Sport analytics program gives students real-world experience while helping Syracuse Athletics optimize sales and engage fans.
Sport Management News
Working dream jobs in the NFL
Cady Langdon ’16 and Angela Marsh-Coan ’18 were involved in sports in high school, wanted to pursue a career in sports and are now working in dream jobs for the most popular professional sports league in the world, the National Football League.
But for Langdon and Marsh-Coan, both graduates of the sport management program in the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, that’s not the best part of their journey. The best part, they say, is that through their NFL jobs–Langdon as health and safety senior coordinator and Marsh-Coan as social justice coordinator–they are making a positive impact on countless lives.
“Since I started working with player health and safety (in 2017), I feel my work is impacting the game and the players’ lives and making a safer game for fans who get to see the players they love on the field rather than on the sideline,” says Langdon.
Marsh-Coan works for the NFL’s Inspire Change initiative that supports social justice programs and provides funding for organizations that assist communities that have been historically underrepresented and excluded.
“I enjoy what I’m doing, I’m getting to make an impact and the fact that this role and opportunity even exists says a lot about the commitment that’s being made to this initiative,” says Marsh-Coan.
Langdon and Marsh-Coan will return to Falk to discuss their prominent NFL positions during a “Sport Management Alumnae in the NFL” panel discussion on Oct. 15 as part of the fifth annual sport management alumni event, “SPM Alumni in #SportsBiz: Now We’re the Pros.” Nicole Cost, internship placement coordinator for sport management, arranged the panel discussion because she knew of several Falk female alums who are working for the NFL or with NFL teams.
Other members of the panel include Hannah Sanford ’16, community engagement manager for the Seattle Seahawks, and Jordyn White ’17, public relations specialist for the NFL (White majored in communication and rhetorical studies in the College of Visual and Performing Arts and minored in sport management).
Other Falk alumnae working in the NFL include Lori Robinson ’09, player engagement for the Baltimore Ravens; Kaitlynn Miller ’21, who was recently hired by the Washington Football Team as coordinator of strategic partnerships; and Caroline Davis ’20, a marketing associate for the NFL based in Los Angeles who’s pursuing her master’s in communication and media studies from the Newhouse School of Public Communications.
“Since the inception of our program, we’ve cultivated opportunities for our female students to become change agents in sports. As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Title IX, I could not be prouder of the accomplishments of these pioneering women working in the NFL,” says Michael Veley, founding director and chair of the Department of Sport Management. “Very few universities, if any, have so many female graduates working in managerial roles within professional football.”
The keynote speaker for the alumni event is Deidra Maddock ’97, vice president of sports brand solutions, Disney Advertising Sales for the Walt Disney Company and a senior advisory council member for the Department of Sport Management. Another panel discussion will feature alumni who have started their own businesses, and more than 20 alumni representing the NBA, MKTG, Genius Sports and other companies will engage with more than 150 current students in professional workshops following the panel discussions.
“The event began five years ago when I wanted to create a professional development opportunity for our students navigating careers in the sport and entertainment world,” Cost says. “When I started to brainstorm employers to connect with, I realized that we had sport management alumni working almost everywhere our students wanted to potentially be one day. The best people to help guide our current students are alumni; we love keeping the sport and entertainment industry Orange!”
Helping to Create Change
While in high school in Washington, D.C., Marsh-Coan was a student manager for sports teams and that sparked her interest in sport management. She attended an open house at the Falk College and was sold on the idea that it offered the support of a small liberal arts college while providing the excitement of a larger university.
“I worked as a marketing intern for [Syracuse] basketball and football games, while also serving as the community service chair for the Student African American Society,” Marsh-Coan says. “When I graduated, I realized I could pursue both my interests in sports and my passion for community engagement. I’m grateful I had the opportunity to explore my interests at Falk and in the context of what I could be doing professionally.”
Marsh-Coan worked for the NBA’s Washington Wizards and Atlanta Hawks before joining the NFL in November 2020. The timing was right for Marsh-Coan as the Inspire Change initiative took on added importance in the wake of the social and cultural unrest that was occurring throughout the world.
Inspire Change has four pillars: criminal justice reform, police-community relations, education and economic advancement. Marsh-Coan says the NFL supports 27 different non-profit organizations that promote change in those pillar areas.
“My primary role as the social justice coordinator is to assist the social responsibility team on all things related to Inspire Change,” Marsh-Coan says. “On a day-to-day basis, I manage communications between the league and our 27 Inspire Change grant partners.”
The NFL’s social responsibility team works in collaboration with the Players Coalition, club owners and NFL players to “ensure that access to opportunity is a reality for all.”
“I’m definitely grateful to be in this position and for the commitment [the NFL] has made to this work,” Marsh-Coan says. “The team is growing and evolving to tell the story of these partner organizations, and we’re looking to continue to be authentic in this space.”
Keeping Players Safe
Langdon, who’s from Westchester County, New York, in the Hudson Valley, wanted to transfer for her junior year of college and had Syracuse at the top of her list. Langdon and her father, alum Simon Langdon, went to a basketball game on their visit and “that’s really all you need to sell you on the school,” Langdon says, laughing.
Langdon, who played soccer in high school, was accepted into the sport management program and jumped right in by joining the Sport Management Club and participating in fundraising events such as the Annual Charity Sports Auction. She spent the summer and fall of 2016 on her capstone project with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills as a graduate assistant member of the events and guest experience staff.
“I was able to meet great speakers at Falk from many professional sport leagues who I’m still connected to, and in my classes, we covered ticket sales, marketing and all the areas you can get into in sports,” Langdon says. “My capstone with the Bills came through the help of Syracuse internship coordinators and staff who have so many connections and they’re constantly monitoring job opportunities for students.”
Langdon joined the NFL’s broadcasting department in 2016 and spent a year working with clubs to find stories that could be highlighted on the broadcasts. She then transitioned to player health and safety, where she focuses on innovation and protective equipment.
Working with experts such as data scientists, engineers and epidemiologists, Langdon’s team collects and organizes data and performs video reviews of injuries that occur in an NFL game (taking into account factors such as weather, playing surface and the type of cleats, helmet, shoulder pads and other equipment worn by the player). The data is central to informing rules changes and improving protective equipment–two centerpieces of the league’s efforts to reduce injuries, specifically concussions.
The NFL, in collaboration with the NFL Players Association and appointed biomechanical experts, conducts laboratory testing for all helmets. The results are displayed on a poster and the helmets are ranked as green (best to use), yellow or red (prohibited). Langdon says at the start of the 2018 season, 41% of the players were wearing helmets that ranked in the top-performing green category.
At the conclusion of the 2020 season, because of this research and a commitment to educate players, 99% of the players wore the top-performing helmets and the league realized a 25% decrease in concussions over the past three years.
“This has been a large effort, and over the years we’ve made helmet choices a prominent part of conversations in the locker room between players and equipment staff,” Langdon says.
‘Headed in the Right Direction’
Making a positive impact through their NFL positions isn’t the only thing that Langdon and Marsh-Coan have in common. Their messages to students during the Oct. 15 alumni event will also be similar: Find out what you want to do and go for it.
“It’s OK to get a job in one area and switch to another,” Langdon says. “I started in events with the Bills and then broadcasting and now health and safety, so you don’t have to feel you’re stuck in one position for the rest of your career. Sports provides you many opportunities to dive into different areas.”
Marsh-Coan says students should take advantage of Falk’s vast network of alums and she credits her Falk connections for helping her land jobs in the NBA and NFL.
“This [alumni] event is a good opportunity for students to see women in this space, especially Black women in this space, and I look forward to encouraging students to explore all opportunities,” Marsh-Coan says. “Don’t take a job just to meet people; reach out to people on your own. We should encourage students to go after what they want rather than what people say they should go after.”
It’s that attitude that has led Marsh-Coan, Langdon and other Falk alumnae to prominent positions in a once-archaic league where NFL used to stand for “Not For Ladies.”
“My department alone is made up of four women out of six and there are so many women here in executive and senior vice president roles,” Langdon says. “It’s amazing to have mentors in those spaces.
“There’s a lot of progress to be made and I hope to see women being head coaches one day, but we’re certainly headed in the right direction,” she adds. “You just have to be confident and go with what you know and make sure your voice is being heard.”
Adapted from an SU News story by Matt Michael originally published on Thursday, October 14, 2021.
Game-Changing Name, Image and Likeness (NIL)
“The first thing to understand about NIL is that nobody fully understands NIL.”
In a recent article from Sports Illustrated, Ross Dellenger had written this quote about the new Name, Image and Likeness rule that has turned college athletics on its ear. The NCAA had determined, starting July 1, 2021, all athletes could benefit financially from their name, image and likeness.
Actually, there’s a group of 28 students in Falk College who, by the end of this semester, will fully understand NIL. This fall, those students are taking a “Name Image and Likeness” course from the department of Sport Management that is believed to be the first undergraduate course of its kind in the country.
The course is being taught by David Meluni, an assistant teaching professor in sport management who has more than 20 years of experience in collegiate athletics, first as a baseball player at Ithaca College and then by working in ticketing, marketing, sponsorship and digital roles at Ithaca, Cornell, Florida State and Syracuse.
Falk’s course includes the model of NIL. Students are collaborating with professionals in the industry while learning how to build a brand and ultimately monetize opportunities. The students are involved in proposal writing, infographic design and the development of marketing and social media plans.
“Our department prides itself on creating courses that connect our students to contemporary issues in the sport industry,” says Michael Veley, Rhonda S. Falk Endowed Professor and department of Sport Management director and chair. “The NIL legislation will change the business model of Division I college athletics going forward. When you match the teaching skills of Professor Meluni with the expertise and collaborative partnership of (the sponsorship sales company) SponsorUnited, this course will be a game-changer.”
In this Q&A, we ask Meluni how the class came together, the impact of NIL and what his students are learning.
Q: The NCAA announced its decision on July 1 and less than two months later you’re teaching a “Name, Image and Likeness” course. Tell us how that came together so quickly.
A: I’m always looking at trends in the sport industry, and as a former student-athlete I have been keeping an eye on NIL for a few years. Once the NCAA tabled a decision in January 2021, we knew something had to happen this past July so I started planning at that point.
Q: As Michael Veley says, NIL–and this course–are game-changers. Can you explain why this is such a groundbreaking rule change?
A: Think multi-media rights holders, licensing and merchandising, just to start. If a brand can associate with an athlete, how does that impact the corporate partner of an athletic department? Brands want engagement, and the athlete can drive that.
Q: You have a varied and extensive background in collegiate athletics. How did that help you develop the curriculum for the course?
A: Spending 10 years selling corporate sponsorships in collegiate athletics at Syracuse, followed by six years in digital media at SIDEARM Sports, I navigated the many challenges that brands experience. An athlete can provide an avenue that brands traditionally struggle with. Brands want engagement, and no one is better to provide that than athletes who essentially have become influencers.
Q: What are your students learning and what are some of the skills they’re acquiring through this course?
A: Students are learning how to prospect for a potential partner by using industry leading sales software provided by SponsorUnited. They are evaluating the social media Instagram accounts of collegiate athletes to predict pricing and trends and using Canva to create graphics for themselves as if they were a student-athlete or consulting for a student-athlete.
Q: Your class is working closely with SponsorUnited, a sponsorship sales company. Explain how that partnership started and what SponsorUnited is providing to your students.
A: We are the only university in the country right now with this kind of relationship. We have been working with SponsorUnited in different capacities for two years and its software is the industry leading prospecting tool for organizations to vet brands. The software updates daily and allows you to track sponsorship prospects and industry trends. SponsorUnited is amazing to work with and we are proud to use their software as a supplement to the textbook.
Q: Your textbook is Malcolm Lemmon’s “Impact Beyond the Game: How Athletes Can Build Influence, Monetize Their Brand, and Create a Legacy.” The title is certainly fitting, but what’s inside the book that makes it so useful for this course?
A: Everything! When I decided to create the course, I wanted to use this book because it’s an amazingly easy read, it touches upon everything from how to deal with media to social media importance, and there is nothing in it that’s not covered within the scope of NIL. Malcolm hit a home run with this book before NIL was even here.
Q: What has been the reaction so far from students in your class and–we have to ask–are there any student-athletes who are taking the class this fall?
A: The class discussions are outstanding. Students in our department are connected to hot topics in the sports industry and this is certainly the hottest one right now. This semester, we have several student-athletes in the class, along with a handful of team managers who are majoring in sport management, sport analytics and broadcasting. It is the perfect mix of students, and next semester will likely be the same.
Meluni says there are discussions to expand opportunities for students and industry professionals who want to learn more about NIL through an online NIL course from the Orange Academy.
An SU News story by Matt Michael originally published on Wednesday, September 29, 2021.
Falk College introduces new online Certificate of Advanced Study in sport analytics
Students gain advanced data skills for in-demand careers with sports teams, leagues, and companies connected to sports
Falk College will introduce an online Certificate of Advanced Study (CAS) in sport analytics to its academic degree offerings in Spring 2022. Sport analytics focuses on data science applications to sports teams and businesses. The new 12-credit CAS program explores different types of statistics used for analysis of player and team performance, and business performance across different sports and leagues. Upon graduation, students are proficient in visualizing and analyzing sport data and well-prepared prepared to meet increasing demand for analytics professionals in the growing, international world of sports.
“Popularized by the book and film Moneyball, sport analytics uses statistics, mathematical modeling, coding, and insights into both the on-field and business aspects of sport to communicate important insights to decision-makers such as coaches and general managers,” says Rodney Paul, professor in the Department of Sport Management and director of its sport analytics program. “Our program combines aspects of mathematics, computer coding, and business theory coupled with research and insights into how analytics are used in various aspects of sport to prepare students for positions in this growing field.”
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects above-average employment growth in several of the top occupations related to sports analytics. As the analytics revolution continues to expand across sports, both domestic and around the world, so do career opportunities for professionals who can code, understand, and model complex mathematical relationships, and communicate these findings effectively.
Falk College’s CAS in sport analytics prepares students for successful sport analytics careers with sports teams and leagues as well as businesses connected to sports, such as media networks, advertisers, and sponsors, both nationally and internationally. Coursework includes specific focus areas in sport analytics statistics and methods, including visualization tools, programming in R and Python, linear regression and econometric techniques, and machine learning.
The certificate offers a pathway to sport analytics careers for new college graduates and current professionals in related fields such as sport management, economics, statistics, and computer science. The asynchronous online program allows students anywhere in the world to take advantage of a Syracuse University education, and a powerful Syracuse alumni network in the sport industry.
“Sport analytics is a rapidly expanding professional field, with growing career opportunities for well-trained professionals,” says Diane Lyden Murphy, dean of Falk College. “Falk College’s new CAS in sport analytics allows students and professionals in various related fields to build upon their existing education and work experience to build a successful sport analytics career. Equipped with a specialized academic credential from Syracuse University, and an influential network of Syracuse alumni in sport, graduates of the sport analytics CAS program can seize new professional opportunities and advance their careers.”
The CAS in sport analytics is housed within the Department of Sport Management, which launched one of the nation’s first bachelor’s degrees in sport analytics in 2017. Syracuse sport analytics students have received high honors at analytics competitions around the country such as the NBA Hackathon and NFL Big Data Bowl, as well as leading global academic research conferences at the Academy of Economics and Finance and MIT/Sloan, in addition to earning peer-reviewed academic publications of their original research in the Journal of Economics and Finance, Academy of Economics and Finance Journal, Athletic Business Journal and others.
The program is now accepting student admissions applications. For more information about the new CAS in sport analytics, and other degree programs in Falk College, please visit the Falk College website.
Learn more about CAS in Sport Analytics
Coming Back Together 2021
Falk College Alumni and students are honored during this year’s Coming Back together celebration!
Starting in 1983, Coming Back Together (CBT) was the first reunion of its kind. Every three years, Black and Latino/a alumni come back to campus to celebrate their accomplishments, meet current students, and remain connected with the University.
The theme of this year’s reunion is “Celebrating 151 Years of Black and Latino/a Excellence at SU.” Over the four-day weekend, workshops, receptions, social events and cultural activities will be offered to attendees. Highlights include the CBT Celebrity Classic basketball game, a special concert featuring 90s R&B trio SWV, tailgate on the Quad and football game vs. Rutgers University, fundraising gala and awards ceremony, and a Sunday worship service featuring Grammy-winning gospel artist BeBe Winans.
Coming Back Together Awards
Syracuse University’s Office of Multicultural Advancement will be recognizing accomplished alumni during Coming Back Together (CBT) this September. One of them is Falk College Sport Management major Jasmine Jordan-Christmas ’14. She will be receiving a Young Alumni Award for Excellence in Fashion.
She will be honored for her extraordinary professional achievements by Chancellor Kent Syverud at an awards ceremony on Saturday, Sept. 11, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Goldstein Auditorium in the Schine Student Center.
Presented to African American and Latino/a alumni during CBT, the awards serve to recognize the significant civic or career achievements by the selected winners. Since 1983, the ceremony has been a signature event presented at the CBT reunion.
“The 2021 awardees represent some of the University’s best, brightest and most engaged alumni,” says Rachel Vassel, associate vice president in the Office of Multicultural Advancement. “While achieving tremendous professional success across diverse fields, these individuals are dedicated to Syracuse University and we are forever grateful to them for the many ways they support our work.”
Jordan-Christmas is a sports marketing professional for Nike’s Jordan brand, a fashion influencer and 2014 graduate of the Falk College sport management program. The daughter of basketball legend Michael Jordan, Jordan-Christmas is forging her own legacy in the sports industry and has worked closely with some of the most notable brands in sports over her 10-year career.
In her current role as field representative for sports marketing, basketball and women’s, with Nike, Jordan-Christmas manages athletes who represent the Jordan brand. She recently led an initiative to shape the future of basketball culture for women and young girls by expanding the brand’s WNBA roster to eleven active players, the largest in the brand’s history. Previously, she worked as operations coordinator for the Charlotte Hornets.
Jordan-Christmas is married to former Syracuse basketball player Rakeem Christmas and the mother of a toddler son, Rakeem “Keem” Jr. She is an Our Time Has Come scholarship donor and supports her family’s philanthropic efforts through the Rakeem Christmas Foundation and the Novant Health Michael Jordan Family Medical Clinic in Charlotte, North Carolina. She recently provided a special video message of encouragement for the Class of 2020’s virtual commencement.
Orange Circle Awards
Alumni and student groups will also be honored through the Orange Circle Awards as part of Coming Back Together 2021 celebration. Recipients are altruistic members of the SU community who have done extraordinary things in the service of others. From generous financial support to selfless volunteerism, the Orange Circle Awards recognize students, faculty, staff and alumni who possess a deep responsibility for acts that better society.
This year the Food Busters student group will be honored for their work in the Syracuse community. Food Busters was started by students within the nutrition program at Falk College.
Honors will be given during the Orange Circle Awards ceremony and reception, held from 2-4 p.m. on Sept. 9 as part of Syracuse University’s Coming Back Together celebration. The awards ceremony will occur in the Grand Hall of the Daniel & Gayle D’Aniello Building, home to the National Veterans Resource Center.
Food Busters strives to improve literacy skills and public health awareness of fellow students in the Syracuse community. The organization was created in 2014 by ShawFood Busters group photo Center nutrition volunteer coordinators Jennifer La ’14 and Katelyn Castro ’15 and Engagement Fellow Victoria Seager G’15. It sends Syracuse University volunteers from the Shaw Center into local schools to teach students to implement lesson plans designed around content they are learning in their school or college.
This year, Food Busters worked with Henninger High School students in hands-on, STEM-focused lessons designed to explore the relationship between food, nutrition, health and media, while also increasing these students’ comprehension in the fields of literacy, mathematics and science. Along with nutrition students from Falk College, the Henninger High School students learned to perform their own food science experiments based on the lesson plans.
Falk College CBT Event
The food studies program is also hosting Leah Penniman during this year’s Coming Back Together celebration. The event, “Soup JOUMOU and a lecture TOO!,” will feature a luncheon with Soup Joumou – the Haitian liberation meal as well as a lecture by Leah.
Leah is a Black Kreyol farmer, author, mother, and food justice activist who has been tending the soil and organizing for an anti-racist food system for 25 years. She currently serves as founding co-executive director of Soul Fire Farm in Grafton, New York, a Black & Brown led project that works toward food and land justice. Her book is Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land.
The event will be moderated by Rick Welsh, Chair of the department of Nutrition and Food Studies with panelists Marcelle Haddix, courtesy appointed professor of Food Studies, and Estelí Jiménez-Soto, assistant professor of Food Studies.
Marcelle Haddix will also be receiving an Orange Circle Award this year for her work in the Syracuse community. Haddix chairs the School of Education’s Reading and Language Arts department, and is the inaugural co-director of the Lender Center for Social Justice. Her scholarly pursuits focus on the experiences of students of color in literacy and English teaching and teacher education, as well as the importance of centering Blackness in educational practices and spaces.
For a full list of CBT events and registration information, visit the Coming Back Together 2021 website.
More Than a Game
Kyle Liotta ’20 is interested in two things: math and sports—not always in that order. So when he heard Syracuse University’s Falk College was launching a sport analytics program, he quickly joined the starting lineup. “One of the benefits of sport analytics is that students get real-world experience,” says Liotta, who also majored in economics. “The faculty has their eyes and ears on what’s happening outside of the classroom.”
Today, Liotta is a data scientist at Dan Klores Communications, a New York City-based PR firm whose clients include various sports teams. He credits his undergraduate program—the first of its kind in the nation to offer a bachelor’s degree within a sport management department—for imparting the value of data-driven decision-making. “I had a three-month internship with the Milwaukee Brewers that was transformative,” says Liotta. “The University prepared me to take on work-specific tasks, in addition to attending staff meetings and networking with industry executives. It was a dream come true.”
Liotta is part of a growing cadre of young mathematicians who analyze sports data for a living. Such number-crunching has traditionally been used by managers and coaches to measure player performance. But in the past decade, sport analytics has changed how professional and collegiate programs compete on and off the field.
Tech is integral to the sport analytics experience, explains program director Rodney Paul. “Mathematical science is used to maintain a competitive edge, thus attracting a wide range of students.”
Gone are the days when success was contingent on player ability, says Professor Rodney Paul, who directs the program. “Sport management is no longer a game of chance. Mathematical science is now used to maintain a competitive edge, thus attracting a wide range of students.”
Bailie Brown ’21, the program’s first female graduate, parlayed her twin interests in analytics and data visualization into a baseball strategy apprenticeship with the Houston Astros. “Seeing there is a community of really amazing women in this industry, no matter how small, is proof I can succeed,” she says.
Teaming Up for Success
Paul brings a liberal arts sensibility to sport analytics, gathering courses from Falk College, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and the Martin J. Whitman School of Management. “We even require students to take a foreign language,” he says, noting the preponderance of Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese and Russian in the baseball, soccer and hockey communities. “Our program takes a forward-looking approach to sport, anticipating where it might expand next.”
Tech is integral to the experience, as evidenced by Falk’s Milton Conrad Technology Lab, which doubles as a student classroom and computer lab. Through a special arrangement with Daktronics—a global provider of video scoreboards, LED displays and timing systems—students get live, game-day production experience. “We also introduce them to wearable devices and video tracking, which provide in-depth data on player position, performance and wellness,” explains Paul, a Clemson-trained economist.
The lab includes a digital ticketing suite, where students learn how tickets are managed and purchased. “Ticketing is a key starting point for the fan-team relationship,” says Paul, adding that while paper tickets can vanish without a trace, e-tickets leave a digital trail. “It allows us to follow fan behavior, like venue entry and spending habits.” For this reason, the University’s stadium transitioned to mobile ticketing last summer.
Ticketing also is the impetus behind a bold, new partnership between sport analytics and Syracuse Athletics. Since January, more than 25 of Paul’s students have been combing through historical sales data from Syracuse football, men’s and women’s basketball, and men’s lacrosse games. Most of the work involves game-by-game and year-by-year comparisons of actual tickets scanned—information that can optimize ticket sales and the overall fan experience.
Zak Koeppel ’21 (left) and Drew DiSanto ’21—a recent graduate of and a senior in the sport analytics program, respectively—have contributed to a new partnership with Syracuse Athletics.
Andrew T. Goodrich, deputy athletics director and chief marketing officer, considers the partnership remarkable. “There are very few Division 1 programs willing to provide students with real-live [ticketing] data for research purposes,” he says. “It’s a win-win for us and Falk College.”
The partnership also will reveal where the University stacks up against its peers in the Power Five conferences. “I want to know where we fall in terms of ticket pricing and then determine a way to maximize sales,” says Drew DiSanto ’21, who is minoring in finance and interning as a data analyst for the Buffalo Bills. He agrees with Zak Koeppel ’21 that students bring a unique perspective to sports data. “Our impact on ticketing and pricing strategies is probably bigger than people realize,” says Koeppel, who has interned for the XFL, Bowl Season, and the EDGE10 performance and analytics group. “I want to help create a more strategic, personalized approach to fan engagement.”
Goodrich agrees, calling data the “new oil.” “Professor Paul and his students refine the information we give them, helping us determine how to better support our student-athletes via business operations and fan experiences.”
Drew DiSanto (seated), a data analyst intern for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, is shown here with Zak Koeppel, an incoming master’s student in sports law and business at Arizona State University Law.
Gaining a Homefield Advantage
The seeds of the sport analytics program were sown more than a decade ago, when Paul joined the Falk College faculty. He promptly founded a SABRmetrics club—named for the Society for American Baseball Research—in response to burgeoning interest in the study and analysis of baseball performance. Think Moneyball, the 2011 biopic about the Oakland A’s general manager who turned to analyzing objective statistics (e.g., ERAs, home runs and RBIs) to revive his slumping franchise. “SABRmetrics has revolutionized the entire sport industry. It’s all about equations and formulas,” Paul says. “The data gets pretty granular.”
Paul found this out firsthand in 2014, when he co-published a study about the impact of air density on the speed of pitching and pitch selection. His findings not only caught the attention of the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, but also were picked up by ESPN The Magazine. “That’s when I began thinking about how sport data could be rolled into a single undergraduate degree program, which hadn’t been done yet,” he says.
Committed to hands-on training, Paul encourages his students to engage with organizations like SABR, sponsor of the Diamond Dollars Case Competition. Koeppel was a first-year student when he participated in his first such competition, which helps Major League Baseball executives address issues like salary caps, minority hiring and performance-enhancing drugs. “It was the first time I approached a sports problem from an analytical rather than a fan perspective. It allowed me to utilize my technical and problem-solving skills in new ways,” he says.
Tommy Powell G’20, assistant provost for student-athlete academic development, believes data and analytics are the future of sports and business, in general. “Our partnership with sport analytics not only helps sales and operations, but also makes our students more competitive after graduation,” he says. Case in point: DiSanto, who graduates in December, has been accepted into the applied data science master’s degree program in the School of Information Studies.
Cody Barbuto ’19 is a testament to the degree’s versatility. As a student, he became known for co-publishing trade articles and speaking at conferences. At one point, he even traveled to Orlando to address the NCAA’s Ad Hoc Committee on Sports Wagering, then chaired by Chancellor Syverud.
Today, Barbuto is a data analyst for Syracuse-based United Auto Supply, a wholesale distributor of auto and heavy-duty fleet parts. “I help managers and stakeholders make informed decisions,” he says, noting the similarities between the sport and automotive industries. “I love sports, but I also love doing new and different things. I use my sport analytics degree every day to be successful.”
A Syracuse University story by Rob Enslin originally published on August 26, 2021.
SPM Newsletter highlights students, faculty, staff, alumni and more
Several years ago, during the embryonic stages of our sport management program, we embarked upon a strategic planning initiative. We called it “20-20 Vision,” as we planned for what the sport industry would be like in the year 2020. No one predicted a global pandemic would occur and shut down most of the world, proving for the first time in our nation’s history that sports are no longer recession proof. No one envisioned online courses, virtual classrooms, Zoom sessions, webinars, and limited or no social activities. But it happened. And we persevered. In May 2021, Falk College’s Department of Sport Management conferred the largest number of degrees in our department’s history with 121 students graduating from Sport Management, Sport Analytics, and our graduate program in Sport Venue and Event Management. Our 2020-2021 Newsletter highlights these students, as well as our faculty, staff, advisory councils and alumni.
New course tackles race, gender, and diversity in sport
Falk College’s Department of Sport Management has introduced a new course titled “Race, Gender, and Diversity in Sport Organizations.”
The new three-credit “Race, Gender, and Diversity in Sport Organizations” course was taught in the Spring 2021 semester by Sport Management professor Dr. Mary Graham and Sport Management alumnus Chris Robinson’15. Among other topics, the course covered identity, the history and policies of demographic categorization, intersectionality, and diversity management best practices, all with an emphasis on race, ethnicity, and gender in sport settings. The course culminated with students designing and implementing a final outreach, creative, or scholarly project.
Guest speakers included Thomas McMahon, Associate Dean for Diversity, Racial Equity, and Inclusion at the University of Texas at Arlington; Liz Mills, head coach of the Kenyan men’s national basketball team; Dr. Salatha Willis, Associate Athletic Director for Diversity, Culture, and Climate at Syracuse University; Dr. Deborah Coolhart, Associate Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy at SU; and BJ Johnson, Director of College Scouting and Player Evaluation for the Brooklyn Nets.
Students worked in groups on projects focusing on comparing racial inclusion in NASCAR versus Formula One; harassment of women in sport media; athlete voice and protests; a Public Service Announcement to encourage more women coaches; extending the Rooney Rule to the NBA; and social justice activism by members of the US Women’s National Soccer Team versus activism by players on WNBA teams.
“I enrolled in the class because it had the word sport in its title,” said Sport Analytics major Benjamin Gansenberg ’23. “I left the class having never felt more aware of other humans, and the way that negative words and actions have much larger implications than just hurting somebody’s feelings. I feel comfortable, confident, and quite honestly, expected, to take a role in combatting the negativity that surrounds race, gender, and ethnicity.”
The class will be taught each Spring.
For questions about the class, please contact Dr. Graham via email at megraham@syr.edu.
Falk College welcomes new faculty and staff
Syracuse University’s Falk College is pleased to welcome four new staff members who have joined Falk College in the past academic year: Stephen Bonomo, Director of Information Technology; Deborah Golia, Director of Admissions; Kailyn Jennings, Sport Management Internship Placement Coordinator; Danielle Jones, Social Work Internship Placement Coordinator; Donna Sparkes, Budget Associate, and; Emily Williams, Human Development and Family Science Internship Placement Coordinator.
In addition, Falk College is pleased to announce the appointment of six new faculty members, Lastenia-Francis, Catherine García, Esteli Jimenez, Kevin McNeill, Joey Merrin, and Fei Pei.
Lastenia Francis
Assistant Teaching Professor (Online), Department of Marriage and Family Therapy
Lastenia Francis (she/her/hers) joins the Department of Marriage and Family Therapy in the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics as an Assistant Teaching Professor (Online) in fall 2021. She will teach courses on family systems theories and practice.
Francis is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a certified trauma therapist. She has been practicing since 2014 with an attention to helping minority populations. Francis has provided clinical services in an outpatient clinic in the South Bronx working with low-income communities and communities of color, an intensive preventative program, at the Veterans Affairs as a Readjustment Counselor, and built a private practice that focuses on building strong families in communities of color. Francis previously taught at Mercy College in the Marriage and Family Therapy Program and continues to act as a mentor to developing Marriage and Family Therapists as an American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) Approved Supervisor.
Francis continues to have an insatiable appetite for helping people of color maximize their potential in how they relate to themselves, their spouse, and their family and demonstrates that in her research interest. Dr. Francis was drawn to academia through her passion for training more social justice clinicians to help strengthen families especially those in minority and underserved communities. Her dissertation research focused on the reintegration experiences of Black veterans and their families.
Francis is the Founder of Meaningful E-Motion Private Practice, Assistant Editor of the American Family Therapy Academy (AFTA) blog, and a member of the AAMFT and the AFTA.
Francis Earned a Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Northcentral University in 2021, a M.S. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Mercy College in 2015, and a B.A. in Psychology and Sociology from Stonybrook University in 2013.
Catherine García
Assistant Teaching Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Science/Aging Studies Institute
Catherine García (she/her/hers) joins the Department of Human Development and Family Science in the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics as an Assistant Professor in fall 2021. At Syracuse University she will teach classes in Midlife Development and Gerontology.
Prior to joining Syracuse University, García was an Assistant Professor of Sociology and core faculty member of the Minority Health Disparities Initiative (MHDI) at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln where she taught quantitative methods and served as a faculty mentor for the MHDI Summer Research Program.
García’s research focuses on Latina/o/x aging and health in the United States and Puerto Rico, applying multidisciplinary approaches to understand how the interaction of biological, environmental, and social factors influence the disease process among older Latina/o/x adults. Her research work has led to 15 peer-reviewed publications and two book chapters, including multiple manuscripts in The Gerontologist and The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences.
Her research has been supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including an R36 Aging Research Dissertation Award to Increase Diversity from 2018-2020 and an R01 Research Supplement to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research from 2021-2023. Her research has led to several awards, including the Emerging Scholars and Professional Organization (ESPO) Interdisciplinary Paper Award, the ESPO Poster Award, and the Minority Issues in Gerontology Poster Award from the Gerontological Society of America.
Currently, she serves as a steering committee member for the Network for Data-Intensive Research on Aging (NDIRA) at the University of Minnesota and is a committee member of the Minority Issues in Gerontology Advisory Panel (MIGAP) of the Gerontological Society of America. In addition, she will serve on the editorial board for the Journal of Health and Social Behavior beginning in January 2022.
She earned a Ph.D. in Gerontology in 2020 from the University of Southern California, an M.S. in Sociology from Florida State University in 2014, and a B.A. in Sociology with a minor in Human Complex Systems from the University of California – Los Angeles (with college and departmental honors) in 2010.
Estelí Jimenez-Soto
Assistant Professor, Department of Nutrition and Food Studies
Estelí Jimenez-Soto (she/hers) joins the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics as a tenure-track assistant professor of food studies in fall 2021. At Syracuse University, she will teach classes in Agriculture and the Environment, including Agroecology, and Climate Change and the Food System. She joins the Syracuse Cluster Initiative in Energy and Environment.
Prior to joining Syracuse University, Jimenez-Soto was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California Santa Cruz in the Department of Community Studies from 2020-2021, and in the Department of Environmental Studies from 2019-2020, where she taught principles of sustainable agriculture and worked on socioeconomic barriers and opportunities to adopt sustainable practices in strawberry production.
Her research uses interdisciplinary engagements, bridging the fields of agroecology and political ecology to examine environmental problems at the nexus of food, agriculture and the environment in both the U.S. and Latin American contexts. She has published in journals including Ecology and Evolution, Bioscience, and Journal of Peasant Studies and her work has been highlighted in publications such as The Economist.
Her research has been supported by UC-MEXUS, El Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACyT), the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) and P.E.O International. In 2020 she was a recipient of a Peter Ashton Award by Biotropica, a Gentry Student Award by the Association of Tropical Biology and Conservation in 2017, and a Mildred Mathias Award for best dissertation proposal by the UC-MEXUS in 2015.
She is an active member of the Ecological Society of America (ESA), the American Association of Geographers (AAG), the Latin American Studies Association (LASA), New World Agriculture and Ecology Group (NWAEG) and The Alliance for Women in Agroecology (AMA-AWA).
Jimenez-Soto earned her Ph.D. in Environmental Studies with an emphasis in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and a M.A. in Environmental Studies from the University of California Santa Cruz in 2018 and 2014 respectively; and an B.S. with honors in Agroecology in 2012 from Universidad Autonoma Chapingo in Mexico. She is originally from San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, México.
Kevin McNeill
Assistant Teaching Professor, Department of Sport Management
Kevin McNeill has been a member of the Department of Sport Management since 2019 in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics and will serve as assistant teaching professor beginning in the fall 2021. At Syracuse University, McNeill will teach classes in Sport Technology and Technologies in Game Day Operations.
McNeill previously served as an Internship Placement Coordinator in Sport Management and provided advising for undergraduate students in academics and career exploration. He assisted students through the senior Capstone process and taught classes in Professional Development in Sport Management.
Previously, McNeill worked at Le Moyne College as Associate Athletic Director in the Department of Athletics for 12 years as well as served Syracuse University Athletics as the Marketing Coordinator from 2004 to 2007.
While at Le Moyne, McNeill oversaw the marketing and communications for the Division II athletic program. In that role, he led programming in brand development, revenue generation, digital media, video production, corporate sponsorship, and game day management. In addition to serving on the athletic department leadership team, he co-chaired the College’s strategic plan marketing committee, participated in the College’s integrated marketing committee, and instructed in the Madden School of Business.
Serving as the Marketing Coordinator at Syracuse University Athletics, McNeill supported the department’s broad-based marketing initiatives with a focus on game day promotions, marketing campaigns, ticket sales, advertising, and graphic design.
McNeill earned a Master of Science, Sports Administration and Master of Business Administration from Ohio University in 2004 and a Bachelor of Science, Business Administration from Le Moyne College in 2002.
Joey Merrin
Assistant Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Science
Gabriel “Joey” Merrin (he/him/his) joins the Department of Human Development and Family Science in the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics in fall 2021. At Syracuse University, Merrin will teach courses in Child and Adolescent Development and Advanced Statistical Methods.
Merrin was most recently an assistant professor in Human Development and Family Sciences at Texas Tech University from 2019-2021 and taught graduate-level statistic courses where he focused on reproducible research, programmatic programming, and transparent designs using open science frameworks and guidelines. Before Texas Tech University, he held two post-doctoral fellowships, one in the Department of Psychology at the University of Victoria in British Columbia and the other in the Department of Health Management and Informatics at the University of Central Florida.
Trained as a developmental psychologist and applied methodologist, Merrin’s research seeks to clarify developmental processes through which adolescents’ experiences with their families, peers, teachers, and communities influence development of problem behaviors and experiences with identity-based harassment and victimization throughout adolescence and in the transition to young adulthood. He is particularly interested in the development of these behaviors among various minoritized and oppressed groups. His work focuses on translating and mobilizing knowledge to inform intervention and prevention efforts to improve the school experience for young people by using applied research designs, leveraging practical implications, and intentional school and community engagement.
His research has been supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, National Institute of Health, and most recently, Merrin and his colleagues at Boston University launched a three-year National Institute of Justice funded study to examine bias-based harassment among adolescents to identify risk and protective factors across multiple levels of the social ecology.
Merrin was recently awarded the 2020-2021 New Faculty Award at Texas Tech University and selected into the Society of Prevention Research Early Career Prevention Scientists Training Program. Merrin currently serves on the editorial board for Prevention Science and Psychology of Violence.
Merrin earned a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology in 2017, an Ed.M. in Human Resource Development in 2011, and a B.A. in Sociology in 2009, all from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Fei Pei
Assistant Professor, School of Social Work
Fei Pei (she/her/hers) joins the School of Social Work in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics as a tenure-track assistant professor of social work in fall 2021. At Syracuse University, Fei will teach Social Welfare Policy and Services.
Prior to joining Syracuse University, Fei was a Ph.D. candidate at the Ohio State University College of Social Work where she also served as a graduate instructor and research assistant, teaching research methods, lifespan development, and social welfare.
The overarching goal of Fei’s research is to promote healthy development among vulnerable children, including maltreated and immigrant youths by identifying neighborhood disparities. In particular, her research focuses on community health and child development. She published over 20 peer-reviewed papers in rigorous academic journals including Child Abuse & Neglect, Children and Youth Services Review, Family & Community Health, Journal of Community Psychology, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, and Trauma, Violence & Abuse.
Fei was trained in all aspects of grant-funded and investigator-initiated research projects, ranging from university-funded projects to federal-funded studies (e.g., NIH funded and UNICEF funded projects). Her research has been acknowledged and funded by various institutions and scholarships such as the 2021 Merriss Cornell Distinguished Researcher Award, 2019 Kempe Interdisciplinary Summer Research Institute, 2018 International Peace Scholarship, Seed Funding for 2016 Clinton Global Initiative University, and 2015 New Brunswick Chancellor’s Scholarship.
Fei actively participated in professional and community services. She was a volunteered social worker for the local agency, Asian American Community Services in Columbus, OH and the president of the College of Social Work’s Doctoral Student Organization. She also serves as an ad hoc peer reviewer for multiple academic journals.
Fei earned a Ph.D. in 2021 from The Ohio State University, College of Social Work, a MSW in 2016 from Rutgers University – New Brunswick, and a LL.B. and a B.S. (double degree) in 2014 from Shanghai University and East China Normal University.
Welcome Class of 2025!
Falk College welcomes the Class of 2025, a talented group from 37 states and 33 global countries. The Class of 2025 includes 373 first-year students, 13 transfer students, 163 new graduate students, and 156 new online graduate students. Fall 2021 Syracuse Welcome is scheduled for Aug. 26-29, 2021, with new student move-in beginning Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021. The entire welcome week schedule for new students can be found by visiting the Syracuse Welcome website.
Falk College Syracuse Welcome Events:
There are currently no events scheduled, please check back soon.
Illuminating 2021 Olympians
The Tokyo Olympics brings together an untold number of stories of athletes and their struggles, determination and victories. Brian Meyer ’11 is helping bring those stories to light to their fans and to the world.
“In the years leading up to the Games, we help to build the strategic marketing plan for the program, conduct research and make recommendations of athletes to partner with, negotiate contracts and then ultimately manage the relationships with the athletes and their agents,” Meyer says.
In the lead up to the Games and throughout the Olympics, all the work comes together as athletes are front and center to the world.
“We manage all of the activations and ways in which Visa presents their athletes; this could include managing creative approvals, appearances (in-person or virtual) and social media posts,” he says.
For the Tokyo Olympics, Team Visa includes 102 athletes from around the world, representing 54 countries and 28 sports. The team includes Simone Biles of the U.S., gymnastics; Megan Rapinoe of the U.S., soccer; Katie Ledecky of the U.S., swimming; Oksana Masters of the U.S., para cycling; Gabriel Medina of Brazil, surfing; Mariana Pajon of Colombia, BMX racing; Kanoa Igarashi of Japan, surfing; PV Sindhu of India, badminton; and Sky Brown of Great Britain, skateboarding.
Meyer, who graduated with a sport management degree from Falk College, is in Tokyo for the Games. “Most of the Visa team is based in central Tokyo, in the area known as Marunouchi, near Tokyo Station, which is close to the Visa office,” says Meyer, who took part in the Falk College’s inaugural Olympic Odyssey class and trip, which explores the history of the games and includes a trip to visit Olympic cities.
What’s the best part of working with the Olympians? “Getting to know and develop relationships with athletes from all different countries, sports, backgrounds and cultures, and having the opportunity to hear and help tell their stories,” Meyer says.
Revisiting a city he came to know after the PyeongChang Olympics will also be a highlight.
“I’m excited to get back to Tokyo to experience the city and culture there,” Meyer says. “I went there for a few days after the PyeongChang Games in 2018 and have been looking forward to returning ever since.”
A Syracuse University News story by Kathleen Haley originally published on Wednesday, July 28, 2021.
Page 14 of 35