The CUSP Show

Joe is flying solo as Thanksgiving approaches and is joined Pet Berisha (@PetBerisha), who covers the intersections between sports and Web3 in his newsletter Sporting Crypto. He shares the genesis for the newsletter as well as how he gathers his content every week. He explains the volatile nature of reporting on such an ever-changing industry and how he distinguishes the legitimate storylines from...

Joe and Tom are joined by Andy Dolich(@Koufish), President of Dolich Consulting and Commissioner of Fan Controlled Baseball (FCB). Andy Dolich brings over five decades of executive experience in the sports industry, including front-office positions in the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL. In this episode, Andy shares his insights on how leaders react, protect their organization’s image, and address critical...

Joe and Tom are joined by one of their most multifaceted guests to date as Author and former NBA referee Bob Delaney sits down to share insights from his latest book, Heroes Are Human: Lessons in Resilience, Courage, and Wisdom from the COVID Front Lines. Bob explains how his experiences with PTSD from working as an undercover state trooper led to the work he does now and how the pandemic impacted...

Joe is joined by Beth Paretta, CEO of Paretta Autosport, at the Columbia Sports Management Conference 2022. Beth is a racing fanatic and an outstanding team leader in the autosport industry. Beth showed great interest in automotive racing since she was a kid. In this podcast, she shares the journey of building her own INDYCAR team. During the conversation, she discussed gender equality in a worksp...

Joe is joined by Saurav Banerjee, Managing Director & Founder of MyySports, at the Columbia Sports Management Conference 2022. A veteran in the media industry and a former venture capitalist, Saurav shares the massive opportunity he saw in the Indian sports ecosystem that could empower youth by offering creator tools that can enable them to capture and broadcast their sporting journeys. He discuss...

The CUSP Show welcomes Henry Yeh, Graduate Assistant for the women's basketball team at Duke University, to share his story of moving to the United States and working to get discovered as a basketball film analyst. Henry describes what it was like to launch his own website breaking down NBA film, building an audience through the quality of his work, and how he parlayed his individual work into a r...

Joe and Tom are joined by Jim Cavale, CEO and Founder of INFLCR and Chief Innovation Officer at Teamworks Inc. INFLCR is an athlete brand-building and NIL Business Management app used by over 250 institutions. A student-athlete and now a serial entrepreneur, Jim talks about how at INFLCR, they help student-athletes build their brands on social media by delivering content and personalized engagemen...

With Patricia’s expertise in the field of mental health and her personal background as an ex-college athlete, Patricia started Mood Lifters. Mood Lifters is a mental health program that organizes member groups that are led by peer leaders. Specializing in the mental health of college athletes, Mood Lifters has support groups consisting of college athletes, led by (ex-)college athletes who endured...

Joe and Tom are joined by Dylan Sadiq, also known as The College Cuber. Dylan is an incredibly talented artist who creates mosaics of professional athletes using Rubik’s Cubes. Through a combination of his exceptional creative talent and entrepreneurial ability, Dylan has collaborated with professional sports leagues and teams such as the NBA, MLB, Premier League, NHL, USTA, FC Barcelona, Tennesse...

Joe and Tom are joined by Ben Mathis-Lilley, Senior Writer at Slate Magazine and author of his new book, The Hot Seat. In this episode, Ben talks about his motivations for writing the book and how he was able to embed himself in the Michigan football community to truly understand the perspectives of different stakeholders, especially the fans. He discusses the state of college football and explain...

Tom is joined by Ian Tupper, who is the Senior Group Manager of Strategic Environmental Partnerships and New Climate Tech Business Initiatives for Hyundai and Genesis in North America. A Columbia University Sports Management graduate with a track record of cultivating strategic partnerships with marquee organizations such as Ferrari, Formula 1, and Formula E, Ian shares his incredible career traje...

Having seen many sides of the sports industry, she shares her experiences working with IMG, USA Water Polo, Fan Controlled Football, her own company, and Athleta. Being a long-time advocate for women’s sports and the founding president of WISE’s Los Angeles chapter, Jennifer Rottenberg is also well-versed on anything concerning women in sports. She elaborates on the history of women’s sports, whic...

Joe and Tom are joined by Bennett Collen, Cofounder and CEO of Endstate, and Benjamin Jones, Director of Growth at Endstate. An active principal in the Blockchain space for several years, Bennett discusses how he co-founded the sneaker and apparel brand in Endstate, where they incorporate NFTs into the product ownership experience. He elaborates on the value of integrating the physical, digital, a...

Joe is joined by Colin Cosell, who is the PA Announcer for the New York Mets, New York Riptide, and Brooklyn Cyclones. Colin shares how his interest in broadcasting was born when he was just five. Colin then talks about his exciting career path, working in a wide variety of fields: TV, radio, stand-up comedy, theatre, and online media before becoming a PA announcer. Colin gives us a sneak peek int...

Joe and Tom are joined by Phil Green, Strategic Accounts - Media at Brightcove. Phil is a sports industry veteran who has spent his career working with the biggest brands in sports and entertainment, including Endeavor, ESPN, MLB Advanced Media, USTA, ABC Sports, and others. Phil talks about the evolution of sports streaming from traditional tv and how it has become more than a viable business. He...

Joe and Tom are joined by Michael Schreck, CEO and Co-Founder of Collegiate Sports Management Group (CSMG). Driving business growth for several athletic conferences and schools, Michael provides an assessment of the NIL era on its one year anniversary. He discusses the ROI of NIL deals, deliverables for student-athletes, NIL-related education programs, and much more. Working with hundreds of colle...

Joe and Tom are joined by Jared Orton, President of The Savannah Bananas. Leading with the “fans first, entertainment always” philosophy, Jared passionately describes the story of The Savannah Bananas. He discusses how they pioneered the “Banana Ball,” an alternate form of baseball that combines traditional baseball with entertainment, making the sport a spectacle for the fans. Jared further elabo...

Joe is joined by Amy Scheer, Vice President of Business Operations at the Connecticut Sun. A veteran in the sports industry, Amy vividly shares experiences and learnings from her illustrious career with esteemed sports properties, including the Brooklyn Nets, Madison Square Garden, New York City Football Club, New York Red Bulls, and now the Connecticut Sun. She discusses the operational differenc...

Joe and Tom are joined by Neha Aggarwal, 2008 Table Tennis Olympian for India and current Head of Partnerships & Communication at Olympic Gold Quest. Neha is the first three-time guest on the CUSP Show, following her graduation from Columbia Sports Management in 2016. In this episode, Neha speaks about her journey from competing at the Olympic Games to developing future Olympic athletes for her ho...

Joe is joined by Aaron Trelease, Sports Management Graduate Student at Columbia University. A Business Management graduate from the University of Connecticut, Aaron talks about the various on-campus roles he took up while at the university, including working with their athletic department. He discusses his involvement with American Red Cross, where he managed the NBA and NFL's cross-marketing oppo...

Tom and Scott reflect on the past academic year and look forward to what is in store for the Sports Management program for the coming academic year. They discuss the careers of recent graduates, new courses in the next academic year, and other improvements to the master’s program. To top it all off, they end the podcast with a discussion on the impact that the recent NIL changes have had on the in...

Joe and Tom are joined by Noor Alexandria Abukaram, Founder of Let Noor Run. In this episode, Noor discusses how her disqualification from a 5K cross-country race in Ohio because of her ‘hijab’ drove her to start the Let Noor Run initiative. She explains how her story shed light on the broader discriminatory policies against participation in sports, which led the state senator to take action and i...

Joe is joined by Bryan Harper, VP of content and production at the Minnesota Vikings. In this episode, Bryan discusses the rapidly changing space of content creation in the sports business, as well as how the Vikings plan to adapt and take advantage of it. Bryan begins with his start in the sports industry at the Pirates, Jaguars, and Daytona, then dives into his journey with the Vikings - talking...

Joe and Tom are joined by Glenn Horine, the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Mettle + Rise, a subsidiary of the Underdog Venture Team. Glenn, a veteran of the sports industry, discusses how Mettle + Rise is helping student-athletes or students possessing an athlete’s mindset transition from college to the professional world. Glenn talks about how his business vertical is not just providing ment...

Joe is joined by Haley Price, the head of North America Sports Sponsorships at Tata Consultancy Services, where she oversees all sports sponsorships for TCS in the U.S. and Canada, including the TCS New York City Marathon, Jaguar TCS Racing (Formula-E), and the Philadelphia Flyers. In this episode, Haley speaks about her journey into the sports industry, prioritizing sustainability and technology,...