For alumni, faculty and friends of the Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management, the past year was indeed one for the books, and we’ve tried to capture the highlights in this “annual report.” After all, you only turn 50 once!
Our golden anniversary campaign kicked off with a special 8-page pullout in SportsBusiness Journal that documented the history and evolution of our program while illustrating throughout our long record of leadership in sport management education. This special piece also highlighted several of our key initiatives on the research and industry-engagement fronts and saluted our roster of alumni award winners. For those who missed it, this SBJ piece is available on our website for your reading pleasure.
The centerpiece of our celebration was our 50th Anniversary Reunion Weekend in early June, highlights of which you’ll find in the pages of this magazine. The 50th was also used as an opportunity to “fuel the next 50 years,” with a campaign kickoff in March. On behalf of the entire faculty and staff, I want to thank our Campaign Committee members for their service in stimulating alumni support: Garret Bedrin, Jen Bozek, Adina Erwin, Neal Huntington, Pamela Levine, Dennis Mannion, Jeff Price, and Dave Wright. In mid-January we eclipsed our goal of $1 million in gifts and pledges which includes funding of an Endowed Professorship named for long-time department chair Lisa Pike Masteralexis.
The generosity and support of literally hundreds of alumni and friends have also helped fuel the future of our department’s key initiatives: increasing the diversity of our undergraduate student body through the McCormack Diversity Fund; expanding our connections
and student involvements with industry through the McCormack Industry Engagement Fund; and last but not least, building our reputation for best preparing and supporting women for careers in the sport industry through our Women in Sport Business Fund.
Through your support of these and other scholarship funds, and in addition to our annual UMassGives campaign, we are well positioned to continue to provide our students with unparalleled education, experiences and opportunities. As you’ll read inside, we’re also providing unparalleled preparation and industry pipelines to our students through the tireless efforts of Professor Emily Must. How do we know it’s working? This year, sport management undergraduate seniors ranked our program as #1 in Student Satisfaction out of all the majors on campus! Our grad program also vaulted back to #1 Post-Graduate Program in the world as ranked by SportBusiness!
In addition to the two new faculty members who are introduced on page 13, we’re also fortunate to have recently added Liz Colleran to our staff as Communications, Events and Alumni Relations Manager. Liz brings over a decade of experience working with sport properties, including Brown University Athletics, the Big Ten Network and Notre Dame Sports Properties. Liz welcomes your alumni story ideas for our newsletters and social media!
I will let the pages that follow highlight the many accomplishments and achievements of our faculty, students and alumni from the golden anniversary year that was! Suffice to say, we look pretty darn good at 50 …ENJOY!
Steve McKelvey Department Chair
A special pullout in Sports Business Journal documented the history of McCormack for the 50th anniversary. You can see the special insert on our website.
“Through your support of … [our] scholarship funds, and in addition to our annual UMassGives campaign, we are well-positioned to continue to provide our students with unparalleled education, experiences,
It arrives in student inboxes every Monday around 10 a.m., 52 weeks a year. Brimming with internship opportunities, job posts, career advice, club meeting schedules and more, Isenberg School of Management Senior Lecturer Emily Must’s sport management newsletter is a must-read for students looking to advance their careers in the industry.
But the newsletter is only a fraction of what Must offers in her dual role at the Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management. As the department’s director of internships, she spearheads a robust program that’s about more than setting up students with hands-on learning opportunities—it also focuses on providing resources to help students strengthen their resumes, job applications, and professional skills.
“Internships really help students understand what they’re good at, and what they like to do,” Must said. “Our sport management majors choose their industry first, and they may not know if they want to be a marketer, accountant, or coach. I really preach that they need to sample different types of roles because that’s where you figure out what you like and what you don’t like.”
program then was much different, according to McCormack Department Chair and Professor Steve McKelvey.
“It was less of a focus on full-time jobs, less of a focus on preparing the students’ resumes and cover letters as well as interview and networking skills, and less of a focus on building pipelines into the industry,” McKelvey said. “It was primarily about getting students summer internships and doing the paperwork for them to earn course credits.”
One of the very first issues Must saw when she took over was that some sport management double majors were participating in internships without receiving college credit. She said she worked to change this so they could gain credit toward their graduation.
“Since then, the number of students who are not only in internships but are actually earning credit for their work has more than tripled,” Must said. “Now, sport management has more students on a credited internship than the rest of Isenberg combined.”
Credited internships are important, Must said, because they require students to do some reflection and complete professional development assignments. In addition, Must can more easily monitor student progress by checking in with their supervisors, which only leads to better opportunities for feedback.
Must has focused on building new partnerships, including with UMass Amherst’s very own athletics department, to expand the opportunities sport management students have for first internships or jobs.
Must began teaching at McCormack in the fall of 2016 and assumed the department’s director of internships role two years later. Although there was an internship program long before Must joined the faculty, the Buffy Filippell, Teamwork Consulting Founder, Zooms into Professor Must’s sales class.
“We’re an NCAA, Division I university, but we also have a pretty small budget, so that gives us a unique opportunity to have a lot of the athletic department staffed by students,” Must said. “We’ve gone from 20 interns at UMass Athletics to close to 100 now. Those first experiences really open the door to those higherlevel summer internships.”
McKelvey also said that sports organizations are much more proactive now than they were in the past, as they come to campus more often to reach out to potential interns and employees.
“We’re always looking to build sustainable pipelines into a wide range of sports organizations, whether they’re seeking students for full-time jobs or internships, and Professor Must has a proven ability and passion for opening doors and cultivating these pipelines,” he said.
Another part of the internship program Must sought to improve was the way opportunities and resources were organized for students. She introduced her students to TeamWork Online, an online job board for the sports business field, so they can learn how to identify jobs and build a professional profile.
“I even have a fake job on TeamWork Online, so students can apply there, and I can do a profile review for them,” Must said. “I show them how their profile is showing up and give them tips and tricks on how to make it better.”
First-year students in some of Must’s classes are also signing up for TeamWork Online. She said one of their assignments is to build a profile, complete a strengths assessment, find three internships they’re interested in, and create a plan to achieve their goals.
“We set strength-based weekly goals so they can break down these larger objectives of getting the coveted NFL summer internship, or whatever it is they want to do,” she said. “It’s about putting the pieces in place to reach those goals.”
Must also started using a service called iConnect, which is a central online hub for the newsletter and for resources that students can access.
McKelvey, who previously worked as the graduate program director for the McCormack Department for 13 years, says that during that time, he saw resumes from applicants across the country that were poorly written and unprofessional. Now that Must has taken over the internship program and set a focus on building these professional skills in collaboration with Isenberg’s Chase Career Center, McKelvey said he has immense confidence that McCormack students going out into the industry—whether for a summer internship or that all-important first job—are among the best positioned and prepared.
“I would stack up our career preparation and internship program against any business program in the country,” McKelvey said.
A sampling of organizations where McCormack students have secured internships since 2020:
• Monumental Sports and Entertainment
• Kraft Sports and Entrainment
• American Junior Golf Association
• The PGA
• OVG360
• Draft Kings
• Fenway Sport Management
• UMass Athletics
• The 33rd Team
• Wasserman Media Group
• Horizon Sport Management
• Navigate Sport Research
• MarketCast
• Hartford Yard Goats
• XL Center / Hartford Wolf Pack
• Spartan Races
• OOFOS
• Under Armour
• Fox Sports
Sophomore sport management major Christian Staco aspires to one day work for the NBA or one of its 30 teams. While he isn’t sure yet exactly what role he’d want, he knows he needs to gain experience and grow his professional network to set himself up for success.
That’s why Staco, who transferred to UMass from Emmanuel College, took advantage of the sport management internship program soon after arriving in Amherst.
Now, Staco is beginning his journey toward a career in sports as a media intern for the university’s track teams. “After one of Professor Must’s office hours we were talking about internships, and she was telling me about some of the sports teams here,” Staco said. “I wanted to be the intern for the basketball team, but that was already taken. Professor Must figured out that I had a background in track, and she told me about their open internship. I decided to apply to that, and thankfully, I got it.”
Working for both the men’s and women’s teams, Staco films practices and races and gives the tape to the coaches so they can help runners improve. For the men’s team, he’s working on gathering alumni contact information so the team can host an end-of-year party with current and past athletes.
“The sports industry is very small. If you’re working in a low-division league, they might know someone who works for something bigger,” he said. “If you make a good impression, they’ll remember that face, they’ll remember that name, and they might help you get a job in the future.”
Staco believes internships are important because they open pathways for making connections with professionals in the sports business field. He said he is thankful for Must’s guidance and the opportunities provided through the internship program.
“I’m enjoying it so far,” Staco said about his internship. “It’s been a really good experience.”
“The sports industry is very small. … If you make a good impression, they’ll remember that face, they’ll remember that name, and they might help you get a job in the future.”
Christian Staco ‘25
Gloria Nevarez ’93 was named the second commissioner in the history of the Mountain West Conference. Prior to joining the Mountain West Conference, Nevarez served as the commissioner of the West Coast Conference (WCC) beginning in 2018. In addition to her duties as commissioner, Nevarez serves on the NCAA Division I Transformation Committee, the NIT men’s basketball selection committee, and the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee. Nevarez serves as a member of the Women Leaders in College Athletics and on the Board of Directors of USA Basketball. She is a member of the Knight Commission.
Chris Antonetti ’97 MS, president of baseball operations for the Cleveland Guardians, was awarded Major League Baseball’s Executive of the Year for 2022. The Guardians won the AL Central Division, finishing with a 92–70 record. Cleveland made MLB history as the first team to win a division or league title while having at least 17 rookies make their professional debuts. The Guardians were the eighth-youngest club in postseason history. Antonetti joined the Cleveland front office in 1999, rising in the ranks to the position of general manager prior to the 2010 season. He was promoted to his current role following the 2017 season, which saw the club reach Game 7 of the 2016 World Series.
The Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management was named the world’s #1-ranked postgraduate sport management program by SportBusiness magazine in October 2022. In addition to the global recognition, McCormack was ranked as the top sport management postgraduate program in North America, and as graduates’ top choice. The winning program was also “the only example of an institution which had graduates progress into positions within the Research & Analysis category,” according to SportBusiness
Rishav Dash ’18 MS was named to Sports Business Journal’s 30 New Voices Under 30, Class of 2022. The list recognizes individuals under the age of 30 for their energy, spirit, impact, accomplishments, and potential. With experience across media, agencies, and teams, Dash created a web application for Pittsburgh Pirates corporate partners to see real-time asset performance and measurements. He recently joined the business insights and analytics team at Delaware North.
Alumni, faculty, and friends representing five decades of sport management excellence converged in Amherst the second weekend of June to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our program.
The packed agenda for this anniversary weekend included a golf outing, presentations from faculty members, a talk delivered by the sport innovation archivist for the UMass Amherst Libraries, a visit to our relatively new basketball Champions Center to hear from coaches and athletics administrators, and a special panel celebrating the 50th anniversary of the enactment of Title IX.
The highlight of the weekend was the 50th Anniversary Banquet held on the floor of the Mullins Center, emceed by noted ESPN reporter and proud alumnus Mike Reiss. The program was chock full of remembrances and recognitions. Betsy McCormack, the wife of our department’s namesake Mark McCormack, made elegant remarks on behalf of the McCormack family in attendance. Iconic professors Bernie Mullin, Glenn Wong, and Lisa Masteralexis shared historical reflections on the evolution of our program, from the
days of classes in Curry Hicks and Boyden through our integration into the Isenberg School of Management.
Following her welcome remarks, Isenberg Dean Anne Massey sprung the first of two surprise announcements: the creation of the Lisa Pike Masteralexis Endowed Professorship, the first such Isenberg professorship named for a woman and the first endowed professorship dedicated to sport management. Shortly after her emotional reception of this news, Professor Masteralexis sprung her own surprise on the chair of the Sport Management Department, announcing that the Alumni on the Rise Award will be named for Steve McKelvey.
The spectacular evening also included the unveiling of a presentation on the overhead videoboard featuring 250 photos of faculty, students, and events spanning all five decades of the program. The presentation is available on our McCormack Sport Management YouTube channel; do check it out … you may recognize yourself!
The evening also included the presentation of our Class of 2021 and 2022 VanderZwaag Distinguished Alumni Award and Alumni on the Rise Award winners, most of whom were in attendance to be recognized (for the Class of 2022, see page 14). And, of course, no banquet would be complete without a live auction to wrap things up! Alumnus Jeff Price took the mic and artfully conducted the auction for his donated gift: a VIP package for 4 to the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage on Long Island. Kudos to alumnus Bill Hubbard for his winning bid, which raised $10,500 for the department!
In addition to those named above, special thanks to the following individuals who made this weekend so memorable: Alumnus and reunion “executive director” Will Gillespie; Isenberg event specialists Shannon Petrin and Jena Perron; Kristine Elison and her Isenberg development staff; Allison Werder and her Isenberg marketing and communications team; sport innovation archivist Kirstin Kay; faculty members Matt Katz, David Tyler, and Ted Fay; and Title IX panelists Pamela Levine, UMass Head Softball Coach Danielle Henderson, UMass Deputy Athletic Director for Administration Kirsten Britton, and Lisa Masteralexis.
Turning the page towards 2023, we can reflect with gratitude on an action-packed, celebratory semester for our MBA/MS graduate programs.
Arriving this past fall was a diverse and talented student cohort, who continue to set a brisk pace in and outside of the classroom. The collective group is made up of over 50 percent women for the second consecutive year, with students of color making up 35 percent of our cohort. We are proud of these trends and the intentional design changes we have made to ensure we create a diverse and inclusive academic environment for future leaders of the sports industry.
The fall 2022 semester started with a well-deserved bang, as SportBusiness bestowed upon us the #1 global ranking for our storied graduate program. Across more than 40 measurement metrics, McCormack was at the top of the class in quality of faculty, exit salary, femaleto-male student ratio, financial assistantships, and job placement. This ranking is a function of our amazing “McCormack Family” and a distinct source of pride in the halls of Isenberg!
A return to normalcy brought back certain staples of our graduate student experience, chief among them our fall New York City professional development trip. In early November, McCormack master’s students were hosted and educated by alums at Octagon, Major League Soccer (MLS), and Excel Sports Management, followed by a networking happy hour in Manhattan.
The rise of women’s sports, MLS’s recent media rights deal with Apple, and the challenges of athlete representation were themes covered throughout the day. Special thanks to alumni Chrissy Franklin, Noah Kolodny, Josh Neier, Brody Mankus, Preetam Sen, and Brett Estrella for making this trip a success.
Turning towards spring, we are excited about the ambitious and unprecedented lineup of programming we have in place, complete with MBA Practicum Consulting projects with CONCACAF, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and Ones Basketball League, and the launch of an international sport business immersion trip to London during spring break in March!
This inaugural trip will leverage the full weight of both our alumni base and IMG’s McCormack legacy in the United Kingdom and is designed around tours and strategy sessions at Wimbledon, F1, London Olympic Park, Premier League Productions, Lord’s Cricket Grounds, and the FA. Coming off the buzz of an exciting World Cup, the group will also attend multiple football matches covering the EPL, UCL, and Women’s Super League. This trip will challenge students to expand their sport management knowledge base and observe how international sporting ecosystems operate, thus bolstering their academic experience and aiding our program both in terms of recruitment and industry relations.
Lastly, we look forward to returning to the National Sports Forum’s Case Cup Competition in Los Angeles this February to defend our title! We have a wonderful team selected and look forward to liaising with any alumni in attendance.
Be sure to follow along with the department’s activity on our recently launched and actively updated LinkedIn page, and join our LinkedIn alumni group for job leads. I would love to connect with fellow alums who wish to get in contact and engage with the department.
Will Norton Graduate Program Director
A special thank you to our 2022–2023 mentors!
Dave Baggs, Boston Red Sox
Declan Bolger, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment
Darren Brown, OOFOS
Cathy Carlson, BSE Global
Josh Estes, Cleveland Cavaliers
Brett Estrella, Excel Sports Management
Joe Fitzgerald, NHL
Mark Gallego, Digital Seat Media
Michael Goldstein, Mastercard
Greg Guerman, Kiswe
CoJohn Halas, New York Knicks
Beau Horan, Detroit Tigers
Laurel Hosmer, St. Joseph’s University
Callie Lekas, Wellesley College
Danielle Lopez, Wiz Team
Dennis Mannion, Pro Sports Consultant
Rick Nadeau, Nadeau Sports Group
Sharon Pannozzo, Momento / Media Consultant
Karen Peters, University of Portland
Katherine Petrecca , New Balance
Jeffrey Pollack, Consultant
Michelle Price, TeamWork Online
Jeff Price, PGA of America
Mark Scialabba, Washington Nationals
Chris Starck, Kraft Sports + Entertainment
Jamaal Stephenson, Minnesota Vikings
Erin Sweeney, Oak View Group / XL Center
Michelle Tracy, WSC Sports
Adam Tuval, Playfly Premiere Partnerships
Zaileen Janmohamed is honored at Isenberg’s Leaders of Impact Awards at the Boston Public Library, an inaugural event showcasing leaders who are influencing their industries in innovative and tangible ways. Janmohamed was joined in celebration by Senior Associate Dean Lisa Masteralexis, Graduate Program Director Will Norton, and current 2nd year MBA/MS dual-degree student Diana Camarillo, for whom Zaileen serves as a grad mentor.
Chrissy Franklin and Noah Kolodny helped kickoff our annual New York City grad professional development trip over breakfast in Stamford, CT, as students were presented with an inside peak at Octagon’s industry leading work and highlights of client success stories from 2022.
McCormack graduate students join Excel Sports Management’s dynamic team of leaders in New York City: Tristan Mitchell (VP Strategy, SEEN Co-Founder), Preetam Sen (VP Corporate Partnerships & Properties, BS ‘10 alumnus), Brody Mankus (Corporate Partnerships & Properties, BS ‘15 alumnus) and Brett Estrella (Sr. Manager Esports & Gaming, ‘17 BS alumnus) providing invaluable perspective on the landscape of sport marketing agency work.
McCormack alumni are known for being at the forefront of our industry, effecting change in business, leadership, and all aspects of sport management. One of the cities where this excellence is truly apparent is Cleveland, where several prominent graduates of the program have been driving success—both on and off the field.
The CL3 Alliance is a three-team Cleveland sports alliance that features the Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Cleveland Guardians all working together to “develop a sustainable and direct strategy to address social injustice facing the city of Cleveland.” The alliance develops programs and hosts events that support the relationship between law enforcement and citizens, encourage voting, and increase access to quality education. The CL3 alliance is made possible thanks to the involvement of key leaders at the top of each organization, including two McCormack alumni— Cavaliers General Manager Koby Altman ’09 MS and Guardians President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti ’98 MS—as well as Browns EVP of Football Operations & General Manager Andrew Berry.
CL3 is supported by every level of the three organizations, from employees to front office staff to executives to the players themselves. One of the key supporting members of this alliance is Browns Senior Vice President of Communications Peter John-Baptiste ’97, who spoke about the work CL3 has done, what social justice means to him, and how he hopes Cleveland’s teams can make a profound impact as well as generate a legacy beneficial to the city.
John-Baptiste explains that CL3 came about during the social justice wave following the initial surge of the
COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, as the teams in Cleveland looked for ways to empower their employees to take action and be part of social justice progress. To him, social justice is about “leveling the playing field and helping everyone, so that communities can come together for the greater good.” The three pillars of CL3—law enforcement relations, voting, and education—revolve around a mission to help Cleveland build stronger relationships within communities and drive positive change. It is a widely held perception that professional teams in the same city are intense competitors with each other as they are often looking to capture the same fans and sponsorship dollars. However, as John-Baptiste explains, fans in Cleveland who are fans of one team are universally fans of the other two, and it’s “been a great experience to collaborate with teams in the same market.”
With CL3 forming in 2020—the most recent presidential election year—a focus on voting and civic engagement was a natural fit. Players across the three teams worked to encourage people to vote and the teams used their platforms effectively as the Cavaliers converted their arena, Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, into a polling location while the Browns focused on efforts to increase voter registration during the second home game of the season.
The murder of George Floyd in 2020 thrust the relationship between law enforcement and the communities they have a duty to serve under the microscope across the country, which became the impetus for the second pillar of CL3. John-Baptiste explains that there is a “focus on creating more empathy between the community and law enforcement.” Over the past three years, seven “Conversations for Change” have been hosted by the organization, with the goal of hosting important dialogue between community members and law enforcement.
Education is a significant component of CL3’s mission— and it is where they have adapted the most to shifting community needs. “We asked, ‘What are the barriers that keep kids out of school?’” says John-Baptiste, and the Browns found that food scarcity was one of the biggest reasons for missed attendance. The Browns have written letters to legislators urging them to unlock more funding for nutritious meals within schools, and have tackled chronic absenteeism head-on
“We’re an NCAA, Division I university, but we also have a pretty small budget, so that gives us a unique opportunity to have a lot of the athletic department staffed by students,” Must said. “We’ve gone from 20 interns at UMass Athletics to close to 100 now. Those first experiences really open the door to those higherlevel summer internships.”
McKelvey also said that sports organizations are much more proactive now than they were in the past, as they come to campus more often to reach out to potential interns and employees.
“We’re always looking to build sustainable pipelines into a wide range of sports organizations, whether they’re seeking students for full-time jobs or internships, and Professor Must has a proven ability and passion for opening doors and cultivating these pipelines,” he said.
Another part of the internship program Must sought to improve was the way opportunities and resources were organized for students. She introduced her students to TeamWork Online, an online job board for the sports business field, so they can learn how to identify jobs and build a professional profile.
“I even have a fake job on TeamWork Online, so students can apply there, and I can do a profile review for them,” Must said. “I show them how their profile is showing up and give them tips and tricks on how to make it better.”
First-year students in some of Must’s classes are also signing up for TeamWork Online. She said one of their assignments is to build a profile, complete a strengths assessment, find three internships they’re interested in, and create a plan to achieve their goals.
“We set strength-based weekly goals so they can break down these larger objectives of getting the coveted NFL summer internship, or whatever it is they want to do,” she said. “It’s about putting the pieces in place to reach those goals.”
Must also started using a service called iConnect, which is a central online hub for the newsletter and for resources that students can access.
McKelvey, who previously worked as the graduate program director for the McCormack Department for 13 years, says that during that time, he saw resumes from applicants across the country that were poorly written and unprofessional. Now that Must has taken over the internship program and set a focus on building these professional skills in collaboration with Isenberg’s Chase Career Center, McKelvey said he has immense confidence that McCormack students going out into the industry—whether for a summer internship or that all-important first job—are among the best positioned and prepared.
“I would stack up our career preparation and internship program against any business program in the country,” McKelvey said.
A sampling of organizations where McCormack students have secured internships since 2020:
• Monumental Sports and Entertainment
• Kraft Sports and Entrainment
• American Junior Golf Association
• The PGA
• OVG360
• Draft Kings
• Fenway Sport Management
• UMass Athletics
• The 33rd Team
• Wasserman Media Group
• Horizon Sport Management
• Navigate Sport Research
• MarketCast
• Hartford Yard Goats
• XL Center / Hartford Wolf Pack
• Spartan Races
• OOFOS
• Under Armour
• Fox Sports
Alumni award recipients exemplify the broad footprint of our graduates in the sport industry and have all diligently given back to the department.
The Harold J. VanderZwaag Distinguished Alumnus Award is given for professional excellence and outstanding achievement in the sport industry.
The Alumni on the Rise Award is given to alumni who have graduated within 5 to 10 years and have demonstrated exceptional achievement.
Student award winners represent the best and brightest, with impressive professional experience, extracurricular activities, community service, and academic achievement.
Scholarship Winners Scholarship
Zachary Cadoff
Top left to right:
Yuki Chiang
Abudullah Khanzada
Matthew Kimball
Ariel (Ari) Kwintkin-Close
Kraylee Ledger
Jenna Melvin
Kamraan Moore
Madison Peyser
Jessica Reis
Adian Sliwkowski
Chava Whittum
Joan & Ed Barr Memorial Scholarship
Aidan Connelly McCormack Center Scholarship
Danielle Cook
Joan & Ed Barr Memorial Scholarship
James Davis 47 Brand Scholarship
Lauren Fishman McCormack Center Scholarship
Nicholas Frattali
Joan and Ed Barr Memorial Scholarship
Cedric Ghann Joe & Mary McEacharn Scholarship
Abdullah Khanzada Alumni Scholarship
Caitlin McClellan
Kristian J. Rose, Jr. Memorial Scholarship
Griffen McClendon Alumni Scholarship
Jessica Reis Erik K.M. Kjeldsen Scholarship
Isaac Passett
Anthony Syrek
Jackson Wilkes
Chava Wittum
Glenn M. Wong Sport Law Scholarship
Marilyn & Richie Tannenbaum Scholarship
Harold J. VanderZwaag Internship Scholarship
Sport for Social Change Award
Dr. Nicole Melton and PhD candidate Risa Isard hosted a panel on Improving Equity for Women in Sports Media at SXSW, featuring ESPN analyst Monica McNutt, ESPN/Walt Disney Company executive Max Kelley, and historian and podcast host Dr. Amira Rose Davis. This panel was part of McCormack’s partnership with Wasserman’s The Collective, whose goal is to create change for women through unique insights, strategies, and ideas.
Professor Steve McKelvey collaborated with University of Louisville colleague Anita Moorman in presenting their research paper titled “Trademark Dress Infringement and the Use of University Color Schemes in NIL Activities: An evolving and unexplored marketplace” at the Sport and Recreation Law Association Conference in Atlanta.
Research from the Know Rivalry Project, co-founded by Dr. David Tyler and Dr. Joe Cobbs (Northern Kentucky University), was the premise for the documentary film RIVALS, which debuted in November of 2022. RIVALS dives deep into the college football rivalry between Ohio State and Michigan as a case study, exploring the concept of rivalry and the psychology behind it. Academy Award winner J.K Simmons narrates the film, introducing the audience to the ingredients of a rivalry that are based on Tyler’s and Cobbs’ research.
Dr. Yiran Su served as the lead guest editor for a special issue of the International Journal of Sports Marketing and Scholarship focused on “An Imaged Wonderland or a Near Reality: Web 3.0, Metaverse, NFTs and Sport Business.” The special issue addresses the latest technology developments in sports business, to be published in the fall of 2023. Su also published six papers and one book chapter in 2022.
Dr. Katie Sveinson (left) had eight publications accepted or published in print in 2022, with six appearing in premier journals. These publications touched on topics that included gendered marketing messages of sport team licensed merchandise, family-friendly sport spectatorship, athlete personal brand management during a time of crisis, and gender inequity in sport through women’s invisible labor. Sveinson collaborated with fellow McCormack faculty Dr. Elizabeth Delia (right) and Dr. Nicole Melton to co-author a publication on the lack of diversity in sport consumer research behavior.
A self-proclaimed “accidental sports marketing person,” Harlan Stone has spent his four-decade career promoting brands ranging from events to teams to leagues. During his tenure as chief business officer for the U.S. Tennis Association from 2008 to 2011, for example, he set records in securing sponsorship and doubled domestic television rights, primarily through a landmark $825 million ESPN rights agreement. Stone visited the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus on November 15–16 to serve as the 2022 Executive-inResidence for the McCormack Department of Sport Management.
“They say luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. In my case, luck is what happened when cluelessness met fearlessness,” Stone told a packed hall in the Integrative Learning Center during the McCormack Sports Innovators Lecture. “So if I look at the first three jobs I had—Tennis Hall of Fame, Stone Sports, which was my own little agency running Legends Tennis Events, and then at age 26 running the New York Times magazine group—I was operating fearlessly, but cluelessly.”
In addition to delivering the keynote, Stone joined roundtable discussions with McCormack students and faculty, visited with club leaders, spoke in numerous classes throughout his visit, and participated in the McCormack Collection Oral History Project.
Stone’s interest in sports began at a young age, when he tried out nearly every sport. It was tennis that stuck with him. As a child, he and a friend played in a nearby park almost every day after school. Stone’s answer was simple when asked why he held so much love for the sport: “taking control of your own destiny.”
Stone would go on to become a scholarship tennis player for the University of Virginia Cavaliers and, upon graduation, he planned to play on a satellite tour in Sweden and Denmark. However, while standing in a train station, he saw four former classmates from UVA, and when they invited him to travel around Europe with them, he found it impossible to say no. With $1,300 to his name, Stone began his journey, locking away his rackets in a locker at the station—an action he likened to closing the door on a professional tennis career.
It was a decision Stone never came to regret.
“Realistically, I was never going to be a world-class tennis player,” Stone said in an interview. “I was really going to travel and see the world and I had stashed away enough money from teaching tennis to be able to afford to do nothing.”
However, what he did take from his time playing tennis was his “crazy competitive” side, which was vital to his successes throughout his career.
“If you enjoy competing hard in tennis or pickup basketball, or whatever it is you’re playing, you’re going to enjoy competing in business,” Stone said. “And the beauty of sales is there’s a scoreboard. But, if you have that competitive gene and like the idea of a scoreboard and like the idea of controlling something, you succeed or fail by your own wit, smarts, hard work. That’s what appealed to me.”
With an extensive knowledge of tennis and a passion to learn, Stone was offered a spot on the staff at the Tennis Hall of Fame. He used that as an opportunity to begin building things from the ground up, starting with his creation of the Legends Tennis Tournament.
“For me, I’ve always loved building something,” Stone said. “Once it’s built, maintaining it or managing it is not really my strong suit. Figuring out how to get something rolling. Going from a blank sheet of paper to ‘wow,’ actually it’s incredibly satisfying.”
With this same mindset, the Cadillac NFL Golf Classic was born in 1993.
Stone had a close relationship with Don Garber, an NFL marketing executive who would go on to become commissioner of Major League Soccer, who went to him with an idea for a new event.
“At that time, the players on the senior PGA tour weren’t very well known,” he said during his McCormack speech. “And few people could recognize NFL players because they were always wearing their helmets.”
His brainchild—the Cadillac NFL Golf Classic—provided a unique marketing opportunity by bringing both sports and both sets of pro athletes together to compete in an activity they would all enjoy. For 11 years, this event became one of the most financially successful for the senior tour.
Following numerous stops within the burgeoning sport sponsorship agency world, Stone chose to start his own company, called SJX Partners—the S standing for himself, J for his partner Jeff Jonas, and X because “we liked the way it sounded.” While he admitted that he could still see himself running SJX, the duo eventually sold the company to CSM Sports and Entertainment, a division of London-based Chime Communications. Stone emphasized how they were “lucky to be able to sell an agency after only four years of life.”
Stone always aimed to leave the companies in a better position than when he first got there. And, with creative thinking and innovation, he did just that throughout his impressive career.
“You have to be open to possibility,” Stone said. “No career is completely linear in the way you write it up, and I’m the perfect case. Each time I made a career change, it was not deliberate. It was happenstance… if you stay open to possibility and opportunity, for me it worked.”
THANK YOU TO ALL THOSE WHO CONTRIBUTED TO OUR 50TH ANNIVERSARY “FUELING THE NEXT 50” CAMPAIGN. THOSE IN BOLD ACHIEVED RECOGNITION IN OUR MCCORMACK LEGACY CORNER FOR THEIR GIFT OF $50,000 OR MORE.
DONOR
Kali Ackerman ‘13
Payton Adams ‘14
Alan Ainspan ‘82
Adina Alford Erwin ‘95
Paul Alshooler ‘10
Koby Altman ‘09
Thomas Amico ‘95
Paul Eric Anderson ‘15
Ross Andler ‘16
Stacy Andler ‘80 & Howard Andler
Malika Antoine Nicholson ‘20
Christopher Antonetti ‘98
Paul Archey ‘89
Dana Nicole Barclay ‘19
Carol Barr ‘94
Richard Bartlett ‘80
Pamela Batalis ‘92
Cindy Battreall
Carol Anne Beach ‘98
Eric Beatty
Melissa Lee Beaupre ‘19
Jonathan Harrington Becker ‘18
Garret Bedrin ‘02
Samuel Tucker Belkin ‘17
David Benson ‘94
Michael Roger Benson ‘17
Joshua Berlo ‘00
Jahaan Bharucha ‘21
Marci Blacker ‘92
Stephanie Bodjiak ‘10
Terry Boesel ‘91
Gregory Bouris ‘83
Michael Bowen ‘15
Jennifer Bozek ‘97
Kerry Boznanski ‘94
Colleen Brace ‘00 & David Brace ‘96
Howard Breslau ‘86 & Jane Gadon Breslau
Mitchell Breslau ‘20
John Brickley ‘81
Cory Brine ‘09
Amy Brown ‘90
Michael Bruny ‘02
David Buegler ‘82
Paul Cacciatore ‘96
Katherine Cain ‘89
James Carr ‘90
Dan Carroll ‘14
Courtney Chase ‘20
Maren Roberts
Chiburis ‘16
Jennifer Claypool ‘90
Joe Cobbs ‘10
Carol Cohen ‘88
Jonathan Cokorinos ‘15
Amy Coleman ‘11
Carolyn Benedict Collins ‘92 & Lewis Collins
Joann Costantini ‘85
Sean Robert Cunningham ‘16
Rishav Dash ‘19
Jack Davis ‘22
Jared Davis ‘21
Cornelia Dawson
Deborah DeAngelis ‘79
Elizabeth Delia
Alphonse Dell’Isola ‘16
Christopher Deubert ‘06
Elizabeth Devine ‘08
Peter Dickenson ‘09
Jill Diforte & Craig Diforte
Matthew Dion ‘10
Stephen Dorfman ‘92
Tanya Downey ‘15
Linda Duboff & Paul Duboff
Michelle Duff ‘01 & Emily Powell
Karen Duncan ‘92
Nathaniel Easton ‘19
Amy Fassler Ehrlich ‘84
Jeff Eisenberg ‘83 & Carole Eisenberg
William Fallon ‘19
Theodore Fay ‘99
Nathaniel Finan ‘18
Janet Fink
Michelle Finley ‘10
Michael Fish ‘12
Kristin Fournier
Daryn Freedman ‘97
Sohil Gala ‘13
Mark Gallego ‘01
Andrew George ‘10
William Gillespie ‘94
Dale Gindi & Steven Gindi
Julie Gionet
Andrew Giordano ‘12
Lauren Godish
Jeffrey Goering ‘98
Carl Goldstein ‘85
Michael Goldstein ‘07
Nancy Gonsalves ‘92
Sheila Gottehrer
Andrew Gould ‘90
Maximilian Graf ‘16
Samuel Grant ‘18
Brittany Green ‘17
Naama Green ‘10
Kaia Greene ‘00
Danielle Grobmyer
Thomas ‘11
Robert Grobmyer ‘16
Geoffrey Peter Guerin ‘17
Gregory Guerman ‘10
Will Hall ‘98
Lauren Hambidge ‘10
Brian Hamm ‘07
Robert Hanlon ‘14
Kenneth Hanson ‘14
Melissa Harkavy ‘04
Jibrael Harrell ‘25
Gabe Harris ‘22
Judith Harris & Timothy Harris
Patrick Hart ‘13
Emily Coleen Hazard ‘17
Todd Healy ‘93 & Julie Schmalenberger ‘92
Karina Herold ‘08 & Glen Herold ‘08
Andrew Gushen
Herstine ‘16
Abby Higgins ‘17
David Hixon ‘79 & Amanda Hixon ‘91
Laurel Hosmer ‘13
Bill Hubbard ‘87
Neal Huntington ‘92 & Becca Huntington
Adonis Jeralds ‘83
Edward John Baptiste Jr. ‘97
Christopher Johnson ‘92 & Amiee Johnson ‘94
Robert Jones ‘96
Vinu George Joseph ‘02
Matthew Katz
Eli Keimach ‘14
Christine Kelly
Abdullah Khanzada ‘22
Kiara Killelea ‘21
Samuel Paul Kim ‘13 & Soyoung Joo ‘17
Se Jin Kim ‘22
Allan Kinches
Joyce Kinches & Richard Kinches
Erik Kjeldsen ‘73
Parker Knox ‘10
Mira Koplovsky ‘90
Jordan Koren ‘11
Paige Marie Kozlowski ‘19
Rachel Krasnow ‘13
Kate Kreider Albert
Missy Kubik ‘20
Joseph Kuykendall ‘19
Jaclyn Lam ‘15
Justina Langone ‘14
Paul Lanning, Jr. ‘91
Sean Lavoine ‘00
Joseph Leahy ‘80 & Pamela Leahy ‘80
Rachel Lee ‘17
Richard Lenfest ‘90
Li Li Leung ‘03
Allison Levine ‘15
Pamela Levine ‘94
Kenya Lewis ‘00
David Lindholm ‘16
Hunter Lochmann ‘96
Kevin Lombard ‘13
Jianhao Long ‘16
Karen Lucey
David Joseph Lynch ‘18
Jeffrey MacCharles ‘20
Neil Macready ‘86
Robert Magnus III ‘94
Dhruv Mahajan ‘21
Brody Mankus ‘15
Jeffrey Mann ‘99
Annabella Marano
Arturo Marcano ‘05
Melissa Marchionna ‘09
Daniel Margulis ‘93
Hallie Martin ‘21
Suzanne Martino & Anthony Martino
Jennifer Masi ‘00
Massachusetts Amateur Sports Foundation
Lisa P. Masteralexis ‘87 & James Masteralexis
Michael Matt ‘14
Carolanne McAuliffe ‘90
Kyle McClain ‘06
Louise McCleary ‘91
Betsy McCormack
Breck McCormack
Leslie McCormack
Todd McCormack
Kayla McCulley ‘13
Joseph McEacharn ‘95
Daniel McGowan ‘99
Stephen McKelvey ‘86 & Elizabeth McKelvey
Scott Meaney ‘94
Elizabeth Melton
Viki Melton
Alex Mercer ‘15
Brett Moldoff ‘06
Jay Monahan ‘96 & Susan Rost Monahan
Trinity Monteiro ‘21
Noreen Morris ‘91
Patrick Muldoon ‘18
Bernard Mullin
Olivia Lavonne Nagler ‘15
Karen Nahill & Richard Nahill
Victoria Neamonitis ‘12
Gloria Nevarez ‘93
Jacob Newton ‘18
Kristi Noone & John Noone
William Norton ‘12
Adam Nurik ‘10
Elliott Ogden ‘78
Nikolay Panchev ‘05
James Paquette ‘94
John Pearson, Jr. ‘93
Heidi Pellerano ‘98
Matthew Gerard Pembroke ‘17
Olivia Pennell ‘15
Madison Perlmutter ‘20
Karen Peters ‘95
Thomas Peters ‘71
J. Nady Pierre ‘89 & Leslie
Pierre ‘89
Jeffrey Pollack ‘03
Travis Pollio ‘10 & Jennifer Pollio ‘10
Emily Poulton ‘25
Jeffrey Price ‘90
Linda Price ‘97
Michelle Price ‘05
John Pride ‘82
Scott Proefrock ‘87
Darryl Racca ‘01 & Ericka Harris Racca
Elena Raffa
Gina Raffa & Ovidio Raffa
Anthony Ramos ‘06
Marissa Randall ‘18
Tezlyn Reardon ‘99
Jeanne Ripp
Joseph Roberts ‘89
Dennis Robinson ‘82
Alyse Rosen & Matthew Rosen
Melcolm Ruffin ‘13 & Sean Kielar ‘13
Noel Ruiz-Castaneda ‘12
Jennifer Russo ‘14
Karen Rypka ‘81
Scott Sabatino ‘96 & Elaine Sabatino
Kimberley Anne Sadowski ‘15
Adam Salamoff ‘92
Mark Samperi ‘95
Michael Sangirardi ‘98
Michael Sarro ‘00
Jarod Sasdi ‘20
Scott Savran ‘13
Alannah Scardino ‘21
Leonardo Scheinkman ‘98
Christopher Schomburg ‘19
Mark Scialabba ‘06
Jaime Seguin ‘00
Preetam Sen ‘10
Elnaz Shah Rokhi ‘15
Robert Siltanen & Gwen Meyer
Solomon Siskind ‘21
Tim Sorrel, Jr.
Timothy Sorrell
Rachel Spates ‘05
Russell Spielman ‘92
Elaine Spolidoro & Kevin Spolidoro
Keevan Statz ‘19
Bruce Stebbins
Harley Stoffmaker ‘19
Cindy Stutman ‘98
William Sutton
Janet Sweeney & Mark Sweeney ‘83
Carol Szymkowicz ‘88 & Stephen Szymkowicz
Nobu Tanaka ‘01
Michael Tannenbaum ‘91 & Michelle Tannenbaum
Jill Taylor
David Carl Tews ‘17
SusanThomas DePasquale ‘80
Timothy Torigian ‘14
Steven Andrew Trachtenberg ‘19
Michelle Tracy ‘14
Stephanie Tryce ‘17
Adam Tuval ‘13
Robert Jeffrey Twiss ‘81
B. David Tyler, Jr. ‘13
Albert Tylis ‘96
Mark Uppendahl ‘79
Patricia Viverito ‘79 & Frank Viverito ‘79
Jeffrey Wagner ‘07
Tiffany Walker Daniels ‘99
Nefertiti Walker
Adam Waxer ‘97 & Elizabeth Waxer ‘97
Darius Webb ‘21
Marie Webb ‘97
Allison Weintraub
McFeeley
Christopher John Weyant ‘16
Chava Whittum ‘22
Felice Whittum & Mark Whittum
Kellen Williams ‘15
Mark Wilson ‘94 & Melanie Wilson
Mitchell Wolf
John Wolohan ‘85 & Nicole Wolohan ‘84
John Woodbury ‘91
David Wright ‘01
Leslie Wurzberger ‘92
Chao-Yuan Yang ‘13
Christopher Zajda & Anna Zajda
Jody Zielonka
Our Isenberg Development team used their best efforts to recognize everyone who contributed from January 1, 2022, through January 25, 2023. If you were inadvertently left off this list, or there is an error in spelling or graduation year, we sincerely apologize in advance.
The department has moved our unrivaled and inspiring alumni network database over to a new and enhanced platform that unlocks the true power of your McCormack network. Email alumnisupport@isenberg. umass.edu to retrieve your alumni ID, and set up your account. Emailing this address with your request will provide you with your unique alumni ID number; registering your information only takes 5 minutes, and sets you up for life! Please take the time to fill out the information fully—we really appreciate it! Spread the word to your classmates, and be sure to select the field of specialty (industry segment) you’re currently working in. Capitalize on the value of your sport management degree today, and help us keep our database strong.
We want to share them! Please email your photo memories to sportmgt@umass.edu. Only have a print file? Don’t worry—snap a photo of the photo and send it our way!
A111796
isenberg.umass.edu/programs/depts/sport-mgmt
