia (Sport Venue and Event Management). 

The Sport Management/Sport Analytics faculty and staff would like to recognize the following students for their contributions to the department, the University and the Syracuse community. 

Thirty-nine students received the Director’s Academic Achievement Award for earning a GPA of 3.4 or higher for each of their consecutive semesters at Syracuse University. Sport Management: Josephine Belcher, Nina Bilotti, Tracey Edson, Elizabeth Ellis, Jordan Fritz, Huzhe Gao, Carly Goldblatt, Alexander Grossman, Ethan Harrison, Ethan Hetu, Xinyue Huang, Madeline Huzjak, Jacob Kasdan, Quinn Kreller, Carter Lewis, Margo Noble, Sydney Orszulak, Jacob Palczak, Kyla Pearlman, Elena Randolph, Allison Rosen, Zachary Roth, Philip Tepper, Sarah Thompson and Sydney Topper. Sport Analytics: Jackson Bayuk, Sean Boland, Tyler Bolebruch, Martin Castner, George W. Cave III, Lucas Falcetti, Alison Gilmore, Jacob Graff, Matthew Holmes, Jordan Jones, Nicholas Kamimoto, Ryan O’Connell, Alexander Oppel and Quinn Robnett. 

Sport Analytics majors Sean Boland, Tyler Bolebruch, Alison Gilmore, Nicholas Kamimoto and Alexander Oppel were named Falk College Scholars. 

Also, the M.S. in Sport Venue and Event Management program concluded its 12th year. (See page 5.) 

Class of 2024 Awards: 

Sport Management Director’s Award – Elena Randolph 

Sport Management Academic Excellence Award – Madeline Huzjak 

Matt Brodsky Philanthropic Excellence Award – Sarah Thompson 

Sport Management VIP Award – Philip Tepper 

Sport Management Professional Engagement Award – Tracey Edson 

Jason Morales Perseverance in Sport and Life Award – Andrew Amell 

Sport Management Director’s Award for Academic Promise – Nina Bilotti 

Kate Veley Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility Award – Alexander Grossman 

Patrick Ryan Sport Technology Award – Allison Rosen 

Outstanding Graduate Student Award – Holly Carr 

Sport Analytics Academic Excellence Award – Sean Boland 

Sport Analytics Academic Excellence Award – Nicholas Kamimoto 

Sport Analytics Research Excellence Award – Quinn Robnett 

Sport Analytics Director’s Award for Academic Promise – Tyler Bolebruch 

Sport Analytics VIP Award – Alexander Oppel 

Sport Analytics Game Changer Award – Alison Gilmore 

Photos with captions in this section include: Sport Management Marshal Sydney Topper; Sport Analytics Marshal Marissa Schneider; Sport Analytics award winners; Sport Management award winners.

Sport Venue and Event Management Master’s program 

The Department of Sport Management’s master’s program in Sport Venue and Event Management (SVEM) welcomed its 12th class of graduate students to campus in July 2023. The 2023-24 cohort included eight students, with a diverse mix of educational backgrounds and from a variety of geographic locations. Students in this cohort worked toward completing their practicum work in Summer 2024 and some will continue in Fall 2024. 

In addition to their classwork, the graduate students volunteered for a variety of events, including working the entire regional tournament of The Basketball Tournament (TBT) in Syracuse. During the TBT the students were able to see how a traveling event comes to life from the setup of a blank canvas of an arena to the last whistle of the final game. 

In the Spring 2024 semester, students worked with associate professor Dr. Gina Pauline in the advanced sport event management course, and in collaboration with adjunct instructor and JMA Wireless Dome Director Tom Forgione, to gain exposure to key areas of Dome operations, including the difficult task of “Dome Changeovers,” to turn the Dome over from one event to another. They also were exposed to the operations of several different types of events including SU basketball games, Monster Jam, and the Bruce Springsteen concert. A highlight for this cohort was a networking trip to New York City, where they met with executives and alumni from organizations such as MLB, the NBA, NHL, MLS and New York Yankees. 

Students in the first 12 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 Brown University, Oak View Group, Cornell University, ASM Global, Spartan Race Inc., Octagon, Country Music Hall of Fame, Syracuse University’s JMA Wireless Dome and Syracuse University Athletics, Met Life Stadium, Boston Celtics, Towson University, Nike China, Allegiant Stadium, Soldier Field, University of Louisville, and Tulsa Sports Commission, among others. 

The SVEM 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. The program comprises 36 credit hours of intensive classroom learning skill development and experiential opportunities in settings like SU’s JMA Wireless Dome. Additionally, the SVEM coursework contains theory-to-practice elements where students apply concepts learned in the classroom to actual industry settings in a hands-on manner. 

Practicum locations for Sport Venue and Event Management master’s program 

Fall 2023 

Nicolee Foster, Blue Cross Arena, Rochester Americans and Knighthawks 

Summer 2024 

Marilyn Bell, Syracuse University Athletics 

Dominique Camp, ED23 Hoops/ED23 Foundation 

Luisa Gathmann, Syracuse University Athletics 

Haoyang Lu, ELITE Gaming 

Erica Trobia, Golf House Tennessee 

Alexandria Weiss, Ripken Baseball 

Photos with captions in this section include: Christopher Szlamczynski, Luisa Gathmann, Marilyn Bell, Dominique Camp, Holly Carr, Charles Eaton and Erica Trobia (from left) took part in the Falk College Convocation for the Class of 2024on May 11 on campus. Students in the Sport Venue and Event Management graduate program visited the NBA Offices in New York City as part of a networking trip in May 2024.

Congratulations to the following students for achieving an overall cumulative GPA of 3.4 or higher, as of the end of the 2023-2024 academic year:

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 2023-2024. 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 the Sport Management internship placement coordinators. 

Fall 2023 | Spring 2024 | Summer 2024

This intern went Bananas on his Capstone 

By Quinn Kreller SPM ’24

For my senior Capstone, I was incredibly fortunate to serve as a Digital Marketing intern at the Savannah Bananas in Savannah, GA. 

Working for a marketing department known for being on the cutting edge of social media has been extremely informative for me as a young person entering the sports industry. The creative freedom is unmatched and participating in the content creation process for the semester was a fast-paced and unique experience.

Coming in a month before the first game gave me time to get up to speed in the everyday workflow and begin to pick up responsibilities. Once the tour kicked off in February, I was ready to work as we traveled to Tampa, Houston, Baton Rouge, Gwinnett, Albuquerque, Mesa and Columbus. Working in front of crowds as large as 41,000 people was truly exhilarating! To some, traveling every weekend with the Bananas may seem like too much, but considering I didn’t go abroad during my time at Syracuse University, this constant travel was one of my favorite parts of the internship.

When my internship ended in April, I was fortunate that the organization asked me to stay on through the end of the 2024 Banana Ball World Tour, which concludes in October. I will be considered for a full-time position then. I have spent months working with the Bananas’ marketing director to create a specific track for me to be considered for a full-time position in the future. 

Go Bananas! 

Nashville Predators Capstone leads to Sales Academy opportunity 

By Jacob Geisinger SPM ’24

I was fortunate to complete my Spring 2024 senior Capstone with the Nashville Predators, a National Hockey League team located in the heart of Music City. My role at the fittingly coined “Smashville” was an internship within the Marketing Department. 

My overall tasks included brainstorming and executing vendors and activations for our plaza parties, execution of in-game promotions to help reward fans, and planning watch parties for road games. I helped to plan season ticketholder exclusive events as well as took part in event setup and management. 

My favorite aspect of the internship was working at the plaza parties, which are events held on special theme nights that took place on the plaza in front of Bridgestone Arena, where the team welcomed vendors and sponsors, and had fun activations for fans to stay engaged with the organization. Seeing my ideas for increasing engagement with the organization come to life and fans enjoying different activations that I put together made it much more special and meaningful.

I learned many new skills throughout my time with the Predators, including marketing skills and methods, leadership styles, adaptability, and communication skills. 

After my Capstone ended, I returned to Smashville for an 11-month Sales Academy opportunity with the Nashville Predators as a Sales Associate, where I will continue my love for giving fans the great experience of attend a Predators hockey game.

Senior lands dream internship with Jets 

By Sydney Topper SPM ’24

In the Summer of 2023, I began an internship with the New York Jets and continued working with the team throughout the Fall 2023 semester. By having this opportunity last six months, I saw everything from training camp and the filming of HBO’s “Hard Knocks” to gameday in action. This timeline allowed me to get acclimated to the department needs and my daily roles. 

With a minor in Applied Data Analytics, I have a passion for working with numbers. Within the Premium Partnerships department, there was a lot of data that needed to be analyzed. That’s where I came in! My responsibilities included creating a weekly sales leaderboard that allowed our sales representatives to see their progress throughout the season, managing and overseeing a digital suite map for game days, and handling client needs for those who rented a suite for one singular game. 

I learned how to read contracts, all about the renewal process for expiring suite partners, and most important, customer service skills. 

My favorite part of the semester was the Jets’ home opener. With a sold out stadium, the atmosphere was unmatched. We worked all summer to make sure that everything would run smoothly on gameday. It was rewarding to see our hard work pay off. 

My Jets internship is an experience that I will be forever grateful for as it allowed me to live out a dream of working for an NFL team. The experience, along with lessons learned at Syracuse University, have prepared me for my new role as a Sport Brand Solutions intern at Disney. 

Impacting the growth of women’s basketball

By Elena Randolph SPM ’24

I completed my senior Capstone with the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) during the 2024 Spring semester. The WNBPA is the longest-standing union for professional women’s athletes and represents the women of the WNBA.

I served as the Social Media and Operations intern, managing and creating content for the WNBPA’s social media accounts, maintaining a content calendar and leading collaborations with other players associations and partners. I was based in New York City and also responsible for office operations tasks, including managing inventory, and answering questions for event vendors. Additionally, I boosted my graphic design skills, helping to produce the newest Union Handbook while also creating event materials, signage and flyers. 

I strengthened my event management skills by working some of the Union’s biggest events. In January, the WNBPA premiered its documentary Shattered Glass. I assisted with social media promotion prior to the event and captured/created content during and after. I also helped to plan and execute a welcome dinner for high school girls competing in the NBPA Throne Tournament. The largest event I helped with was Rookie Orientation, where we welcomed 14 of the 2024 WNBA draftees. I led the content capture studio, filming content with each rookie to be used in social campaigns throughout the year.

I’m incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to extend my time working with the WNBPA into the 2024 WNBA season. I am thankful for every connection I made during my time at Falk College and I look forward to continuing my career serving professional athletes on and off the court.

Connecting via the Sport Professionals of Color Club

The Department of Sport Management’s Sport Professionals of Color Club is an organization that strives to uplift and connect students of color who are interested in working in the sport 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 create a sense of community among students of different backgrounds.

Over the course of the 2023-2024 academic year, the club welcomed numerous guest speakers, including SU alum Tobi Joshuasville, assistant director of development for major gifts at Syracuse Athletics; Akbar Christi, the founder and chief executive officer of Seamus Golf; Micale Allen, an athlete investing consultant with Big League Advantage; Matt Howard, a senior associate at the KB Group who specialized in early-stage venture capital investments at the intersection of sports and technology; and Stephen Anderson, a partnerships manager for the Golden State Warriors.

Additionally, during Black History Month, the club met with Steven Gilbert, a videographer and producer from Syracuse Women’s Basketball, who offered his perspective on the basketball industry and the power of networking. 

Club members participated in fantasy football drafts and created March Madness brackets. In addition, the Club hosted Kevin Cooper, founder/owner of FanEase and a Syracuse alum who provided advice on how students of color can make a difference. 

Elena Randolph ’23 served as club president in Fall 2023 and Jeremiah Patterson ’26 served as club president in Spring 2024. Patterson will continue leading the Club during the 2024-25 academic year.

Photos with captions in this section include: Among the members of the Sport Professionals of Color Club are (from left) Jada Johnson, Tynan Weathers, Jeremiah Patterson, Nicole Holmes, Ramon Sara, CJ Green, Meadow McNeil and Trinity Jennings-Pagan. 

A letter from the SPM Club president 

By Jack Martin, SPM ’25 SPM Club President

I can proudly reflect upon the wonderful 2023-24 academic year for the Sport Management Club. Thanks to the assistance of both the current and preceding student leadership, as well as from club advisors Michael Veley and Dr. Jeremy Losak, the Sport Management Club continued to flourish here at Syracuse University.

The Sport Management Club aims to set up Falk students for success professionally, socially, and in regard to community service. We host workshops for professional tools like resume building, and we welcome numerous guest speakers from all around the sport industry, including former members of NFL and NBA front offices, as well as executives from ESPN and DVSport. 

The Club meets weekly to discuss upcoming events, tasks, outings and initiatives. This year Club members hosted social outings at a Syracuse Mets game and at APEX Entertainment. And because it’s impossible not to mention, I’m going to once again brag about our annual Charity Sports Auction, which raised $48,000 for Tillie’s Touch in Fall 2023. 

I am perhaps most proud of the new wave of freshmen students that the club has ushered in. The Class of 2023 was very strong and we knew we were going to miss their leadership and contributions. However, the new students as well as the upperclassmen stepped up to establish themselves as future leaders of not just the club, but the sport industry, too. 

Moving forward into the 2024-25 academic year, I’m excited about our plans as the executive board and club advisors are exploring options for club trips and how to increase our number of community service outings for charitable organizations in the Central New York area. We have assembled a dedicated executive board of student leaders, and it is a privilege to work with them to lead the Sport Management Club at Falk College as we strive to impact our community and peers in a meaningful and lasting way.

SPM Club raises $47,500 at 19th Charity Auction

The Sport Management Club at Syracuse University raised $47,500 for Tillie’s Touch as a result of its 19th Annual Charity Sports Auction. 

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

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

Apex Entertainment served as the Title Sponsor for the 2023 auction. 

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

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

“Our Sport Management Club was founded on the principles of teaching our membership the value of civic engagement, community service, and social responsibility through sports,” says 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 benefit our community is extremely gratifying.”

The Sport Management Club meets weekly during the academic year. For more information about the annual Charity Auction, visit X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or the Charity Sports Auction website.

The beneficiary of the 2024 Charity Auction will be the Syracuse Rescue Mission, whose mission is to end hunger and share hope for those in need. 

Photos with captions in this section include: More than 50 students volunteered at the 2023 Falk College Department of Sport Management Charity Sports Auction on November 28, 2023, at the JMA Wireless Dome. Sport Management seniors Jacob Geisinger, Zach Roth and Alex Grossman (from left) served as co-chairs for the 2023 event.

Falk College Peer Ambassadors

The following Sport Management and Sport Analytics students served as Falk College Peer Ambassadors in 2023-24: Tracey Edson, Alison Gilmore, Aidan Levin, Landon Richardson, Nick Rovelli and Sydney Topper. 

Falk Ambassadors assist the Admissions Office staff with recruitment activities during the year. Ambassadors provide assistance at Falk College open houses, give tours and provide the student perspective at special events throughout the year.

Support 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. Megan Myers, 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 Myers at 315-443-8989 or mmyers01@syr.edu.

Students volunteer at 2024 NFL Draft

And with the first pick of volunteers for the 2024 NFL Draft, the Detroit Sports Commission selects …Falk College sport management and sport analytics students!

For the 2024 NFL Draft, the Detroit Sports Commission and Visit Detroit – the city’s visitors bureau – utilized the talents of six female students from Falk College’s Department of Sport Management: Aryssa Hopps ’25, Grace Froehlke ’26, and Alivia (Ava) Uribe ’26 from Sport Management, and Anna Pierce ’25, Madelyn (Maddy) Forster ’26, and Claire Patin ’26 from the department’s Sport Analytics program.

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

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

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

Patin said working the professional event was “unbelievable experience.”

“I worked at the autograph signing tent helping with the lines, directing people, and taking pictures of fans with players, including fan favorite Frank Ragnow, a center for the Detroit Lions,” Patin said. “I love the culture that sports creates, and I got to see this with hundreds of people who wanted an autograph from their favorite player. I feel really lucky that I not only got to experience it myself, but also be a part of the positive experience for the fans. Overall, it was an unbelievable experience to be working the NFL draft.”

Photos with captions in this section include: While in Detroit to volunteer at the NFL Draft, students (from left) Anna Pierce, Grace Froehlke, Ava Uribe, Maddy Forster, Aryssa Hopps and Claire Patin toured the Detroit Pistons practice facility.

Students attend TeamWork Online Sport Sales Workshop 

Seven Sport Management students were selected to attend the TeamWork Online Sport Sales Workshop on Feb. 2, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio, hosted by the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. 

Grant Babyatsky, Jack Hitter, Justin Krebs, Brianna Nechifor, Margo Noble, Luke Profacci and Alexis Provost participated in personalized and interactive sales training from sales managers representing more than 30 p rofessional teams, including Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bulls, Chicago Fire, Chicago Cubs, Columbus Blue Jackets, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, Charlotte Hornets, Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres among others. 

The students were accompanied on the trip by Sport Management internship placement coordinators Aaron Knighton and Beth Perez.

Photos with captions in this section include: While in Cleveland, the students and staff met with several Syracuse University alumni, including (back from left) Jordyn White, Annie Kelly and Robbie Hamill. Also shown above are (front from left) student Margo Noble, student Luke Profaci, Sport Management internship placement coordinator Beth Perez, alumna Olivia Lavelle; (middle from left) student Alexis Provost, student Brianna Nechifor; and (back row fourth from left) student Justin Krebs, Sport Management internship placement coordinator Aaron Knighton and alum Austin Towns.

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 2023-24 academic year, five students were honored with this award: Grant Babyatsky, who interned with Athlelo Group in Fall 2023; Marlon Campbell, who interned with X-Factor Consulting in Fall 2023; Pedro Mayer de Paulo, who interned with Bertolucci Sports in Fall 2023; Tracey Edson, who interned with Syracuse University Athletics (Ice Hockey) in Fall 2023; and Alex Mendel, who interned with Syracuse University Athletics (Marketing) in Fall 2023. 

Jennifer Corn Carter is a graduate of Syracuse University, with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work. She was honored with the 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

Six Sport Management seniors were awarded scholarships from the Sport Management Student Learning Fund during the 2023-24 academic year. Each received $500 to $1000.

In Fall 2023, four students earned the scholarship: Sydney Kossoy, Sydney Orszulak, Jeremiah Parrott and Kyla Pearlman.

In Spring 2024, two students earned the scholarships: Quinn Kreller and Jacob Taboh.

Undergraduate Summer Internship Fund

The Department of 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. Seventeen students were awarded scholarships for their 2024 summer internships: Jack Antshel, Jake Balek, Jameson Bodenburg, Kate Bradley, Jake Cohen, Jessica Fackler, CJ Green, Charles Maddux, Christopher Marfisi, Livia McQuade, Garrett Naylor, Jayke Pastis, Maya Samad, Griffin Stark, Brady White, Jake Williams and Robert Yardley. 

For more information about the funds, contact Sport Management internship coordinator Beth Perez at erper100@syr.edu or 315-443-0450.

Alison Gilmore ’24 earns two of SU’s highest honors

Sport Analytics senior Alison Gilmore ’24 was one of only 12 members of the Syracuse University Class of 2024 to be named a Syracuse University Scholar, the highest undergraduate honor the University bestows.

The Syracuse University Scholars Selection Committee, a University-wide faculty committee, selected the scholars using criteria that included coursework and academic achievement, independent research and creative work, evidence of intellectual growth or innovation in their disciplinary field, a personal statement and faculty letters of recommendation.

“These accomplished students have made the most out of their educational experience at Syracuse and have also contributed to our vibrant University community through research, creative work, public service and many other areas,” said former SU Vice Chancellor, Provost and Chief Academic Officer Gretchen Ritter. 

Gilmore was also named a Syracuse University Remembrance Scholar. The scholarships were founded as a tribute to—and means of remembering—the students studying in London and Florence through Syracuse University who were killed in the Dec. 21, 1988, bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Those students were among the 270 people who perished in the bombing. The scholarships are funded through an endowment supported by gifts from alumni, friends, parents and corporations.

The slogan of Syracuse University’s Remembrance program, “Look Back, Act Forward,” has a direct connection to Gilmore’s identity as a woman diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

“Looking back on my past and what I’ve gone through, and acting forward to kind of make a difference and enact change, Remembrance was something that really meant a lot to me, just looking introspectively into my identities,” Gilmore said. 

While at SU, Gilmore also served as president of Falk College’s Sport Analytics Women Club, was a member of OrangeSeeds, and a student assistant and peer mentor for the Disability Cultural Center. 

Photo with captions in this section include: Sport Analytics senior Alison Gilmore ’24 was named a Remembrance Scholar and a Syracuse University Scholar.

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 multiple 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 SPM alumni events. 

During the 2023-24 academic year, WISE welcomed guest speakers from many sectors of the sport industry, including Kaitlynn Miller, Seattle Kraken; Nikki Scala, NFL; Brianna Courtney- Main, Buffalo Sabres; Leashia Lewis, Villanova; Mary Kate Shae, Boston Athletic Association; and Rachel Richards, Baltimore Ravens. 

Club members volunteered at the Ms. Orange Luncheon benefitting Make-A-Wish CNY, fundraised for American Cancer Society and Food Bank of CNY, toured NBT Bank Stadium, attended a Buffalo Sabres game, hosted a networking dinner with SU Athletics, partnered with the Syracuse Crunch for a “Women in Sports Night,” and wrote letters to children in Goryeb Children’s Hospital as part of the New York Jets Crucial Catch program. 

WISE members also volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House in Syracuse to cook and serve meals to families staying at the facility. 

Club officers for 2024 are Erin Moore, President; Ashley Stewart, Vice President; Jacqueline DiPaolo, Community Outreach and Fundraising Chair; and Kate Bradley, Communications Chair. 

The WISE Club includes women from all majors on campus interested in pursuing careers in sports and events. For more information, email Moore at ejmoore@syr.edu. 

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

News and Events

Falk College teams with UNLV for inaugural Sports, Entertainment and Innovation Conference 

More than 500 people attended the inaugural Sports, Entertainment and Innovation Conference (SEICon) in Las Vegas in Summer 2024. 

Syracuse University’s David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, in collaboration with UNLV Sports Innovation and the Las Vegas-based guest experience agency Circle, spent more than a year planning the event, which was held July 15-17 at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. 

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

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

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

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

Among the Syracuse University alumni serving as panelists were Jesse Abrams, Julie Nemeroff Friedman, Jasmine Jordan, Lori Robinson, Chris Sotiropulos and Alyssa Wood. Also, SEICon’s Innovation Lab featured alums Casey Miller, Nick Twomey and Simon Weiss. 

Circle Chief Executive Officer and Sport Management Advisory Council member Shawn Garrity served as SEICon Director. 

Photos with captions in this section include: Rick Harrow of Harrow Sports Ventures, Falk College benefactor David Falk and UNLV Sports Innovation Chief Operating Officer Jay Vickers (from left) are shown atthe opening keynote address for the Sports, Entertainment and Innovation Conference (SEICon), held in July in Las Vegas. Sport Management alumni Julie Friedman (left), Jesse Abrams (second fromright) and Alyssa Wood joined Sport Management Endowed Professor MichaelVeley (second from left) on a panel at SEICon. Broadway actor Justin DeParis, Queens Entertainment Founder QueenieDonaldson, SPM alumnus Lori Robinson and Sport Management AssistantProfessor Lindsey Darvin (from left) served on the “Race, Gender and Society inSports” panel at the conference.

Department hosts 2^nd annual DEIA Symposium

At the start of his keynote address at the Fall 2023 Jonathan B. Wanderstock “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility in Sport” lecture, Kevin Clayton had one request for the large gathering of students in attendance at the College of Law’s Dineen Hall.

“If nothing else, I want you to walk away with one new concept or tool that will help you on your journey to successful,” said Clayton, Senior Vice President and Head of Social Impact and Equity for the Rock Entertainment Group, which includes the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers.

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

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

“It wasn’t until post-George Floyd that we knew our why: connect the platform of sports to social justice,” Clayton said. “We’re the only city where three sports teams (the Cavaliers, NFL’s Browns, and Major League Baseball’s Guardians) have met every two weeks for the past three years around issues for social justice. We focus on law enforcement, education, and voting/civic engagement.

The “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility in Sport” Lecture Series is made possible through a gift to Falk College’s Department of Sport Management from alum Jonathan B. Wanderstock, who earned his undergraduate degree in public communications and management from Syracuse University and is a philanthropic advisor for the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus.

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

“The establishment of the Sport Management DEIA symposium by Jonathan Wanderstock has impacted the lives of hundreds of students across campus, not only those attending the symposium, but from having our panelists attend eight classes as part of their supportive contributions,” said Michael Veley, who served as the director and chair of the Department of Sport Management for the past 19 years. 

In addition to Clayton’s keynote address, the event featured a panel discussion moderated by Rockell Brown Burton, Associate Dean for Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility at the Newhouse School of Public Communications. The panel included:

Kwame Agyemang, Endowed Professor in Sport Leadership and Director of the Future of Sport Institute at the University of Kentucky.

Dom Cambareri, Volunteer Executive Director of Syracuse Challenger Baseball and Founder and Board Member of the Carrier Park Field of Dreams All-Inclusive Sports Park.

Leashia Lewis, Assistant Athletic Director for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Villanova University.

Amy Reed, Head Women’s Basketball Coach and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Athletics Director at Rochester Institute of Technology.

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

Photos with captions in this section include: The second annual Jonathan B. Wanderstock “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility in Sport” symposium featured (from left) panelists Leashia Lewis, Amy Reed, Kwame Agyemang, and Dom Cambareri, keynote speaker Kevin Clayton, and moderator Rockell Brown Burton.

Students bask in Australia’s sport, history and culture

Falk College Endowed Professor of Sport Management Rick Burton took 19 Syracuse University students to Australia from May 15 to June 2 as part of a three-credit course titled SPM 300 – Australia: Sport, History and Culture. It was the ninth time the course was offered.

The students visited Melbourne, Cairns and Sydney.

“The trip flew by, and most of us are left feeling that it all ended too soon. However, there is no doubt that the learning experiences we have shared and the memories we have created together will be with us for the rest of our lives. Most of us came to Australia as strangers, but we all left as a family,” said Sport Management major Robert Yardley ’26, who blogged about the trip with his classmates.

The students stayed in each city approximately five days and along with classroom work enjoyed cultural studies with trips to the rainforest and in-depth study of indigenous communities. They visited the Queen Victoria Markets, Australia’s Sporting Hall of Fame, the Great Barrier Reef, and Sydney Harbour. The students fed a kangaroo and pet a koala at Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures. 

Most days were filled with planned activities, meetings and sightseeing. As part of their journey, students met with the chief executive officers of top sports marketing firms, including Twenty3 Sport and Entertainment. They also met with SU alum Ruffy Geminder ’82, founder and chairman of Pact Group Holdings, the largest packaging company in Australia.

Side trips included an in-person tour of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, attending an Australian Rules Football match, National Rugby League game, visiting Australia’s famed coasts, the Sydney Opera House, and Cairns, meeting with the Cronulla Sharks and sampling local delicacies. 

SU Esports degree program ready to launch 

Beginning in Fall 2024, Syracuse University’s electronic sports, or esports, academic degree program will welcome admitted students to campus for classes. 

This past academic year served as “Year Zero” for the esports degree program, which employs a holistic, experiential learning-based approach that will prepare students for career success in various industries, leveraging the largest collection of faculty and staff members of any esports program on a college campus. 

It’s an all-encompassing venture, including both the academic degree program and the competitive teams that vie for national championships in their respective games. 

Academically, students who embark on this first-of-its-kind esports communications and management program, offered jointly by the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Falk College, will pursue one of three tracks: 

• esports business and management, covering such topics as sport promotion, sport venue management and finance for emerging enterprises; 

• esports communications, including coursework in virtual reality storytelling, esports and advertising, public relations principles and sports in the metaverse; or 

• esports media and design, focused on 3D animation, game experience design and virtual production. 

Competitively, Syracuse University fielded its first varsity esports squad in January, with the Orange winning a national championship in the Counter-Strike game and experiencing plenty of success across other varsity and club sports teams. 

Joey Gawrysiak, executive director of the esports degree program, was hired in August 2023 to bring his visionary research and skills to campus, helping Syracuse capitalize on the tremendous popularity of esports while continuing to offer students innovative career options in emerging fields. 

“Students will get a world-class education from esports-specific faculty that are at the top of their field in researching and teaching esports, with industry connections that will help you find an experience, a capstone, an internship and a job. That’s part of your educational journey,” said Gawrysiak, who developed one of the first esports degrees in the country at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia. He notes that the best-in-class esports facilities currently underway on campus will create standout opportunities for students to engage with esports and gaming. 

Gawrysiak has spent the past year building the degree program, hiring staff, promoting the program and working towards the future. 

“We are helping people understand what esports looks like in higher education and that it’s not just a degree program, a club team, a varsity team or our great facilities. It’s how all those pieces work together to make an esports program under the Syracuse University umbrella. The top-down support we’ve received from Chancellor Kent Syverud and other administrators really is reassuring that we have a great support structure that will turn this program into something meaningful for our students,” Gawrysiak said. 

The Syracuse University Esports staff are Nikita Bair, Esports Program Manager; Megan Danaher, Assistant Director of Esports; Sean Kelly, Director of Production and Outreach; and Travis Yang, Director of Esports Competition. They are working with companies such as GenG, Team Liquid, EA, Riot Games, Xbox, Samsung, and Sony for potential partnerships and student opportunities for capstones, internships, and immersion trips. 

Highlights from the 2023-24 SU varsity esports competition include: 

• Rocket League team wins the Atlantic Coast Esports Conference to qualify for Collegiate Esports Commissioners Cup Texas 2024. 

• Counter Strike 2 Team crowned NACE Starleague Spring 2024 Grand Finals Champions. 

• Students competed and worked “Boost on the Beach” in Myrtle Beach, SC. 

• Ran the first esports tournament for ACC member schools. 

• Syracuse esports program wins NACE Emerging Program of the Year. 

• Sean Kelly named a finalist for NACE Emerging Director of the Year. 

• Nikita Bair named a finalist for NACE Support Staff of the Year. 

• Newhouse student Daniel Saligman named a finalist for NACE Broadcast Talent of the Year. 

• Falk student Braeden Cheverie-Leonard wins EsportsU Club President of the Year and NACE Student Leadership Award. 

Photos with captions in this section include: Syracuse University’s Counter Strike 2 team won the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) championship in Orlando in April. It was Syracuse University’s first esports national championship. Syracuse University Esports staff members (from left) Megan Danaher, Nikita Bair, Joey Gawrysiak, Sean Kelly and Travis Yang are shown at the2024 National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) Conference with program awards, including Emerging Program of the Year, Student Leadership Award and Counter-Strike 2 Player of the Year.

Students learn how LA sports mecca operates 

Los Angeles is quickly becoming the sports capital of the world. Home to 11 major professional sports teams, having hosted the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, Major League Baseball All-Star Game, Super Bowl LVI, and winning the bid to host the 2028 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles offers a mecca of opportunities for students eager to learn about the sport industry. 

Twelve Syracuse University Sport Management students did just that over their March 2024 spring break, spending eight days immersing themselves in LA’s sport industry. 

The intensive trip to Southern California is part of a course (SPM 358) that allows students to interact with industry executives and practitioners from nearly every sector of the industry. The course compares and contrasts business practices, marketing strategies, branding initiatives, social media outreach and the organizational culture of competing sports franchises and entities in the greater Los Angeles market. 

The students visited the Los Angeles Dodgers, UCLA Athletics, Los Angeles Football Club, NFL Network, Los Angeles Rams, So-Fi Stadium, Anheuser-Busch, Los Angeles Kings, LA Sports & Entertainment Commission, Los Angeles Clippers, Rose Bowl, Dignity Health Sports Park, Westwood One Radio, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, NASCAR, Los Angeles Galaxy, Crypto.com Arena and Legends. 

“Every day was remarkable on our LA Immersion trip,” said Sport Management major Ethan Taubman ’25. “We are all truly very grateful to have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go to a different coast and meet so many industry professionals and see the facilities and offices they work in. We were presented with surprises every single day.” 

Students also attended a Clippers NBA game and a Kings NHL game. 

“This course exposes students to the many differences of managing sports entities on the West Coast compared to the East,” said Michael Veley, director and chair of Sport Management and Rhonda S. Falk Endowed Professor who teaches the SPM 358 course. “Los Angeles has become the sports capital of the world and markets to an extremely diverse population of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. More than a dozen students who have taken this course have obtained jobs based on professional networking connections made on the LA Immersion trip.” 

Portions of the experience are made possible by a gift from Jeff and Andrea Lomasky. 

Sport Sales and Marketing Club 

The Department of Sport Management’s Sales Club merged with the Sports Media and Marketing Club in 2023 to become the Sport Sales and Marketing Club. 

The Sales Club was established in 2015 to act as a platform 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 Sport Media and Marketing Club was formed in Fall 2020 to provide 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. 

Over the course of the 2023-24 academic year, the Sales and Marketing Club worked with Lights Out Fighting’s Shawne Merriman, and Sponsor United while also recruiting new members. They welcomed numerous guest speakers, including SU graduate Frank Petrillo ’20 of the New York Yankees and Casey Hutson of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Club hosted workshops with the Syracuse Mets and attended a Mets game. 

Sales Club officers for 2023-24 were Brianna Nechifor, Jack Hitter, Pedro de Angel-Rodriguez, Matthew Tang, Jesse LaMon, and Ryan Zimmerman. 

The club meets weekly during the academic year. Students from all majors are welcome. For more information, contact club advisor David Meluni at dmmeluni@syr.edu or Nechifor at bnechifo@syr.edu. 

Students experience Philadelphia sport industry on ‘extraordinary’ immersion trip 

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

Over the course of four days in May, nine female students from Syracuse University’s Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics visited Philadelphia to meet with numerous sports organizations and more than 25 sport industry professionals. The meetings included executives from several sectors of the industry, including PlayFly Sports, Zelus Analytics, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, Leveling the Playing Field, Temple University Athletics, and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), among others. 

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

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

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

“This year’s WISE immersion trip to Philadelphia was nothing but extraordinary! We are so thankful for the incredible generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Jake and Suzanne Doft and their family for sponsoring this experience. 

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

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

“After visiting the Union, we made our way back into the city to meet with a panel stacked with Philly-centric executives who represented Learn Fresh, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, the MLBPA, and Zelus Analytics. 

“To wrap up day two, we journeyed on a historic walking tour through Philadelphia, seeing everything from the Liberty Bell to Betsy Ross’ house to where the Declaration of Independence was signed, and even the ‘oldest continuously inhabited residential street in the United States.’ 

“We kicked off day three by meeting with the women that lead Temple athletics, who gave their insight on NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) and how we can build communities with other women as we enter the industry. We then met with students from Temple’s Women in Sport and Recreation Management (WSRM) Club. 

“In the afternoon, we toured Lincoln Financial Field, home of the Eagles. We saw the broadcasting suites, locker room (featuring the team’s Lombardi Trophy), press room, and the NFL’s first sensory room. They played the runout sequence (flashing lights, music, signs) as we walked through the team’s tunnel onto the field! 

“We wrapped up the day by attending a Phillies’ game. Our pregame activities consisted of a networking event with some of the Phillies’ powerhouse women in brand marketing, legal, graphic design, sponsorship, special events, broadcast technology, and retail marketing. 

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

“Our group is thankful for this experience, to all the industry professionals we spoke with, and for the incredible generosity of the Doft family. We recognize this was an extraordinary opportunity that will catapult us as we prepare for our careers in sport.” 

Photos with captions in this section include: Students (from left) Livia McQuade, Kate Hubbard, Brooke Siket, Charlotte Howland, Ashley Stewart, Allison Vilms, Erin Moore, Marni Nirenberg and Jacqueline Dipaolo.

ACC honors student-athletes 

Nineteen Syracuse University Department of Sport Management student-athletes were named to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Honor Roll for the 2023-24 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 for Sport Analytics, Sport Management, and Sport Venue and Event Managements majors are: 

Class projects keeping students busy

The Department of Sport Management prepares the next generation of sport industry leaders with an academically rigorous curriculum in addition to an emphasis on real-world projects conducted in and out of the classroom. The department has a deep focus on innovative life-skills training to help students manage the realities of professional sports.

Students Develop Plan for MLB Pitcher

During the Fall 2023 semester, students in the SPM 444 Sport Marketing class had the opportunity to work with Washington Nationals starting pitcher and Major League Baseball All-Star Josiah Gray on a strategic marketing plan. Students developed a thorough analysis of the former Le Moyne College player to create research-driven strategies focused on personal branding, social media, community engagement and marketing partnerships. The class was taught by assistant teaching professor Kevin McNeill. 

NIL Class Partners with CleanKonnect

During the Spring 2024 semester, students in the SPM 330 Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) class course partnered with CleanKonnect (CK), the digital leader in NIL certification. In collaboration with CK, “MeluNIL Madness” was created, a four-week case study competition in which 10 teams of students competed to present to the staff of CleanKonnect to generate weekly points. The case studies focused on four core NIL elements: branding, law, social media and compliance. The competition was sponsored by SPM alumnus Jake Rosen ’16 at Oakley, which provided items to the winning team. The class was taught by associate teaching professor Dave Meluni.

New Podcast Studio Opens in Falk College

The Department of Sport Management’s podcast studio officially opened in Fall 2023. Located in Falk College and featuring bold graphics, new podcast studio features modern audio recording equipment as well as video and streaming capabilities. During the year, the studio was utilized by students in the SPM 345 Sport Technology class as well as student organizations and Falk College projects. 

The cost of underwriting the Podcast Studio was given by Falk College benefactors Richard and Linda Ritholz, parents of Sport Management graduate Julian Rithholz ’18. The Rithholz Podcast Studio will enable faculty and students to produce timely and newsworthy contemporary content to various constituents. 

Photos with captions in this section include: The Department of Sport Management’s podcast studio officially opened in Fall 2023. Dakota Bartelstein, Courtney MacDonald, Makenzie Trigo and Francesa Vasconi (from left) teamed to win the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) class competition in Spring 2024.

Sport Analytics

Sport Analytics program receives STEM designation

The Department of Sport Management is thrilled to announce a significant milestone: the Sport Analytics program has been granted the prestigious STEM designation. This recognition is a testament to the program’s academic rigor and alignment with the evolving needs of the industry. The Sport Analytics major, minor and Certificate of Advance Study (CAS) programs now stand alongside the Master of Science degree, which was successfully launched in Fall 2023. 

Obtaining the STEM designation was not an easy feat. Sport Analytics Program Coordinator Jackie Dorchester assessed similar programs and diligently applied for the change in Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP). Following a comprehensive review process at the College, University and State levels, this designation will be implemented in Fall 2024. This meticulous process ensures the credibility and value of the STEM designation, particularly as the Department of Homeland Security uses CIP codes to determine STEM fields for student visa purposes. 

While our students may focus on sport, the skills they learn in the Sport Analytics program are versatile and applicable to any industry that uses data. Our curriculum covers a vast range of skills in demand in today’s job market, including mathematics and statistics, databases and SQL, programming languages, economics and econometrics skills, data science techniques, and effective communication. 

This STEM designation will not only enhance the program’s reputation but also help SU attract the best international students. It serves as a testament to Falk College’s commitment to preparing our students for top positions both in the United States and abroad. 

Sport Analytics students visit Italy to see how data is revolutionizing soccer

Soccer – or football as it’s known outside the United States – is the world’s most popular sport.

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

Over spring break, 20 Sport Analytics majors from Falk College enjoyed a once-in-lifetime opportunity to visit Italy and witness first-hand the impact of analytics on the highest level of soccer. The eight-day trip to Milan, Bologna, Florence, and Rome was part of Department of Sport Management Professor Rodney Paul’s Sport Analytics course that explores how data is revolutionizing soccer.

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

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

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

“With our connections we had the privilege of behind-the-scenes access, demonstrating to the students the variety of positions their skill sets match and the opportunities that exist internationally,” Dorchester says. 

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

“Clubs with all levels of financial resources and historical success are embracing analytics and finding ways to utilize them in areas that are best for them,” says Graff ’24, a sport analytics major with an information management and technology minor. “Everyone collects and uses data differently, so being able to see numerous perspectives from a league like Serie A was eye-opening.”

In her previous position as an academic advisor in the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University, Dorchester observed the value to students of traveling abroad and learning how different businesses operate. After she started working in the Sport Analytics program in the fall of 2022, Dorchester realized many sport analytics students were accelerating their studies and a semester abroad did not work within their timelines.

At Whitman, Dorchester says the school often used breaks between or during semesters for short-term immersion trips, and she thought the Sport Analytics program could construct a similar trip around Paul’s course because of the industry connections in Italy that had already been formed.

One of those connections is with the Saputo family, including Simone Saputo, who earned his sport management degree from Syracuse in 2021. Joey Saputo, Simone’s father, is chairman of Bologna FC 1909, a member of the Serie A league and one of the teams the students visited on their trip.

“One aspect of this trip that we are particularly proud of is the continued relationship with the members of the Saputo family who continue to provide opportunities that impact our students in the best way possible,” says Sport Analytics Program Manager Francesco Riverso. 

Another key connection was with Lippie, who as co-faculty is a subject expert and has often taught classes within Paul’s course. In his roles with AS Roma, Lippie worked directly with first-team players and helped upgrade training methods and facilities to create an athlete-centric, high-performance culture.

In February 2023, Paul and Riverso contacted Lippie about teaching and organizing a unique immersive experience for sport analytics students. The course would include a pre-trip curriculum that exposed the students to how analytics are currently being deployed in the top tiers of European soccer while also preparing them for how to get the most of out the spring break trip.

When planning the trip, Dorchester made sure to incorporate visits to historical landmarks and other cultural excursions. To schedule those, she contracted with an educational travel company, WorldStrides, and collaborated with an advisor from Syracuse University Abroad.

A surprising highlight for the students and their chaperones was an Italian cooking class, where they made pasta from scratch and then enjoyed the fruits of their labor while dining near the Trevi Fountain in Rome.

“The most enjoyable part of our trip to Italy was sightseeing in each city and the amazing food,” says Silverstein ’26, a sport analytics major with an economics minor. “Every piece of food that I had while in Italy tasted great, and even trying new foods that I never thought I would enjoy was simply fantastic. Also, the sights and historical places we visited were breathtaking – the Vatican, Roman Colosseum, Michelangelo’s Statue of David, and so much more.”

Photos with captions in this section include: As part of their trip to Italy, Sport Analytics students enjoyed visits to cultural landmarks such as the Colosseum in Rome.

Sport Analytics students shine in nationwide competitions 

Dr. Rodney Paul, the director of the Sport Analytics program at Syracuse University, says two of the key cornerstones of the program are research and competition. 

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

Over the course of the 2023-24 academic year, SU’s sport analytics students and faculty have had a lot to show off. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here’s a look at the Sport Analytics program’s success this spring: 

Back-to-Back

In late February, a team of four sport analytics students captured Syracuse University’s second consecutive title in the National Collegiate Sports Analytics Championship in Dallas, Texas. 

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

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

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

Dream Team 

Sport Analytics majors Danny Baris, Caitlin Kohlmeier, Alex Oppel, Aaron Rofe, and Jonah Soos teamed to win the 2024 Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) Diamond Dollars Case Competition in March in Phoenix, Arizona. Syracuse sent four teams to the competition, where they faced teams from Rice University, College of William & Mary, and NYU-Tisch Institute for Global Sport, among others. 

After winning their respective room and being selected for the best overall presentation, the team presented its research (“Analyzing the Value of Foul Balls in Major League Baseball”) to the entire conference. 

When asked about his secret to success, Baris said, “My main recipe for success has been surrounding myself with really excellent teammates. My teammates and I have worked well together to apply the skills we have learned in creative ways, while also making sure that we’re correctly attending to all the details.” 

Earlier in the semester, the same five students won the Cincinnati Reds’ Hackathon that was judged by members of the Reds’ Baseball Analytics Department. The students were tasked with identifying characteristics of pitchers that lead to their success in specific roles and then applying those findings to highlight specific Major League Baseball pitchers who might be better off in a different role. 

A Slam Dunk

Sport Analytics professors Shane Sanders and Justin Ehrlich presented their recently published research at the prestigious MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference March 1-2 in Boston, Massachusetts. The study shows that when taking free throws and shot selection into account, the value of 3-point shots in the NBA is now less than 2-pointers. 

USA Today turned the research into a front-page story in its sports section, while The Late Show with Stephen Colbert turned it into a hilarious segment. 

Sport analytics professors Jeremy Losak and Jason Maddox, along with Soos, presented their research, “Changes in Minor League Umpire Tendencies with the Challenge and Automatic Ball-Strikes System,” at the SABR conference in Phoenix. 

And in Tempe, Arizona, in early March, Baris and Soos along with Paul presented their research, “Promotions and Giveaways in Minor League Baseball: An Analysis Across Leagues and Demographic Areas,” at the NINE Spring Training Conference (student Hunter Kuchenbaur was also involved in this research but was unable to attend the conference because he was traveling with Syracuse University on an immersion class trip to Europe). At the same conference in Tempe, sport analytics major Marcus Mann present his research on “Data- Driven Insights on Tommy John Surgery.” 

Making Their Case 

In February, students Soos, Garrett Naylor, Benjamin Jennings, Fred Gullo, and Ethan Radecki won the Second Annual Syracuse Basketball Analytics Club Case Competition fueled by Sports Info Solutions. The students were tasked with analyzing play sequences to evaluate basketball shot creation and scoring. They also examined the importance of actions, pace, and team systems. They prevailed over teams from Villanova and Chicago, among others. 

At the reception with Falk in mid-April, Soos told Falk that the opportunity to participate in these events is why he chose to attend Syracuse University. 

“There was nowhere else like this, and that’s what made this decision (to attend Syracuse) so easy,” Soos said. 

In February 2024, the team of Soos, Baris, Austin Ambler, RJ Frahm, and Zach Seidel won Falk College’s Fourth Annual Football Analytics Blitz, which included teams from colleges across the country and featured judges from Sports Info Solutions, Houston Texans, StatsBomb, San Francisco 49ers, Minnesota Vikings and more. The teams received their prompt the week before the competition and were given one week to solve the prompt and put together a presentation on their findings. Room winners included Villanova, Dartmouth and Syracuse University, with the SU team selected as the overall competition winner. 

Taking on the ACC

In early April, sport analytics major Dan Griffiths participated in the ACC Meeting of the Minds Conference, an annual event that celebrates undergraduate research at the 15 Atlantic Coast Conference schools. Griffiths’ research, “Detecting Fatigue with Computer Vision,” was also selected to be presented at the UConn Sport Analytics Symposium in mid-April. 

“Participating in these competitions allows us to apply the skills we use in the classroom, and it gives us an opportunity to create tangible examples of work products which support the skills that we might note to employers,” says Baris, who also won the Undergraduate Student Paper Competition at the Academy of Economics and Finance Conference on Feb. 9 in Charleston, South Carolina. 

Although this academic year is winding down, the Sport Analytics program will soon start planning for next year and seeking more competitive opportunities for students. 

“The program has taught us so much and given us many skills that allow us to compete at the highest level with everyone across the country,” Kamimoto says. “We are prepared so well in order to achieve these incredible things.” 

Photos with captions in this section include: David Falk (back row, center), a noted sports agent whose most famous client is Michael Jordan, hosted a reception in April for many of the sport analytics students who represented Syracuse University in national competitions during the 2023-24 academic year. Rodney Paul (standing, right), the director of the Sport Analytics program at Syracuse University, speaks to sport analytics students at the reception hosted by David Falk. “We pride ourselves on being willing to compete with anyone at any time and to show off our work in competitive settings,” Paul says. Vince Gennaro (left), former SABR board president and co-founder of the SABR Analytics Conference, poses with the winners of the 2024 Diamond Dollars Case Competition from Syracuse University. From left are Sport Analytics students Alex Oppel, Danny Baris, Jonah Soos, Caitlin Kohlmeier, and Aaron Rofe. Sport Analytics students (from left) Collin Kneiss, Nicholas Kamimoto, Marissa Schneider, and Tyler Bolebruch won the business analytics category at the National Collegiate Sports Analytics Championship in Dallas, Texas, in Spring 2024.

Keeping 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, XFL, 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 SABR Diamond Dollars, MIT Sloan Sports Analytics, ACC 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, 24 in 2021, 37 in 2022, 49 in 2023 and 43 in 2024.

Photos with captions in this section include: The Sport Analytics Learning Community visited the Buffalo Bills during the Spring 2024 semester, meeting with executives and touring the stadium.

Here are some sport analytics program highlights from 2023-2024: 

Sport Analytics majors Sean Boland, Tyler Bolebruch, Alison Gilmore, Nicholas Kamimoto and Alexander Oppel were named Falk College Scholars. Sport Analytics majors Thomas Armstrong, Tyler Bolebruch, Sean Boland, Nicholas Catalano, Alison Gilmore, David Gold, Brett Gustin, Nicholas Kamimoto, Alexander Oppel, Quinn Robnett and Marissa Schneider were named Berlin Scholars. 

Sport Analytics majors Fred Gullo, Jonah Soos and RJ Frahm competed in the inaugural Arizona State University NBA Trade Deadline Competition in Fall 2023. Undergraduate and graduate students formed teams to assume control of an NBA team five days prior to the competition. After prepping and evaluating their team’s situation, students had only five hours to make trades with other groups. This included negotiating with other participants and working with teammates to achieve goals. The event was hosted by the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University in Phoenix. Participants came from all over the country and various fields of study. The SU trio represented the Cleveland Cavaliers and placed fifth overall out of 28 teams. “All of us can say that this was the highlight of our semester,” Soos said. “We had a lot of fun together, competing and meeting other NBA nerds, and connecting with professionals. We definitely turned some heads at the competition, being one of the youngest teams and being the only team to incorporate a model in our analysis. We got some great questions from judges and other students about what we do at Syracuse. We’re already making improvements and upgrades to our techniques so we can go back and try to win next year.

The Sport Analytics Learning Community for first-year students kept busy in 2023-24, getting to know their fellow classmates as well as meeting with analytics staff and taking a trip to the Buffalo Bills, organizing various sports tournaments, meeting with faculty advisors, and attending a Monday Night Football watch party. They also hosted Tyrone Brooks from Major League Baseball as part of their DEIA initiative, and welcomed Sport Analytics alum and current Buffalo Bills Sports Performance Analyst Drew DiSanto via Zoom in during the fall semester.

Senior Quinn Robnett presented his research at the Fall 2023 Carnegie Mellon Sport Analytics Conference. Robnett and his co-author worked on a research project under the supervision of Sam Ventura, the vice president of hockey strategy and research for the Buffalo Sabres, examining the decline of save percentage in the NHL. 

Daniel Baris, Shea Carroll, Will Cave and Daniel Griffiths presented their Sport Analytics research as part of the Spring 2024 Syracuse University SOURCE Grant expo. 

Here’s a sampling of where Syracuse University Sport Analytics students interned in Summer 2024: Buffalo Bills, Pro Football Focus (PFF), NFL, SponsorUnited, NYCBL, Roc Nation, EDGE10 Group, Wasserman, EV Analytics, Bristol Blues, Upper Valley Nighthawks, Tri-City ValleyCats, United States Tennis Association, Blue Crow Sports Group, D.C. United, Pittsburgh Riverhounds, Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League, Orange County SC, Trackman, SIDEARM Sports, SBRnet, Raw Sports Management, St. Louis City SC, Eden Analytics, USA Track and Field, DKC Analytics, Hurricane Junior Golf Tour, Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, and more.

• As of May 2024, 41 students at Syracuse University are minoring in sport analytics. 

• Falk College will welcome 67 sport analytics first-year students to campus in Fall 2024.

• More than 50 high school students enrolled in Syracuse University’s Summer 2024 Berlin Sport Analytics Academy. This on-campus program was offered in two sessions (July 8-July 19 and July 22-August 2) and 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. 

The groups visited the Syracuse Crunch, the Buffalo Bills, as well as the Syracuse Mets. In addition, students received an introduction into Esports analytics, spoke with members of the Syracuse University Athletics Department that utilize data and analytics in their various roles and utilized Catapult wearables to help understand player tracking from the player, and coaches, perspective. 

Sport Analytics assistant professor Dr. Jeremy Losak and iSchool Ph.D. student and Sport Analytics graduate Nick R iccardi led the sessions, and were assisted by Sport Analytics alum Will Cave ’24, and current student Caitlin Kohlmeier ’25. 

Photos with captions in this section include: Members of the Sport Analytics Class of 2024 celebrate at the Falk College Convocation on May 11, 2024. Back row from left: Matthew Holmes, Jordan Jones, Quinn Robnett, Jake Gershberg, Benjamin Blahauvietz, Alexander Honan and Hayden Wasserman. Front row from left: Alex Oppel, Lucas Falcetti, Aidan Pavlick, Jacob Graff, Nicholas Lukowsy, Dylan Phillips and Thomas Armstrong. Quinn Robnett (left) presented his research at the Fall 2023 Carnegie Mellon Sport Analytics Conference. Sport Analytics majors (from left) RJ Frahm, Jonah Soos and Fred Gallo competed in the inaugural Arizona State University NBA Trade Deadline Competition in Fall 2023. Daniel Baris, Shea Carroll, Will Cave and Daniel Griffiths presented their Sport Analytics research as part of the Spring 2024 Syracuse University SOURCE Grant expo.

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. 

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.

Over the course of the 2023-24 academic year, club members worked on several research projects, including pitcher impact on base-stealing prevention and classifying Major League hitters into different archetypes. Club members also attended Syracuse Mets games and held a mock case competition where participants received feedback from faculty as well as an industry professional. 

Guest speakers from 2023-24 included SU Sport Analytics alumni, Major League Baseball executives, baseball publication writers and SABR researchers, among others. 

Club meetings also consisted of discussing Major League Baseball current events, participating in a mock offseason where members act as the General Manger of a Major League Baseball franchise, and fun activities such as baseball jeopardy and watch parties. 

In Spring 2024, for the 10th straight year, Club members participated in the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR) Analytics’ Spring Diamond Dollars Case Competition in Phoenix (AZ). Undergraduate teams were separated into competition rooms, where they presented to judges. They also attended a Chicago Cubs Spring Training game. 

Club officers for 2023-24 were Nathan Backman, Jonah Soos, Marcus Mann, Charlie Maddux, Rob White, Caitlin Kohlmeier, Gavi Sela and Hayden Orenstein. 

Basketball Analytics Club

The Syracuse University Basketball Analytics Club concluded its eighth year in 2023-2024 with more than 50 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 NBA, NCAA, 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. 

During the 2023-24 academic year, the Club hosted guest speakers from many aspects of the sport industry. Club members participated in the Syracuse University Basketball Analytics Competition, Mock Case Competition, Milwaukee Bucks Hackathon, Mock Trade Deadline, Expansion Draft, NBA Mock Draft, Fantasy Basketball League and a Scavenger Hunt. 

RJ Frahm served as club president for 2023-24. 

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 meets weekly discussing all things related to football, conducting research, holding workshops, competing in trivia contests, and welcoming guest speakers, among other activities.

During the 2023-24 academic year, club members were active on their research projects as well as planning the Fourth Annual Syracuse University Football Analytics Blitz. Also, club members formed teams for the NFL’s Big Data Bowl, working in groups to answer the prompt, while gaining valuable experience competing in the intense football analytics competition.

The Football Analytics Club routinely welcomes sport industry guest speakers, who give students insight into the use of analytics in both professional and college football. Ollie Auerbach, Senior Manager of Game Statistics Operations at the National Football League, spoke to the Club in Spring 2024. Isabel Alfonso served as club president for 2023-24. 

Golf Analytics Club

The Golf Analytics Club was formed in early 2023 to bring together students who want to study the analytics side of golf. Club members meet weekly to discuss golf news, data and tournament results. In Spring 2024, the Club hosted guest speakers from Amazon Web Services, including Elaine Chiasson, Global Golf Team Leader, and Murali Baktha, Global Golf Solution Architect. In Fall 2023, Club members worked on research projects. Ramon Sara served as president for the 2023-24 academic year.

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 AHL’s Syracuse Crunch, and the Tennity Adult League.

During the 2023-24 year, the club continued its research project titled “NHL Roster Salary Composition’s Effect on Team Success.” Club members also staged various activities such as a mock trade deadline, club fantasy hockey league, in-season predictions discussions, draft and free agency prediction activities and an analytics-based scavenger hunt. Outside of club meetings, members frequently got together to play floor hockey at the multipurpose court at SU’s Barnes Center. 

Club officers for 2023-24 were David Gold, Ian MacMiller, Ryan Severe, Rob White, Quinn Robnett, Caleb Rice, Robert Yardley and Carter Pietrowski.

Soccer Analytics Club

The Syracuse University Soccer Analytics Club, which was founded in 2018, conducts analysis and research on the various soccer leagues around the world. 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.

In Spring 2024, the club predicted the results of the 2026 World Cup. This was accomplished through an OLS regression which identified the furthest round a country was expected to make it to. A randomized draw based on actual constraints was created to simulate the tournament. 

The club’s major success has been achieved in the form of papers of being selected for various conferences, including the MIT Sloan Sport Analytics Conference, Midwest Sport Analytics Conference, and Carnegie Mellon Sport Analytics Conference. Find examples of the Club research on Instagram @cusesocceranalyticsclub.

Officers for 2023-2024 were Nick Rovelli, Caleb Haller, Toby Chalk, David Gold and Jack Martin.

Sport Analytics Women (SAW) Club

Formed in Fall 2020, Falk College’s 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, SQL, Python and Tableau, group research projects and hosting guest speakers.

In Spring 2024, the SAW Club met weekly, held workshops focusing on various topics and hosted guest speakers, including FanDuel NHL Sports Trader Sara Barshap, who is also the Assistant Commissioner of the American Collegiate Hockey Association. Club members also hosted a Women in Sports panel, attended the Syracuse Crunch’s Women in Sports Night, participated in a T-shirt toss at a Syracuse University women’s basketball game celebrating National Girls and Women in Sports Day and attended a Buffalo Sabres game to meet with executives.

In Fall 2023, several Club members attend the Women in Sports Data Symposium in Philadelphia to network and attend panels from females working in the sports data landscape. 

The Club also continued its partnership with Sports Info Solutions, as members are paired based on their interests with individuals in the company, creating a mentor/mentee relationship. 

Club officers for 2023-24 were Alison Gilmore, Marissa Schneider, Adelaide Gilley, Isabel Alfonso, Piper Evans and Caitlin Kohlmeier.

Sportsbook Analytics Club

The Sportsbook Analytics Club was founded in 2019 in response to one of the fastest growing industries in sport. The club and its members continue to explore, learn and discuss the ever-changing landscape of sport prediction markets, such as legalized sports betting and daily fantasy sports.

The club has annually expanded both in membership and in programming. In addition to discussion about the industry’s news and latest trends, the club has introduced workshops and competitions. They also host guest speakers from around the sport industry throughout the academic year. 

In Spring 2024, Nick Ercolano, of BDGE, joined the Club to discuss branding, media and podcasting in the sports betting space. Also in Spring 2024, the Sportsbook Analytics Club was featured on Syracuse’s Spectrum News, as the students discussed how betting markets are made and how the club is connecting students to the sports betting landscape.

In Fall 2023, the club partnered with Smashup Fantasy Sports, a daily fantasy app that adds a twist of applying power-up cards to their daily fantasy lineup. While club members can compete in all of the app’s competitions, Smashup is also allowing the Sportsbook Analytics Club to compete against other universities, testing the club’s lineup projection skills on a national level.

Club officers for 2023-24 were Hunter Kuchenbaur, Charlie Maddux, Dylan Stafeil, Robbie Giegerich and Caleb Heller. 

Tennis Analytics Club

The Tennis Analytics Club was formed in Fall 2022 to bring together students who share a common interest in the sport. During the 2023-24 academic year, club members created a Shiny App that lets users see player statistic output in wins and losses to measure what kind of factors may indicate more success. They also used RStudio for data manipulation, aggregation, visualization, and analysis in a variety of ways, using data from various online sources like the ATP and WTA websites, GitHub, and others. The Club discussed various statistical and machine learning concepts such as the probability of independent events, the Bayes Rule, decision trees, gradient boosting and clustering, and applied them to tennis. Club members met weekly to discuss relevant tournaments as well as news in the tennis sector of professional sports. They also researched websites such as FanDuel and DraftKings. Officers for 2023-24 were Jarrett Markman, Jordan Hemley, Chris Marfisi, Cameron Wakai and Jordyn Lee.

Photos with captions in section include: In Spring 2024, for the 10th straight year, the Syracuse University Sabermetrics Club members participated in the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR) Analytics’ Diamond Dollars Case Competition in Phoenix (AZ). In Spring 2024, the Golf Analytics Club hosted guest speakers on Zoom from Amazon Web Services’ Global Golf Team. 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. In February, members of the Sportsbook Analytics Club took part in team bonding while sledding on campus with Otto. Members of the Sport Analytics Women (SAW) Club attended the Fall 2023 Women in Sports Data Symposium in Philadelphia. From left are Adelaide Gilley, Piper Evans, Isabel Alfonso, Lauren Fraser and Alison Gilmore.

A Winning Team 

Sport Analytics students partnering with Syracuse Athletics to prevent injuries, improve performance 

Syracuse University men’s basketball team, Mike Mangano says he’d much rather spend his time preventing injuries than treating them. 

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

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

When Mangano was an assistant athletic trainer for the men’s soccer team, he says that kind of data helped coaches determine the optimum workload for each player. Once the players started maintaining that weekly goal, soft tissue injuries decreased. 

“So, for me, it’s great. I don’t have to do as much work,” Mangano says, laughing. “But at the same time, my philosophy is, do the work on the front end. Obviously you can’t prevent all injuries but if you can prevent most of the injuries and add that kind of education for the student-athletes and coaches, then (the analytics) are working for us.” 

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

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

“The role of our student analysts has been integral to our program’s success,” says men’s soccer head coach Ian McIntyre. “The student analysts are responsible for collecting and interpreting all GPS data, and to provide detailed post-match and post-training reports. These reports are presented to the coaching staff with concise information that enables us to make objective decisions around training load and managing student-athletes’ minutes in games.” 

The partnership expanded during the 2023-24 academic year to include women’s and men’s basketball, field hockey, football, ice hockey, women’s and men’s lacrosse, women’s and men’s soccer, softball, and track and field. 

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

Rodney Paul, director of the Sport Analytics program and a professor in the Department of Sport Management, says the partnership provides sport analytics students with a one-of-a-kind opportunity to apply the data analytics skills they’re learning in class. 

Ten students worked with the men’s basketball team during the academic year, and Mangano says that group includes freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors so they can “continue to keep that ladder going” in future seasons. 

“For the students, they get real-life experience and can build their professional skills and resume by learning how to deliver that information to a real person,” Mangano says. “And it’s huge for us because, practically, we can’t pay 10 analytics people to come in and work us.” 

Danielle Napierski ’26 is a dual major in sport analytics and mathematics. She started working with the SU women’s basketball team in December 2022, tracking the team’s number of passes per possession for each game. During the 2023-24 season, she attended two or three practices a week, spending about five hours per week rewatching practices, and rotating with other managers at games collecting live statistics from Syracuse and its opponents. 

“When the women are scrimmaging during practice, we create shot charts that we later put into (the computer program) RStudio and report back to the coaches so they can see how each individual is shooting from everywhere on the court,” Napierski says. 

Napierski says her career goal is to work for an NBA or Major League Baseball team, or for either league. 

“Being a student manager for the (women’s basketball) team and working with data frequently will help me achieve my goal because any analytics position in any field looks for the same skillset in their applicants,” she says. “I have two more years of classes that will expand my knowledge of the industry, and this current position is the foundation of seeing how I can perform in this field and how I can grow for future full-time positions.” 

Photos with captions in this section include: Danielle Napierski is shown at the JMA Wireless Dome, where she attends practices and games to collect data on the Syracuse women’s basketball team and its opponents. Dan Griffiths reviews performance data with track and field student-athlete Elizabeth Bigelow ’26, who competes in the mile,1000-meter, and 800-meter events. Caden Lippie analyzes Syracuse women’s lacrosse data in the team’s film room.

Faculty and Staff

Veley, Deninger retires after storied careers 

Department of Sport Management founding director Michael Veley and longtime professor of practice Dennis Deninger retired at the end of the 2023-24 academic year. Veley and Deninger were honored by Falk College on May 3 as well as at separate celebrations planned by the Department. 

Michael Veley, M.P.S. 

Rhonda S. Falk Endowed Professor, department chair 

Veley spent nearly two decades as a Division I athletic administrator at Cornell and Syracuse, including 10 years at Syracuse University, where he implemented marketing, communications, and corporate sponsorship initiatives. He is a three-time National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA) award winner. 

Veley has served as founding director and chair of the Department of Sport Management since 2005. Under his leadership, the program has become a national trailblazer in the sport industry. He led the development of more than 25 new academic courses, the nation’s first undergraduate degree in sport analytics, and a first-of-its-kind undergraduate degree in esports. Veley ensured that experiential learning was a defining feature of sport academic degree programs, which has resulted in a strong tradition of alumni career success and industry impact. 

He brought the industry into the program, building partnerships with organizations such as the New York Yankees, National Baseball Hall of Fame, National Basketball Association Development League, and many others. Veley was instrumental in creating the Sport Management Advisory Council, which is comprised of influential sport industry presidents, founders, and CEOs. In 2013, he was named the inaugural Rhonda S. Falk Endowed Professor of Sport Management. That year he was also honored with a Faculty of the Year Award for excellence in service and dedication to Falk College, Syracuse University, and the greater Syracuse community. 

Dennis Deninger 

Professor of Practice 

Deninger is a former television production executive and Emmy Award-winner for innovation in sports television, production on digital platforms, and educational television. He spent 25 years leading production teams at ESPN, where he launched more than a dozen televised series and events, including Wimbledon, Major League Soccer, and the National Spelling Bee. He developed for American television the digital instant review technology called “Shot Spot,” which is now in use at all major tennis tournaments. 

Deninger is the author of three books, including “The Football Game That Changed America” from Rowman and Littlefield scheduled for release this fall. He has written and directed two documentary films at Syracuse University: “America’s First Sport” about the history and rapid growth of lacrosse, and “Changing Sports, Changing Lives” on the impact of adaptive sports on persons with disabilities. His expert commentary is published in countless national and international media outlets, including The New York Times, Forbes, USA Today, Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, and many others. 

As a professor of practice at Syracuse University, Deninger created new graduate and undergraduate level courses and served as the founding director of the sports communications graduate program at the Newhouse School. Deninger has taught in Falk College since 2010. He was honored with the Falk College Faculty Member of the Year Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2014 and 2024. 

Faculty and Staff Profiles

Rick Burton

David B. Falk Endowed Professor of Sport Management

The former commissioner of the Australian National Basketball League, Burton is the co-author of 20 Secrets to Success for NCAA Student-Athletes, Forever Orange and Invisible No More, an historical novel about Syracuse legend Wilmeth Sidat-Singh. His newest is The Rise of Major League Soccer and will publish in early 2025. Burton is a regular contributor to Sportico and Sports Business Journal and teaches courses on sport organization leadership, baseball’s role in American culture as well as a Study Abroad class in Australia.

Dr. Lindsey Darvin

Assistant Professor

Dr. Darvin joined the department in Fall 2022 to teach classes in research methods and race, gender and diversity in sport. Prior to joining Syracuse University, Darvin was an assistant professor from 2018-2022 at the State University of New York College at Cortland, where she taught sport ethics, athlete development, and administration of sport. She was also an adjunct professor at SU for four years prior to joining the faculty full time.

Sue Edson

Professor of Practice

Edson joins the faculty in Fall 2024 after spending 34 years in college athletics, most recently as Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director and Chief Communications Officer for Syracuse University Athletics. In addition to her extensive career accomplishments, Edson has also served as an adjunct professor in Newhouse over the course of 15 years.

Dr. Justin Ehrlich

Associate Professor

Dr. Ehrlich completed his fifth year at Syracuse University, where he teaches sport analytics classes and mentors students on research projects. His research has been published in Public Choice and the International Journal of Sport Finance. His work was a finalist at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Research Paper Competition. He presented biomechanical research analyzing golf swings, conducted in collaboration with another institution, at the World Scientific Congress of Golf in Loughborough, UK, in Summer 2024.

Dr. Joey Gawrysiak

Associate Professor/Executive Director of Esports

Gawrysiak joined Falk College and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in Fall 2023 as the executive director of esports and as an associate professor. Prior to joining Syracuse University, Gawrysiak was a professor and director of esports at Shenandoah University from 2011-2023, overseeing all aspects of esports on campus and teaching a variety of classes in esports and sport management. Prior to Shenandoah University, he served as a teaching assistant at the University of Georgia from 2010-2012 teaching sport management courses.

Dr. Mary Graham

Professor

In early 2024, Dr. Graham was named Falk College Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs, a position dedicated to faculty development and success. Dr. Graham is entering her third year as Syracuse University’s Faculty Athletics Representative to the NCAA and the ACC. She serves on the editorial board of the scholarly journal Human Resource Management, and is on the executive board of the Research Methods Division of the Academy of Management. Dr. Graham developed the course on Race, Gender, and Diversity in Sport Organizations.

Dr. Jeeyoon Kim

Associate Professor

Dr. Kim completed her eighth year in the department. Her manuscripts were published in Sport Management Review, Sport Marketing Quarterly, and Soccer and Society. She presented her research at the 2023 Sport Marketing Association conference (Tampa) and the 2024 North American Society for Sport Management conference (Minneapolis). She leads the biennial Olympic Odyssey trip to Europe.

Dr. Alexia Lopes

Assistant Teaching Professor

Dr. Lopes spent the last two years as an Assistant Professor at Saint Norbert (WI) College, where she taught a variety of sport and management related classes. She completed her Ph.D. in Sport Management from the University of South Carolina with additional graduate certificates in Applied Statistics and Women and Gender Studies. Her research analyzes the experiences of underrepresented groups in sport, with a focus on women on the management side of motor sports.

Dr. Jeremy Losak

Assistant Professor

Dr. Losak completed his fifth year at Syracuse University, teaching Sport Analytics classes and co-advising the Sport Management Club in addition to other Sport Analytics student organizations. He presented research in New York City, Boston, Phoenix and Las Vegas, and published in numerous academic journals. His research covers sport betting markets, college athletics, and the business of baseball.

Dr. Jason Maddox

Assistant Professor

Dr. Maddox joined the Sport Analytics faculty in 2022. He teaches sport data analysis and R for Sport Analytics. Prior to joining Syracuse, Maddox spent the previous nine years at Baylor, earning both his B.S. and M.S. in Statistics, and his Ph.D. Maddox served as a manager/graduate assistant with the Baylor Men’s Basketball team from 2015-2021.

Kevin McNeill

Assistant Teaching Professor

McNeill, who has over 20 years of experience working in intercollegiate athletics in the areas of marketing and communications, teaches courses in sport technology and sport marketing. Before joining the department in 2019, he spent12 years at Le Moyne College as associate athletics director for marketing.

David Meluni

Associate Teaching Professor

Meluni, who has over 20 years of experience in the sport industry, teaches sales, marketing, NIL, sponsorship and promotion courses at SU. He also serves as the faculty advisor for the SPM sports marketing and sales club. He is a leader in the NIL space, where he wrote and taught the first NIL course in the country in 2021. He also established the NIL Study Hall program for Syracuse Athletics while serving on the board of directors of the Orange United Collective.

Dr. Rodney Paul

Professor, Analytics Program Director

Dr. Paul presented his research at the Academy of Economics and Finance Conference, NINE, and the European Sports Economics Association Conference, among others. He is aworld-renowned sports economist who has been quoted by media outlets around the world. He also serves as co-advisorof SU’s Baseball Statistics and Sabermetrics Club, teaches Sport Analytics courses at SU and oversees sport analytics senior thesis projects.

Dr. Gina Pauline

Associate Professor, Undergraduate Program Director

Dr. Pauline, who has taught at SU since 2006, works on curriculum, course development, academic affairs, assessment planning, course planning and student engagement. She is an advocate for women in sport and has pioneered several initiatives, including the creation of the Women in Sport and Events (WISE) Club at SU. Her background includes experience at the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference and the Big East Conference, in championship and event management.

Dr. Jeff Pauline

Associate Professor

Dr. Pauline attended the 2023 Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) national conference. He serves on the AASP Continuing Education Committee and is also a member of AASP. Dr. Pauline is a member of the SU Appeals Board, chair of the Falk College grievance committee, oversees minors in the department as well as ’Cuse Crew, and the SPM 270/470 experiential credit program. He served as director of the Sport Venue and Event Management graduate program for seven years.

Dr. Keri Rubenstein

Assistant Professor

Dr. Rubenstein joins the Sport Analytics faculty in Fall 2024. She comes to SU from North Dakota State University, where she served as an Assistant Professor of Economics and a Faculty Scholar in the Center for the Study of Public Choice and Private Enterprise and for the Institute for Global Innovation and Growth. Lawson earned her Ph.D. in Economics from West Virginia University and her B.A. in Economics from SMU.

Dr. Shane Sanders

Professor

Dr. Sanders has more than 70 peer-reviewed journal articles in leading journals of economics, statistics and social science (Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Social Indicators Research, and Economics Letters, among others). Dr. Sanders joined Syracuse University from Western Illinois University in 2016.

Dr. Adrian Simion

Assistant Professor

Dr. Simion, who joined the department in 2022 and earned his Ph.D. in 2023, teaches classes on python programming for web scraping and statistical analysis. Dr. Simion attended numerous professional conferences in 2023-24, presenting his research at Academy of Economics and Finance (AEF) and North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM), among others.

Dr. Patrick Walsh

Professor, Department Chair

Dr. Walsh was appointed interim department chair in July 2024. He served as the Sport Venue and Event Management graduate director for the past two years and teaches sport marketing classes. Dr. Walsh presented his research at the 2023 Sport Marketing Association conference, had research published in Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, and is an author of a leading sport marketing textbook.

Dr. John Wolohan

Professor

Dr. Wolohan, who was on sabbatical for Spring 2024, continued to write a monthly Sports Law Report in Athletic Business. He was invited to give talks on the shifting legal landscape of college sports at the University of Mississippi Law School and SEICon, as well as lectures on sports and the law at the University of Pretoria and International Sports Law at the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing. He has two books that will publish in Fall 2024: “Law for Recreation and Sport Managers” (9th Edition) and “The Routledge Handbook of Sports Law and Governance.”

Sport Management staff updates

Nikita Bair joined Falk College and the Newhouse School of Public Communications in November 2023 as the program manager of esports. Prior to Syracuse, Bair was a faculty member and coordinator of esports at Shenandoah University (Va.) from 2021-2023, leading the program’s global and experiential learning initiatives and teaching classes in esports and information systems conferences, and handles social media and news for the department.

Margie Chetney finished her 11th year in Sport Management as an administrative assistant. She works closely with students and faculty, manages department events, serves as editor of the SPM Newsletter and websites, plans faculty and student conferences, and handles social media and news for the department.

Jackie Dorchester joined the department in Fall 2022 as the Sport Analytics program coordinator. She advises Sport Analytics majors and works with students in the Certificate of Advanced Study and online Master of Science in Analytics degrees. Prior to Falk, Dorchester worked as an Academic Advisor in SU’s Whitman School of Management. She also teaches SPM 201.

Aaron Knighton is an internship placement coordinator in Sport Management. He advises Sport Management students, and assists with internships, senior Capstones, and professional networking. He advises the Sport Professionals of Color club in the Sport Management Department and also teaches SPM 201.

Brittni Metcalf joined the Department of Sport Management as an administrative assistant in early 2024. She works with students and faculty to maintain schedules, assists with event planning and organizes academic trips. Prior to joining SU, Metcalf worked at Section III Athletics for three years, after earning her bachelor’s degree from Mercyhurst University.

Beth Perez started as an internship placement coordinator in 2022. She works with seniors on Capstone guidance, undergraduates on internships and advising, as well as creating experiential learning opportunities. She previously worked as an Academic Counselor in SU’s School of Education, as well as at Cornell University. She teaches SPM 201 and is the advisor for the Women in Sports and Events (WISE) Club.

Francesco Riverso finished his eighth year in the department, and fourth 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 with conference and competition planning, teaches SPM 201 and also serves as the Sport Analytics minor coordinator.

Advisory Councils

Sport Management Advisory Council 

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, Founder/Chief Executive Officer, The Steiner Agency/ Collectible Exchange 

David Falk, Founder/Chief Executive Officer, F.A.M.E. 

Council Members

Ronald Bernard, President, LWB Consulting 

Russ Brandon, President, UFL 

Nick Carparelli Jr., Executive Director, Bowl Season 

Kelly Downing, Marketing Consultant 

Patti Fallick, Managing Director of Broadcast Operations, United States Tennis Association 

Shawn Garrity, Chief Executive Officer, Circle 

Mark Geddis, President/Chief Executive Officer, Geddis Holdings, Inc. 

1Pamela Hollander, Vice President of Marketing Strategy and Client Success, TSMGI 

Jasmine Jordan-Christmas, Sports Marketing Field Representative, Nike, Inc. 

Cliff Kaplan, Chairman, Equity Sports Partners 

David Kleinhandler, Chairman, Blackridge Capital 

Rob Konrad, Chairman, Alterna Financial 

Christopher Lencheski, Chairman, Phoenicia Sport and Entertainment 

David Levy, Co-CEO and Founder, Horizon Sports & Experiences 

Deidra Maddock, Vice President of Sports Brand Solutions, Disney Advertising 

Sandy Montag, President/Chief Executive Officer, The Montag Group 

Laurie Orlando, Senior Vice President, CBS News 

Michael Patent, Managing Director, Culture Group 

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

Jeff Rubin, Senior Vice President for Digital Transformation, Syracuse University 

Mike Tirico, Play by Play Announcer/ Anchor, NBC Sports 

John Wildhack, Director of Athletics, Syracuse University 

Roland Williams, Founder and Chairman, Brown Diamond Holdings 

Emeriti Members 

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

Ben Sutton Jr., Founder and Chairman, Teall Investments 

Kathrine Switzer, President, Marathon Woman, AtAlanta Sports Productions 

Michael Wohl, President, Coral Rock Development Group, Senior Digital and Social Media Strategist 

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. 

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

Emerging Leaders Council 

The Syracuse University Emerging Leaders Council (ELC) exists as a core group of the Sport Management Department’s most committed and influential young alumni who 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. 

Dan Anyaegbunam, General Counsel, THINK450 

Harrison Avigdor, Fantasy and Betting Partnerships, National Basketball Association 

Alec Bieber, Lifecycle Marketing Manager, Overtime 

Carly Caporizzo, Commercial Enablement Manager, Nielsen 

P.J. Davidson, Vice President of Ticketing, Brooklyn FC 

Charles “CB” Garrett IV, Research and Innovation Analyst, Milwaukee Bucks 

Scott Kevy, Senior Manager of Experience, Wasserman 

Harrison Laifer, Corporate Vice President, New York Life Insurance Company 

Jeremy Losak, Sport Analytics Assistant Professor, Syracuse University 

Hugo Marsans, Partnerships and Client Solutions, DAZN 

Ian McFate, Vice President of Growth, Sports and Entertainment, Aramark 

Connor Monzo, Manager of Premium Sales, Pittsburgh Penguins 

Ari Moskowitz, Business Development Manager, WSC Sports 

Hannah Rafferty, Executive Producer, Filmiamo Productions 

Lori Robinson, Player Engagement Manager, Baltimore Ravens 

Kate Ruben, Director of Brand Marketing, Excel Sports Management 

Hanna Sanford, Account Manager of Partnerships, 160over90 

Steve Shur, Attorney, K&L Gates 

Sam Spector, Director of Business Development, CLEAR 

Jonathan Stahler, Founder, President and Managing Attorney, Stahler Sports & Entertainment Law 

Gordie Taylor, Senior Director, Implus 

Ben Theytaz, Business Development Coordinator, NBA 

Wei “Ellen” Wang, Athlete Marketing, NIKE 

Alyssa Wood, Senior Director of Consulting, MKTG Sports and Entertainment 

Anna Zorn, Director of Operations, Soldier Field 

If you would like more information about the Emerging Leaders Council, please email Alyssa Wood at Alyssa.Wood@mktg.com. 

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

Alumni

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

We are so thankful for the commitment that our alumni make to be sure our students feel supported throughout their undergraduate career. Whether you participated in a mentorship team for our first-year students, 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 SU experience. 

Please continue to stay connected to us by following Sport Management on Twitter @SUSportMgmt, and “like” us on Facebook at SU Falk College Department of Sport Management. 

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

If your 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, call us at 315-443- 9881. We love to hear from our esteemed alumni. 

Thank you for your unwavering support! 

Farewell message from Sport Management founding director 

On June 1, 2005, I was fortunate to become the founding director of Sport Management. There were no offices, no faculty, and one part-time administrative assistant. We were housed in the College of Human Services and Health Professions, which was scattered across campus in multiple locations. Less than one month into the position, the College was searching for a new Dean, and admittedly, the tasks awaiting me were daunting. We had very few students – mainly Intra University Transfers – no program history, alumni, or resources. “Just Get It Done” quickly became the mantra because classes were starting in a few weeks and I needed to teach both introductory level courses and upper-level classes because there were first-, second-and third-year students in the program. 

Fast forward 19 years later and Sport Management has emerged from its embryotic stages as a program that morphed into a department and in 2025 officially becomes the Falk College of Sport. It is the only Research One university to have a college be solely dedicated to sport, which is a monumental accomplishment thanks to the students, faculty, administrators, and nationally acclaimed Sport Management Advisory Council that paved its way to success. 

We now offer four undergraduate and two graduate degrees, plus a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Sport Analytics. We created the first-of-its-kind Sport Analytics degree program and joint degrees with the Newhouse School of Public Communications in Esports Communications and Management, and the Whitman School of Management in sports business and management. No other Research One and Power Five Conference university offers such as a unique blend of degree programs, and it will further develop as a College of Sport. 

We sought to be trailblazers and create pathways for women in sports while establishing innovative academic programs and experiential learning opportunities. The incredible accomplishments of sport analytics students have been phenomenal by winning multiple national championships in academic and industry competitions. Success can be fleeting. Sustained success is not a destination, but rather a journey, and that voyage for attaining success will stay the course. 

The amazing success of our current students, coupled with extraordinary alumni, has elevated the level of achievement to new standards and helped us establish this exemplary academic program. We will continue to create new standards of academic excellence under the leadership of Dean Jeremy Jordan. 

As I transition into retirement following a 49-year career in higher education, I ensure you that Syracuse University will continue to offer a preeminent program and be a success engine for the future through innovative education, research, and service to the communities it embraces. 

The mission is unwavering. To provide exceptional resources and deliver real-world experiences that empower students, educators and alumni success. To engage in innovative and collaborative research that advances knowledge and catapults the sport industry forward. To maintain a diversified curriculum that is responsive to the ever-changing needs of this global industry, and our constituents and stakeholders. To be the interdisciplinary model of exceptional service and civic engagement. To promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility by using sports as a platform for social responsibility. 

It has been a sincere pleasure and honor to lead this program. To each one of our graduates, I extend my heartfelt thanks for enriching my life and giving me the passion to help this program be unsurpassed. To the parents who entrusted your children to us, thank you for believing in our family culture, mentorship, and teaching. To our donors, benefactors and supporters, you have helped us create an indelible impact and difference in hundreds of student lives. To advisory council members past and present, thank you for your unwavering support, friendship, dedication, and loyalty. To my colleagues, best wishes and continued success. You have my sincere gratitude. Continue to be remarkable! 

Special thanks to Falk College Dean Emeritus Diane Lyden Murphy for her unwavering support and leadership, benefactors David and Rhonda Falk and Andrew Berlin, and our nationally renowned Advisory Council of sports executives who have provided the necessary resources to achieve and sustain success at such an elevated level. 

Together, we will always BE LOUD, BE PROUD, BE ORANGE! Bless you all! 

Most Sincerely, 

Michael Veley, Director and Chair Emeritus 
Rhonda S. Falk Endowed Professor
Falk College
Syracuse University 

Photos with captions in this section include: Michael Veley (right) with (from left) Rhonda Falk, Dean Emeritus Diane Lyden Murphy and College benefactor David Falk.

On The Back Page

Sport Management, Sport Analytics, Sport Venue and Event Management, Esports Communications and Management
2023-2024 Newsletter
Syracuse University
David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics
Department of Sport Management
402 MacNaughton Hall
Syracuse, NY 13244

Photos with captions in this section include: The inaugural SEI-Con, a first of its kind Sports, Entertainment and Innovation Conference, was held in Las Vegas in Summer 2024. Syracuse University’s David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, in collaboration with UNLV Sports Innovation and the Las Vegas-based guest experience agency Circle, spent more than a year planning the event. The conference featured exhibitor pods, innovation labs, daily keynotes, seminars/sessions, alumni gatherings, networking events, roundtables, and daily wrap parties with music entertainment. Shown above are Syracuse University faculty, staff, alumni and students who attended the conference. For more information, visit sei-con.org.

Connect with SU Sport Management

Department of Sport Management, Syracuse University, 402 MacNaughton Hall, Syracuse, NY 13244315.443.9881

Patrick Walsh, Department Chair ptwalsh@syr.edu

Margie Chetney, Newsletter editor mchetney@syr.edu

Gina Pauline, Undergraduate Program Director gapaulin@syr.edu

Rodney Paul, Analytics Program Director rpaul01@syr.edu

Joey Gawrysiak, Esports Executive Director ejgawrys@syr.edu

Web: Sport Management

Facebook: SU Falk College Department of Sport Management

Twitter: @SUSportMgmt

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