Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management: A Year in Review 2020 by Isenberg School of Management

SUMMER 2020

MARK H. MCCORMACK DEPARTMENT OF SPORT MANAGEMENT

A YEAR IN REVIEW

Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management

TABLE OF CONTENTS Message From the Department Chair

Points of Pride Tannenbaum’s 33rd Team

5 7

Student Engagement Association of Diversity in Sport Career Fair

Grad Program Updates Master’s Students Consult with OOFOS and the USOPC

Marketing Mentorship

8 10 10 11

McCormack Updates

12 McCormack Around the World 12 WISE/McCormack Grad Winners 13 Grad Mentors 14 Rob Cox Tribute 15

Response to COVID-19

Faculty Updates

Award Winners

Executive in Residence David Stern

Stay Connected

Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management COVER PHOTO:

David Stern, 2020 Executive in Residence

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A MESSAGE FROM THE DEPARTMENT CHAIR DEAR MCCORMACK COMMUNITY, On behalf of the entire McCormack Department of Sport Management faculty and staff, we hope this finds you and your family staying safe and well during these surreal and challenging times. As an alum of the program and a long-time faculty member, I am both proud and honored to share this letter in my new role as head of the department. Fortunately, I inherit the reins of a program that is in stellar shape, thanks to the leadership, dedication and vision of Dr. Janet Fink, and we wish her all the best in her new role of associate dean for undergraduate programs for Isenberg. Congratulations Janet! As we move roles, I am pleased to share that Dr. Nicole Melton will now serve as associate chair of our department, and Dr. Matt Katz will move into the role of undergraduate program director. I believe we have an excellent team in place to continue to move our program to new heights! Of course, as it was for everyone in every industry, March was a novel and challenging time for us, beginning with the move to remote education following the spring break recess. Among the many consequences, the pandemic resulted in the cancellation of two of our spring semester pillar events: the McCormack Sport Leaders Forum in New York City and our annual McCormack Awards Banquet, where we honor our outstanding students,

scholarship awardees, and the newest class of alumni award winners (see page 18 for more details on these honors). I want to give a special acknowledgement to our Forum partner Scout Sports and Entertainment and the team of students and faculty advisors who worked so hard, beginning last summer, to build what would have been a fabulous Forum in New York City. Despite the challenges and disappointments of the close of the spring semester, both faculty and students stepped up to ensure a robust remote education experience filled with lots of new programming thanks to the magic of Zoom! In June, the events surrounding the death of George Floyd and subsequent protests provided our department with a new challenge. Like many organizations, we took time to reflect on the social justice movement, its immediate impact on our McCormack community, and the opportunities that lie ahead. After much conversation and deliberation amongst our faculty and students, we shared our statement on anti-racism, which also detailed some of the actions our department has taken, as well as our ongoing commitment to furthering our efforts in this critical area. If you missed our statement, you can read it at www.isenberg.umass.edu/news/mccormackstatement-anti-racism. As I write this, we are in the first of three weeks offering our very successful Summer High School Continued on next page

Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management

A MESSAGE FROM THE DEPARTMENT CHAIR Continued from previous page

Leadership Academy. Despite this program going remote via Zoom, we still attracted 95 students from all over the country and globe—a testament to the power of the McCormack brand! This is just one of several “rev-gen” initiatives that come out of the McCormack Center for Sport Research & Education, led by Center Director and Professor Will Norton. In addition to continuing to build our McCormack Case Study Collection (now utilized by more than 150 professors, representing more than 200 different colleges and universities), the Center has been able to broker educational programming partnerships in India and Japan (see page 12 for more details) that will support our budget and inject global insights into our classroom and student experience. You may note a re-branding of this newsletter, from the old “alumni newsletter” to “McCormack: A Year in Review,” which is designed for a broader audience including not only alums, but also current and prospective students and parents. Moving forward, we will have one printed magazine in August/ September that recaps the year (instead of two printed alumni newsletters). While cost- and treesaving for sure, we’ve often heard from alums that they would like for us to communicate with them more often. Hence, we will be providing you with a shorter e-newsletter every two months. I wish to recognize Marissa Randall ’18, our communications, events, and alumni relations coordinator, for spearheading these changes. And if you’ve noticed our tremendously enhanced presence on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and our LinkedIn alumni group, that’s all Marissa too! One of the major casualties of the COVID-19 outbreak was the cancellation of the annual UMassGives two-day fundraising campaign, which generates almost $30,000 annually into our

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“Despite the challenges and disappointments of the close of the spring semester, both faculty and students stepped up to ensure a robust remote education experience filled with lots of new programming thanks to the magic of Zoom!”

department coffers to support a wide range of educational and student initiatives. This amount came from gifts large and small, from alumni young and old, and we have always been most proud of the hundreds of participants! So that we can continue to support student opportunities and initiatives this academic school year, we will be holding our own little #MissionMcCormack campaign the week of September 21 with, again, the focus on participation. We know that these are difficult and challenging times for many of you, particularly financially, so we appreciate any support you can provide at this time. Thank you! Finally, looking ahead… Believe it or not, next year our department will celebrate its fiftieth birthday! Plans are already underway for a series of celebration events, and you will be hearing more about this in the coming months. In the meantime, we encourage you to make sure you keep in touch with us and keep your Alumni Directory profile updated (just email alumnisupport@isenberg.umass.edu)! We wish everyone all the best in staying safe and well in these challenging times. We will get through it together, as one strong McCormack family! Best, Steve McKelvey ‘86 MS

POINTS OF PRIDE DOWNEY ANNOUNCED AS 30-UNDER-30 WINNER Tanya Downey was announced as a part of the SportBusiness 30 under 30 class. A 2015 alumna, Downey currently works as a manager of partnership marketing for Major League Soccer. The 30 under 30 award recognizes diverse and impactful leaders, risk takers, and disruptors who are reimagining the sport industry. More than 300 nominees are considered and 30 of those nominees are selected as a part of the class.

MCDERMOTT ANNOUNCED AS HARVARD DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS Erin McDermott ‘96 MS returns to the east coast as the director of athletics for Harvard University—the first woman to hold the role. Prior to this role, McDermott was the director of athletics at the University of Chicago for the past seven years and held supporting roles at Princeton and Columbia. McDermott is the tenth McCormack alumnus to hold the director of athletics position at a Division I university.

HARMON ANNOUNCED AS NACDA/UA AWARD WINNER The 2019-2020 Under Armour award winners include Dana Harmon ’94 MS. The award highlights the efforts of athletic directors at all levels and their dedication to studentathletes and community. Harmon serves as the director of physical education, recreation, and athletics at Worcester Polytechnic University (the first woman to hold this position) where she has worked for the past eighteen years. Under her leadership, the department has grown in all areas including an expanded physical education curriculum, increased club sports offerings, and an athletic program that is experiencing unprecedented success in the classroom, in competition, and in the community.

BURNETT ANNOUNCED AS THE FIRST FULL-TIME FEMALE SCOUT IN GIANTS HISTORY Hannah Burnett ’18 makes history as the first full-time scout hired in the 95-year history of the Giants organization. Prior to moving to the Giants, Burnett worked as a scout for the Atlanta Falcons, where she worked as a liaison between players, agents, and schools. With the Giants, she will oversee the team’s player engagement/development program. While attending UMass, Burnett was a standout lacrosse player, serving as team captain, two-time all-region and all-conference player, and three-time conference champion; she also holds the record for most points scored in a game, at 10.

Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management

POINTS OF PRIDE JANMOHAMED AND LEUNG AMONG MOST POWERFUL IN OLYMPIC MOVEMENT Zaileen Janmohamed ’05 MBA/MS and Li Li Leung ’03 MBA/MS both were named as SportBusiness Most Powerful in the Olympic Movement. Janmohamed serves as the head of partnership development and innovation for LA 2028, working collaboratively with LA 2028 and the USOC. Leung serves as the president and CEO of USA Gymnastics, focusing on rebuilding the organization’s sponsorship portfolio and supporting its athletes.

SCARDINO ANNOUNCED AS THE INAUGURAL RECIPIENT OF THE MCEACHARN SCHOLARSHIP Alannah Scardino ‘21 is the inaugural recipient of a summer internship award program in partnership with the Hartford Yard Goats professional baseball team. The program, funded through a five-year gift from UMass alumnus Joe McEacharn ’95 and his wife Mary, is designed to provide financial support for students from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds. The Yard Goats internship will allow students to be fully immersed in a variety of roles including marketing and promotions, corporate and group sales, box office and ticket operations, customer and guest service, community partnerships, and merchandising, to name a few.

TOKIO MARINE HCC WINNERS Sport management alumnus Bill Hubbard ‘87, ‘89 MBA, in conjunction with Tokio Marine HCC, has established an endowed fund with a $1 million gift that will provide financial support to Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management students who participate in internships within the sport and entertainment industry. In addition to supporting students on internships, the award program seeks to make students more aware of the significance and impact of risk management, risk transfer, and promotion insurance within the sport and entertainment industry, as well as of the career opportunities within this critical and growing segment. The 2020 winners include Brendan Clark ‘21, Kiara Killelea ‘21, Noah Kortkamp ‘20, Jaclyn Lam ‘21 MBA/MS, and Michael Riopel ‘20 MS.

SPORT MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

MCCORMACK ACHIEVES TOP INTERNATIONAL RANKING For the fourth time in the past five years, the Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management has been judged by its academic peers as the number one sport management program in the world, according to SportBusiness magazine’s 2020 global rankings. In addition to its top global ranking in the “Professors’ Choice” category, the McCormack graduate program was also ranked number one in the “Graduates’ Choice” category and number two overall in the world.

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MIKE TANNENBAUM’S THINK TANK OPENS NEW VISTAS FOR STUDENTS “The 33rd Team is a football think tank—that perfectly describes what we do,” observes Mike Tannenbaum (pictured), who graduated from Isenberg with a BBA in accounting in 1991. A radio commentator and NFL Front Office Insider—both roles with ESPN—Tannenbaum has formidable football cred as former vice president of football operations with the Miami Dolphins and general manager of the New York Jets. Last year, with his own resources, he founded The 33rd Team to deepen his own strategic insights while giving students a working understanding of critical football issues, research, and decision making. The group, which comprises several highly accomplished UMass students who earn internship credit, adopts the perspective of an NFL franchise, dissecting prospects and each NFL team’s resources and priorities. “A good deal of our work involves putting together scouting reports for the NFL’s annual draft,” notes Andy Hanson, a 2019 McCormack MS graduate. Recruited by Tannenbaum last year, Hanson has stayed on in a paid, senior role as a player personnel analyst. For the draft, Hanson and the students create analytical profiles and reports on key prospects from a pool of 600 eligible collegiate athletes. “The 33rd Team ran like a true NFL front office with indepth knowledge and football industry work standards and ethics,” recalls Ben Elsner, who participate this past year as a McCormack junior. “We learned inner workings of the game from Mike and we all expanded our professional networks. That will make a big difference after graduation.” Their work includes painstaking analysis of NFL teams, their strategic needs, and their player budgets. “We look

Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management

for the best fit between players and teams,” Hanson remarks. “I send what we produce to the Falcons, Texans, Raiders, and other teams.” Hanson first met Tannenbaum when he guest lectured in a McCormack course in sport analytics in the spring of 2019. In the class, Tannenbaum advocated data collection and IT for making sense of many variables, including the influence of wind direction, team performance at home versus on the road, and the most impactful plays by opponents. For Hanson, the new relationship was a milestone in his quest to become a professional sports insider. A 2009 University of Rhode Island graduate, he excelled as a business major and offensive guard in varsity football. After graduation, he worked in various roles for Deloitte Consulting and as an operations manager for LA Fitness. “But I increasingly longed for a career in sports,” he confesses. “In that quest, McCormack gave me a tremendous boost.” Months before the spring draft, at the beginning of the NCAA season, 33rd Team members watch game after game with an eye to pro prospects. They analyze data and read and write game previews, highlights, and reviews for scouting reports and social media. “Thanks to Mike, we have fantastic resources,” adds Hanson. “They include access to professional NFL tapes of numerous prospects. And we get sideline passes to games, including the Senior Bowl. But most valuable are our online weekly discussions, where, as a group, we dissect data and strategies.” Tannenbaum concurs. “The discussions are collaborative and robust,” he remarks. “The power of the group allows us to flesh out insights and strategies. We energize one another. For me, it’s a responsibility to give back to them by supporting their careers. UMass, after all, allowed me to achieve my own dreams.”

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

ASSOCIATION OF DIVERSITY IN SPORT CAREER FAIR BY MADISON PERLMUTTER ‘20

The 2019 Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management Career Fair was the most successful one to date. The 10th annual event saw record-breaking numbers, including 70 registered organizations and more than 300 students in attendance. What made this fair such a success was the months of planning and preparation done by the Association of Diversity in Sport (ADS), a student-run campus organization that focuses on improving the diversity and inclusion landscape within the sport industry and having thought-provoking D&I conversations that inspire action while creating industry experience opportunities for its members. ADS set a goal to expand the Career Fair’s reach with both attending organizations and students. The recruitment team, led by Vice President Andrew Rumney, a senior, and Marketing Director Abdullah Khanzada, a sophomore, was able to recruit organizations from all over the nation. Companies from California, North Carolina, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Texas, Rhode Island, Washington D.C., and Massachusetts were in attendance. On top of expanding the event, ADS added more events into the Career Fair week itinerary in order for both companies and students to make the most of

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their time in Amherst. ADS partnered with McCormack Student Leaders Club member Shoshie Schwartz in order to make the second annual McCormack Sales Workshop a part of the week’s events, as it was held the night prior to the fair. The workshop brought in eight of the best sales managers in the industry, giving students a chance to learn from and connect with these industry professionals. In addition, following the fair, ADS capped off the week with a networking event held at McMurphy’s Uptown Tavern in downtown Amherst. Roughly 60 attendees, including McCormack students and faculty as well as industry executives, enjoyed drinks and food catered by the Hangar Pub & Grill in a more relaxed setting. ADS was thrilled to have several alumni at the fair and networking event as well. Twenty-five out of seventy registered organizations were represented by a UMass alumnus. This gave current students an opportunity to break the ice with recruiters, and it gave alumni a chance to come back and enjoy all that UMass has to offer once again. With the 2019 McCormack Career Fair in the books, ADS has already begun preparation for 2020. With the hard work of the club’s dedicated members and the help of McCormack faculty and alumni, the 2020 McCormack Career Fair will be an event to look forward to once again.

MESSAGE FROM THE 2020 MSLF

SMA CASE STUDY CHAMPIONS In November 2019, the McCormack team of seniors Samantha Bernstein, Elliot Jenner, Madison Perlmutter, and Andrew Rumney (advised by Dr. Liz Delia) were crowned champions of the Sport Marketing Association (SMA) Case Study Competition. The competition, held in conjunction with the 2019 SMA Conference in Chicago, Illinois, featured 16 undergraduate student teams from across the United States and Australia. “I’m incredibly proud of this year’s case study team. They represented McCormack, Isenberg, and UMass exceptionally well with the originality of their case solution, as well as their professionalism throughout the competition,” said Delia, assistant professor of sport management. The case focused on the digital distribution of sport media content, and tasked students with pitching new, niche content for the Chicago-based sports network, Stadium, as well as marketing tactics and messaging for the proposed content. Less than 72 hours after receiving the case, teams presented in preliminary and final rounds to a panel of judges, including representatives from Stadium. Recognizing the dearth of women’s sport coverage across sport networks and digital platforms, the McCormack team proposed for Stadium to become a hub for women’s sport coverage, centered around a marketing campaign they titled, “Watch Her Here.”

On behalf of the 2020 McCormack Sport Leaders Forum Committee, we wanted to thank everyone for their continued support of the forum. While we wish we could have hosted the event this year, we are beyond excited to see the remarkable work the 2021 committee will do. Thank you all again for your support and guidance and we look forward to seeing you at next year’s event. - Alexa Hirt ‘20, Director of Programming & Engagement

CLUB UPDATES As the 2020-2021 school year begins, we are excited to announce the new president and vice president of each club: Association of Diversity in Sport (ADS) President: Alyssa Gross Vice President: Abdullah Khanzada McCormack Strategy and Analytics President: Natan Cristol-Deman Vice President: Matthew Kimball McCormack Student Leaders President: Nicholas Kennedy Vice President: Ariel (Ari) Kwitkin-Close Women in Sport Management President: Kiara Killelea Vice President: McKenzie Chaban

SPRINGFIELD RENAISSANCE COLLABORATION At the end of the 2019 fall semester, the McCormack Strategy & Analytics Club was back at the Springfield Renaissance School to teach its second annual program for middle-school-aged students, called an “Intensive.” The initiative was created by the Springfield Renaissance School, allowing students to focus on one specific topic for three days. In 2018, the leadership of the McCormack Strategy & Analytics Club taught one Intensive on basketball analytics, and the club went back in 2019 to focus on football strategy. Over the course of the three days, the Renaissance students revamped their problem-solving abilities, logical reasoning, and strategic intuition through the game of football. They partook in lessons such as play-call theory and design, statistical talent evaluation, and situational decision making. They even engaged in some hands-on learning via actual gameplay in which they ran their own plays and tracked and analyzed their own stats.

Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management

GRADUATE PROGRAM UPDATES McCormack Master’s Students Consult with OOFOS and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee McCormack graduate students at USOPC

“Our capstone has lived up to its name,” observes second-year MBA/MS student Lauren Yung. “It has given us an opportunity to draw from different disciplines—economics, marketing, HR, data analysis—you name it.” Yung gives high points to Isenberg’s Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management for the department’s annual industry consulting practicum for final-semester master’s degree students. This year, two teams—each with four students—have spent much of the semester tackling assignments on behalf of two industry clients. The first, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), coordinates strategic, operational, and other activities for the nation’s Olympic and Paralympic initiatives. The second, OOFOS, is an eight-year old recoveryfootwear company based in Braintree that was cofounded by UMass sport management alumnus Lou Panaccione ’80.

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“For OOFOS, our team is focusing on marketing research,” notes Meaghan McClure, who is also a second-year MBA/MS student. “That includes expanding brand awareness for the product and finding new markets beyond running.” She says that neither she nor the other members of her group had heard of OOFOS before, so they were in a good position to think about strategies for reaching a wider audience with a product that relieves foot stress after running and other athletic activities. “One is for OOFOS to align with consumer touchpoints that attract mass participation,” she says. The experience of working with a smaller local brand has been rewarding: “It’s interesting to see how they operate—both to compete with other footwear brands but also to make consumers more aware of the recovery footwear category in general,” says McClure. The group meets once a week online with the client, as well as meeting separately as a group and with its advisor and mentor, Isenberg Sport Management Lecturer Will Norton ‘12 MBA/MS (pictured above, fourth from left, with Lauren Yung, Megan Burke ‘19 MBA/MS, Christina Mancini, Christien Wright, Jessica Hamby, Rachel Lee ‘17 MBA/MS, and USOPC practicum client Danielle Lopez ‘12 MS). For the USOPC project, the Isenberg team is helping the organization to diversify its commercial approach. “I was actually somewhat familiar with the USOPC as a fan of the Olympics as well as through classes,” says Yung. “But working on this project takes

Business Operations Consultant Danielle Lopez, a 2012 McCormack graduate. Students are assigned to the teams based on “instructor feedback and what we know about student strengths and career aspirations,” says Norton. “Our goal is to form two cohesive, well-balanced groups.” Yung adds that “the practicum allows us to apply what we’ve learned in the classroom. Just as important though, it’s a terrific transition into our careers.” Grad students: (left to right) Jessica Hamby, Christien Wright, Christina Mancini, and Lauren Yung

that understanding and appreciation to a whole different level.”

MARKETING MENTORSHIP

The team began by mining and assessing best practices and commercial strategies from 12 industry sectors. From there, it created a top-ten list of proposals. Before the current pandemic hit, the team traveled to USOPC headquarters in Colorado Springs, where in presentations to an executive team from the organization, it downsized the proposals to five. This month, the team has been refining the proposals through both qualitative and quantitative scrutiny. “The project has called for creativity, teamwork, market research, risk assessment, and communication skills,” emphasizes Yung. “It is one thing to hear how business is done, but it is another thing to be a part of it,” she adds.

Mentorship in McCormack courses by alumni and other professionals adds considerable value for our students. During the spring 2020 semester, graduate student project teams in Assistant Professor Liz Delia’s Applied Sport Marketing Research class received expert guidance from several seasoned professionals. Ben Pereira ’17, diversity and inclusion specialist with Minor League Baseball; Alyse LaHue, general manager with Sky Blue; and Danielle Byrd ‘16 MBA/MS, VP of marketing with MarketCast, all offered insights and inspiration in projects on behalf of their employers.

CONNECTING WITH FACULTY AND ALUMNI NETWORK “We source our clients from faculty connections, as well as the McCormack Department’s robust industry alumni database of over 3,000 professionals working in the commercial sports industry,” observes Norton. “The capstone,” he adds, “is a great way for alumni to engage with our program and our students. In recent years, we’ve worked hand-in-hand with The Madison Square Garden Company, VISA, the New York Red Bulls, Under Armour, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, and other high-profile clients.” For the OOFOS project, students, notes Norton, are interacting with Director of Marketing Darren Brown, President Steve Gallo, and Co-Founder and UMass alumnus, Lou Panaccione. For the USOPC initiative, the lead contact is Senior

Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management

Students working with Minor League Baseball led a project that assessed the perceived congruency of local (team) and national (league) brands. A second project for the organization explored African Americans’ perceptions of baseball with an emphasis on Minor League Baseball. For the professional women’s soccer team Sky Blue FC, students analyzed the team’s digital footprint, focusing on consumers’ social media preferences. And in a project for the research and analytics firm MarketCast, a student team examined demographic and psychographic characteristics of consumers who bet on sports compared with those who reject betting. The study also examined whether official partnerships influenced the propensity to bet. For students, projects like these, emphasizes Delia, pave the way for a seamless transition to the professional world.

MCCORMACK UPDATES MCCORMACK RESPONSE TO COVID-19 Since the UMass Amherst campus transitioned to remote learning in early March to help slow the spread of COVID-19, the department has made fast adjustments to ensure that students continue learning and thriving from a distance. Some of the creative adjustments McCormack created were Hallway Hangouts, Faculty Speaker Series, Friday Advice Sessions, Alum/Industry Sessions, Mentor Pairing, special summer projects, and bringing a plethora of sport industry professionals into the virtual classroom.

Isenberg Assistant Professor Liz Delia (center rear) teaching in Mumbai

MCCORMACK AROUND THE WORLD McCormack is expanding its international footprint with two new partnerships, providing state-ofthe-art master’s level education and training for India’s Global Institute of Sports Business (GISB) and Japan’s Pacific League Marketing (PLM). In the multiyear initiative with GISB, McCormack’s offerings include sport marketing, consumer behavior, corporate sponsorship, strategy, leadership, and other essentials. Students can access an online learning platform as well as the recently launched McCormack Case Study Collection. The new partnership got off to a dynamic start in 2020. In January, McCormack Assistant Professor Liz Delia taught a module in Mumbai on sport consumer UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

behavior. The minicourse included a week-long research project by student teams and career development sessions with Delia and McCormack alumni. In May, a second McCormack faculty member, Lecturer Brett Albert ‘17 MBA/MS, taught the minicourse, Sport Consumer Behavior. The remote module explored North American sport business models and the formation of sustainable sport leagues. A course highlight was a virtual session with McCormack graduate Phil Song ’12, manager of Major League Baseball in Korea. And in June, McCormack Associate Professor Nicole Melton concluded the partnership’s first year with a remote module on sport leadership. McCormack also supports GISB’s student study trips to North America and offers connections with the department’s vast alumni/industry network. The partnership strengthens GISB’s educational portfolio, which includes India’s first internationally certified sports management course. From its state-of-the-art campus in Mumbai, GISB takes an industry-driven approach to sport management education that furthers individual growth and employability while targeting critical industry sectors. McCormack’s partnership with Pacific League Marketing will also impart education and training by the department’s faculty members. PLM is the digital sales and e-commerce agency for Japan’s Pacific League, one of two leagues in Japan’s overarching Nippon Professional Baseball League. (In Japan, professional

baseball continues to exert exceptional cultural influence.) McCormack credits master’s degree graduate Takehiko Nakamura ‘04 MS for his help in securing the partnership. He is president and CEO of Blue United Corporation, a New York-based consulting agency. The new partnerships are the latest initiatives by the McCormack Center for Sport Research & Education, which customizes education and training, for partners and clients both overseas and domestic. “We’ve been in operation since 2011 offering seminars in a wealth of subjects including finance and economics, leadership, ambush marketing, and many others,” observes Will Norton, the center’s director and a lecturer for the department. Our international reputation has really taken off thanks to our own accomplishments and to Mark McCormack’s enduring influence.”

Lauren Elgee

Kelsey Sloan

WISE/MCCORMACK GRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP AWARD WINNERS The recipients, Lauren Elgee of Oregon and Kelsey Sloan of Utah, will each receive free tuition and Graduate Assistantship-funding for both years in the McCormack MBA/MS in Sport Management program. Elgee and Sloan were selected from a field of WISE members who applied for fall 2020 admission to the McCormack program. Lauren Elgee is a graduate of Whitman College and joins the UMass program after having worked for the past three years for Sport Oregon where she served most recently as Senior Sport Tourism Program Manager. A graduate from Carleton College where she was a varsity swimmer, Kelsey Sloan’s sport industry experience includes over three years as Team Manager of Snowboard and FreeSki at U.S. Ski & Snowboard in Park City, Utah.

GISB Program Director Neel Shah (third from left) with McCormack’s Will Norton, Janet Fink, and Steve McKelvey

Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management

This is the first year of a three-year partnership between the McCormack Department of Sport Management and WISE providing WISE members nationally the opportunity to receive a fully-funded graduate sport management education.

GRAD MENTORS A special thank you to our 2020 Grad Mentors!

KOBY ALTMAN

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS

PAUL ANDERSON

US SOCCER FEDERATION

THORR BJORN

UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND

GREG BOURIS

POWER X COMMUNICATIONS

RICHARD CONWAY SARA DANIEL

CLEVELAND INDIANS CAROLINA HURRICANES

MICHELLE DUFF

WASSERMAN

AMY GLEESON

LA 2028

MICHAEL GOLDSTEIN

MASTERCARD

ROBERT HANLON SCOTT HARDING

TWITTER LEARFIELD IMG COLLEGE

SAM KIM

BAKERSFIELD AHL

NOAH KOLODNY

OCTAGON

LINDSAY MILNE ROBERT MORRISSEY RYAN NADEAU SARAH NARRACCI ERIC NEMETH HEIDI PELLERANO

HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS CONCACAF

WASHINGTON NATIONALS

JOE SMITH NELSON SPENCER RUSS SPIELMAN GEOFF SPIES MIKE TANNENBAUM

MICHELLE TAYLOR

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

BOSTON RED SOX

MARK SCIALABBA

SARAH MURRAY MACKENZIE

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER

BOSTON BRUINS

PREMIER SPORTS COUNCIL

RYAN TAPPIN

MELISSA MARCHIONNA

NFL

IAN RUBEL

RACHEL KRASNOW FENWAY SPORTS MANAGEMENT DUNKIN

LEGACY GLOBAL SPORTS

MIKE UNGER

TRUIST CLEVELAND INDIANS GSE WORLDWIDE OPTIMUM SPORTS ESPN NFL ANALYST NEW BALANCE TATA CONSULTANCY USA SWIMMING

‘‘

Rob’s engaging personality, humor, and knack for conversation on just about any topic whatsoever—he had degrees in paleontology, microbiology, history, and library science—has enabled us to grow the collection, as he could connect with anyone.” — Lisa Masteralexis

ROB COX TRIBUTE Robert S. Cox, head of Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) at the UMass Amherst Libraries, died in May. Lisa Masteralexis ‘87, McCormack professor and senior associate dean for administration and academic affairs, wrote this tribute: Having worked closely on a project with Rob, I would like to share one recollection to detail his special legacy. I had the good fortune to meet Rob about 15 years ago as we learned about the collection of Albert J. Spalding that was at Spalding headquarters in Springfield. While we did not land the Spalding collection, through that process I learned Rob’s unique approach to SCUA. When an opportunity arose to compete for the collection of Mark H. McCormack, the late founder of IMG and the icon known as the father of sport marketing, Rob was a ready partner. In our quest for the collection, which Rob said may be the largest and last known collection of a business in paper (versus email), we competed against 30 universities. What set us apart in landing the largest gift in the university’s history was the uniqueness of our partnership. Rob led the entry from the archival side while I led from the academic side. Together, we developed a plan to not only archive the collection, but to activate it with faculty, students, and alumni in the department to create an educational legacy which included the naming

Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management

of our department and our Center for Sport Research and Education in honor of Mr. McCormack. Since landing the collection, in a collaboration between SCUA and the McCormack Department of Sport Management, we hired an archivist, digitized Mr. McCormack’s papers, launched a case study collection, and developed a multi-day Executive in Residence program, an oral history of top sport executives, and global partnerships that furthered Mr. McCormack’s view of sport business being global. All of these initiatives have benefited students and faculty by enhancing the quality of education, access to research, and educational partnerships, not to mention the reputation of the Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management in the Isenberg School of Management. Rob brought an entrepreneurial spirit to the acquisition and activation of the collection. His salesmanship was unusual for an archivist and a key to our success. Rob’s engaging personality, humor, and knack for conversation on just about any topic whatsoever—he had degrees in paleontology, microbiology, history, and library science—has enabled us to grow the collection, as he could connect with anyone. Rob’s humility and gentle hand fostered collaboration between faculty, students, researchers, writers, and SCUA staff in activating the collection for the world beyond UMass. We are all better off for Rob’s unique contribution to our department, school, and university.

FACULTY UPDATES Professor Steve McKelvey has been appointed the new chair of the McCormack Department of Sport Management. McKelvey replaces Dr. Janet Fink, who served in the role for the past six years and will become Isenberg’s associate dean for undergraduate education. With McKelvey moving into the chair role, Associate Professor Dr. Nicole Melton, who previously served as the department’s undergraduate program director, will assume the role of associate department chair. Assistant Professor Dr. Matt Katz will replace Melton as undergraduate program director. Along with the new leadership for the department, we have a new faculty hire, Dr. David Tyler. Tyler comes to us from Western Carolina University where his teaching focus was in sport finance, economics, and data analytics. His research focus is on consumer behavior and rivalry. We are incredibly excited to have Tyler as an addition to our team.

FACULTY RESEARCH

Liz Delia has been conducting research with WNBA Minnesota Lynx fans since May 2019 to address disparities in the theoretical understanding of women’s sport fans. The first paper from this project was accepted in the Journal of Sport Management, with more publications to come from the work. Delia also received the NASSM Research Fellow (May 2020) award at the SMA case study competition this past November.

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Matt Katz was recognized for his research with the Isenberg Research Award (May 2020). His current research examines sport and networks, particularly the individual networks of both sport consumers and sport leaders. He continues to explore the ties between sport fans, including how these ties foster positive outcomes like well-being and exploring the relationship between networks and leadership in various parts of the sport industry.

Bradley Baker’s current research is primarily focused on personal branding and fan engagement through social media. Specifically, he is looking at how sports teams share followers; quantifying the value of NCAA student-athletes’ name, image, and likeness rights as restrictions are lifted; and how athletes have used TikTok to sustain connections with their fans despite the COVID-19 sports hiatus.

Steve McKelvey continues his research into the FTC’s regulations regarding the disclosure requirements for social media influencers, and in particular “robots,” aka fake people! His most recent paper, coauthored with McCormack adjunct sport law Professor Jim Masteralexis and recent MS alum Keevan Statz, is entitled “#IAMAROBOT: Is it time for the Federal Trade Commission to rethink its approach to virtual influencers?” McKelvey has also published a paper on the Olympic Movement’s new Rule 40 guidelines.

RESEARCH PROJECTS BY PHD CANDIDATES Lauren Hindman: I study diversity and inclusion in order to understand and eliminate inequalities in sport organizations. My research often focuses on gender, such as recent work examining the sexism experienced by women sport managers, but also considers issues related to other areas of diversity, including race, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic class.

Blaine Huber: I am currently working on projects investigating fan behavior in relation to the NFL Draft and nostalgia as it pertains to the experiences of non-local fans. Broadly, my current research projects are examining differences across fans and fan groups.

Se Jin Kim: My research interests are on sport consumer behavior and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m interested in how underrepresented sports can be marketed depending on culture/demographics. Currently, I am interested in how the eSport consumers can be segmented depending on various points of attachment that they may have, and how those specific dimensions affect behavior.

Jeffrey MacCharles: My research focuses on diversity and inclusion in sport organizations, particularly relating to H.R. policies and practices such as the attraction, recruitment, hiring, and retention of diverse employees. I also examine the identity authenticity of sport employees and the pressures to cover their stigmatized identities in order to minimize stigma in the sport workplace.

Aaron Mansfield: I research how sport fans negotiate their multiple identities (e.g., fan, parent, employee, etc). My dissertation centers on health-conscious fans; my goal is to highlight how such individuals understand the relationship between their fandom and physical well-being.

Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management

AWARD WINNERS Although the Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management’s annual awards banquet in April could not be held, eight alumni and thirty students received honors and scholarships this spring. 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 sports industry:

Catherine Carlson ‘98 MS; Senior Vice President, Revenue and Strategy for the Philadelphia Eagles

Daryl Jasper ‘93; Vice President at Learfield’s East Region

Ben Cherington ‘97 MS; General Manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates

Richard (Dick) Lenfest, Jr. ‘90; Athletic Director at Westfield State University

THE ALUMNI-ON-THE-RISE AWARD is given to alumni who have graduated within 5 to 10 years and have demonstrated exceptional achievement:

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Andrew George ‘10 MS; Tournament Director at the Honda Classic golf tournament

Caitlyn Prandato ‘10 MS; Assistant Director of Athletics at Harvard Athletics

Victoria Neamonitis ‘12; Associate Director of Sports Strategy at Optimum Sports

Andrew Sherwin ‘09; Senior Director of Business Intelligence & Operations at the Boston Celtics

STUDENT AWARD WINNERS represent the best and brightest. With impressive professional experience, extracurricular activities, and community service, this group maintains an average GPA of 3.7: Joan & Ed Barr Memorial Scholarship Jacob Weaver and Olivia Notini

Sport for Social Change Award Trinity Monteiro

Kristian J. Rose, Jr. Memorial Scholarship Kiara Killelea

George & Sherry Dickerman Family Scholarship Sean Gaffney

Erik K.M. Kjeldsen Scholarship Neal Wood and Paige LeFrancois

Marilyn & Richie Tannenbaum Scholarship Brendan Clark 47 Brand Scholarship Carla Pelton Harold J. VanderZwaag Scholarship Jarred Natola Glenn Wong Sport Law Scholarship Alexa Hirt Alumni Scholarship Nicholas Kennedy and Samantha Bernstein McCormack Center Scholarship Ariel Kwitkin-Close and Abdullah Khanzada

Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management

Leroy Mentor Scholarship Steven Luttazi Tokio-Marine HCC Internship Awards Program Alexa Hirt The McEacharn Summer Internship Award Program Alannah Scardino Senior Leadership Award Samantha Bernstein & Andrew Rumney TOP SENIORS Samantha Bernstein, Brandon Blumstein, Samuel Campbell, DavontĂŠ Higginbottom, Alexa Hirt, Nicole Imhof, Elliott Jenner, Malika Antoine Nicholson, Madison Perlmutter, Andrew Rumney, Shoshana Schwartz, Dylan Williams

EXECUTIVE IN RESIDENCE

David Stern (third from left) with Todd McCormack, Janet Fink, Steve McKelvey, Carolanne McAuliffe, and Lisa Masteralexis

DAVID STERN REVISITS THREE DECADES OF INNOVATION IN BASKETBALL “Technology is our friend and critical to our future,” observed former NBA Commissioner David Stern in his October 16 keynote address on the UMass Amherst campus, less than three months before he passed away. The talk highlighted his visit as Executive in Residence with Isenberg’s Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management.

stopped looking ahead, noting in his keynote address that televised games in the not-too-distant future will allow fans to choose their own camera angles, announcers, and statistical readouts. Fans in Kazakhstan, he added, will tap into feeds in their own languages. And viewers worldwide will have the option of placing bets.

As commissioner of the NBA for 30 years (19842014), Stern reshaped professional basketball by embracing globalism, new technologies, grassroots recruiting, social responsibility, and the Women’s National Basketball Association. On top of delivering his keynote talk, the Commissioner Emeritus spoke in classes, participated in roundtables with McCormack students and faculty, and shared insights with the McCormack Collection Oral History Project. He never

THREE CRITICAL DOMAINS

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Stern’s talk focused on three areas: the NBA’s innovation through technology, its emphasis on social responsibility, and its strategy to secure an expanded pool of players through grassroots “activation.” On the technology front, the NBA has been a habitual early adopter, he remarked. That includes cable deals with the USA channel (1979) and a subsequent

The second milestone, a 1993 visit to South Africa by NBA executives and players, sought to spur development of the sport in that deeply fractious nation. A highlight of the experience: a 45-minute meeting with Nelson Mandela, who recently had been released from Robben Island Prison and was a year away from becoming South Africa’s president. “Meeting with Mandela was life changing,” Stern recalled. It underscored, he said, Mandela’s affirmation that sports can bring people together. To that end, the NBA has long advocated—in Stern’s words—a “single world conversation” on behalf of human rights, the representation of women, and the extinction of racism. arrangement with DirecTV that brought the league into 5 million homes. Jumping on the internet bandwagon, the league created NBA.com. And it launched its own network, NBA TV, which initially, Stern said, “nobody watched.” He added, however, that the venture fostered “intellectual growth—not necessarily business growth.” The league was also ahead of the curve in embracing social media. That included informing the players that their pronouncements might gain wider—sometimes unwanted—currency. Minus a few high-profile hiccups, “our players understood the medium early on,” he recalled. Stern’s protégé and future NBA commissioner Adam Silver insisted that ‘we want to be as distributed as possible.’ “He was right,” Stern affirmed. “Social media has been a big part of our growth.” The NBA has been no less passionate about its commitment to social responsibility, emphasized Stern, who recounted two milestones that profoundly influenced the organization and basketball itself. The first was the revelation in 1991 that one of its high-profile players, the affable Magic Johnson, was HIV positive. “It was a stunner; it was on the front page of every newspaper,” Stern recalled. Johnson, he added, became “the face of AIDS.” His identity with the disease empowered the struggle to overcome its stigma. Embracing that cause, “We viewed Magic’s experience as educational.”

Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management

Shifting gears, Stern noted that the league has created new, nontraditional channels to broaden its pool of players. “In the last five years, [those initiatives] have taken off spectacularly,” he observed. NBA academies (including seven outside the U.S. and tournaments like the Jr. NBA Global Championship with Disney) expand the league’s footprint. So does its own minor league feeder— the G-League, which sports 27 teams, many in formerly underrepresented markets. For Stern, the strategy is straightforward—“to develop the next generation of NBA players.”

A GLOBAL GAME Basketball is tailor-made for global dissemination, noted Stern in a subsequent interview. “You need less real estate and equipment. You can play in groups, one on one, alone. It’s almost an unfair advantage,” he confessed. With impetus from high-profile advertisers like Coca-Cola, Nike, and Adidas, the NBA’s growth has dovetailed with an increasingly interconnected world economy. “We’re in 200-plus countries, and that includes 43 languages,” he added. As head of the NBA, Stern became a fixture over his tenure of three decades. The former commissioner explains: “It was always new to me—merchandising, licensing, trading cards, globalization, cable, digital. It was always a big puzzle and I never coasted.”

STAY CONNECTED JOIN OUR ALUMNI DATABASE: Getting on-boarded is as easy as emailing alumnisupport@isenberg.umass.edu. Once you send a request, you’ll receive a unique alumni ID number that you can use to set up your account. Registering your information only takes five minutes and sets you up for life!

Annual alumni breakfast for the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Conference

HELP SUPPORT THE DEPARTMENT’S INITIATIVES Financial assistance supports our students by providing opportunities and experiences they may not otherwise have access to. Your support helps the SMA Case Study Competition (where we are reigning champions!), the McCormack Sport Leaders Forum, undergraduate and minority mentorship programs, and alumni events (like the Mets Suite, and Networking Nights), to name a few. Donate today by visiting bit.ly/McCormackGives. Salute to Tokio-Marine HCC Award Program

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA @mccormackumass Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management Liz Delia (fifth from left) with the winning SMA Case Study team

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McCormack at the Mets

Octagon Bowl championship team

Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management

Baseball Winter Meetings

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