Though this semester was unlike any other here at Syracuse University, we’re incredibly proud of our students, who continued to make huge strides in their academic programs. Also, our faculty continued to make an impact on the sport industry by giving numerous conference presentations and having their research published. It was a semester where guest speakers were hosted virtually and meetings conducted by Zoom.

Here are some of our Fall 2020 highlights:

  • The Department of Sport Management formed a Diversity and Inclusion Committee that has met monthly since June 2020 to create new programing and initiatives for students, faculty and staff.
  • More than 30 alumni guest lectured in our classes this semester, while another 15 participated as panelists for the 4th annual SPM Alumni in #SportsBiz event in October. We are thankful that so many alumni are willing to volunteer their time to speak with and mentor our students.
  • The 16th annual Charity Sports Auction went virtual for the first time in program history. We’re proud to say we raised more than $43,000 for Meals on Wheels Syracuse! The SPM Club’s Charity Auctions have now donated more than $567,000 to charities in the Syracuse community.
  • The Soccer Analytics Club and Sport Analytics seniors Kushal Shah and Colin Krantz presented their research at the Midwest Sport Analytics Conference and the Carnegie Mellon Sports Analytics Conference. Sport Analytics freshman Bruce Liska also presented at Carnegie Mellon. Sport Analytics professors Dr. Shane Sanders and Dr. Justin Ehrlich, along with Sport Analytics graduate Dylan Blechner ’20, virtually presented at the Midwest Sport Analytics Conference.
  • Twenty-two Sport Management seniors completed their Capstones in Fall 2020.
  • Sport Management sophomores Melanie Kelly and Colby Murphy, with faculty mentor Dr. Mary Graham, presented their paper “A Scholarly Exploration of National Football League Teams’ Rationales for not having Cheerleaders” at the 7th Biennial Seneca Falls Dialogues in October.
  • Students in this Fall’s SPM 324 Sponsorship and Promotion class partnered with the Football Bowl Association (now called Bowl Season), working with industry leading Sponsor United software to build a sales deck using real-life potential corporate sponsor prospects.
  • Sport Management assistant professor Dr. Jeeyoon Kim presented her co-authored research on “Positive externalities from professional sports club in Germany” and “All sports are e-sports?” at the Fall 2020 European Sport Management Conference.
  • The Sport Analytics Learning Community took part in a Tableau Workshop as well as hosted professionals from Major League Baseball’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Program.
  • Sport Analytics senior Dylan McGee presented his research on “Reclassifying Relief Pitchers” at the Fall 2020 UConn Sport Analytics Symposium. Using “K-Means Cluster Analysis on Standard, Batted Ball and PFX Data,” McGee can cluster relievers into new roles based off their strengths/weaknesses.
  • More than 400 people joined our Nov. 17 webinar on “COVID-19’s Impact on the Sport Industry” moderated by SU alumnus Mike Tirico. Stay tuned for more information on our upcoming 2021 webinars.
  • Sport Analytics senior Samuel Marteka and junior Mackenzie Mangos are working with Sport Analytics assistant professor Dr. Jeremy Losak (SPM ’16) on a research project titled “The Impact of College Conference TV Networks on College Football and Basketball Attendance.” This research is conducted as part of an ACC Initiatives grant (PDF) worth $2,700 from the ACC-CRIA Innovation Initiative Small Grant Program.
  • Members of the Football Analytics Club took part in a Mock Case Competition in October. The students were tasked with projecting the contracts and future performance for certain NFL free agents.
  • The Sport Management Learning Community hosted several guest speakers this semester, including Syracuse University Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director for Communications Sue Edson on the importance of marketing and public relations in the sport industry.
  • Our Sport Venue and Event Management graduate program welcomed 15 students to campus in July. Along with classes, the students spent part of the Fall 2020 semester planning a virtual charity event set for Spring 2021.
  • Sport Analytics senior Drew DiSanto took the Fall 2020 semester off from classes at Syracuse University when he was offered a full-time, on-site internship with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.