Sport Management
SUMMER 2013
News
Exploring the History of Sport
SPM studies
lacrosse and
its importance
in CNY as
foundation for
documentary
Statue outside the U.S.
Lacrosse Museum in Baltimore
S
port management
professor of practice
Dennis Deninger sees
sport as something
more than just the game highlights on ESPN’s SportsCenter
or the score listings in the
sports pages.
“A lot of people tend to
generalize sport as fun and
games, but sport has so much
more meaning at many levels to many
different people,” Deninger says.
“Look at the Wilma Rudolphs of this
world. She was told as a girl that she
would never walk, and she winds up
winning Olympic medals.”
Stories of triumph over the human
condition, cultural expressions and
longstanding traditions are the basis
of what makes sport relatable, entertaining and at times emotional.
Michael Veley, director of the
Department of Sport Management
and the newly appointed Rhonda
S. Falk Endowed Professor of Sport
Management, wanted students to
gain that deeper understanding, and
with Deninger, developed the History
of Sport course, which debuted in
Fall 2012.
The first two months of the course
explore such topics as how sports developed in North America; the formation of the NCAA and other governing
bodies; the Super Bowl’s evolution;
and what the future holds with more
than 400,000 hours per year of sports
programming on television and online.
The last part of the course is devoted
to one specific topic that students
research, which forms the basis for a
final project, each student researched
documentary on that subject.
a different aspect related to lacrosse.
The inaugural topic was the culturFive students continued indepenal impact of lacrosse in Central New
dent study research in the spring.
York. It was a fitting first topic about
A professional production coma sport that is the oldest in North
pany was hired to work with Deninger,
America with its origins in the Native
a former ESPN television production
American Haudenosaunee culture of
executive who wrote and directed the
upstate New York, an important team
documentary. The documentary is
sport for Syracuse University and the
narrated by ESPN commentator and
fastest-growing sport
Newhouse alumnus Mike Tirico ’88,
in the country. “Amerwho serves on the
ica’s First Sport”
Sport Management
was the resulting
and Newhouse
documentary.
School Advisory
During the class,
Boards.
15 students began
For Native Ameritheir research with
cans, the documenthe first recorded
tary was a chance
accounts of sport
to tell the meaning
competition
behind the sport.
on the North
Onondaga Nation
American contimember and threenent: lacrosse
time All-American and
games played
former professional
by indigenous
Iroquois Nationals
peoples that
Lacrosse team memwere observed
ber Neal Powless says
by Jesuit missionlacrosse is part of the
Movie poster from
America’s First Sport
aries in 1637. As their
Haudenosaunee cultural
continued on page 2
NEWS AND EVENTS
continued from page 1
identity and value system.
“It’s hard to separate lacrosse and
the spirit of it and what we play for. It’s so
ingrained as to who we are,” says Powless,
assistant director of SU’s Native Student
Program. “In our traditional government,
you see chiefs that were lacrosse players
because it was a way to watch the young
people as they grew up and see how they
conducted themselves. It’s a window into
the heart and soul of each individual to
how we conduct ourselves on and off the
field.”
The game is also about bringing communities together. “You battle on the field
and you come off the field and shake
hands,” Powless says. “It’s about competition, but it’s also a celebration of your gifts
from your creator and you celebrate your
gifts by using them and sharing them for
the betterment of everybody.”
Taking part in the documentary allowed
Powless to share his culture. “As the sport
Students in the Metro Lacrosse program in Boston
Falk College professor of practice Dennis Deninger
(left) with Onondaga Chief Irving Powless.
Onondaga stick maker Alfie Jacques.
grows in the world and the United States,
it’s really exciting to see these types of
things that spread the message,” he says.
The memories have lasting meaning
for Powless, who scored his first goal at
the age of 13 during a medicine game—a
game played to lift the spirits—in honor of
his grandfather who was sick.
“There are memories that I carry with
me and I try to teach others—as a mentor,
a coach and as an educator—that people
can learn and understand that lacrosse is
something more than a game,” Powless
says. “We still retain the connection and
spirit of where the game came from and I
want every player, native and non-native, to
honor and respect the game and cherish
the times you get to enjoy it.”
“America’s First Sport” premiered at a
symposium event in April, which included
panelists Onondaga Nation Faithkeeper
and former SU lacrosse goalie Oren Lyons
’58; former SU men’s lacrosse coach Roy
Simmons Jr. ’59 and current SU women’s
lacrosse coach Gary Gait ’90; Inside Lacrosse Magazine editor-in-chief John Jiloty
’00; SU associate professor of religion Phillip Arnold; and Powless, all of whom were
in the documentary. ESPNU is planning to
air the documentary at a later date.
For the upcoming fall class, sport management faculty are reviewing possible
topics to explore.
­—By Kathleen Haley
SU News Services
With gratitude
The Falk College and its Department of
Sport Management are extremely grateful to the Sport Management Advisory
Board and other donors in the Falk College for their support of this project.
Welcome Class of 2017 undergraduates
Arizona1
California8
Florida1
Maryland3
Massachusetts3
New Hampshire
1
New Jersey
11
New York
29
Ohio2
Pennsylvania5
Rhode Island
1
Texas1
Vermont1
Washington, DC
1
Australia1
Canada1
France1
Class of 2017
Total matriculated students
Cumulative average GPA
Number of female undergraduates
Percent
30%
Australia
Canada
France
71
S P M N e w s Totals
71
3.54
22
2 S u m m e r
2 0 1 3
NEWS AND EVENTS
Michael D. Veley appointed Rhonda S. Falk Endowed
Professor of Sport Management
deep commitment to academics, experiential
opportunities and
service to others.
Consequently,
Michael is the
quintessential
choice to receive
this honor. I am
incredibly proud
of him, and tremendously grateDavid B. and Rhonda S. Falk are shown with Sport Management director Michael
ful for his many
Veley and Falk College Dean Diane Lyden Murphy.
contributions to
students, the Falk
College and Syracuse University.”
Michael D. Veley, M.P.S., was named the
In addition to his role in the Falk College,
inaugural Rhonda S. Falk Endowed ProfesVeley was named Syracuse University’s
sor of Sport Management at Syracuse
“Voice of the Carrier Dome” in 2006 and is
University’s Falk College. His strategic vision
the public address announcer for SU foothas played an instrumental role in the deball, men’s basketball and men’s lacrosse
velopment and growth of the Falk College’s
games. He is an active leader throughout
undergraduate and graduate degrees in
the local and statewide sport communities,
sport management while elevating its Deas well as the industry on an international
partment of Sport Management to national
level. Veley has served on the Syracuse
prominence.
University Senate, and continues to serve
In 2011, Syracuse University alumni
on the Remembrance Scholar Selection
David B. and Rhonda S. Falk committed
Committee and the Remembrance Scholars
$15 million to SU—one of the largest-ever
25th Anniversary Committee as well as
single gifts to the University. As part of their
SU Bookstore Advisory Council. In the past
visionary and purposeful commitment to
year, he was appointed to the Board of
academics as a path to success, the Falks
Directors for the Syracuse Sports Corporaestablished a series of endowed professortion and the Center for Sports Business and
ships. These professorships allow the Falk
Research at Penn State University. In May,
College to support internationally recoghe was honored with the 2013 Falk College
nized faculty to advance its mission rich in
Faculty of the Year Award for excellence in
teaching, research, scholarship, practice
professional service. In 2006, he received
and service.
the “Founder’s Award” from Ithaca College
“Michael has been the driving force befor his contributions to fostering student
hind the success of the sport management
opportunities in the field of sport manageprogram at the David B. Falk College at
ment and media. The Michael D. Veley
Syracuse since its inception eight years ago.
Endowed Scholarship was established in
His dedication to the students, his vision for
2009 in recognition of Veley’s contributions
the future and his passion for the unique
as department chair, advisor, and mentor
experiential learning process has created
in support of undergraduate sport managea truly special environment for both faculty
ment students.
and students,” said Rhonda and David Falk.
“David and Rhonda Falk epitomize the
“He is most deserving of recognition and we
values of education, social responsibility
are proud that the Falk family name and his
and leadership in sports, entrepreneurship
performance will forever be linked together
and civic engagement, all qualities that we
by this honor.”
emphasize in our department,” said Veley.
“We are pleased to honor Michael Veley,
“I’m extremely honored to represent
the founding chair of the Department of
the Falk namesake and will continue to do
Sport Management, with the Rhonda S.
my utmost to build Sport Management at
Falk endowed professorship,” says Diane
Syracuse University into the pre-eminent
Lyden Murphy, dean, Falk College. “The sucprogram in North America. Their generosity,
cess and international prominence of our
commitment and devotion to the education
sport management program is without a
and profession of sport management are
doubt directly linked to Michael’s vision and
unmatched, and working together, SU is
leadership. He embodies the Falk family’s
S P M N e w s 3 attaining an elite status in higher education.
What better way to honor them,” said Veley.
Veley has taught marketing and public
relations courses as an adjunct professor
in SU’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and Martin J. Whitman School
of Management. He spent nearly two
decades working as a Division I athletic administrator at Cornell and Syracuse, including 10 years at Syracuse University. Many of
his innovative marketing and promotional
ideas have appeared on television and in
published textbooks. He is a three-time
National Association of Collegiate Marketing
Administrators (NACMA) award winner. He
received a bachelor’s degree with honors
from SUNY Geneseo and earned a master’s
of professional studies degree from Cornell
University.
Leadership highlights
The founding director of SU’s sport management program, Michael Veley joined
the Falk College in 2005. His many accomplishments as founding director and
chair include:
•Curriculum development for the Falk
College’s undergraduate and graduate
SPM programs.
•Fostering of experiential learning,
social responsibility as signature aspects of SPM program.
•Development of unique experiential
learning and faculty-student research
partnerships with organizations such
as the New York Yankees, AEG Worldwide, the National Baseball Hall of
Fame, and the National Basketball Association Development League among
others.
•Creation of internationally-regarded
“Who’s Who in Sports” advisory board
that consists of 27 members, including
14 company presidents, founders and
CEOs (see pages 24-25).
•Development of the Olympic Odyssey study abroad program that brings
students annually to Europe. Working closely with members of the SPM
Advisory Board and departmental
faculty and staff, Veley launched the
LA Immersion Experience that brings
students face-to-face with prominent
leaders of premier sports and event
organizations.
•Creation of the Sport Management
(SPM) Club and the first collegiate
chapter in the country for Women in
Sports and Events (WISE) at Syracuse
University.
S u m m e r
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DIRECTOR’S GREETING
One of my favorite quotes is from U.S.
founding father Benjamin Franklin, who
said, “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I
remember. Involve me and I learn.”
Student engagement is the foundation
of our department and the David B. Falk
College of Sport and Human Dynamics.
As educators, I believe our responsibility
is to create learning opportunities outside
of the classroom. Theory
to practice has been the
hallmark of this program
since it started—taking
knowledge from courses
and applying it to realworld scenarios, including
initiatives with the New
York Yankees, NASCAR and
NBA Development League,
among a host of others.
This year our department is undergoing a
strategic planning process.
Our mission statement is,
Michael Veley
“to become the leading
sport management program in North America.” Without too much
bravado, we believe SU is very close to that
goal! One of the reasons is the quality of
students—past and present—that are part
of this department.
The Class of 2013 was no exception
and truly elevated our program in many
different ways. Those graduates will soon
share the pride of helping us realize our
stated goal of becoming the preeminent
sport management program.
Twenty-seven students, over 50
percent, graduated with honors—achieving a 3.4 or above cummulative GPA—the
most in department history. One out of
four students graduated magna or summa
cum laude. Seven students earned the
distinction of being named to the Director’s Academic Achievement High Honor
Roll by attaining a minimum of a 3.4 GPA
for each of the previous seven consecutive
semesters at SU, which is an outstanding
accomplishment.
The program has also instilled social
responsibility and social justice associated with sports, and the Class of 2013
graduates typify what is good in sports.
The students have not only excelled in the
classroom, but in the community as well.
Final proceeds of the 8th Annual Charity
Sports Auction were a record $35,239, all
S P M N e w s of which was donated to Special Olympics
New York. The club’s commitment to service work, highlighted by its annual charity
sport auction fundraiser, has now generated nearly $200,000 to local non-profit
organizations.
Experiential learning outside of the
classroom has seen the students managing 10 different SU Olympic sports teams;
working with the Color
Me Rad fundraising race
and at NBA exhibition
games, New York State
Special Olympics Winter
Games, with the Harlem
Globetrotters, at the One
World Concert with the
Dali Lama; and dozens of
real-world experiences in
the SU Athletic Department, Carrier Dome, and
with the AHL Hockey and
Triple A baseball teams
in Syracuse.
Unfortunately, this
year was also marked
with tragedy, as senior Jason Morales
passed away this semester while completing his Capstone in New York City with the
St. John’s Athletic Department. He earned
his undergraduate degree posthumously,
which was awarded to his family during the
Falk College convocation. To celebrate his
life and memory in perpetuity, the Department of Sport Management established
the “Jason Morales Perseverance in Sports
and Life Award” that will be presented annually to a deserving graduate.
The 2012-13 academic year also
marked the inaugural graduate class of
our master’s degree in sport venue and
event management, an interdisciplinary
curriculum that includes course offerings
from four different colleges at SU.
This growth, development and overall
success have allowed us to recruit quality
faculty. In the past three years we have
added four tenured full professors (Drs.
John Wolohan, Rodney Paul, Mary Graham
and Chad McEvoy) to our department. In
May 2013, Dr. Gina Pauline and Dr. Jeff
Pauline were granted tenure and promoted
to associate professors, giving the department six tenured faculty members.
During spring break, a class of 18
students traveled to Los Angeles on an
immersion program where we met with 35
4 sports executives and athletes.
We co-sponsored our first University
Lecture, featuring Roz Savage, a British
rower and environmental activist, who
became the first woman to row across
the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans.
Additionally, the department sponsored
two educational symposiums before
near-capacity audiences. The Women In
Sports and Events (WISE) symposium,
“Testing the Limits,” featured eight nationally acclaimed panelists addressing a
wide range of issues regarding women in
sports. Under Dennis Deninger’s leadership, “America’s First Sport” symposium
centered on the Native American influence
on lacrosse.
Sport management faculty presented
research findings and gave industry-related presentations at 18 different academic
and sport industry conferences around
the world, including Australia, China, Spain
and Switzerland.
The momentum continues. Applications to sport management have increased
over 55 percent in the past two years,
while the number of intra-university
transfer students is also at unprecedented
levels.
Our undergraduate alumni base has
now grown to nearly 300 students, with
about one in four completing graduate-level course work, primarily in business and
law. We’re very proud of their accomplishments and wish them continued success.
Be assured that we will not rest on
our laurels. We will continue to challenge
ourselves and prepare for the needs confronting higher education and the sports
industry. Our primary stakeholders remain
our students. Engagement in the global
enterprise of sports is essential to meet
the competitive structure of this industry
and prepare students for a professional
career.
We invite you to become engaged as
well!
Sincerely,
Michael Veley
Director and Chair
Department of Sport Management
S u m m e r
2 0 1 3
STUDENTS
Matthew Samost
served as a
Department
College
Marshal at the
Falk College
Convocation.
Taylor Noel
(left) and
Nicole Salzman
at the SPM
undergraduate
reception May 10,
2013.
George Alexander (left) and
Carlos Ruiz II at the SPM
undergraduate reception.
Rayna Linowes
served as a Falk
College Marshal
at Convocation.
The SPM Class of 2013 at Falk College Convocation May 11, 2013.
Congratulations to the Class of 2013
On May 11, the Falk College celebrated
its Class of 2013 Convocation ceremony
at Manley Field House. Fifty-two Sport
Management undergraduates took part in
the event.
Twenty-seven Sport Management
students (51 percent) in the Class of 2013
graduated with honors with a cummulative
GPA of 3.4 or higher. Four were summa
cum laude, 10 were magna cum laude and
13 were cum laude.
Two sport management majors played
roles in the Convocation—Rayna Linowes
served as a Falk College Marshal and
Matthew Samost served as a Department
College Marshal.
One degree was awarded posthumously to sport management student Jason
Morales, who died in February while working on his Capstone project in New York
City. Morales’ son, Noel, and his brother,
Cory, accepted the degree on his behalf.
For more about Jason Morales, please see
page 6.
The Department of Sport Management
welcomed more than 200 parents, family
members, friends, faculty and staff to
S P M N e w s Drumlins Country Club May 10.
This year’s awards ceremony featured
a talk by sport management advisory
board member and college benefactor,
David B. Falk. Program founding director
and chair, Michael D. Veley, led the awards
ceremony to honor the Class of 2013.
Awards presented included:
•Director’s Award –
Rayna Linowes
•Philanthropic Awards –
Charma Harris and James Geant
•V.I.P. Awards –
Danielle Berman and Jacob Berkowitz
•Academic Promise Award –
Michael Botwinick
•Professional Engagement Award –
Aaron Rudy
•Academic Excellence Award –
Matthew Samost
•Jason Morales Perseverance Award –
Andrew Arrospide
Seven students received the Director’s
Highest Honors for earning a GPA of 3.4 or
higher for each of their seven consecutive
semesters at Syracuse University.
5 Those students were:
•Danielle Berman •Joshua Nightingale
•Nicole Salzman
•Sarah Costello
•Matthew Samost
•James Geant
•Rayna Linowes
Sarah Costello was recognized as a
Remembrance Scholar for the 2012-13
academic year. The award is in honor of
the 270 people, including 35 students
studying abroad through Syracuse University, who were killed in the December 21,
1988, bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over
Lockerbie, Scotland.
Also, the inaugural M.S. in Sport Venue
and Event Management program concluded its first year with 16 graduates
(See page 7.)
Visit us at falk.syr.edu/
SportManagement
Be sure to check out our website
for department information, alumni
updates, announcements, news,
club meeting dates and other
special events.
S u m m e r
2 0 1 3
STUDENTS
Remembering SPM student Jason Morales
The Department of Sport Management mourns the
tragic loss of one of our students, Jason Morales,
who died unexpectedly during the Spring 2013
semester. Jason was spending his last semester
on his senior Capstone with St. John’s University
Athletics in New York City when he was struck by a
car and killed on the Upper East Side.
Morales, 23, of Brooklyn, was awarded his
Syracuse University degree in sport management
posthumously in May. The degree was accepted by
Jason’s brother, Cory, and Jason’s 2-year-old son,
Noel (pictured at right). The University announced
that Noel will receive a full scholarship to SU upon
graduating from high school.
“This was out of respect for Jason’s leadership and friendships on campus and within the SU
community, along with the commitment that he
frequently spoke of in terms of being a model of
educational attainment for his son,” according to a
university spokesman.
Jason was a former walk-on player for SU football, and had been a camp counselor and instructor at Elmwood Elementary School in Syracuse
through the Say Yes to Education program in 2010.
He was also a 2012 graduate of Onondaga
Community College, with a degree in recreation
leadership. Jason was the head football coach for
Onondaga Community College’s club team. He
was also a member of the Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity,
which has set up a website to collect donations for
a memorial fund.
The Department of Sport Management will
honor the memory of Jason annually with the establishment of the “Jason Morales Perseverance
in Sports and Life Award,” given to a deserving
senior who exemplifies Jason’s life and spirit.
This year, the award was presented by Jason’s
parents, Alexander and Dawn Morales, to
Andrew Arrospide.
Honors projects explore topics in sport
Two sport management undergraduates,
Robert Murray and Tyler Wasserman, have
immersed themselves in rigorous research
projects.
Why are there so many American
Samoan athletes playing in the NFL? That
is the research focus of Robert Murray’s
Senior Honors Project. He travelled to American Samoa analyzing why and how certain
professional football players come from
specific regions of the United States and
American Samoa. Murray’s research investigates the variables making “a boy born to
Samoan parents 56 times more likely to get
into the NFL than any other kid in America”
(Scott Pelley, 2010 on 60 Minutes). He is
evaluating how American Samoan lifestyles,
eating patterns, socialization and athletic
training practices impact why natives of this
tiny island have generated a pipeline of NFL
talent.
Is playing football a means to support
their families financially? The established
pathway for American Samoan football
players has led to college scouts looking to
these areas for top-level talent. Youngsters
growing up want to use football as their
“meal ticket” to a better life. Murray plans
to compare the similarities and differences
of life for a young football player in America
Samoa with a football player in the continental United States.
Since the majority of America Samoan
boys play football, Murray will explore
S P M N e w s Robert Murray
Tyler Wasserman
whether there is an increase in the number
of concussions and head trauma sustained
by this population. Is there a larger percentage of mental and brain diseases in the
American Samoan population? Former
NFL All Pro linebacker Junior Seau was an
American Samoan player who committed
suicide, which was attributed to the concussions sustained in his football career. Are
Samoans more likely to follow this path?
Tyler Wasserman, working closely with
sports economist Dr. Rodney Paul, explored
factors that influence baseball players’
compensation. In 2003, Michael Lewis
published Moneyball: The Art of Winning
an Unfair Game, which forever changed
the finances and economics of baseball. It
began a movement toward using advanced
statistical analysis to determine the value
of baseball players, in order to build a roster
that will win the most games at the lowest
cost. The Moneyball movement has resulted
in a multitude of new statistics to try to
6 determine the individual value and contribution that specific players make to the team’s
success. The better one plays, the more he
will be paid. However, there are many other
factors that affect how much players are
paid that are often overlooked.
Some of these factors include: the
player’s age; the time of year of the contract’s signing; whether the player is a free
agent; the team signing the player; and the
player’s agent.
The significance of this project varies
from the perspective of teams, agents and
Major League Baseball as a whole. This
project will allow teams to more effectively
pursue strategies to sign players to lower
salaries at a given performance level, and
model their strategies after the teams who
are already doing this successfully. Wasserman’s study used linear regression analyses
to isolate relationships between player
salaries and a multitude of different factors,
which may have significant relationships to
salaries. He used online websites and databases to gather contract data and player
performance data for a time period of one
decade. The data includes a sample size of
761 player contracts signed between the
2002-2003 offseason and the 2011-2012
offseason. The project includes breakdowns
that look at statistical results for hitters,
pitchers and all players combined, to gain
the best understanding of what really is
impacting player contracts.
S u m m e r
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GRADUATE STUDENTS
Syracuse University launches new master’s degree in
sport venue and event management
The David B. Falk College of Sport and
Human Dynamics and the Department
of Sport Management welcomed its first
cohort of graduate students in the new
Master of Science degree in sport venue
and event management to campus in August 2012. The one-year interdisciplinary
program, offered in conjunction with SU’s
School of Information Studies (iSchool),
S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Martin J. Whitman School
of Management, comprises 36-credit
hours of intensive classroom learning, skill
development and experiential opportunities in settings including SU’s Carrier
Dome.
Eighteen students matriculated in the
program’s first class, a strong, diverse mix
of students from a variety of educational
backgrounds and geographic locations. The
students completed coursework in the fall
and spring semesters, coupled with experiential learning opportunities outside the
classroom. Most of the students will graduate in either August or December 2013
upon completion of their practicum experi-
ence, where they are working in industry
settings both locally and nationally. Four
students received full-time job offers before
graduation, including positions in Major
League Baseball, the National Basketball
Association and Division I collegiate athletics. Other practicum settings include three
students working with Aramark, the sports
industry’s leading venue concessions corporation (located in Philadelphia), and two
students at Disney Sports in Orlando.
One highlight of the program’s first
year included a two-day immersion trip to
Philadelphia, where graduate students had
the opportunity to meet with executives
from leading firms like Global Spectrum,
Front Row Marketing, Aramark, the Wells
Fargo Center and staff from Philadelphia’s
major professional sports teams. The trip
enabled students to see how the content
discussed in class is implemented in
industry settings and provided networking
chances that led to practicum placement
for some students.
“Our new master’s degree program
has already built strong relationships on
campus, in the community and across the
sports industry,” says Dr. Chad McEvoy,
sport management professor and graduate program director. “Our first cohort
was able to immerse themselves in the
program’s academic and experiential
opportunities, and leverage the program’s
relationships to launch their careers in
industry. We’re very excited about the
success of this first group of students and
what the future holds with the continued
development of the master’s program.”
The 2013-14 graduate class began
in July 2013 with two intensive summer
courses, including working in the management of the Musselman Triathlon in
Geneva on the first weekend of the program. Additional initiatives for the second
year of the master’s program include a
“speed networking” night, where graduate students will interact with more than a
dozen industry executives, and expanded
experiential opportunities at the Carrier
Dome and other area venues and events.
There are currently 12 students in the
program, eight women and four men.
The inaugural class in the Master’s degree
program in Sport Venue and Event Management
at Syracuse University.
Practicum list for
inaugural sport venue
and event management
master’s program
Sidonie Becton,
Greater Washington
Sports Alliance
Christopher Jenkins,
Detroit Mercy Titans
Athletic Department
Noel Byrd,
Point 3 Basketball
Min Jung Kim,
Tennity Ice Skating
Pavilion
Monica Byron,
LPGA Credit Union
Classic
Melissa Carlson,
Memphis Grizzlies,
NBA
Laura Porth,
Disney/ESPN Wide
World of Sports
Evan Firestone,
Pittsburgh Pirates,
MLB
Ricky Ricco,
Bridgeport Sound
Tigers/Webster Bank
Arena
Maureen Higgins,
Aramark
Melissa Carlson (left)
and Jordan Upmalis at
the 2013 Falk College
Convocation.
Katherine Hills,
Aramark
Yuxuan Huang,
Excel Sports
S P M N e w s 7 Matthew Manecio,
i9 Sports
Katie Rudy,
Disney/ESPN Wide
World of Sports
Jordan Upmalis,
Aramark
S u m m e r
2 0 1 3
STUDENTS
A few of our Capstone partnerships
Listed below are Sport Management students and the organizations
where they completed their undergraduate Capstones throughout the
past year. We are grateful to our growing list of Capstone partners who
continue to provide tremendous opportunities for our students under
the leadership of SPM internship placement coordinators Carol Roy and
Jenna La Manna-Johnson.
Carol Roy
Jenna La Manna-Johnson
Capstone: Fall 2012
Jesse Abrams
George Alexander
Drew Altavilla
Jacob Berkowitz
Danielle Berman
Matthew Cohen
Danielle Czysz
Derek Faske
Steven Geisenheimer
Eric Higger
Elizabeth Kwasnowski
Michael Lennon
Taylor Noel
Chad Spodek
Christopher Valente
New York Rangers (MSG)
London Lions of the
British Basketball League (UK)
Wells Fargo Center (Comcast)
Wells Fargo Center (Comcast)
The Brewer Group
Kansas City Chiefs
YES Network
ESPN Radio – NYC
Ice Hockey in Harlem
Van Wagner
Madison Square Garden
Doral Golf Course /
Cadillac Championship
Syracuse Silver Knights
New York Knicks
AEG – New York City
Capstone: Spring 2013
Andrew Arrospide
Rebecca Bruce
Charma Harris
Jonathan Jacobino
S P M N e w s AEG – Los Angeles
Syracuse Silver Knights
Doral Golf Course /
Cadillac Championship
Maxx Sports
Rayna Linowes
F.A.M.E.
Iain McWhirter
Madison Square Garden
Elizabeth Pannucci
Onondaga Community College
Athletics
Jonathan Plaut
Pittsburgh Pirates
Aaron Rudy
Syracuse University Athletics
Carlos Ruiz II
Atlanta Hawks/Philips Arena
Matthew Samost
USOC
Alvaro Voelker Jr.
adidas Group – Germany
Capstone: Summer 2013
Marley Ciferri
Brett Greenfield
Tae Yun Kim
Michael Lecce
Charles Lerner
Davis Lyons
Joshua Millan
Dylan Nelson
Alexandre Pache
Nicole Salzman
Zachary Schotz
Ian Solomon
Tyler Wasserman
8 New York Lizards
IMG – UConn
Major League Soccer
ESPN Radio – NYC
Brooklyn Nets and
the Barclays Center
Minnesota Twins
Philadelphia 76ers
2Dialog
Seattle Sports Commission
Lead Dog Marketing
Maxwell Football Awards
New York Mets
Bloomberg Sports
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STUDENTS
Building a partnership with the New York Yankees
Sales is an essential function of the sports
industry. Many students find that sales,
and specifically ticket sales, is the most
common path into careers in professional
sports. The Department of Sport Management established a partnership in 2012
with the New York Yankees toward the
training and employment of SPM students
in ticket sales.
Instructor Pat Ryan teaches students
essential sales skills and develops their understanding of the
importance of sales to sport
organizations. As part of the
Yankees partnership, SPM has
created a second sales class,
focused specifically on ticket
sales. The class, taught by Dr.
Chad McEvoy, involves significant
collaboration with the Yankees
and their director of inside sales,
Dan Rosenthal.
Rosenthal’s involvement
includes helping with the design
of the class, participating in periodic video
conferencing sessions with the students,
visiting the SU campus, and coordinating
sales role-play exercises with Yankees
sales staff. He hosted McEvoy and the
students at Yankee Stadium in April.
“Aligning our program with the Yankees, as one of sports’ iconic brands, is
a tremendous opportunity for our sport
management program and our students
specifically,” said McEvoy. “This partnership provides students with the chance to
learn vital industry skills and potentially
interview for jobs with the Yankees. Dan
Rosenthal is one of the bright stars in the
sports industry and is a tremendous partner for our program and students.”
In addition to sales training, employment possibilities are a key aspect to
the partnership between SPM and the
Yankees. During his February visit to the SU campus,
Rosenthal interviewed nearly
a dozen SPM students for
full-time positions on his
inside sales staff. In the past
year, the Yankees have hired
three SPM students for these
full-time sales jobs: P.J. Davidson, Samuel Hochberg and
Michael Lennon. The SPM
Yankees partnership promises
to deliver similar opportunities
for future students.
SPM students named to Director’s Honor List
Congratulations to the following students for achieving an overall cumulative GPA of 3.4 or
higher at the end of the 2012-2013 academic year:
Class of 2013
Class of 2014
Class of 2015
Class of 2016
Jesse Abrams
Drew Altavilla
Erica Belanger
Jacob Berkowitz
Danielle Berman
Michael Botwinick
Rebecca Bruce
Benjamin Cohen
Daniel Cohen
Sarah Costello
Philip Davidson
James Geant
Charma Harris
Eric Higger
Elizabeth Kwasnowski
Rayna Linowes
Iain McWhirter
Joshua Nightingale
Alexandre Pache
Aaron Rudy
Carlos Ruiz II
Nicole Salzman
Matthew Samost
Andrew Silberman
Chad Spodek
Robert Stabenau
Matthew Andre
Matthew Ashe
Alexandra Ayres
Zoe Bernstein
Peter Corasaniti
Andrew DiDonato
Brett Greenfield
Kylee Haggerty
Max Jacobson
Robert Kelley
Steven Kozar
Mari Lee
Tatum Lloyd
Thomas Matschiner
Chad Muratev
Robert Murray
Jeremy Philipson
Stephen Rathbun
Andrew Sagarin
Ian Solomon
David Sperino
Tyler Wasserman
Jack Wentzell
John Wilson
Zachary Albright
Meghan Baumer
David Berger
Keara Bynum
Kelly Carr
Brooke Del Guercio
Catherine Dillon
Ryan Evans
Daniel Gorman
Scott Kevy
Colby Liemer
Sydney McAlmont
Ryan McGlynn
Nicholas Neu
Derek Peters
Carly Raimo
Matthew Rose
Jeffrey Saunders
Lauren Strand
Kyle Thweatt
Alexander Tracosas
Derek Wohlfarth
Alyssa Wood
Gregory Ackerman
Julie Bengis
Megan Brody
Emily Campeas
Timothy Carlon
Jake Curran
Jessica Daniels
James DiDonato
Sydney Doskow
Remy Gordon
Nicole Gorsky
Samuel Greinetz
Michael Gutman
Adam Luther
Cameron Lynn
Brendan Major
Jordan Mendelson
Jeremiah Moriarty V
Zachary Perine
Jake Polsky
Christopher Robinson
Helena Rosen
Adam Rothstein
Samuel Sherfey
Sophie Siegel
Austin Stevenson
Hannah Visnosky
Marcus White
S P M N e w s 9 S u m m e r
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STUDENTS
Student gains worldwide marketing experience at adidas
By Alvaro Voelker
SPM 2013
During the 2013 spring semester and
for part of the summer, I worked at
adidas in Herzogenaurach, Germany, for
my senior Capstone experience. Working
with the SU soccer team on creating and
implementing a marketing plan helped
me to land this internship at adidas.
I worked with Brand Marketing
and Creative Shoot and Production,
the production house for all marketing
campaigns. I was in charge of invoicing
all projects within my department and
helped project managers with the production of a campaign. I oversaw sample
management for the marketing campaigns, liaising with agencies all over
the world to make sure they received the
products needed for a particular campaign. In addition, I worked on an Art
Buying Guide for the project managers
that listed photographers, agencies, styl-
ists, hair and make-up artists, graphic
designers and production houses all
over the world.
I worked on the new adidas Nitrocharge shoot in Herzogenaurach, a
David Beckham shoot in Paris and a
shoot for adidas with Stella McCartney
in Miami.
The project I was most involved in
was called #mygirls. We completed
shoots in Hawaii, Bratislava and London.
The concept of #mygirls is to attract
females who participate in sports to buy
adidas products.
I’ve learned a lot about to the operations of marketing campaigns. There is
so much that goes on at a shoot, from
catering to making sure the apparel
looks sharp, to having extra jackets for
the models in case it’s cold.
I know it might be difficult for some
students to do an internship abroad,
mainly because of financial issues. Another reason might be the language. It is
definitely challenging going to the supermarket or getting paperwork done if you
can’t communicate. But those struggles
pay off. If you get an opportunity to
intern abroad, jump on it. Opportunities
abroad don’t come easy, but you learn
a lot both about the sports industry and
yourself.
Students receive Jennifer Corn Carter Senior Capstone Awards
The Jennifer Corn Carter Senior Capstone
Award for Sport Management supports
SPM students their senior Capstone experiences. For the 2012-13 academic year, five
students were honored with this award.
The award was presented to Erica
Belanger, who interned with the NFL Players Association. During Fall 2012, Danielle
Berman interned at an investment firm
Erica Belanger
Danielle Berman
in Minneapolis and New York City called
The Brewer Group. In Spring 2013, Matthew Samost interned with the United
States Olympic Committee in Colorado;
Alvaro Voelker Jr. interned with adidas in
Germany; and Charma Harris interned at
the World Golf Championships-Cadillac
Championship, in Miami, Florida.
Jennifer Corn Carter is a graduate of
Matthew Samost
S P M N e w s 1 0 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, which is housed in the Department
of Sport Management.
Alvaro Voelker Jr.
Charma Harris
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STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS
Testing the Limits: WISE hosts
second annual symposium
Panelists also discussed the importance of staying ahead of the trends and
staying current, which includes the use of
social media and the importance of the
crossover between sports and traditional
entertainment forms.
Panelists included:
Leadership. Tenacity. Resourcefulness.
Students looking to find success in the
constantly evolving sport and event industry had better come to the field prepared
with confidence and those attributes that
will help them stand out in the crowd.
Eight leading professionals
from the industry offered advice
and discussed the current state
and future of sport events as
part of the Syracuse University
chapter of Women in Sports and
Events’ (WISE) second annual
“A Word to the WISE: Testing
the Limits” symposium April 9.
The event was held in the Joyce
Hergenhan Auditorium, Newhouse 3.
“It takes a lot of endurance to be in the
business,” said Shana Gritsavage, director
of global events for Under Armour. “We
don’t rest very much—particularly in a fastmoving brand that’s nipping at the heels of
the big guys.”
Alexandra Ayres ’14, president of WISESU, opened the event with symposium
co-chairs Meg Mankowski ’14 and Taylor
Noel ’13. Dean Diane Lyden Murphy of the
David B. Falk College of Sport and Human
Dynamics also welcomed the panelists
and audience.
Starting the discussion, moderator and
SU alumnus Dennis Deninger, professor of
practice in sport management, said interest in traditional sports and sports events
continues to grow, with new
networks for various leagues
and teams, and attendance
remains strong. In addition, 23
percent of all advertising dollars spent last year in the U.S.
were spent on sports. “This is
a significant business that our
people are involved in,” said
Deninger.
A graduate of Falk College’s first class
of sport management students in 2008,
Amy Hobbs, development director of the
National Wheelchair Basketball Association, said there’s no difference between
what men and women have to do to break
into the field.
“It’s networking. It’s being confident,”
Hobbs said. “It’s knowing who you are
and what you want to do in life—and that’s
no different than any quality in a male
as well.”
Joe De Sena, chief executive officer,
Spartan Race
Patti Kleinman-Fallick, SU alumna,
director of broadcast operations, MLB
Network
Shana Gritsavage, director of global
events, Under Armour
Amy Hobbs, SU alumna, development
director, National Wheelchair Basketball
Association
Laurie Orlando, SU alumna, senior
vice president, talent development and
planning, ESPN
Deane Swanson, director of content,
ESPN Global X Games
Circe Wallace, senior vice president,
Wasserman Media Group
Mary Wittenberg, chief executive officer,
New York Road Runners
Dennis Deninger, professor of practice,
Syracuse University, moderator
WISE welcomes Olympic medalist
The SU WISE chapter held “A Night at the
Olympics” in November with 2012 London
silver medalist Natalie Mastracci ’13 and
USA Rowing CEO Glenn Merry.
Mastracci was a member of the Canadian Olympic Rowing team in 2012. Merry
has been at the helm of the USA Rowing
Association since 2005, serving as the
events coordinator, logistics coordinator,
and the national team programs director
prior to this appointment.
­—By Kathleen Haley
SU News Services
WISE at SU—the first and only….
Women in Sports and Events is a nationally recognized group whose goal is
to be the leading voice for women who
work in or aspire to be part of the professional fields of sports and events. In
2009, Syracuse University was voted
as the first collegiate chapter of this
national organization and today is the
only collegiate chapter in the country.
S P M N e w s 1 1 S u m m e r
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STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS
Sport Management Club donates $35,239
gift to Special Olympics New York
Since its founding in 2005, the Sport Management (SPM) Club at Syracuse University,
a student-run organization in the Falk College’s Department of Sport Management,
has donated nearly $200,000 to Central
New York charities. As a result of its most
successful annual sport auction, held
December 8, 2012, the SPM Club made
a $35,239 gift to Special Olympics New
York, the largest donation generated in the
auction’s eight-year history. The
presentation was made at the
Syracuse University men’s basketball game against Providence
on February 20, 2013.
The SPM Club’s donation
helped fund 88 athletes’ participation in Special Olympics for an entire
season. “Each year, our students exceed
expectations, but their hard work, the
(from left): Kate Veley, SPM Club
advisor and alumni and events
manager for Falk College; Steve Kozar,
2012 auction chair; Special Olympians
Johnny Renzi and Thea Malinowski;
Tyler Wasserman, 2012 auction
vice-chair, and; Cassandra M. Rucker,
director of development, Central
Region and Southern Tier, Special
Olympics New York.
Photo credit: Masha Snitkovsky/
Falk College.
SPM students assist
Color Me Rad
Sport management students in Dr. Gina Pauline’s SPM 324-Event
Sponsorship class worked closely with the Color Me Rad 5K race
event that colorfully took over Onondaga Lake Park in Liverpool on
May 4, 2013.
Color Me Rad is a 5K run in which colored cornstarch is thrown
at the runners/walkers at each mile marker. This event was the
first of its kind held in the Syracuse area and quickly sold out its
7,000 race spots. A portion of the proceeds benefited the Special
Olympics of Central New York.
Students in SPM 324 developed sponsorship proposals for Color
Me Rad in Syracuse, as well as the brand itself, for the company’s
more than 100 races held annually throughout the country. The
students learned about event sponsorship, event logistics and got
an overall feel for what is involved in putting on large-scale events.
“I picked this event to use as the class project because the target audience for these events includes young people and moms,”
Pauline said. “I wanted them to have firsthand
exposure to a nontraditional event. It
It
provided an opportunity to not only
interact with the CEO
of the company but
also be part of such a
significant and entertaining event associated with the Special
Olympics.”
donations and in-kind services of literally
hundreds of companies, and the support
of SU fans who generously bid on the more
than 560 items that were available, made
this year’s event a truly special one,” said
Kate Veley, manager, events
and alumni in the Falk College
and the SPM Club co-advisor.
“Special Olympics New
York, our athletes, coaches and
fans thank Syracuse University
for its commitment to the local community,” said Cassandra M. Rucker, director of
development, Central Region and Southern
Tier, Special Olympics New York.
Other local charities supported by the
SPM Club’s auction proceeds in previous
years have included the Syracuse Boys
and Girls Clubs, the American Diabetes Association of Central New York, the Upstate
Golisano Children’s Hospital, the CNY
SPCA, and Ronald McDonald House Charities of CNY.
A video from the 2012 Charity Sports
Auction can be found at www.youtube.com/
watch?v=iDGLqN-YgAc.
SPM forms Baseball
Statistics and
Sabermetrics Club
Sabermetrics is the study of advanced baseball statistics. And
who better to study this than sport management students?
The student-led club formed during the Spring 2013 semester and will continue to meet in the Fall. Dr. Rodney Paul
is the faculty advisor.
The club will conduct in-depth discussions about baseball
statistics and sabermetrics. Members will take part in a club
fantasy baseball league. Guest speakers will be brought in
on a variety of topics and the club will take part in a trip every
semester.
“Having a Sabermetrics Club at Syracuse is important as it
allows students to study in-depth advanced baseball statistics
to create a better understanding of the game and of player
value,” Paul said. “Students will learn the origins and uses of
the current crop of sabermetric statistics and we will discuss
and debate their usage. The goal of the club is to inform
and encourage the use of advanced baseball statistics for a
variety of uses in the industry. In the future, we look forward
to developing and implementing the use of our own statistical
measures to fill potential gaps in the current statistics used in
baseball.”
The club meets at 6 p.m. Wednesdays during the academic year.
Contact Andrew Sagarin (aksagari@syr.edu or 413-2072509), Matt Filippi (mfilippi@syr.edu) or the Department of
Sport Management (315-443-9881) for more information.
SPM students Meg Mankowski, Colleen Bennis, Alex
Pache and Jenna Harmer (from left) at Color Me Rad.
S P M N e w s 1 2 S u m m e r
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FAC U LT Y A N D S TA F F
SPM faculty publish books
Congratulations to the sport management faculty members who have
published the following:
Margie Chetney
joins SPM as
office coordinator
SportS on
televiSion
the How and Why Behind What You See
Dennis Deninger
Dennis Deninger,
Professor of Practice
Chad McEvoy,
Professor
John Wolohan,
Professor
Sports on Television:
The How and Why Behind
What You See
Research Methods and
Design in Sport Management
Law for Recreation and Sport
Managers (6th ed.)
Veley joins Syracuse
Sports Corporation Board
SPM Parents
Organization
Sport management director Michael Veley was recently
elected to the Syracuse Sports Corporation Board of Directors. The Syracuse Sports Corporation (SSC) has been
in existence for nearly 30 years and was one of the first
sports commissions established in the United States.
The SSC works in collaboration with the Center State
Corporation for Economic Opportunity and the Syracuse
Convention and Visitors Bureau to attract national, regional and statewide sporting events to Central New York.
Veley will be working on economic impact evaluations
of various sporting events and assisting in the development of sponsorship packages and contracts associated
with the marketing and promotional activities of a cadre
of events.
“My role on the SSC board will offer a wide range of
opportunities for our students to gain valuable industry
experience, especially our graduate students interested
in event planning,” said Veley. “It will also afford the opportunity to conduct research and evaluate the benefits
of attracting various sporting events to this area.”
The Department of Sport Management is fortunate to have a parents
organization that has made a
tremendous impact on the program.
We are looking forward to continuing and expanding this organization
throughout the upcoming year. The
organization provides a forum for
parents to communicate with each
other as well as the SPM Department. Meetings are held via conference call with sport management
director Michael Veley and internship
coordinator Jenna La Manna-Johnson. If you would like to participate,
please email La Manna-Johnson at
jplamann@syr.edu with your contact
information (name, email address,
home address and phone number)
and the name of your student.
Margie Chetney joined the
Department of Sport Management as its office coordinator
in March. She works closely
with SPM faculty, staff and students on various tasks, topics
and projects, including her role
as editor of SPM News. Prior
to joining the staff, Chetney
worked at The Post-Standard
daily newspaper in Syracuse
for 14 years as a sports copy
editor/reporter, assistant features editor, copy desk chief
and assistant news editor.
Chetney earned a bachelor’s degree in Print Journalism
with a minor in Sport Studies
from Ithaca College, where
she served as the first female
sports editor of the college’s
student-run weekly newspaper
The Ithacan.
Chetney is an active member of the Syracuse Bowling
Association, and has rolled five
perfect games. She has won
two New York State bowling
titles as well as the prestigious
Syracuse Queens Tournament.
She lives in Baldwinsville
with her husband, Matt, and
their two children, Haylee, 5,
and Jake, 3.
Connect with SU Sport Management
Department of Sport Management
Main Number
(315) 443-9881
Margie Chetney,
Office Coordinator,
mchetney@syr.edu
Gina Pauline,
Undergraduate Program Director
gapaulin@syr.edu
Kate Veley,
Events and Alumni Manager
koveley@syr.edu
Michael Veley,
Director and Chair
mdveley@syr.edu
Jenna La Manna-Johnson,
Capstone Coordinator
SPM Parents Organization
jplamann@syr.edu
Carol Roy,
Capstone Coordinator
cjroy@syr.edu
Webfalk.syr.edu
David Salanger,
Assistant Dean, Advancement &
External Affairs
dasalang@syr.edu
Twitter@SUFalkCollege
Kathryn Tunkel,
Administrative Assistant to
Michael Veley
kmtunkel@syr.edu
Chad McEvoy,
SPM Graduate Program Director
cmcevoy@syr.edu
S P M N e w s 1 3 FacebookSUFalkCollege
LinkedIntinyurl.com/SUFalk
CollegeLinkedInAlumni
S u m m e r
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FAC U LT Y A N D S TA F F
SPM faculty news and notes
The 2012-13 academic year was an incredibly productive time for SPM faculty and staff
on campus, domestically and internationally.
From working with the Turning Stone PGA Golf
Championship management team and mentoring
students assisting with Carrier Dome marketing
efforts to establishing a partnership to integrate
research, teaching and volunteer opportunities
for faculty and students, SPM faculty continue to
bring new and important perspectives impacting
today’s most critical issues in sport. Listed below
is a small sampling of select accomplishments.
We invite you to visit the Falk College and Department of Sport Management web sites regularly
(falk.syr.edu) to stay current with SPM students,
faculty and staff news.
Rick Burton
David B. Falk Endowed Professor of
Sport Management
Burton was a visiting
professor at Kufstein
University in the Austrian
Alps, where he taught
graduate sport management students. During the
year, his presentations
included “For the Love of
the Games: Selling the
Olympic Rings” at the Western New England University College of Business’ Center for International
Sport Business; “The Historical Development and
Sport Consumerism of Fantasy Sports Leagues”
at the Sport Management Association of Australia
and New Zealand Conference, and “The Role of
New Media in Current Olympic Marketing” at the
10th Annual Conference of the Sport Marketing
Association in Orlando. At the Thomas Jefferson
School of Law’s Sports Law Society’s 11th Annual
Sports Law Symposium in San Diego, he spoke
on managing player relationships, the economy’s
impact on the sports industry and the importance
of legal education outside of a law firm.
Dennis Deninger
Professor of Practice
Deninger emceed the
2013 National High
School Athletic Coaches
Association Coach of
the Year Banquet in Des
Moines, Iowa. He introduced eight regional winners in each of 19 sport
categories, announced
the Coach of the Year in each sport and the high
school Athletic Director of the Year. He also spoke
at Jamesville-DeWitt High School about “America’s
First Sport” lacrosse documentary.
Dr. Bonnie Everhart
Dr. Chad McEvoy
Dr. Everhart took her SPM
300-Sport Consumerism class to Boston to
complete a fan audit of
a major league sports
arena. The students met
with industry executives
and attended a Boston
Celtics game. In January,
she attended a two-day workshop at Columbia
University on NVivo, a qualitative data analysis
computer software package produced by QSR
International.
Dr. McEvoy attended the
North American Society
for Sport Management
(NASSM) Conference
in Austin, Texas, where
he gave a presentation
on valuation of college
basketball coaches. He
was part of a team who
published research findings that provide athletic
directors and other stakeholders of men’s college
basketball programs a new tool to determine
appropriate head coaching compensation. Dr.
McEvoy is the editor of Case Studies in Sport
Management, chair of the NASSM industry relations committee, and a member of the review
board for Sport Management Education Journal.
He attended the National Association of Collegiate
Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Conference in
Orlando to lead a think tank about the challenges
facing collegiate athletics today and potential solutions. During the Sports Facilities and Franchises
National Ticketing Symposium in Brooklyn, he
explored best industry practices in facility management and ticket sales, and further developed
networking connections to help students secure
industry jobs and internships.
Instructor
Dr. Mary Graham
Professor
Dr. Graham attended the
20th International Annual European Operations
Management Association
Conference in Dublin,
Ireland. She co-authored
a paper entitled “Supply Chain Relationship
Strategy, Human Resource
Strategy and Firm Performance.” She incorporated a $tart $mart salary negotiations workshop
into SPM 225-Managing Sport Organizations. A
national initiative of the American Association of
University Women and the Wage Project, the workshop educates students on the gender earnings
gap in the U.S. workforce and teaches students
how to negotiate starting pay and other workrelated rewards. Students learned how to develop
a monthly budget for living expenses to determine
minimum salary needs, and how to benchmark
pay information for specific job titles in particular
locations using the Wage Project salary calculator.
She also presented at the Falk College’s Brown
Bag Lunch Series on the use of the Qualtrics
survey platform.
Dr. Teresa MacDonald
Instructor
Dr. MacDonald worked
with the School of Education at Syracuse University
on an interdisciplinary
Certificate of Advanced
Study in Intercollegiate
Athletic Academic
Support. As part of this
collaboration, she helped
create SPM 611-Intercollegiate Athletics in Higher
Education, SPM 612-College Student-Athletes,
and SPM 613-Practicum in Intercollegiate Athletic
Advising. S P M N e w s 1 4 Professor
Dr. Rodney Paul
Professor
Dr. Paul was chosen as an
Academy of Economics
and Finance Research Fellow, the first person honored since 2010. Based
on the Research Papers
in Economics (RePEc)
rankings of economists
worldwide, Dr. Paul ranks in the top 16 percent
in number of works, top 12 percent in number of
distinct works, top 31 percent in citations, and
top 13 percent in number of published journal
pages. His paper “TV Ratings in the NFL” is ranked
eighth for the most cited journal article in the
Journal of Economics and Business from 2007
to the present. He presented three papers at the
International Association of Sports Economists/
European Sports Economics Association meetings
in London, England, presented a paper at the
Academy of Economics and Finance Meetings in
Mobile, Alabama, and was invited to speak and
present at the Gijon Conference on Sports Betting
at the University of Oviedo in Gijon, Spain.
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FAC U LT Y A N D S TA F F
Dr. Gina Pauline
Associate Professor
Dr. Pauline attended the
2013 AAHPERD (American
Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation
and Dance) Conference in
Charlotte, N.C., to present
research on engaging
the millennial generation
in sport management.
Her talk was entitled, “Volunteer Use at Triathlon
Events: What are the Requirements?” During
the Sport Entertainment and Venues of Tomorrow Conference in Columbia, S.C., she presented
“Integrating a Theoretical Approach to Experiential
Learning Within Sport Event Marketing,” and “An
Analysis of Volunteer Risk Management Expectations at Triathlon Events.” Along with Dr. Teresa
MacDonald, she was awarded a $1,000 grant
to complete a qualitative study of senior-level
executives within the sport industry regarding
perceptions of gender’s role as it relates to an
equal opportunity to pursue career goals, barriers
to advancement, its role in the hiring process,
and strategies to overcome the existing barriers. The research was conducted as part of their
involvement with the Syracuse University chapter
of Women in Sports and Events (WISE).
Dr. Jeff Pauline
Associate Professor
Dr. Pauline received a
$2,200 grant from the
Association for Applied Sport Psychology
to identify methods to
increase everyday physical
activity within the collegeage population. In his
study, entitled “Increasing
Stair Usage in a University Residential Complex,”
he explored the impact of tailored motivational
messages, such as point-of-decision prompts
and cues to action, to increase stair use within an
on-campus residential complex at Syracuse University. He attended the American Psychological
Association Conference in Orlando, Florida, where
he presented his research entitled, “Motivational
Signage Increases Physical Activity in a College
Residence Hall.”
of the team, conduct a market feasibility study
and develop ticket sales and marketing recommendations aimed to enhance attendance and
incremental business growth.
Michael Veley
Rhonda S. Falk Endowed Professor
of Sport Management
Veley successfully
completed a course on
Sports and Special Events
Incident Management. The
educational training was
conducted by Texas A&M
University in cooperation
with the National Center
for Spectator Sports
Safety and Security at the University of Southern
Mississippi and the Department of Homeland
Security.
John Wolohan
Professor
Wolohan traveled to Beijing Sport University (BSU)
to talk with students and
faculty, where he is working to form a partnership
with Syracuse University.
At the Chinese University
of Political Science and
Law (CUPL), he presented
“Current Issues in U.S. Sport Law,” “Professional
Sports and Labor Relations in the U.S.,” “Sports
Gambling in the U.S.,” and “Sports Image Rights
in the U.S.” During the Sport and Recreation Law
Association Conference in Denver, he presented
“Pay for Play and Due Process: Does Paying to
Play Change the Standard?” At the Athletic Business Conference in New Orleans, he presented
“Liability Update 2012,” and “When Good Parents
Go Bad,” which examined some of the problems
with parental sport rage, and what administrators
can do to minimize the problem. During the Falk
College’s Brown Bag Lunch Series, he presented,
“New Jersey’s Attempt to Add Sports Betting:
Does it threaten the integrity of the games?”
Sport management staff members additionally
had a very productive year. Kim Desmond finished her fifth year as an administrative assistant
Pat Ryan
Instructor
Pat Ryan, along with
Dr. Rodney Paul and
Michael Veley, completed
a two-year collaborative
arrangement with the
Syracuse Chiefs Baseball
Club to re-organize the
management structure
Kim Desmond
Kathryn Tunkel
S P M N e w s 1 5 in Sport Management and
in Falk College’s Advancement and External Affairs
office working closely with
assistant dean for advancement and external
affairs David Salanger,
as well as SPM faculty,
staff and students. Her
David Salanger
duties include supporting
students, working with the Capstone coordinator
as well as corresponding with alumni and donors.
She has been at SU for 12 years. Kathryn Tunkel
finished her second year as administrative assistant for SPM director and chair Michael Veley,
and will be celebrating her 20th anniversary with
SU in August. She works on course scheduling
and student enrollment. In addition, she works
closely with office coordinator Margie Chetney
in assisting students and faculty, maintaining the
SPM budget, and the organization of office events
and activities.
Outside the classroom
SPM students, faculty and staff
were engaged in a wide variety of
sport-related experiential learning,
community service work and
fundraising projects, including: New
York State Special Olympics; annual
Syracuse University 5K Walk, Run
and Roll to Better Health initiative;
Syracuse Festival of Races; Turning
Stone PGA Golf Tournament; LPGA
Future’s Tour golf tournament;
Syracuse Chiefs baseball; Syracuse
Crunch AHL hockey; Relay for
Life cancer fundraiser; Harlem
Globetrotters event at the Carrier
Dome; and Ironman 70.3 Triathlon.
SPM faculty service included
appointments on the 2013 Remembrance Scholars review and selection
committee; 25th Anniversary Remembrance Scholars committee; Faculty
Council; Promotion and Tenure Committee; University Senate; SPM Faculty
Search Committees; SPM Graduate
Program Committee; Get the Point/
The Non-Violence Project; Point 3 Basketball and SPM Advisory Board.
SPM co-sponsored an event with
Hendricks Chapel Interfaith Council
and the Muslim Student Association
to bring two Muslim NFL players,
Hamza and Hussain Abdullah, of the
Arizona Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings, to address their transition from
high school to collegiate and professional athletics, all while fervently
maintaining their Muslim identity.
S u m m e r
2 0 1 3
FAC U LT Y A N D S TA F F
SPM’s Michael Veley, Rick Burton named
2013 Falk College Faculty of the Year
Dean Diane Lyden Murphy honored four
Falk College faculty members, including
two from sport management, for excellence in teaching, research and service
with 2013 Falk College Faculty of the Year
Awards. The honorees, who are nominated
by their peers for outstanding performance
and contributions to students, the Falk College, Syracuse University and beyond, were
recognized during the Falk College’s Convocation for the Class of 2013 on May 11.
Michael Veley
Michael D. Veley, M.P.S.,
Excellence in Service
Michael Veley has played an instrumental
role in the development and growth of the
Department of Sport Management since
its founding in 2006. His colleagues describe him as a leader with a strong work
ethic, and someone with unending service
to students, the University, Syracuse, and
sport communities.
He has embedded the notion of social
responsibility into the program at all levels.
His desire to “engage the world” is foremost in every interaction with students.
He has fostered experiential learning as a
signature aspect of the sport management
program to encourage students to reach
beyond the confines of the campus and
out into the community. A former student
Rick Burton
notes, “One thing I have always admired
about Professor Veley is his commitment
to his students. He’s believed in me from
day one, always encouraging me in my
studies and future career goals. I’m so
grateful to have been able to learn from
someone so incredibly passionate about
sports and life. My college experience
definitely would not have been the same
without Professor Veley as my advisor,
professor, and mentor.”
Rick Burton, M.B.A.,
Excellence in Teaching
Since joining Syracuse University in 2009,
Rick Burton has taught eight courses
illustrating an enormous depth of industry
knowledge, including Personal & Social
Responsibility; Managing Sport Organiza-
tions; Sport Communications; Sports,
Media & Society; International Sports Relations; Olympic Odyssey; Sports Marketing;
and Foundations of Sport Venue & Event
Management.
“Professor Burton can always be
counted on for an eventful and informative
class. He makes learning fun and, no matter your learning style, he is accommodating. Lively discussions in class made me
want to read more than what was required.
I consider him to be the best professor at
Syracuse University,” noted 2013 graduate
Colin Desmond.
He provides active and comprehensive service to students, incorporates
real-world projects into his teaching and
provides a charismatic teaching flair for
the contemporary issues in the field. His
industry connections have resulted in
several high-level executives coming to the
Falk College as featured guest lecturers.
His commitment to “Scholarship in
Action” is evident with his guidance and
mentoring with individual students on
independent, thought-provoking projects.
Colleagues describe his teaching style,
which has a strong emphasis on classroom dialog and discussion, as one that
prepares students for critical thinking.
Sport management faculty receive tenure
Three faculty memUniversity, where she
bers from the Falk
was a Newell faculty
College’s Department
fellow for seven years.
of Sport ManageShe has taught courses
ment received tenure
in human resource
and promotion in
management and orgaMay 2013. Dr. Mary
nizational behavior at
Graham, Ph.D., was
the undergraduate, MBA
Dr. Mary Graham
appointed full profesand executive levels.
sor. Dr. Gina Pauline, Ed.D., and
Previously, she held faculty
Dr. Jeff Pauline, Ed.D., were propositions at George Washington
moted to associate professors.
University in Washington, D.C.,
Dr. Mary Graham joined
and Georgia State University in
the Falk College in Fall 2012.
Atlanta. Dr. Graham has recent
Prior to her position at Syracuse publications in the American
University, she was professor
Economic Review, Applied
of organizational studies in the
Economic Letters and the
School of Business at Clarkson
International Journal of Opera-
tions and Productechniques and facilitated
tion Management,
strategic planning sesamong others. Also,
sions for faculty and staff.
she currently serves
Dr. Gina Pauline
on the editorial
joined the faculty at Syraboards of Human
cuse University in 2006,
Resource Managebringing a realm of experiment Review and
ence within higher educaDr. Gina Pauline
Human Resource
tion and college athletics.
Management (Wiley). Currently,
Prior to SU, she served as the
Dr. Graham is researching
director of undergraduate sport
the effects of HR strategy and
administration at Ball State
supply chain strategy on firm
University in Muncie, Indiana.
performance. In addition to
She also worked at the Eastern
teaching Research Methods
Collegiate Athletic Conference
and Managing Sport Organizaand the Big East Conference in
tions, Dr. Graham has trained
championship management.
students on salary negotiation
Pauline’s expertise is in the
S P M N e w s 1 6 S u m m e r
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FAC U LT Y A N D S TA F F
Research and publications: SPM by the numbers
Applied research and academic publishing in peer-reviewed journals was
prevalent during 2012-13, with several SPM faculty members presenting
their findings at national and international conferences:
SPM faculty had 17 refereed journal articles published or accepted during
the academic year, led by Dr. Rodney Paul’s six published articles. An
additional 14 other academic papers have been submitted for review.
Faculty members Rodney Paul (3), Rick Burton (2), Gina Pauline and
Terry MacDonald all wrote book chapters.
Three SPM faculty authored or co-authored books: Dennis Deninger
authored Sports on Television: The How and Why Behind What You See;
Dr. Chad McEvoy co-authored Research Methods and Design in Sport
Management, and John Wolohan co-authored Law for Recreation and
Sport Managers.
Fourteen academic journals published SPM faculty research manuscripts
and peer-reviewed articles, including:
• SportBusiness International
• The Economic and Labour
Relations Review
• Sports Marketing Quarterly
•
The Economics of Excellence
• International Handbook on the
in International Sport
Economics of Mega Sporting
Events
• Oxford University Handbook of
Sports Gambling Markets
• Applied Research in Coaching
and Athletics
• Journal of Sports Economics
• International Journal of
• Sport Management
Sport Management
Education Journal
• Journal of Economics and Finance • Legal Aspects of Sport
• Journal of Business, Industry
• Journal of Physical Education,
Recreation and Dance.
and Economics
• The Cooperstown Symposium on
Baseball and American Culture
(Cooperstown, NY)
• Academy of Economics and
Finance Conference
(Charleston, SC)
• Sport Management Association
of Australia and New Zealand
(Sydney)
• Society of Business, Industry, and
Economics Conference (Destin, FL)
• Sport and Recreation Law
Conference (Greensboro, NC)
• Sport Event and Venues of
Tomorrow Conference
(Columbia, SC)
• Sport Marketing Association
Conference (Orlando, FL)
• North American Society of Sport
Management (Austin, TX)
• American Marketing Association
(Chicago, IL)
• Association for the Study of Higher
Education (Indianapolis, IN)
• Association for Applied Sport
Psychology (Honolulu)
• American Psychological
Association Annual Convention
(Orlando, FL)
• International Association of Sports
Law (Beijing, China)
• U.S. Sports Congress
(Sarasota, FL)
• Athletic Business Conference
(New Orleans, LA)
• Sport and Recreation Law
Association (Greensboro, NC)
• Association of Physical Education,
Recreation and Dance
(Charlotte, NC)
SPM faculty presented research findings and gave industry-related
presentations at more than 17 conferences in 15 states and three
countries, including:
SPM faculty have been quoted or interviewed for more than 20 published or
broadcast media interviews including
• Sports Business Journal
• Sports Business Daily
• National Public Radio
• Syracuse.com
• SportsBusiness International
• Naples.com
• The New York Times
• YNN/Time Warner Cable
• CNY Sports
• WSYR-TV
• Syracuse Post-Standard
• WSTM-TV
• Syracuse Magazine
• WAER Radio
• Associated Press
• ESPN Radio
• Bloomberg
• Baseball Hall of Fame’s Memories
and Dreams monthly publication
• Naples News
areas of event mancareers within the sport
agement, pedagogy
industry. Her research
and women in sport.
areas include event
With an extensive list
management, risk
of publications, her
management at sport
research has been
events and women in
published nationally
the sport industry.
Dr. Jeff Pauline
and internationally.
Dr. Jeff Pauline
She has served as
joined the faculty at
an advocate for supporting
Syracuse University in 2006.
women pursuing careers in
Prior to coming to SU, he was
sport management. Pauline
the director of the sport and
is the co-founder of the only
exercise psychology graduate
national collegiate chapter of
program at Ball State University
Women in Sports and Events
in Muncie, Indiana. Dr. Pauline
(WISE) at Syracuse University.
has also worked as a chemical
Pauline has mentored several
dependency therapist and as a
of her students to successful
collegiate tennis coach. He has
taught courses in sport psychology, exercise psychology, health
psychology, sport sociology,
research methods, statistics
and coaching. He is a certified
consultant of the Association
for the Advancement of Applied
Sport Psychology and a member
of the United States Olympic
Committee Sport Psychology
Registry. He has consulted with
a variety of amateur and professional athletes and teams. Dr.
Pauline’s consultations have
focused on performance enhancement, team building and
stress management. He has presented his work at national and
S P M N e w s 1 7 international conferences. The
Association for Applied Sport
Psychology recently awarded
him a grant to identify methods
to increase everyday physical
activity within the college-age
population. In Pauline’s study
entitled, “Increasing Stair Usage
in a University Residential Complex,” he found tailored motivational messages in the form of
point-of-decision prompts and
cues to action were effective in
increasing stair use within an
on-campus residential complex
at Syracuse University.
Congratulations Mary, Gina
and Jeff!
S u m m e r
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FAC U LT Y A N D S TA F F
Capstone coordinator Carol Roy announces retirement
After 23 years at Syracuse University, Sport Management Capstone
coordinator Carol Roy has announced her retirement, effective
January 2014.
Roy started her career as a data
coordinator in the Honors Program,
where she quickly moved up to
academic counselor. She earned
her master’s degree in public administration
through the Maxwell School at SU. In 2001,
she was hired as director of academic advising when the College of Human Services
and Health Professions was formed (now
Falk College). She was directly involved
with the development of the sport management major and was officially hired into the
department as the Capstone coordinator in
2008.
As internship coordinator, Roy has
helped over 300 students to combine their
academic interests in both liberal arts and
the sports realm with their professional
involvement through internships and the
12-credit Senior Capstone Experience. She
has been the go-to person for faculty members when they have questions about advising and other student issues. She developed
and taught SPM 201-Professional Development in Sports, a course that helps students
develop a personal brand to compete as
young professionals in the sports industry.
Roy served as an advisor to the SPM
Learning Community, and taught the
Falk College Gateway course for firstyear students.
Carol and her husband, Rich,
live in Baldwinsville. She hopes to
volunteer and work part-time in her
retirement, as well as spend time
with her five adult children, travel
and participate in outdoor activities like hiking, running, golf and tennis.
“Looking back at my time here, I realize
how much I have learned personally, professionally and even academically,” Roy said.
“If I had it to do all over again, I wouldn’t
change a thing. I have met so many wonderful people and made so many friends. I have
loved being part of the Orange team.”
Sport management director and chair
Michael Veley said, “Carol has been an
integral part in the overall success and development of sport management students
through her teaching, academic advisement, mentoring and service work. She has
been a terrific colleague and her overall
dedication and professionalism associated
with student achievement is extraordinary.
She is to be commended.”
Thank for your many years of service to
Syracuse University, Falk College and the
Sport Management Department, Carol. We
will miss you!
SPM hosts visiting
scholar from China
The Department of
Sport Management
will host associate
professor Gao Fei,
of Beijing, China,
for the 2013-14
academic year.
Fei, 36, will stay
through June 2014
to participate in
a research exchange program as a
visiting scholar. Fei has worked for the
department of Physical Education at
China University of Political Science
and Law since 2003. He has studied sports law for six years. He was
promoted to deputy secretary general
of the Research Center of Sports Law
at CUPL in 2013, under the tutelage of
Huang Jin.
Fei said he looks forward to
researching sports law and sport management while at Syracuse University.
He played professional basketball in
China, having his career cut short by
a knee injury. He is a fan of Syracuse
Orange basketball and hopes to study
the teams while he’s here.
Fei came to America with his wife,
Zhao Jie, and their son, Gao Yutang.
NEWS AND EVENTS
SU’s NASCAR Kinetics team shines in national marketing competition
NASCAR was looking for high-achieving, innovative students who thrive on creativity,
problem solving and teamwork to participate in a national marketing competition it
launched in 2009 to foster brand awareness throughout campus communities.
Sport management instructor Patrick
Ryan knew his students in SPM 490-Independent Study: NASCAR Kinetics would be
up to the challenge. And he was right.
The five-student team placed second
(losing by two one-thousandths of a point)
during the 2012 NASCAR Kinetics Marketing in Motion national competition that
partners students with NASCAR professionals to work through real-world business challenges and opportunities. The SU
student team gained hands-on, resumebuilding experience in areas including
event planning, marketing and project
management.
“This program gave SPM students
the opportunity to run a Motor Sports
Event from concept through execution,”
Ryan said. “Students were able to put
into action concepts from the classroom
and demonstrate skills in a competitive
environment by demonstrating work-environment talents.”
Part of the team’s success in the competition was based on execution of a viewing party, which took place October 21,
2012, at the Inn Complete on SU’s South
Campus. Team members who organized
the free event included sport management
majors Charma Harris, Carlos Ruiz II and
Alvaro Voelker Jr., broadcast and digital
journalism major Carly Signor and television, radio and film major Tyler Kenly.
The viewing party was open to SU students, faculty, staff and the public. When
guests arrived at the official NASCARsponsored viewing party featuring the Hollywood Casino 400 race, they were treated
to food, games and giveaways.
NASCAR developed the NASCAR
Sport management majors (from left) Alvaro Voelker
Kinetics: Marketing in Motion program to
Jr., Carlos Ruiz II and Charma Harris worked with SPM
expose college students to and educate
instructor Pat Ryan, broadcast and digital journalism
them about the NASCAR brand.
major Carly Signor and television, radio and film
major Tyler Kenly on a national marketing campaign
for NASCAR in the Fall of 2012.
S P M N e w s 1 8 S u m m e r
2 0 1 3
NEWS AND EVENTS
SPM students organize Great Cardboard
Campout on SU Quad
They slept overnight in cardboard boxes, collected personal care items
to benefit Rescue Mission
first day of classes. Students understand
they have an important role to play in
giving back to the communities where
they live and work today and well into the
future,” Pauline said.
Pauline arrived on the Quad at about
11 a.m. to set up, with the help of Kim
Desmond, administrative assistant in the
Falk College Office of Advancement. Students began to arrive at 2 p.m., with most
staying overnight on the Quad, leaving
about 7 a.m. April 19.
Boxes were donated by Syracuse
Moving and Storage. Students were only
allowed to bring a sleeping bag, blanket,
duct tape and a small pillow.
A few weeks before the event, one
member of the class, Syracuse University
basketball player Baye Moussa Keita, had
participated in the Final Four in Atlanta.
But on this night, he found himself sleeping in a cardboard box.
“It really opened my eyes,” said Keita,
a reserve center who averaged 3.7 points
and 3.7 rebounds this season. “I’ve always
been thankful for everything I have, but
this really made me aware.”
Like most of his classmates, Keita was
more than a little stunned when Pauline
first pitched the project idea in class.
“We were all like, ‘C’mon. Do we have
to do this?” Keita said. “My teammates were like, ‘You’re crazy.’”
But the more Pauline talked—and
especially after a visit to the Rescue
Mission—Keita grew more interested
in the project. His enthusiasm, Pauline said, helped change his classmates’ opinions, too.
“Well he’s not balking about
doing this, so we shouldn’t either,”
Pauline said. “His discussions helped
other students get over their apprehension.”
The coursework is partially funded through a gift by sport management advisory board member David
Kleinhandler.
In the past year, an average of 235 people
The coursework and related projects
who might otherwise have been homeless
address personal ethical principles and
stayed at the Rescue Mission shelter in
social responsibility.
Syracuse nightly. On April 18, 2013, 26
Students were asked to engage with
students enrolled in SPM 101-Personal
each other throughout the day and night
and Social Responsibility slept in cardand to learn something about each perboard boxes overnight on the SU Quad to
son. They also engaged other students,
raise awareness about homelessness. As
staff and faculty who were on the Quad or
part of this effort, they collected personal
passing by to tell them about the event.
care items to benefit men using the ResPauline said he is hoping to make the
cue Mission shelter in the Syracuse comCardboard Campout an annual event.
munity, including razors, soap, deodorant,
“We talked about this project the very
toothbrushes, toothpaste, socks
and underwear.
“Overall, the campout was a
success,” said Falk College associate professor of sport management
Jeff Pauline, who led the course.
“The students learned a lot about
themselves. They can sleep outside
overnight with nothing more than a
cardboard box, blanket and sleeping bag, and how difficult it must be
for people to sleep out every night
regardless of the weather. They also
learned the importance of volunteering their time and effort to assist others who are in need. They can make
a difference in people’s lives.”
The event gained national
exposure when ESPN.com featured Louiszell Alexander, Baye Moussa Keita and SPM associate professor
Jeff Pauline (from left) at the Cardboard Campout in April.
it online.
S P M N e w s 1 9 ESPN’s Dana O’Neil contributed to
this report.
S u m m e r
2 0 1 3
NEWS AND EVENTS
SPM students embark on
European Olympic Odyssey
Twelve students in the Department of Sport Management,
led by instructor Pat Ryan, traveled to Europe in May as part
of a 19-day, four-country Olympic Odyssey trip.
The program began in London, where students experienced the impact of the 2012 Summer Games. From London,
they traveled to Paris, birthplace of the modern Olympic movement, and then on to Lausanne to inspect the present-day
“Olympic Capital,” headquarters of the International Olympic
Committee (IOC) since 1915. The group then headed to Olympia, home of the ancient Olympics, and lastly on to Athens, site
of the 2004 Summer Games.
“This is a great opportunity for students to take an in-depth
look into the Olympic Movement,” said Ryan, who completed his
fifth Olympic Odyssey trip. “Talking to leading representatives of
the Olympic family provides unparalleled access to experts of past
and future Olympic Games.”
In addition, students met with representatives from the Court
of Arbitration for Sport to better understand how the Olympic
movement is managed and its relationship to the world of sport
throughout history.
They spent the Spring 2013 semester learning about Olympic
games past, present and future in SPM 400-Olympic Odyssey, an
SU Abroad Course.
Ryan and his students kept a blog of the trip. Find it online at
http://olympicodyssey2013.blogspot.com.
SPM Winter Olympic Odyssey 2013
In February, 20 undergraduate Sport Management students traveled to
Lake Placid as part of their SPM 300-Olympic Odyssey class.
The students were accompanied by Falk Professor of Sport Management Rick Burton, SPM instructor Pat Ryan and sport venue and event
management graduate students Katie Rudy, Noel Byrd, Whitney Taylor and
Laura Porth.
The group visited the United States Olympic Training Center and hockey
arena, where the 1980 “miracle on ice” took place, as well as visited the
village’s ski jump area and downtown Lake Placid.
“The trip makes the Olympic Odyssey course come to life,” Burton said.
“Students actually get to go to a Winter Olympic Games site and see how
small Lake Placid is.”
Many on the trip played basketball in the Olympic Training Center,
where Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls were staying.
“The students got to see that making an Olympic team is an incredibly
demanding pursuit and how single-minded these athletes must be to even
think about beating the world’s best athletes in their respective sport,”
Burton said.
It was the fourth annual Winter Olympic Odyssey trip to Lake Placid for
sport management.
S P M N e w s 2 0 S u m m e r
2 0 1 3
NEWS AND EVENTS
Spring Break immersion trip to Los Angeles
For the third consecutive year, the Department of Sport Management offered an
eight-day immersion trip to Los Angeles
during Spring Break 2013. Thanks to the
continued support of SPM advisory board
member Jeffrey Lomasky, and his wife,
Andrea, 18 students met with 35 industry
executives and practitioners in a variety
of work settings and professional environments.
The students were accompanied by
SPM Department director and chair Michael Veley, and his wife, Kate, who is the
events and alumni manager for the Falk
College.
The students met with executives from
the Professional Golf Association (PGA)
tour; NASCAR; National Hockey League
(NHL); National Basketball Association
(NBA); Major League Soccer (MLS); Major
League Baseball (MLB); intercollegiate
athletics (UCLA and USC); Fox Sports; NFL
Network; Creative Artists Agency (CAA);
Mandalay Sports & Entertainment; the
Anschutz Events Group (AEG Worldwide);
Rose Bowl; Los Angeles Coliseum; Staples
Center; LA Live; and Nokia Theatre.
Students toured Hollywood, Santa
Monica and Venice Beach; the Walk of
Fame; 20th Century Fox; Home Depot
Center and Olympic sport training complex; Dodger Stadium; UCLA Hall of Fame;
Pauley Pavilion; John McKay Center;
Writer’s Guild Theatre; and the LA Kings
practice facilities (Toyota Center). Additionally, they attended a Los Angeles Clippers
NBA game and saw the defending NHL
champion LA Kings beat Calgary. They also
enjoyed the comedy of actor and director
Rob Reiner during an SU in LA-sponsored
alumni event.
“Through the generosity of SPM advisory board member Jeff Lomasky, we have
put together a transformational trip for our
undergraduate students,” said Michael
Veley. “This is an all-encompassing perspective of sports. The students are in awe
of the breadth of exposure, the professional networking opportunities and invaluable
career advice that they receive from some
of the most influential executives and practitioners in the sports and entertainment
industries.”
The trip accomplished the objective of
meeting with as many sport entities and
industry executives as feasible, including
media, marketing agencies, athlete representation, professional teams, collegiate
programs, and sport venue facilities to
educate students and create a greater
awareness of the overall profession, while
building the SU brand on the West Coast.
“The Sport Management LA Immersion
trip was a once-in-a-lifetime experience
that truly provided me with valuable insight
and realization into a wide variety of facets
in the sports industry,” said SPM student
Scott Kevy. “Seeing the whole other side of
the country for the first time was eye-opening by itself, but seeing the sports industry
in action in the city of Los Angeles was a
treasured life-changing opportunity.”
At the Velodrome
NFL Network
LA Coliseum
LA Kings Practice Facility
Students go ‘down under’ on Australian Odyssey trip
David B. Falk College endowed professor of sport management
Rick Burton took seven Syracuse University students, including two
sport management majors, to Australia in July as part of a threecredit course titled SPM 400-Australian Sport Industry. It was the
second annual trip for the SU Abroad course.
The group visited Melbourne, Sydney, Cairns (the Great Barrier
Reef) and Surfer’s Paradise, taking in professional football and
rugby, as well as scuba diving and surfing.
Burton, who previously worked in Australia, said the purpose of
the trip is to expose American students to a different sport culture
and a wide range of spectator and participatory sports.
The students stay in each city about five days and along with
classroom work, they mix in cultural studies, with trips to the rainforest and time with aboriginal elders.
Burton, who teaches the International Sports Relations class,
said, “We tell our students that they live in a global economy and
they must be aware of what is going on around the world and
not just in Upstate New York or in the U.S. This trip helps reveal a
very vibrant sport economy in another country and is valuable for
SU students because it shows them a culture that is even more
sport-centric than the one they are used to in the U.S. Australians
are avid fans and participants and there is much we can learn
from the Australian approach to sport. In particular, I love taking
students across so much of that great country and letting them try
things and see things they might never see again.”
S P M N e w s 2 1 S u m m e r
2 0 1 3
NEWS AND EVENTS
Sports marketing class pairs with Team Epic
Aside from cheering on the Orange at
chance to work on a real-world project in
the 2013 NCAA Men’s Basketball Chamwhich the intention was to provide AT&T
pionship, students in the Department of
with ideas that can be integrated into its
Sport Management can say they had a
2014 marketing plan. From this, students
different impact on the tournament.
also garnered a chance to network with
Members of the SPM 444-Sports
some of the top executives in the sport
Marketing Management class worked
industry.”
with Team Epic, a marketing and sponSPM student Zoe Bernstein ’14 said
sorship agency, and one of its major
Team Epic gave the students a real-life
clients, AT&T, during the tournament.
learning experience in a classroom setting.
The students were tasked with
“The ability to be creative and come
designing a sponsorship activation plan
up with an idea that is targeted at college
and utilizing primarily digital stratestudents was rewarding. This project alSPM students show their Orange pride while working with
gies for AT&T and the NCAA Men’s
lowed us to connect with a company that
Team Epic at the 2013 NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four in
Basketball Championship.
could potentially help us in the future,”
Atlanta.
“The students learned a tremendous
she said. “The drive to do well to impress
amount about not only sponsorship
Dr. Gina Pauline, SPM director of undera potential future employer was a key asactivation but also the relationship begraduate advising. “This experience was
set to the project.”
tween a client and a sport property,” said
very advantageous as the students had a
SPM Club visits Philadelphia
Members of the Sport Management Club were treated to an
overnight trip to Philadelphia in April in celebration and appreciation of their hard work on the club’s charity auction.
The group, accompanied by SPM Club co-advisor Kate
Veley, met with executives from Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia as well as several members of the Philadelphia Phillies
organization, including Marketing and Sales Coordinator
Chris Stein, Group Tours and Sales Rep Stephanie Nieland,
Director of Ticket Sales Phil Feather and Coordinator of
Premium Sales and Service Jerry O’Connor. They also met
Front Row Marketing Services employees Mark Wise (Director of Strategy and Insights) and Jessica Donahue (Marketing Manager). Front Row Marketing is a Comcast Spectacor
subsidiary.
The group watched a Phillies vs. Cardinals game and
toured some of Philadelphia’s famous sites, including
Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell Center and Reading
Terminal Market.
Looking ahead to 2013-14
There will be no shortage of
educational and networking opportunities for students during the
upcoming academic year. Several
SPM faculty will be involved with
the following events:
August – Notah Begay Foundation Sports Roundtable, Turning
Stone Resort and Casino,
August 26
September – SPM Advisory Board
Roundtable and Meet and Greet,
Sept. 23
October – Walk for Peace/Run for
Hope – 2.5-mile campus fundraising event as part of the 25th Anniversary kickoff of Remembrance
Week, honoring 35 SU students
and 270 victims killed in a terrorist attack of flight Pan Am 103
over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988.
November – Syracuse Sports
Summit, sponsored by Syracuse
Sports Corporation, Nov. 20; SU
Sports Symposium in Los Angeles,
Nov. 7 (tentative).
December - 9th Annual SPM Club
Charity Sport Auction, Carrier
Dome
March – Immersion trip to Los Angeles during Spring Break, March
8-15; SPM Alumni reception in
New York City, March 24
S P M N e w s 2 2 April – 3rd Annual WISE Symposium; “Changing Sports, Changing
Lives” documentary film premiere
and educational roundtable on
Disability and Sports (tentative).
May – Olympic Odyssey trip to
London; Paris; Lausanne, Switzerland; and Athens and Olympia,
Greece.
SPM student organizations:
Sport Management Club –
meets every Tuesday at 7 p.m.,
beginning August 27, at 010
Crouse Hinds Hall. Advisors:
Michael Veley and Kate Veley
Women in Sports and Events
(WISE) – meets every Wednesday at 7 p.m. beginning August
28 at 011 Life Science Building. Advisors: Gina Pauline and
Kate Veley
Baseball Sabermetrics Club –
meets every Wednesday at
6 p.m. TBD. (First meeting to
be announced). Advisor:
Rodney Paul
’Cuse Crew – Experiential
learning opportunities working
with SU Athletics sports teams.
TBD
S u m m e r
2 0 1 3
NEWS AND EVENTS
SPM guest speakers 2012-13
Michelle Berg, senior vice president,
Team EPIC
Eric Prager, owner, Engineered Fitness
Dan Rosenthal, director of inside ticket
sales, New York Yankees
Bruce Bernstein, coordinating
producer, ESPN
Cory Rowe, general manager, IMG
Learfield Ticket Sales Solutions,
Syracuse University Athletics
Buckets Blake, team member, Harlem
Globetrotters
Enrique Casanova, senior vice
president, Team EPIC
Brian Connolly, managing partner,
Victus Advisors
Kevin Cooper, senior director of
communications, Houston Texans
Stephen Rutkowski, manager of
production research, college Recruiter,
ESPN Stats and Info Group
NFL columnist Gary Myers (right), with Class of
2013 SPM graduate Matt Samost and Sport
Management director Michael Veley.
Howard Dolgon, owner,
Syracuse Crunch
John Simone, general manager,
Syracuse Chiefs
Brandon Steiner, CEO, Steiner Sports
Marketing
David Falk, founder and CEO, F.A.M.E.
John Stapleton, director of crewing, Fox
Sports Los Angeles
Buffy Filippell, CEO and founder,
Teamworkonline.com
Maggie Walters, director of promotions
and communications, Syracuse Crunch
Daryl Gross, director of athletics,
Syracuse University
Wyatt Grow, co-founder, Color Me Rad
Shana Gritsavage, director of global
events, Under Armour
Roy D. Simmons Jr., former SU men’s
lacrosse coach
Football Hall of Famer and former SU star
Floyd Little.
Jeff Hendersen, president, One Million
Revolutions
Via Skype
Lisa Baird, chief marketing officer,
USOC
Onnie Bose, vice president of
broadcasting, NFL
Brad Horn, senior director of
communications and education,
National Baseball Hall of Fame
William Funk, Turner Sports
Scott Hanson, host of “NFL Red Zone,”
NFL Network
Scott Jeffer, manager of CRM and
database strategy, New York Yankees
Tim Langley, director of consumer
products and licensing, NFL
David Higdon, managing director
for integrated marketing and
communications, NASCAR
Floyd Little, National Football
Hall of Fame member
Chris LaPlaca, senior vice president of
communications, ESPN
Tim McGhee, principal and founder,
MSP Sports
ESPN’s Bruce Bernstein (left) and SPM
professor of practice Dennis Deninger.
Alex Patterson, chief cultural officer,
Tough Mudder
Jeff Mickle, development director,
Syracuse Convention and Visitors
Bureau
Blake Tatroe, senior marketing
manager, Feld Entertainment
Sandy Montag, senior vice president,
IMG Sports & Entertainment
The best efforts were made to list all
guest speakers who so generously spent
their time with our students. In the event
any guest speaker was missed, please
email mchetney@syr.edu so we may
supplement this list online. Thank you.
Gary Myers, NFL columnist,
New York Daily News
Laurie Orlando, senior vice president,
talent planning and development, ESPN
Michael Patent, senior vice president
of sales, AEG China
Julie Nemeroff, hospitality coordinator,
NBA
Former SU men’s lacrosse coach Roy Simmons Jr.
S P M N e w s 2 3 S u m m e r
2 0 1 3
ADVISORY BOARD
Meet the SPM advisory board members
Chair
Chair Emeritus
Brandon Steiner is the founder
and chairman of Steiner Sports
Marketing, the largest company
of its kind in America. He’s
considered a sports marketing
guru who is a regular on
ESPN Radio 1050 on Sunday
mornings, along with his
co-hosting duties on YankeesSteiner: Memories of the Game,
which is prominently featured on
the YES Network.
David B. Falk is the founder of
F.A.M.E. Basketball and has long
been recognized as one of the
industry’s leading figures and
most talented innovators. He has
represented the top players in
NBA history and has negotiated
record-breaking contracts for
his clients. A generous gift from
Rhonda S. Falk ’74 and David B.
Falk ’72 in 2011 established the
Falk College of Sport and Human
Dynamics.
Ronald C. Bernard has over
35 years experience in the
entertainment, sports and
media industries in both
senior operating and financial
capacities. He is currently a
managing director at Alvarez
& Marsal specializing in the
media/sports industries.
Russ Brandon is the chief
executive officer of the Buffalo
Bills. He was appointed by NFL
Commissioner Roger Goodell
to the Business Ventures
Committee, which is responsible
for the oversight of various
businesses of the league.
Brandon is an East Syracuse
native.
Howard Dolgon is president and
CEO of the Syracuse Crunch.
A founding member of Alan
Taylor Communications, Inc.,
the leading independent sports
public relations agency in the
country, Dolgon has spent more
than 25 years in the public
relations/marketing field. He
is a visiting professor at the
S.I. Newhouse School of Public
Communications of Syracuse
University.
Michael Duda is the cofounder/managing partner of
Consigliere Brand Capital, a
marketing-driven investment
company based in New York
City. Consigliere is a group
of business athletes that
leverage marketing and brand
management principles to help
companies grow faster and more
profitably.
Julie Foudy is a former captain
of the U.S. women’s national
soccer team. She is currently an
analyst and reporter for ESPN,
founded the Julie Foudy Sports
Leadership Academy and served
as president of the Women’s
Sports Foundation from 20002002.
Cliff Kaplan is former president
of Van Wagner Sports and
Entertainment, LLC, a leading
sports marketing and media
company. Kaplan, a graduate of
Syracuse University, has been
a respected member within the
sports marketing industry for
more than 20 years.
David Kleinhandler is the
founder and chairman of
ArxSocial and has been an
entrepreneur and investor for
over 20 years. His successful
track record with many
businesses is an asset to
ArxSocial’s business model and
market strategy. He is a Syracuse
University graduate.
Shawn Garrity is vice president
of integrated solutions at Gilbert.
The SU graduate has made
a mark in the entertainment
industry, creating integrated
marketing and event properties
with such companies as ESPN,
NBC, CBS College Sports and
Gatorade.
Christopher J. Lencheski is
president of Front Row Marketing
Services, a Comcast-Spectacor
Subsidiary. The SU graduate
oversees the day-to-day
operations of the company,
which generates revenue for
public assembly venues, sports
teams and municipalities
through marketing and sales.
Mark Geddis is president and
CEO of Geddis Holdings and
managing partner of Super Fan
Sports Fundraising. Prior to
that, he was the founder and
CEO of Collegiate Images and
was also director of marketing
communications for the Florida
Marlins.
David Levy is president of sales,
distribution and sports for
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.
The SU graduate oversees all
advertising sales and distribution
for Turner’s portfolio of U.S.
networks and digital properties,
as well as oversight of Cartoon
Network Enterprises.
Ed Goren, a 46-time Emmy
Award winner, is the vice
chairman of Fox Sports Media
Group. He was inducted into the
Broadcasting & Cable Hall of
Fame in 2011. Goren graduated
from SU in 1966, and in 2005,
the Newhouse School of Public
Communications honored Goren
as one of its most distinguished
alumni.
Jeffrey L. Lomasky is the CFO
and senior managing director of
Cerberus Capital Management,
one of the world’s leading private
investment firms. Lomasky is the
vice president and chief financial
officer of CRE Gateway II REIT,
LLC, and CFO and senior vice
president of Ableco Finance LLC,
Daryl Gross is the director of
athletics at Syracuse University.
He is credited with successfully
leading SU into the Atlantic
Coast Conference and enhancing
numerous women’s and Olympic
sports teams. SU finished in
the Top 40 of the Learfield Cup
rankings for the first time in
school history in 2012-13.
S P M N e w s 2 4 Ian McFate is a 2008 SU
Sport Management graduate
who recently accepted a new
position with Aramark Sports &
Entertainment at Citi Field (home
of the New York Mets and 2013
MLB All-Star Game) as manager
of concessions operations.
He previously worked for the
New York Yankees in business
development and ticket sales.
S u m m e r
2 0 1 3
ADVISORY BOARD
Sandy Montag is senior
corporate vice president/
managing director of clients for
IMG Sports and Entertainment,
representing several professional
athletes, coaches and
broadcasters.
Julie Nemeroff is a 2008
graduate of Syracuse University
and a member of the first SPM
graduating class. She began her
career at the NBA as a marketing
assistant and was promoted to
hospitality coordinator last year.
She previously worked for Major
League Soccer.
Laurie Orlando is senior vice
president for talent development
and planning at ESPN. Orlando,
a graduate of Syracuse
University, oversees ESPN’s Talent
Office, and is active in SU’s
chapter of Women in Sports and
Events (WISE).
Ben Sutton, Jr. is president of
IMG College, which manages
multi-media rights for more than
100 colleges and collegiate
athletic conferences, including
corporate sponsorships, radio
and television programs and
publishing.
John Wildhack is executive vice
president of production at ESPN.
The SU graduate is responsible
for all ESPN and ABC game,
event and studio production work
for domestic and international
television and radio networks.
Michael Wohl is president of
Pinnacle Housing Group. He
focuses on the development of
quality, affordable housing in
South Florida. The SU graduate
heads Pinnacle’s disposition
efforts throughout the state.
Kathrine Switzer is president of
AtAlanta Sports Promotions, Inc.,
and running’s most iconic figure
after being the first woman to
enter the Boston Marathon. The
SU graduate is an Emmy Awardwinning TV commentator, author
and motivational speaker.
Mike Tirico has handled a
variety of assignments for ESPN,
ESPN Radio and ABC Sports
since 1991, establishing himself
as one of the most recognizable
faces in the industry. In 1987, he
was the first recipient of the Bob
Costas Scholarship, given to a
broadcast journalism student at
Syracuse University.
SPM Advisory Board welcomes
Patti Kleinman-Fallick, Pamela Hollander
The Falk College is pleased to welcome
two new members to its Sport Management Advisory Board. Read about them
below and visit our website at falk.syr.
edu/sportmanagement for more detailed bios of Patti Kleinman-Fallick and
Pamela Hollander as well as the entire
SPM Advisory Board.
Patti Kleinman-Fallick is director
of broadcast operations at the MLB
Patti Kleinman-Fallick
Pamela Hollander
Network. The Syracuse University
graduate was part of the original team
of employees to be part of MLB Network’s
policies and procedures for MLB Network’s
record-setting launch in 2009. She overgames, live studio programming, breaking
sees the daily integration of MLB Network
news and special events programming.
programming, promotions and commercial
She earned two Sports Emmy Awards
content while managing the operational
Support Sport
Management
and previously worked for the National
Hockey League for 15 years and at NBC
for 10 years.
Pamela Hollander is the senior director
of integrated marketing communications for Allstate and has been in the
marketing, communications and public
relations industry for more than 20
years. At Allstate, she leads the corporation’s sponsorship marketing, promotions and consumer public relations
programs and overseas marketing and
advertising for the Powersports insurance
lines of business. Hollander serves on the
Chicago Chapter Board of the National
Sports Marketing Network (NSMN).
From experiential field trips and special campus guest lectures to immersion programs and scholarships, there are many opportunities to support
students in the Department of Sport Management. If you would like to learn
more about these and other opportunities to support our program, please
contact David Salanger, assistant dean, advancement and external affairs,
at 315-443-8989 or dasalang@syr.edu.
S P M N e w s 2 5 David Salanger
S u m m e r
2 0 1 3
ALUMNI
To our SPM alumni,
Thank you to all who have recently updated your information and forwarded photos. I truly appreciate your
efforts to stay in touch. The information noted here is
only as good as what you’ve provided, or what we were
able to track with relative certainty. If your information
is not included, or is inaccurate, please email me at
koveley@syr.edu so we can update our records. And
when addresses, work or home situations change, we
hope you will forward us an update. Got engaged? New job or recent promotion? A “first” that we should know about? We’d love to hear from you. Also,
please join our Linkedin.com group (tinyurl.com/SUFalkCollegeLinkedIn
Alumni) and our Facebook page at SUFalkCollegeAlumni. Social media
and college websites will be changing rapidly in an effort to keep you
informed and connected with SPM and with each other. Stay tuned and let
me know if you’d like to contribute to this effort. Thank you!
Alumni Firsts
Mike Ross, ’07
first SPM graduate (December 2007)
Ian Taubin, ’07
first SPM minor
Lauren Fischer, ’08
first teacher – fifth grade,
New Jersey School District
Jake Silverman, ’08
first championship ring – Ivy League
Football, University of Pennsylvania
Jorden Rosen, ’09
first attorney (currently employed
at Mueller Law)
Greg Szklany, ’09
first married (6/26/10, wife, Kathryn)
Thuong Hoang, ’11
first SPM alum to meet Superman
(or the actor that plays him)
Antwon Bailey, ’12
first baby, Antwon Bailey Jr.,
born March 19, 2013
Kate Veley, Falk College Events and Alumni Manager
NAME
EMPLOYER
TITLE
Class of 2008
NAME
EMPLOYER
TITLE
Heather Widell
Llorens Law Group
Attorney - Civil Law
Northfield Consulting
Group
Business Manager
Emily Arrighi
ESPN
Graphic Systems Controller
Isabella Babienco
MediaCom
Digital Media Planner
Daniel Bain
Charlotte Bobcats
Manager, Arena and Event
Operations
Brian Belsky
The Tennis Center
Member Services Manager
Samantha Berschler
Goldman Sachs
Campus Recruiter
Jason Blanchette
University of
Massachusetts
Director of Sales, Athletic
Department
Lindsey Campbell
San Antonio Silver Stars Director of
WNBA team
Communications
Robert Cavicchia
Inaria
Account Manager
Tom Flynn
Momentum Worldwide
Account Executive
John Galvin
Kraft Sports Group
Ticketing
Matt Gay
Cleveland Indians
Group Sales Account
Executive
Saurab Guha
Wells Fargo - U.S.
Corporate Banking
Assistant Vice President
Stephanie Bissett
The Wheeler School,
Providence, R.I.
Teacher, lacrosse and
basketball coach
Robert Wynn
Austin Blumstein
New York Mets
Ticket Operations
Class of 2009
Emmanuel Fernandez
ACE
Lauren Fischer
New Jersey School
District
Fifth-grade teacher
Jackie Friedman
Rutgers Graduate
School
Student
Brian Goodman
Deluxe Corporation
Social Media Specialist
Suzanne Grassel
William and Mary
Graduate School
Student
Alana Hager-Johnson
IMG
Administrative Assistant
Jonathan Hight
Carat
Assistant Media Buyer
Amy (Hobbs) Lawicki
National Wheelchair
Basketball Association
Development Director
Nicole (Imbrogno)
Bucholtz
Duquesne University
Assistant Director of
Athletic Marketing and
Promotions
Ian McFate
Aramark Sports &
Entertainment at
Citi Field
Manager of Concessions
Operations
Casey Miller
IO Media
Project Manager - Sports
and Entertainment
Kelly Harrington
Roberts + Langer DDB
Account Executive,
Neutrogena
Julie Nemeroff
NBA
Business Development
Brad Peetoom
Labor work
John-Christopher
Higgins
Iona College
Lhoist North America
Assistant Sports
Information Director
Jeff Petrino
T3 Media
Senior Account Manager
Hideto Ide
Xebio
Evan Intrater
Preferred Return
Ryan Jody
Turner/Sports Illustrated Digital Advertising Sales
Michael Juhas
Audience Science
Patrick Kermond
Burnham Boat Slings
Richie Lampasi
Mile High Sport
Radio Producer/
Staff Writer
Gary Langlais
Suffolk University Law
School
Student
Dan Lehane
Chrysler Group, LLC
Area Sales Manager
Michael Ross
Atlanta Falcons
Midwest Area Scout
Steve Shur
Rutgers School of Law
Student
Jake Silverman
University of
Pennsylvania
Director - Football
Operations
Lauren Smith
Harvard University
Athletics
Athletic Ticket Office
Assistant
Alex Suskind
Moviefone - Huffington
Post Media Group
Editor
Matt Van Pelt
Ellis Medicine
Social Media
Communications Specialist
S P M N e w s 2 6 Business Development/
Client Relations
Account Manager
S u m m e r
2 0 1 3
ALUMNI
NAME
EMPLOYER
TITLE
NAME
EMPLOYER
TITLE
Jeffrey Lipschutz
Morgan Stanley,
Institutional Equity
Division
Legal Consultant
Michael Bassewitz
Paragon Marketing
Group
Account Coordinator Gatorade
Nick Martin
Relativity Sports, LLC
Director of Business
Development
Tom Brewster
Babson College
Candidate for MBA, May
2015
Martin Meltzer
AdShots Golf
National Sales
Representative
Hyun Choi
ESPN
Statistics Associate
Andrew Cohn
Octagon
Account Executive
Chrissy Cronin
Boston Celtics
Group Sales Account
Executive
Edwin Dei
Octagon
Event Coordinator
Michael DiTrani
Pace University - Lubin
School of Business
Student
Lena Dubensky
Syracuse Crunch
Hockey Club
Account Executive
Erik Elken
KEZI-TV, 9,
Eugene, Oregon
Sports Reporter/Anchor
Trevor Ferris
Teach for America Little Wound School
High School Math
Instructor
Eileen Finn
University of New
Hampshire
Assistant Women’s
Lacrosse Coach
T. Willem Flohr
Team Detroit
Media Planner
Gregory Frias
United States Tennis
Association
Temporary Coordinator Marketing/Membership
Stacie Gerstel
Inside Sports and
Entertainment Group
Marketing Manager
Jason Gorsky
Solomon Page
Technology Partners
Technical Recruiter
Matthew Grodd
Kane International
Business Development
Steve Guzinski
Progenex
Sales Representative
Joseph Jacobi
Elite Marketing Group/
Energy Plus
Sales
Brad Kallet
CBS Radio
Web Producer for
CBSNewyork.com
Cooper Lemon
iSoccer LLC
Associate Director
Joshua Levy
William Morris Endeavor Assistant in the nonEntertainment
scripted TV department
University Account
Manager
Josh Lewis
Anomaly
Basketball Division
Coordinator, Director of
Basketball Analytics
Brandon Mahaffy
IDS Sports, Golf Division Project Manager
David McIsaac
Junior Tennis
Champions Center
Management Associate
Nicole Merritt
UCG Marketing
Account Coordinator
Thornton Mountford
Propcorn
Creator
Arinze Onuaku
Canton Charge of the
NBA Development
League
Professional basketball
player
John Orsenigo
Mt. Kisco Athletic Club
Membership Consultant
Brett Payne
Maritz
Project/Program
Coordinator
Matthew Perry
Physource Solutions
Director of Marketing and
Sales
Lori Robinson
Louisiana St. University, Ph.D. Candidate, Higher
CCASCA
Education administration
Jorden Rosen
Mueller Law
Attorney
Marc Rutchik
Undertone
Client Services Manager
Tiffany Selig
University of New
Hampshire School of
Law
Student
Jina Song
Leon Levy Foundation
Program Associate
Adam Sternbach
University of Miami Law/
Cardozo Law
Greg Szklany
Manley Field House,
Syracuse University
Delante’ Thomas
Cleveland State
Student
University College of Law
Ashley Van Hoff
Attorney
Evan Vandenabeele
HRP
Account Manager
Jason Yakubovich
MJJ Brilliant
Sales
Athletic Communications
Assistant
Class of 2010
Alexander Abramo
Andrew Abramson
Zipcar
Octagon - Los Angeles
08
) Lawicki, 20
Amy (Hobbs
Jake Silv
erman, 2
008
S P M N e w s 2 7 Marketing Manager
8
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Heathe
S u m m e r
2 0 1 3
ALUMNI
NAME
EMPLOYER
TITLE
NAME
Joseph Meyer
Prasco Park/Prasco
Labs
Field and Event Operations
CLASS OF 2011
Alyson Miksitz
The Philadelphia
Foundation
Advised Funds Program
Associate
Calvin Morrissey
Catalyst Public Relations Digital Senior Account
Executive
Ashley Neiman
Genesco Sports
Enterprises
Account Manager,
MillerCoors account
Andrew Park
Doman Group
Client Relations Associate
Joey Persoff
USC School of Law
Student
Jonathan Piken
Prudential Financial
Project Management
Associate
EMPLOYER
TITLE
David Anthony
Lynn University
Graduate Student
Adriel Aponte
Speedpro Imaging
Marketing Assistant
Adam Baldassarre
The Factory Agency
Coordinator, Marketing and
Athlete Relations
Brendan Barca
John Hancock Life
Insurance Company
Sales Administrator Retirement Plan Services
Andrew Bennett
Phoenix Coyotes Hockey New Business
Club
Development Account
Executive
Matthew Bernstein
Evolution Media Talent
Intern
Basil Bourque
Suffolk University Law
School
Student
Rachel Bubier
Houston Astros
Community Relations
Coordinator
Alyssa Burkgren
Aspire Group - Rutgers
University
Ticket Operations Assistant
Arielle Burks
RBH Global Wealth
Partners
Client Services Coordinator
Zachary Chernes
Havas Worldwide Digital Account Executive, Johnnie
Walker
Katie Ciurzynski
Fusion Specialties, Inc.
Senior Account
Coordinator, Athletic
Accounts
Erick Posser
Guggenheim Partners,
LLC
Associate
Jonathan Prinsell
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
(CFL)
Coordinator, New Stadium
Development
Ashley Shilo
Boston University
Assistant Director, Athletic
Department of Athletics Communications
Zach Siegal-Eisman
Fox Sports W. and
Frequency.com
Production Assistant/
Community Outreach
Manager
Chris Sotiropulos
Oakland Raiders
Ticket Operations
Ashley Spicer
Copperfield Racquet &
Health Club
Tennis Professional
Sam Staton
Northern California Golf Social Media and Events/
Association
Outings Manager
Jordan Cooper
Amazon Local
(subsidiary)
Inside Sales
Representative
Kevin Stone
AEG
Zachary Cravitz
Florida Panthers
Inside Sales
Representative
Gordie Taylor
Clear Channels Media + Director of Media
Entertainment
Integration
Devin DePoint
CaterTrax
Project Manager
Andrew Diamond
MLB.com (MLB
Advanced Media)
Production Assistant
Shantel Fair
Special Olympics Southern California
Coordinator, LA and San
Gabriel Valley
Devon Heinen
ESPN
Content Associate
Thuong Hoang
McGladrey Accounting
Firm
Assurance Associate
Julian Hucal
Maple Leaf Sports &
Entertainment
Account Executive, Toronto
FC
Maxx Kanter
G2 Worldwide
Account Associate
Associate Account
Executive
Matt Watson
University of Mississippi Student
Law School
Spencer Weinman
OpenX
Business Development
Manager
Peter Weintraub
GetControl.net
Director of Sales
Samuel Wood
Puck Agency, LLC
Executive Assistant to the
President
Tyler Young
Salesforce Marketing
Cloud
Productivity Specialist,
Global Marketing Team
009
mpasi, 2
Richie La
Jonathan P
rinsell,
2010
S P M N e w s 2 8 0
, 201
taton
Sam S
S u m m e r
2 0 1 3
ALUMNI
NAME
EMPLOYER
Matthew Kramer
Michael Kravec
TITLE
NAME
EMPLOYER
TITLE
The Aspire Group - Army Ticket Sales Consultant
Athletics
Hali Stark
MLB.com (MLB
Advanced Media)
Social Media Producer
Global Spectrum,
XLCenter & Rentschler
Field
Event Manager
Jamie Stein
The Legacy-Agency
Sports Manager
Sarah Tepper
The Lambs Club
Elana Kuflik
Law Office of Jacalyn F.
Barnett
Paralegal
Assistant Event
Coordinator
Akeem Thomas
ESPN
Erin Lamay
Olympic Regional
Development Authority
Account Services
Representative
Zachary Werner
Astra Zeneca
Marie Letterii
New York Lizards
Director of Youth Lacrosse
and Public Relations
Pharmaceutical Sales
Specialist
Sharifa Wilkinson
Max Levitt
Leveling the Playing
Field
Founder/Executive
Toronto Parks &
Recreation
Riverdale Farm Recreational support
Brett Woltz
Teel’s Impact Sports
Programming Coordinator
Alex Lewin
Turner Broadcasting
Account Service
Representative
Zachary Yeremian
Moontoast
Client Services Manager
Chelsey Zuckerman
New York Lizards
Daniel Magnante
Feigco Entertainment
Coordinator
Ticket Sales
Representative
Brian Meyer
Octagon
Senior Account Executive Consulting
Samuel Meyerkopf
Euroleagueadventures. Co-creator and Writer
com
Antwon Bailey
Underground Athlete
Semi-Private Trainer
Olivia Cheng
Paragon Sports
Marketing
Marketing and Social
Media Coordinator
Jonathan Coe
New York Yankees
Media Relations Intern
Matthew Cohen
Octagon
Event Coordinator Aftersales Specialist for
BMW
Danielle Czysz
Team Epic
Event Department trainee
Margaret D’Agostino
NFL
Community Relations
Assistant
Bryan Davidson
Syracuse University Law Student
School
Afonso Dos Santos
PSAV
Sales Manager
Jennifer Edwards
Colorado Mammoth
Account Exec., Season and
Group Ticket Sales
CLASS OF 2012
Wilson Pak
Elite Tournaments
Event Operations Associate
Matthew Paul
Salmanson Capital
(Campus Hill
Management)
Acquisitions Analyst
Ashley Robbins
Longwood University
Assistant Director, Athletic
Media Relations
Saralynn Ruhland
Buffalo Sabres
Account Services
Representative
Angie Sagnelli
Garden Protein
International
Field Marketing Manager
Morgan Salvan
TheLadders.com
Job Analyst
Aneesh Saxena
ESPN
Production Assistant
Jordan Schoem
Fischler Hockey Services Assistant to Stan Fischler
Gabriel Serra
Rugged Strength
Owner, Professional
Fitness Trainer
Joseph Fanelli
NASM Certified Personal
Trainer
Brian Sharkey
Mindshare
Associate Media Buyer
Natalie Fowler
Jonathan Stahler
Thomas Jefferson
School of Law
Student
Americorps/U.S. Forest Wildland Firefighting
Service
Doug Glosser
Duquesne University
Law School
Thuon
g Hoan
g, 201
1
, 2011
Brian Meyer
S P M N e w s 2 9 Student
Olivia Cheng
, 2012
S u m m e r
2 0 1 3
ALUMNI
NAME
EMPLOYER
TITLE
NAME
EMPLOYER
Kevin Hall
CBS-3 (KYW-TV) & CW
(WPSG-TV)
Sales Department - Traffic
Assistant
Michael Schenker
NY/NJ Super Bowl Host Marketing Coordinator
Committee 2014
Eric Handler
Madison Square Garden Temporary Marketing
Assistant - Rangers
Joseph Scrofani
Syracuse University Law Student
School
Sam Hochberg
New York Yankees
Inside Sales
Representative
Alexander Shimrat
Pro-Specialties Group
e-commerce Marketing
Coordinator
Sarah Holden
Brown University
Assistant Women’s
Lacrosse Coach
Michael Tischler
Event Manager
Zuri Irvin
FOX Sports Net
Assignment Desk Assistant
Comcast-Spectacor,
Sun National Bank
Center
Jordan Josephs
ArxSocial
Coordinator, Business
Development
Christopher Valente
Red Flag Rescue
Event Coordinator
Caitlin Kalinowski
ESPN Wide World of
Sports
Event Services Assistant
CLASS OF 2013
William King
Cleveland Indians
Inside Sales
Representative
Jesse Abrams
Team Epic
Experiential Department
Trainee
Alison Langevin
Guiffre Distributing
Promotions Manager
Erica Belanger
Cohn & Wolfe
Intern
Zachary Lazare
Inside Sports and
Entertainment Group
Account Manager, Sales
and Hospitality
Danielle Berman
The Brewer Group
Director of Interactive
Marketing and Public
Relations
Alyssa Marks
NBA
Marketing Specialist
Daniel Cohen
Turner Sports
Garrett McLaughlin
Buffalo State
Assistant Football Coach,
safeties
Sponsorship Sales and
Brand Activation Intern
Maxwell Cohen
Tampa Bay Rays
Andrew Naylor
The Cal Ripken
Experience
Tournament Operations
Intern
Intern - Corporate
Partnerships
Sarah Costello
Justin Odell
MLS
Business Development
Intern
Syracuse Crunch
Hockey Club
Community Relations
and Crunch Foundation
Manager
Antonio Olivero
The Wall Street Journal
Sports Reporter Intern
Philip Jay Davidson
New York Yankees
Anthony Prisco
University of Alabama
at Birmingham
Assistant Athletics
Media Relations Director
Inside Sales
Representative training
program
Katherine Punda
Boston Celtics
Strategic Marketing
Coordinator
Charma Harris
PGA Tour WGU Cadillac
Championship
Tournament Services
Coordinator
Jennifer Reilly
Mthree Image &
Director of Business
Advertising/Zazz Events Development
Josh Nightingale
Upside Media Group,
LLC
Manager of Player
Analytics
Jeffrey Reuben
NHL
Digital Video Coordinator
Elizabeth Pannucci
University of Akron
Student
Richard Ricco
Harbor Yard Sports &
Entertainment
Intern
Aaron Rudy
San Diego Chargers
Football Operations/
Personnel Internship
Brandon Rollins
Sports International
Marketing and Events
Management Coordinator
Matthew Samost
Tampa Bay Lighting
Business Strategy and
Analytics Department
Brett Ruff
Buffalo Sabres
Hockey Analytics Assistant
Andrew Silberman
New York Mets
Seasonal Corporate Sales
Assistant
Jamal Salmon
Bloomberg Sports
Basketball and Baseball
Analyst
Logan Wallace
360 degree Football
Academy
Intern
Caitlin
Kalino
wski, 2
012
TITLE
Charma
Harris, 2
013
on, 2013
y Davids
Philip Ja
S P M N e w s 3 0 S u m m e r
2 0 1 3
ALUMNI PROFILE
Meet Matt Gay,
SPM ’09, group sales
account executive,
Cleveland Indians
Meet Nick Martin,
SPM ’09, director of
business development,
Relativity Sports
Meet Jina Song,
SPM ’09,
program associate,
Leon Levy Foundation
Matt Gay, SPM ’09 and former treasurer of the
Sport Management Club, is in the middle of
his second season with the Cleveland Indians
as an account executive in their Group Sales
Department. His focus is on selling group tickets
and suites from both a new business perspective
and maintaining established relationships, from
large corporate events to smaller niche markets.
Gay began his career with Octagon Sports
Marketing in Atlanta. He completed his senior
Capstone project with Octagon the summer after
his senior year and was immediately hired on for
six months as an event coordinator on Octagon’s
Home Depot account, handling the onsite
activation for ESPN College GameDay.
“It was the best job I could have had right out
of college, being able to travel throughout the
country and learn constantly,” he said.
Through this experience, Gay was able secure
a marketing traineeship with the Atlanta Braves in
2010, managing their mobile marketing activation
and working on a season-long trainee ticket sales
project.
After the 2010 season, he acquired an inside
sales position with the San Diego Padres before
accepting a promotion to his current role with the
Cleveland Indians in 2012.
“It is very important in the sport industry
to get outside your comfort zone, take on new
experiences, build your own network and not be
afraid to relocate,” Gay said.
While working with the Padres, he met his
future wife, Joanna Halls, a 2011 graduate
of Indiana University. After Gay proposed last
October, Halls was able to secure a position with
the Cleveland Cavaliers in their Premium Service
Department. They are getting married on October
12, 2013, in Rochester Hills, Michigan.
Congratulations and best wishes!
Nick Martin is the director of business
development for Relativity Sports in Los Angeles.
In addition to his daily role of helping to manage
the activities and operations of the agency,
Martin works across each of the three primary
athlete representation divisions (NBA, NFL and
MLB) and participates in strategic initiatives,
partnerships, multi-level marketing campaigns,
client management, social media activations and
entertainment ventures.
Prior to his position at Relativity Sports, Martin
was director of college basketball and recruiting
for a boutique basketball agency in Los Angeles
called Rogue Sports. In the summer of 2012, he
helped to lead the integration of Rogue Sports,
SFX Baseball and Maximum Sports Management
into the newly formed Relativity Sports and
recently did the same for NBA agent Dan Fegan
and his basketball practice.
“Getting your foot in the door is the hardest
part of the sports industry, in my opinion,”
Martin said. “I was extremely fortunate that I
had a relationship with a business manager who
happened to represent an NBA client that was
represented by Rogue Sports. I was looking at
the right time and in the right place because
Rogue Sports expanded. Without him, there
was probably no way I would have secured the
opportunity I did.”
Martin explains, “You have to network. Think
of everyone you know who may have contacts in
the industry or who may know someone in the
business and ask if they are willing to make a
call for you. I’ll help any SPM alum as best I can.
Look me up on Linkedin.com.”
Jina Song is a program associate for the
Leon Levy Foundation, a private, not-for-profit
foundation created from Levy’s estate. The New
York City-based foundation continues Levy’s
philanthropic legacy and builds on his vision,
encouraging and supporting excellence in six
areas: Understanding the Ancient World; Arts and
Humanities; Preservation of Nature and Gardens;
Brain Research and Science; Human Rights;
and Jewish Culture. Song is responsible for the
management of the foundation’s grants and its
grant-making processes. She also works closely
with staff to analyze overall giving and grant
projections.
Before working for the foundation, Song
worked in fundraising for Girls Inc. and the 92nd
Street Y.
“It was a very interesting transition for me
to make the switch from fundraising to grantmaking,” she said. “Having a diverse fundraising
background is helpful because it allows me to
work with our grantees, since I understand what
it’s like to be on the other side of the table.”
While majoring in sport management at
Syracuse University, Song also minored in
social work.
“All of my internships were related to serving
the community at large, whether it was in
programming, fundraising or grant-making,”
Song said. “During the school year, I was also
active with the Sport Management Club. The
annual Charity Sports Auction was my first, and
a very good, fundraising experience. All of these
experiences helped to shape my career path.”
“My advice for students is even though I’d
planned to get into sports community work, I
ended up going down a different road,” Song
said. “It has proven surprisingly rewarding for
many reasons, and I’ve learned that you don’t
always have to take the pre-determined route.”
S P M N e w s 3 1 S u m m e r
2 0 1 3
ALUMNI PROFILE
Meet Eileen Finn,
SPM ’10, women’s lacrosse
assistant coach,
University of New Hampshire
Meet Chris Sotiropulos,
SPM ’10, ticket operations
manager, Oakland Raiders
Meet Ashley Robbins,
SPM ’11, assistant director
for athletics/media relations,
Longwood University
Eileen Finn, SPM ’10 (and dual major in
Newhouse TRF), is an assistant coach for the
women’s lacrosse team at the University of New
Hampshire. On the field, she is the defensive
coordinator and goalkeeper coach. Off the
field, she serves as the recruiting coordinator,
equipment manager and community service
liaison for the program.
Her tasks range from on-field coaching and
player development to identifying potential
student-athletes, ordering gear and apparel and
putting together community service opportunities
for players.
“I’m so fortunate to have a job that requires
me to use such a broad range of skills, most
of which I can say I learned during my time at
SU,” Finn said. “The best part of my job, hands
down, is being able to pass on what others have
taught me, and knowing that I have a large part
in preparing our players to be successful in their
own lives and careers.”
Prior to UNH, Finn was an assistant coach at
UMass Amherst, where she focused on individual
player development and day-to-day operations
of the program as well as planning, marketing
and running a high school summer camp on the
UMass campus.
After four years at Syracuse University as a
member of the varsity women’s lacrosse team,
Finn spent the summer of 2010 completing
her capstone as an intern for the U.S. Olympic
Committee, working specifically with the U.S.
Paralympic Military Programs. It was through her
experience at the USOC that she discovered a
passion for working with athletes with physical
disabilities, and she is currently enrolled as a
part-time graduate student in the Therapeutic
Recreation Administration program at UNH.
Chris Sotiropulos is the ticket operations and
game-day services manager for the Oakland
Raiders. He oversees the customer service staff
on game days, acts as an NFL liaison for the Fan
Code of Conduct and works closely with AEG,
which operates the O.co Coliseum in regard to
game-day security and operations.
His path to the Oakland Raiders started as a
freshman at Syracuse University and getting his
foot in the door during a summer internship in
2007. After three years of working as a summer
intern, he was hired full-time as a member of
the Raiders’ ticketing staff managing digital
marketing. Through a series of changes within the
organization, his role has adjusted in many ways
and he has been in his current position for about
a year.
Sotiropulos credits his success in landing a
job with the Raiders to many of the lessons he
learned while studying at Syracuse University.
“After being involved with the auction for four
years, I knew that working events was always
something I was passionate about. Being able to
work so closely on the auctions really gave me
the necessary skills to learn more about event
management,” he said.
Sotiropulos took that passion to a new level
during his Senior Capstone with the 2010
NCAA Men’s Basketball Regional Tournament
in Syracuse, where he worked closely with the
Syracuse University Athletics Department to assist
with all aspects of the Sweet 16 and Elite 8.
“To have had the opportunity as a student to
work a major sporting event will be something
I cherish for a long time,” he said. “It was an
unbelievable experience that helped me grow
significantly as a professional.”
Sotiropulos mentors current SPM students
about what it takes to get involved in the sports
industry. He encourages sport management
majors to begin networking early and reaching
out to as many industry professionals as
possible.
Ashley Robbins, SPM ’11, is the assistant director
for athletics/media relations at Longwood
University in Virginia.
Longwood, an NCAA Division I institution, just
completed its first year as a member of the Big
South Conference, and the athletics department
is rapidly growing and experiencing success.
Robbins is the sports information director for
seven of the school’s sports teams, including
its two most successful squads, the Big South
Tournament runner-up women’s basketball team
and the Big South champion softball team.
In addition to her day-to-day activities, which
include managing the athletics website, writing
press releases and acting as official statistician
for her teams, she also assisted with several
events featured on ESPN3 and ESPNU, acted as
the host sports information director for the Big
South field hockey tournament and designed all
of the department’s artwork for print and online
publications in the past year.
“The SU Sport Management Department’s
focus on practical experience in the field has
been a huge factor in helping me get to where I
am today,” Robbins said. “By the time I graduated
from Syracuse, I had completed internships with
six organizations, including the Boston Bruins and
the New England Revolution. Those experiences
afforded me the opportunity to create many
contacts in the field and to learn the ins and outs
of the job from some of the best media relations
professionals out there.”
Following her graduation from SU, Robbins
completed a one-year, full-time media relations
assistantship at Boston College before accepting
her first permanent job at Longwood.
“If I could give one piece of advice to a
current SPM student, I would say take all of the
opportunities you have to get involved in good
resume-building activities,” Robbins said. “There’s
no such thing as too much experience when it
comes to applying for jobs. All of those hours
spent grinding away at internships really do make
a difference.”
S P M N e w s 3 2 S u m m e r
2 0 1 3