The CUSP Show

Joe and Guest Co-Host Mike Schretter’25 welcome Summer Brown’25, Full-Time Student at Columbia and Former Campus Ambassador for the Washington Wizards, and Oran Lopez-Reed’24, the owner of Hills Country Lobos, as well as a Full-Time Graduate Student at Columbia. They discuss their sports backgrounds, and how Columbia has helped them so far. Oran talks about the different areas of focus in his owne...

In this episode, Joe and Tom give the viewer insight into the Columbia Sports Management Conference's Keynote Speakers. In this episode, MLS Studio Host Jillian Sakovits interviews MLS Commissioner Don Garber. Don speaks about his career journey, expanding the league, the partnership with Apple and the future growth of MLS. The CUSP Show is a production by the faculty of Sports Management at Colum...

Tom and Joe welcome Pro Baseball Player and Founder of Stadium Custom Kicks, Alex Katz to discuss the development of Stadium Custom Kicks. Alex shares his career journey, playing professional baseball in Dubai and his creative process. He also dives into the purpose of his company, why customers go to Stadium Customer Kicks and shifting to other sports. Lastly, he speaks about balancing both caree...

Joe and Guest Co-Host Mike Schretter’25 welcome Christian Mullings’25, script writer and segment producer for the Hoops Chat show as well as a Full-Time Graduate Student at Columbia. Chris discusses his background and his experience at the Hoop Chat. He also speaks about his passion for storytelling, growing his brand and his creative process. Lastly, he dicusses the people and athletes that share...

Tom and Joe welcome sports author and esteemed columnist, Tim Brown to discuss his success as a sports journalist and talk about his new book The Tao of the Backup Catcher. Tim shares what goes into making a good story, common themes and the psychology of the people he writes about. He also dives into misrepresentations, live lessons and creative licensing involved in sports writing. Lastly, he ta...

Tom and Joe welcome Jeff Sofka of Playbook Health to discuss his role in communal and social responsibility. Jeff Sofka shares his involvement in throwback merchandise  with The NFL and the success of this retail space. He also discusses the brand Playbook Health and its importance of his company, and brands in sports. Finally, he talks about his company’s role with Bobby Wagner and the Seattle Se...

In a special edition, Joe and guest host Mike Schretter’25 welcome Mike Gao’25, social content and publishing project employee with the NBA Global Partnerships ( China) and Part-Time Columbia Student to learn about how he navigates being a student and working for the NBA. Mike Gao and Schretter share their collegiate basketball journey. Gao  discusses how he developed a passion for social content...

Tom and Joe welcome Anneliese Mesilati of UBS to learn about her job and priorities. Anneliese shares her relationship with sponsorships and activations with F1 and other relevant sports events such as the Super Bowl. She discusses the importance of media, evolution of the business, social media and the sources for helping aid in social media . Anneliese also speaks about the art space of UBS. Las...

Tom and Joe welcome Drew Muller, VP of House of Highlights to learn about how he built his career at Bleacher Report/House of Highlights. Drew shares how he capitalized on his media passions and how that led him to his current role at House of Highlights/Bleacher Report. Drew discusses the progression of the company and the evolution of the editorial side of House of Highlights. Drew also speaks a...

Joe welcomes John Lashway, Deputy Commissioner of the Canadian Elite Basketball League, back to the podcast to share the league’s growth, role growing basketball in Canada, and its place in the ecosystem of professional basketball around the world. He discusses how his experience working working the NBA, specifically helping start the Toronto Raptors, helped him run the upstart league. The two exp...

Tom and Joe welcome Mary Wittenberg, the new President of Gotham FC to discuss her new position including her short and long-term goals for the club. She explains the importance of building the right partnerships for the club and how being more selective with the companies they align themselves with will help them grow faster. The group explores the recent success of women’s volleyball and how tha...

Tom and Joe welcome Dave Zigerelli, Head of Video at Overtime, for our latest check-in with the ever-growing sports media brand. Dave shares how he began his production career working in linear television making non-sports content and how get got his start at Overtime when it was still in its infancy. He explains how Overtime’s content strategy has evolved over the years and what makes for good sh...

Tom and Joe welcome Caiti Donovan, Growth Strategy Lead for the WNBA, to learn about how she built a career using data to understand customer behavior. She shares how she combined her passions for data analytics and growing women's sports and how that led her to her current role with the WNBA. Caiti discusses the differences in growth strategies for women's sports leagues compared to more establis...

Tom and Joe are joined by Linda Ong and Sarah Unger, the founders of the cultural analysis firm Cultique, to explore the work they recently did with Cirque du Soleil, which was profiled in the New York Times. The two share how they define culture and what they try to do differently to help their clients build their brands. They share the importance of going beyond traditional demographic research...

Tom and Joe welcome Scott Rosner, Director of the Sports Management program at Columbia University, to discuss the future of the program, both this upcoming semester and beyond. Rosner shares updates coming to the program in both new faculty and course offerings and how he ensures the program stays current on preparing its students to work in sports. The group explores ways to get an advantage in...

Tom and Joe welcome Bill Bergofin, Head of Marketing and Creative at YES Network, to explore the evolution of live sports broadcasts and how they’re distributed. Bill shares his background and how he cut his teeth working under Fox Sports’ regional sports network umbrella. They discuss the requirements for creating a new market for a sports property and how Bill was able to lead NBC’s launch of th...

Joe welcomes Bryan Sperber, CEO of Michael Waltrip Brewing, to discuss his decades of work building brands, primarily in the NASCAR space, and how it led to him to taking his first entrepreneurial leap and starting a beer brand with racing legend Michael Waltrip. He shares the challenges of starting a company during the pandemic and what he ad his business partners learned as they built the busine...

Tom and Joe welcome Rachel Baribeau to discuss her new book, Relentless Joy, and how her career as a sports broadcaster led her to a career in spreading positivity. She shares how she succeeded in adapting to the constant changes in sports media and how she was able to conduct her career on her terms. Rachel explains the importance of authenticity in destigmatizing mental health issues and how tha...

Tom and Joe welcome Miheer Walavalkar, co-founder and CEO at LiveLike to explore how new technological innovations can enhance fan engagement for sports brands. Walavalkar explains how LiveLike has evolved over time and how market feedback drives their work. He shares why LiveLike decided to get out of the virtual reality business and illuminates why VR was never able to live up to its initial boo...

Tom and Joe welcome Jeff Eisenband to the show to discuss how his career as a content creator has changed since he last joined the show in 2019.  He explains how he decided to focus his work on golf, gambling, and esports and how it has helped him advance in this industry. The group explores the PGA/LIV merger and what it means next for the game of golf and its infrastructure. Jeff explains how he...

Joe welcomes Megan Holgate, Vice President of Partnerships at Galaxy Racer North America,  to the podcast to talk about the growth of esports in the United States and her path to the industry from more traditional marketing roles. She discusses her work to improve the space for women in gaming with the HER Galaxy initiative, and the goal of debunking the notion that gaming is heavily dominated by...

Joe and Tom welcome Michael Dub to the pod to share his story of becoming an entrepreneur after dedicating years of his career to the corporate space. Dub shares the impetus for his company Sweet Chameleon, which uses 3D printing to create completely customized collectibles and digital experiences. Dub explains what inspired him to start this venture, the progress the company has made, and its pot...

Joe and Tom close the 2022-2023 academic year by bringing five current Columbia Sports Management students onto the show to discuss an award-winning project they worked on. Students Christina Chen, Daniel Manzi, Hernan Gonzalez, Naoya Kanno, and Pablo Aycart teamed up to compete in the SportsPro Hackathon earlier this year and devised a product designed to significantly reduce plastic cup waste at...

Joe welcomes Andy Dolich back to the podcast to talk about his timely new book, Goodbye, Oakland, which explores the professional sports teams that came, and ultimately left, Oakland. Dolich, now deeply involved in Fan Controlled Sports, has spent a career building teams like the Sixers, the Grizzlies, the Capitals and the 49ers, but was part of the heydey of the Oakland Athletics’ front office as...

Tom and Joe are joined by Hilary Awad, Talent and Brand Management Expert, to discuss the world of athlete marketing, brand building, and navigating new opportunities. Sharing her experiences working with NBA star Stephen Curry, Hilary delves into the importance of authenticity, understanding athletes' personal values, and helping them create a long-lasting impact. The conversation also covers how...