“We’re going to take a deep dive in the sports industry over the coming months and years, bringing together stakeholders and the professional, collegiate, amateur, and international sports arenas for a series of symposia, podcasts, lectures, and possibly more,” said Conrad, associate professor of law and ethics at the Gabelli School.

Speaking at the online 10th annual Sports Business Symposium on April 7, Conrad said the initiative will be a “mini center” that will tackle cutting-edge issues that impact the sports business landscape, both now and in the future.

Tackling Timely Issues in Sports

Conrad said the initiative plans to host at least one symposium on one of these topics: sports at a time of war; diversity, equity, and inclusion in sports; the professionalization of college sports; and a deep dive into sports betting, particularly the public health aspect.

The Sports Business Initiative will officially launch this summer with podcasts, a website, and a newsletter before moving into hosting symposia, lectures, and other programming in the fall.

“There will be lectures by Fordham faculty, professional and amateur athletes, league and Olympic officials, government representatives, grassroots groups—we’re looking for a broad group of stakeholders to participate in this initiative,” he said.

“We want to make this a real go-to place—and not just for New York City, not just for Fordham—but really for the nation and the world,,” Conrad said, adding that events will be hosted on Zoom to draw people from around the globe.

Conrad said the initiative will not only draw top sports professionals, but also Gabelli School students who are interested in sports business. Students in Fordham’s business school as well as the liberal arts colleges will have a chance to participate.

Conrad serves as the faculty adviser for the Business of Sports Society, which hosted the April 7 event. The society is one part of Fordham’s many sports business offerings, which include a sports business concentration; courses such as sports marketing, communications, law, and a new course on sports business and diversity; and internship opportunities.

A Hub for Forward-Thinking Ideas and Solutions

Conrad said that he’s currently gathering ideas for what topics should be examined in sports business, what issues need to be addressed, what solutions are available, and how can sports business become more diverse, accountable and transparent.

The idea has been in the works for about a year, Conrad said, and was supported by Gabelli School of Business Dean Donna Rapaccioli; associate deans Francis Petit, N.K. Chidambaran, and Elizabeth Cosenza; professors John Fortunato, Brent Horton, and Amy Aronson; and Athletic Director Ed Kull.

In addition to growing awareness about the initiative, Conrad said they’ll be working to grow their social media presence and work on fundraising for their efforts.

Mackenzie Cranna, a senior at the Gabelli School of Business and current co-president of the Business of Sports Society, told Conrad she knows the initiative will be great for Fordham..

“I think you’re providing the University with some really awesome sports business opportunities,” she said. “Everyone in this club has a lot to look forward to next year.”

Cain said that her coaches forced her to lose weight, which led to the loss of her period for three years and stress-related injuries, including five broken bones.

“You don’t go from losing weight to breaking bones in two days, right? There’s usually this long period of time where there’s this physical deterioration,” said Cain, GABELLI ’19, at Fordham’s ninth annual Sports Business Symposium, held virtually on March 25. “Throughout the day, I just was more prone to having silly things, like headaches, to just being more hungry, to being a little bit more irritated as a result, and to just being visibly fatigued.”

She began to dread the sport she had loved since she was in fifth grade, when she surprised her gym teacher by running a mile in 6:10. Her physical, emotional, and mental health began to spiral—she developed an eating disorder and began to cut herself and have suicidal thoughts.

“What once had been something that came naturally [to me], this beautiful experience … suddenly became a slog,” Cain said. “So often, I think, as people, we like to separate our physical, emotional, and mental well-being into separate categories, but they’re so symbiotic, and the longer that I was in this really circular system, the more my body broke down.”

The Nike Project

Before she joined the Nike Project, a team of the fastest athletes in the world, Cain had a decision to make—compete in college or go pro right away. She said she felt going pro through the Nike Project would allow her to attend college and get a strong academic foundation while pursuing running. She moved from Bronxville, New York, to Oregon and completed one year at the University of Portland before transferring to Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in 2019. After she moved back to New York, Cain kept training with the Nike Project until she left for good in 2016.

In a November 2019 video piece for The New York Times, Cain said the all-male coaching staff led by Salazar did not include a certified sports psychologist or certified nutritionist, and that Salazar had tried to put her on birth control pills to lose weight, and harmed her mental health by berating her and humiliating her in front of her fellow athletes.

“Women in sports are treated harsher when it comes to body image,” she said during the Fordham symposium. “And I believe the reason is mostly societal—the expectation to be a lighter weight is more attached to [women’s] looks [and]their meaning. And it’s this really toxic culture that I think permeates professional sports in a way where weight still matters for men, but the dialogue is different.”

Starting a Conversation, Advocating for Reform

After Cain’s story came out, many other female athletes spoke up and supported her claims, including Kara Goucher, an Olympic distance runner who had trained under the same Nike program. Salazar denied the allegations of abuse, but several weeks before Cain’s story was published, he had received a four-year ban from the sport for doping violations, and Nike had already shut down the Oregon Project.

In January 2020, Nike completed an internal investigation of Cain’s allegations of abuse, and her story helped Nike identify initiatives to “do better in supporting female athletes,” including increasing the number of women coaches in sports and investing in scientific research into the impact of elite training on women and girls.

That same month, the U.S. Center for SafeSport, a nonprofit organization focused on ending all forms of abuse in sport, placed Salazar on its “temporarily banned list, a disciplinary action that could result in a lifetime ban,” according to The New York Times.

Cain said her goal in sharing her story is to make sure that no other athletes, particularly female athletes, have to go through the suffering she did.

“I hadn’t known that the situation was bad until somebody [came out and told me], ‘That is bad. That shouldn’t happen to you.’ It’s normalized,” she said. “I realized I didn’t want any other person out there to … be self-loathing, beat themselves up, and have this just incredibly negative experience, because they were under an emotionally abusive coach, and almost didn’t know it.”

Cain has called for reforms to the sport. In addition to hiring more women coaches, which Nike has pledged to do, she would like to see teams provide more support for young athletes, such as mental health counselors and trained sports psychologists who are separate from the coaching staff. She also thinks coaches should undergo more training to be certified to work with young athletes.

“I think [U.S. Center for SafeSport] programming is trying to change that and really show how somebody who’s going into coaching is going to be working with traditionally very vulnerable, younger people who are in need of a mentor and a leader,” she said. “And so the more education that you can give yourself to be that for a young athlete is important.”

Moving Forward

Cain has also called for changes in how athletes make a living in the sports world. Right now, many pro runners and other athletes competing in Olympic sports are paid as independent contractors.

“We make our money through sponsorship … and as a result, we’re really just singular athletes floating in the sea, trying to advocate for ourselves. And I believe what would be most beneficial is if there was one organization, that if we are going to be representing Team USA, we are all employees of [that organization].”

Cain currently works full time for Tracksmith, a running apparel company, as an employee and an athlete. In her role as the company’s New York City community manager, she’s in charge of developing relationships with teams and organizations in the city. She also still runs professionally as a member of USA Track & Field, and works part time for the nonprofit New York Road Runners.

Cain said that her working relationship with Tracksmith allows her to be an athlete and a full-time employee, which makes her eligible for benefits, such as health insurance and maternity leave, that she wouldn’t have had as an independent contractor.

“Our athletic dreams and careers are fully supported,” she said. “We’re encouraged to train hard. We’re encouraged to travel. We’re encouraged to do everything that is within our means to be the best athletes that we can be.”

Cain said this experience has been “incredibly rewarding” because it allows her to not only develop as an athlete but also as a sports business professional.

A Look Across the Sports Business Industry

The event also featured a talk from Tim Hinchey, the president and CEO of USA Swimming and the USA Swimming Foundation, and a panel on disruptors in sports media.

Other panels focused on some of the latest trends in sports business in partnerships, communications, and community relations, as well as how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted their organizations.

The communications and community relations panel featured Fordham alumni Joe Favorito, FCRH ’85, who works as an independent sports, entertainment, and branding consultant, and DJ Sixsmith, FCRH ’15, the social media manager and host at CBS Local Digital Media, along with Heather Hall, a senior director of community relations at BSE Global, which operates the Barclays Center, and Rachel Walsh, vice president of communications at Excel Sports Management.

The partnerships panel featured Fordham alumni Mary Beth Gambke, GABELLI ’13, director of partnership marketing at Barstool Sports; Terry Tsouratakis, FCRH ’11, director of corporate partnerships for the Los Angeles Football Club; and Mark Gennarelli, GABELLI ’2002, director of corporate partnerships for the New York Giants; as well as Stephanie Maes, director of sports partnerships for MGM Resorts International, and Steve Olwell, director of corporate partnerships for the New York Racing Association.

For Nicholas Lehman, a Gabelli School of Business senior majoring in marketing and serving as president of the Sports Business Society, this year’s symposium took extra planning, but it was an opportunity to reach a broader audience.

“We had prepared for months on last year’s symposium, which was canceled just three days before we were due to host it” on campus, Lehman said. “This year, we [hosted]the symposium virtually for the first time in our history. We were excited to make this year’s event the largest and most wide-reaching event we have ever hosted, making it a truly national event with speakers and attendees from around the country.”

Fordham and the New York Giants, two institutions with deep connections to New York football and each other, will team up on an array of initiatives after signing a formal partnership this summer. Benefits will include academic offerings for students and exposure for the University.

“Our identity has been tied to the gridiron since the 1920s, with Fordham’s ‘Seven Blocks of Granite’ dominating the sport in the 1930s, and John Mara is of course a distinguished Fordham Law alumnus,” said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham.

“We are therefore pleased to deepen our family connection to the Giants and excited to enter a partnership with the team that will be mutually beneficial.”

The partnership has the potential to result in new academic programs and new initiatives in the areas of community service, student enrollment, fundraising, alumni relations, branding, and special events.

“As a graduate of Fordham Law, I was fortunate to experience firsthand the wonderful educational opportunities that Fordham has to offer,” said John Mara, LAW ’79, president and co-owner of the New York Giants.

“This partnership will create new academic programs, student internships, and community service initiatives that will build upon and strengthen those experiences for Fordham students and our community.”

Academic Programming and Marketing

Jonathan Crystal, Ph.D., vice provost for Fordham, said there are many benefits to the new partnership.

“This initiative furthers the university’s strategy of deepening partnerships with leading New York City institutions, using them as a springboard to develop new academic programs and create unique opportunities for our students,” he said.

“It draws on our strengths across a number of different disciplines, from business and marketing to communications and media studies. It also takes Fordham’s visibility to the next level.”

The University and its programs and schools will be featured on in-stadium advertising during Giants games, as well as radio, digital, and social promotion.

Anthony R. Davidson, Ph.D., dean of Fordham’s School of Professional and Continuing Studies, said an intriguing aspect of the partnership is the way he sees Fordham leveraging it to create new academic programming in sports business at the school—potentially at the graduate level. Davidson said he’s eager to collaborate with colleagues in the department of communications and media studies, which currently offers a minor in sports journalism, and the Gabelli School of Business, which offers a concentration in sports business.

“I think this allows for us to develop our offerings in sports, an area of interest for many students,” he said, noting that the opportunities in the field extend far beyond working for individual teams or leagues.

Davidson said also he expects that members of the Giants organization will likewise take advantage of continuing education opportunities that Fordham offers.

Internships and Class Projects

This semester, three students will be interning with the team. Annette McLaughlin, director of Fordham’s Office of Career Services, said the internships—in departments such as corporate partnerships, premium services, and media production—are well aligned with the academic interests of Fordham students.

“Career success depends on two things: connections and experience, which includes the classroom, internships, volunteer work, and campus leadership roles. Fordham does an amazing job on the academic side with projects and presentations. We prepare the students by helping them connect their experiences inside and outside the classroom for future employment,” she said.

“Our role is to facilitate and create opportunities that connect students to employers and introduce them to a variety of career options. The Giants internships really match well with the knowledge, skills, and interests of our students and will no doubt help them as they begin their next chapter.”

Students will also be able to work with the Giants in the classroom through a class project. The project, which will be treated like a case study, will bring together an interdisciplinary group of students to work on a business challenge. Students will have the opportunity to make a presentation to the Giants’ management team. The agreement will also bring Giants executives into the classroom for guest lectures.

Jeffrey L. Gray, senior vice president for student affairs at Fordham, called the agreement “a team effort.”

“It involved genuine collaboration by many individuals and units across the University and in the Giants organization,” he said.

“The process is a model for how to get complex projects across the goal line, and I am grateful for the time and effort put in by everyone in both organizations.”

Partnering on Community Service

Beyond the classroom and the field, the two organizations will pursue community service projects together. The Giants will support Fordham students as they assist in community service projects such as clothing drives for the homeless, food delivery to those in need on holidays, and visits to children in hospitals.

A Long History Together

Fordham and the Giants have shared many connections through the years. Wellington Mara, the son of the team’s founder, Tim Mara, graduated from Fordham College at Rose Hill in 1937. His classmate, Fordham football legend Vince Lombardi, got his start in the NFL as an assistant coach with the team. Several executives in the Giants organization are Fordham graduates. And Bob Papa, the radio voice of the Giants, who has broadcast the team’s games since 1995, is a 1986 graduate of Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business.

In a new book, John Fortunato, Ph.D., delves into how the Professional Golf Association (PGA) Tour keeps people tuning in to the sport year after year.  Fortunato, a professor of communications and media management at the Gabelli School of Business, had long explored the business models of sports organizations like Major League Baseball and the National Football League in his classes. But when a student in his sports media course asked him questions about the PGA Tour, he admits, he didn’t have complete answers.

Making the Cut: Life Inside the PGA Tour System (McFarland, 2019) is his way of answering them.

“Golf is much more complex as far as who qualifies for tournaments, what it means to win, what it means to make a cut, what it means to qualify for the FedEx playoffs, and graduate from the Web.com Tour onto the PGA Tour,” he said.

“There are all these dividing lines that are really meaningful in terms of the opportunities that the players get, in terms of their financial prospects. I wanted to capture the human stories that are in this system and make it compelling.”

To capture those stories, Fortunato went beyond well-known stars like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, and interviewed up-and-coming golfers like Keith Mitchell. In March, the 27-year-old native of Tennessee won his first PGA tournament, the Honda Classic, held in Palm Beach, Florida. Fortunato interviewed him when he was still just one of the top 25 players on the Web.com Tour, which is a level below the PGA Tour.

At the final hole of the last regular season tournament of the Web.com Tour, Mitchell needed to birdie, or hit one under par, at the final hole to automatically qualify for the PGA Tour. Otherwise, his path to the PGA tour would have to go through the Web.com Tour Playoffs, a series of four more tournaments that would start four days later. At that moment, however, Mitchell was under the impression that he needed to eagle, or hit two under par, to win. When he failed to do that, he thought for sure he’d failed to qualify.

“He actually has a putt to make the PGA Tour, but he already thinks his time is past, and that he didn’t do enough to qualify,” Fortunato said.

“He said to me, ‘all week, I wanted one of two things: A putt to win the tournament, or a putt to make the PGA tour. I had it, and I didn’t even know it, which is just incredible. It was just a miscommunication.’ He was literally tearing up as he learned this.”

As it turned out, Mitchell’s regular season performance on the Web.com Tour was still good enough to qualify him for that tour’s playoffs, and it was there that he redeemed himself by finishing in the top 25 on the prize money list.

That qualified him to play for the PGA Tour, where Mitchell made a 15-foot putt on the final hole of the Honda Classic. He won $1.2 million, qualified for all the major tournaments, like the Masters and U.S. Open, and kept his PGA Tour card for the next two seasons of the PGA Tournament.

“I think there’s these really compelling stories that emerge because of the system, and that’s what I really wanted to document. I wanted to explain the system and story lines that occur because it,” Fortunato said.

The book profiles stories of the likes of Greg Chalmers, who was successful enough to make a career playing golf, but didn’t win his first tournament until his 386th career start, and Joel Dahmen, who overcame testicular cancer to make it onto the PGA Tour.

Drama, Fortunato said, is also built into the way the sport’s winnings are parsed out. As opposed to football and baseball players, who get paid by their teams, golf players compete for cash prizes paid by the tournaments. Every shot can affect their winnings.

“You could find any sport where you could point to one play or one game that really changed it. Where golf is unique is, every stroke and every spot where you finish on the leaderboard of a tournament has a dollar value,” he said.

“So Tom Brady misses a pass on first down? OK, it’s just second and ten. Here, every shot matters.”

What separates the elite golfers from the rest, he said, is their ability to both swing the club, ignore the fact that they just lost, say, $10,000, on a shot that went awry, and stay well under par (typically 70 to 72) for four days in a row.

“Any guy on the tour is talented enough where he  could go out and put up a 64 in one round. But to be able to do it four days in a row, have great rounds, and to do it against the elite of the elite … I have a real new-found appreciation for what these golfers do,” he said.

In addition to getting a better handle on the PGA system, Fortunato said that he’s able to bring what he learned while researching the book into his classes, particularly the ways that sponsorships are negotiated and how the media factor in the sport’s operations.

Above all, he said, a casual sports fan will understand the appeal behind the book.

“There are compelling story lines that attract you. You’re going to see live drama playing out. You’re not going to know the outcome; it’s unscripted,” he said.

“I think that has an appeal for all sports fans. And if you know what the outcomes of those consequences are, I think it makes it more compelling.”

Each has involved a very different set of circumstances, but as Mark Conrad, associate professor of law and ethics and the director of the sports business concentration at the Gabelli School of Business, explained at a Fordham at the Forefront event at the University’s Lincoln Center campus on November 19, many of the tensions in the league today are ultimately labor issues.

Pro sports commissioners, Conrad explained, were once all-powerful within their given leagues, but in the age of collective bargaining, that doesn’t have to be the case. “The only check on the power of sports leagues, regarding labor, are unions,” Conrad said. Indeed, pro sports unions “are one of the few private employee unions that have thrived” during a time when the percentage of the American labor force in a union is around 10 percent—and dropping.

But Conrad explained that members of the NFL Players Association, which last negotiated a contract in 2011, are “probably kicking themselves” for allowing NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to retain so much power. “They allowed the commissioner to be the judge, jury, and appeals court on various disciplinary matters,” said Conrad. “They allowed it in their last contract negotiation. You know that they don’t want to have that happen again.”

In other words, with the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement expiring in 2020: stay tuned.

The Biggest Issues Off the Field

Over the course of the evening, Conrad led a discussion on some of the most pressing issues in the world of sports business today. Along with the talk on governance in the NFL, he covered four other big topics: the professionalization of college sports, ethics and international sports, legalized sports gambling, and the recent NHL concussion settlement, mixing in talk of current trends, relevant court cases, and a dialogue with students and alumni in the audience.

The conversation about the changing state of collegiate sports was a particularly lively one.

“The old model has been breaking down in what I’d call the big money sports,” said Conrad, whose book The Business of Sports, initially published by Routledge in 2006, was released in a third edition last year. He paid special attention to one of the most hotly debated NCAA rules: the one that prohibits student-athletes from receiving compensation beyond cost of attendance at a school. “I think what’s happening is the economics, the business, the pressure, and the law are slowly going against the NCAA’s attempt to do this.”

Conrad gave the example of students at a school like Indiana University, which has both a storied basketball program and a renowned music conservatory. “A music student can do a gig on the weekend with a local orchestra and be paid a hundred bucks. And they do,” said Conrad. “But a student-athlete [who]even gives lessons in what he wants do … that would affect eligibility. That’s gotta go. That really is something that smacks of economic oppression.”

Keeping Up with Industry Trends

Phil Acocella, FCRH ’11, an attendee who worked at WFUV as a student, says he remembers Conrad from his time at the radio station. “He was a frequent guest on WFUV, and he always brought a sense of expertise and knowledge to the broadcast,” said Acocella.

Acocella, who now works at SportsNet New York, said he attended the event because he’s a big sports fan looking to hear about industry trends, and because he was interested in connecting with fellow alumni.

“It’s a great opportunity to not only network but to see what Fordham’s offering in the world of sports,” he said. “Events like this are one of the best things that Fordham offers postgraduation.”

—Joe DeLessio, FCLC ’06

The Office of Alumni relations established the Fordham at the Forefront lecture series in 2012 to demonstrate “Fordham’s leadership in areas of universal relevance and concern,” and to deliver “a measure of lifelong learning to alumni, parents, and friends in cities throughout the world.”

Listen here:

And in this bonus track, we ask Conrad: Which is the best sports league, and which is the worst?

Full transcript below

Mark Conrad: Sports is an entertainment business. An entertainment business is a talent-driven business. Ask just about any sports executive to sum up the sports business, and they say that.

Patrick Verel: The professional sports market in the United States was worth about $60 billion in 2014. And according to Forbes, it’s expected to reach $73 billion by 2019. Chump change it most certainly is not. I’m Patrick Verel. And today, my guest is Mark Conrad, Director of the Sports Business Concentration at Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business.

This is the first year that Chief Wahoo was absent from the Cleveland Indians uniform. But fans will still be able to buy merchandise with his image at the team’s gift shop. What do you think? Smart move or just delaying the inevitable?

Mark Conrad: Well, it is delaying the inevitable in a certain sense because you’ve seen a gradual transition away from that symbol that was seen on the uniforms in other kinds of stadium type functions. And certainly in the media, you’ve not seen it as you used to see it either, which is a fortunate thing because Native American groups have demonstrated for years against that symbol and the depiction that the symbol seems to infer about Native Americans. And according to them, it was quite offensive. So I think this was a nice or a diplomatic way to segue away from the use of that particular logo. And I suspect in the next few years, it’ll be eliminated entirely. So right now, it can only be sold and bought in merchandise in the Cleveland area. Major League Baseball is not going to handle any merchandise nationwide with that particular symbol.

Patrick Verel: As of this recording, the NCAA’s March Madness is in full swing. And every year, there’s this talk about how athletes are being taken advantage of because they’re technically amateurs. Do you see any movement on this issue?

Mark Conrad: I think there is significant movement on this issue. And I think in the next two to three years, there’ll be more movement on this issue. This is the beginning of a revolution because we’re finally realizing that with all the revenues that the NCAA makes in its men’s basketball tournament, it is really ludicrous to consider these players, who are the labor force for this tournament, the labor force that doesn’t get compensated when the coaches do, the media people do. The television networks pay the NCAA huge rights fees to see that. Advertisers advertise on this, for this particular broadcast and series of broadcasts. So this is really something that is getting to be manifestly unfair because a labor force is paid basically nothing when you’re dealing with elite men’s college basketball.

There have been a number of cases in the courts that have challenged this arrangement on anti-trust grounds. And there’s been some liberalization regarding some of the student compensational ready. And also in the football area, the conferences seem to be taking over control over big time college football. And the NCAA has sort of surrendered that. And it’s surrendered that for many years. Just as an example of how ludicrous this can be is that the University of Central Florida denied eligibility to a student who had a YouTube page and he did various creative projects on YouTube and did get some advertising revenue, which had nothing to do with basketball. And he launched a First Amendment lawsuit against the University of Central Florida, which is a public institution, saying that it violates his free speech rights.

What I think would be the easiest thing to do is allow students to make endorsement deals, allow students to engage in outside activities that could be somewhat sports related. And if the University’s wish were to try to control the money, they could put it in a trust fund. So if the student spends X period of time or even not, X years later it would be available to the student. So let’s say the student really can get an endorsement deal, or the student wants to teach basketball to someone like me, and get paid for it, why shouldn’t the student do that?

A music student has every right to do gigs on the side while that person is a music student in a school. And I know many music students who’ve done that. So why can’t a student athlete do the same thing if indeed there is a market for that? On the other hand, I don’t think paying players outright as employees would be the way to go, simply because it could be very costly and university budgets, athletic budgets often lose money, and you have many other sports that don’t raise those revenues. And second, to treat someone like an employee is very different than treating them like a student athlete or a student. It would pose other kinds of legal issues.

Patrick Verel: Let’s talk a little bit about the NFL. There’s been a real increased awareness of concussion-related injuries. And that’s been leading to a decrease in boys playing tackle football in many parts of the country. Do you think the league’s viability could be affected by a shrinking pool of potential players in the future?

Mark Conrad: Well, the quality of play could and the nature of who the NFL teams could pick could be affected. I don’t foresee the NFL shutting down because the NFL could certainly get enough of a talent pool. Because ultimately, those players could be deemed as high risk, high reward. They are being compensated. In many cases, compensated quite well for what they do, albeit in a very, very short time because the average NFL player only plays about three seasons. And of course, we do know about the serious physical risks that NFL players endure by playing that sport. But I do think that the era of open doors for the NFL to millions of potential kids out there who play in the junior high school or high school level may be receding a little bit. The concussion issue has been a serious issue. Many families are worried about it. And seeing the media reports of these veteran players that many of us know and watched suffering greatly does have a very powerful effect.

Patrick Verel: The NFL has got other challenges to face to. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Mark Conrad: Well, where do we start? The NFL has a problem with its players and its players union. And I suspect there’s a good chance there will be some kind of concerted action after the end of the present collective bargaining agreement, which is a fancy term for either a strike or a lockout. I think that the players want to change the arbitration system that existed, that one could argue burned Tom Brady and others because it is very unusual that the Commissioner can be the arbitrator or the Commissioner can appoint somebody to be the arbitrator when many of us learn that arbitrators should be independent and have no conflict of interest. It’s a very, very bizarre system that came about. I think that the players are really going to want to change that. That’s one thing.

The second of course are the concussion protocols, which are really more for the veteran players. And the NFL settled a lawsuit by thousands of former players regarding medical care for their injuries that arguably resulted from concussions. And that’s been slow to get off the ground. There is a $1 billion fund over many, many years, but apparently it’s been a slow process, and we have to see how indeed that plays out.

Indeed, I think the issue of television rights will be something to watch because the NFL’s main TV deals are expiring in a few years. Although, the recent deal with Fox for Thursday night broadcast of $1 billion over five years is a pretty astounding deal, much higher than the prior deals. So certainly, there’s still broadcasters out there that are willing to pay big bucks for the NFL.

And finally, of course the political issues, the whole “Colin Kaepernick effect” has been controversial and some say has hurt ratings in the NFL, while other say that quality of play this season has hurt ratings in the NFL. I’m not here to judge one way or the other. But I think it cannot be good that a lot of people felt that the game got politicized. On the other hand, I would say that the President exacerbated the situation by bringing up the issue a number of times when indeed it seemed to fading. And I think it’s almost a normal human reaction to say, “Well, you attack us by saying that. Well, we may just continue doing this sort of thing.” But in the long run, it may not be good for anyone because I suspect that the goal that the kneeling issue has sought has already been passed. At this point, we understand the issues. And do you keep doing this or not? And I think that’s something that we’ll have to see what happens the next season.

Patrick Verel: Before we started recording this, we were talking a little bit about the NFL and how about five, six years ago, it seemed like the League was invincible. And you had said that when you teach the class on the subject that your syllabus is often out of date by the end of the semester. Is there something inherent about his business that’s so chaotic?

Mark Conrad: Sports is an entertainment business. An entertainment business is a talent-driven business. Ask just about any sports executive to sum up the sports business, and they’ll say that. It’s a talent-type business that has a lot of similarities to entertainment because you’re dealing with personal services. People are paying money to watch individuals perform. They’re not paying money to buy a chair. It’s a very different kind of arrangement. So in a sense, it’s very fluid because you’re dealing with human beings performing.

Second, it is very technologically-driven and changes in technology, as it is with entertainment, also involve sports. The delivery systems, content providers, dissemination of various kinds of benefits, technologies, become very, very important in sports because there’s a lot of money involved in that. So I suspect that’s also a reason why it’s so dynamic.

And three, there’s often a lot of law that goes into sports because the courts are very, very busy. This is an endeavor that’s followed by tens of millions of people. There’s great interest. And even something like the Supreme Court ruling that in effect sports gambling can be legalized in much of the country, which is possible, can have a big effect starting almost immediately as a number of states may pass laws that will allow sports gambling. At this point, only Nevada has open sports books. That is likely or may very well likely change.

And then you create a very new business. What about gambling at the arenas? How much money do the states take? How much money do the leagues take? Jobs for analytic specialists because gambling is based on analytics and probabilities. So you create a new industry overnight. Another major issue of course are drugs, PEDs, and all the international attention that’s occurred there, and the controversies going on as well as the trials involving FIFA executives or former FIFA executives, which may not end because there are a number of investigations going on regarding the governance of international sports federations. This is an area that is not going to get stale.

Bonus Track

Patrick Verel: From a business perspective, what’s the best run sports organization and what’s the worst run sports organization, in your opinion?

Mark Conrad: In terms of sports leagues, the best run league is the NBA. Under Commissioner Adam Silver, who’s done an amazing job making the owners happy, making the players happy. He handled the Donald Sterling situation, a few years back, brilliantly. And the NBA has a new television contract that’s something like two and a half times the old one. So, things are going really, really well for the NBA. I would say they are the best.

In terms of the worst, I think you have to look internationally. There’s so many bad ones, so many federations are a problematic, but I would simply say at this point, USA Gymnastics probably has the award at this point for what had happened, which is absolutely outrageous. The U.S. Olympic Committee is not on that category because they’ve done some good things, but certainly the lack of aggressive investigation and involvement in this sexual abuse matter is a cause of great concern.

On Jan. 18, the 42-year-old Fordham Law grad was voted NFL Executive of the Year by the Pro Football Writers Association.

Roseman has avoided the spotlight since then, calling the award a credit to the entire Eagles organization. But in recent weeks, journalists and fans alike have been singing his praises, referring to him as a “genius” and a “magician,” and crediting him for a series of shrewd, often bold roster moves that have paid off in a big way this year.

The Eagles overcame back-to-back losing seasons and some potentially devastating player injuries to soar to a 13-3 regular-season record and advance to the Super Bowl, thanks in large part to the depth of young and veteran talent Roseman brought together.

“Every one of his free-agent or traded-for acquisitions were successes,” Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Jeff McLane wrote on Jan. 21, after the Eagles beat the Minnesota Vikings, 38-7, to win the NFC championship.

Now the resilient Eagles are set to face the New England Patriots, winners of two of the past three Super Bowls. Philly will be underdogs on Feb. 4, just as they were in their first two playoff games this year. But that’s a role the team and its fans seem to relish. And it’s one that’s long been familiar to Roseman, who overcame long odds just to land a job in the NFL.

Here are five things to know about Howie Roseman before the big game:

1. He’s living his childhood dream.

Roseman was born in Brooklyn but grew up in suburban New Jersey, where he rooted for the New York Jets and dreamed of a career in an NFL team’s front office. He once said that when he was 9 or 10 years old, “people would ask what I was going to do. I’d say, I’m going to be general manager of a National Football League team. They used to laugh.”

2. His persistence is legendary.

In a 2014 interview with Bleacher Report, Roseman estimated that between his senior year of high school and his third year of law school, he wrote more than 1,000 letters to NFL teams (one letter to each team, several times a year) in hopes of landing a job.

He received rejection letters that could be “stacked as high as the ceiling in any room in your house,” he said, and he admitted that he “really didn’t have a backup plan, which, looking back on it really wasn’t so smart.”

3. A Fordham Law degree helped him get his foot in the door.

Roseman received a glimmer of hope during his senior year at the University of Florida. Mike Tannenbaum, who worked in the New York Jets player personnel department at the time, agreed to give Roseman some advice by phone. No team would hire him as a scout, Tannenbaum reportedly said, because Roseman had no football experience. But if he were to earn a law degree, he might be able to sell himself as a salary-cap expert.

So Roseman enrolled at Fordham Law School. Shortly after earning a J.D. in May 2000, he landed his first NFL position: an unpaid summer internship with the Eagles. And he hasn’t forgotten his alma mater. In spring 2011, he returned to Fordham to deliver the keynote address at the annual Fordham Sports Law Symposium.

4. He rose from intern to general manager in just 10 years.

Roseman initially shared a desk with an administrative assistant in the Eagles’ front office, but before long, he was hired full time as staff counsel and began a rapid, steady climb through the corporate ranks—to director of football administration in 2003, vice president of player personnel in 2008, and general manager in 2010. By then, he was 34 years old, the youngest GM in the league at the time. He’s been in his current position as head of football operations since 2015.

5. He’s the latest exemplar of Fordham’s Super Bowl connections.

Fordham’s ties to the big game date back to the very first one. On Jan. 15, 1967, Fordham grad Vince Lombardi, FCRH ’37, led the Green Bay Packers to victory in what later became known as Super Bowl I. He repeated the feat the following year. After his untimely death in September 1970, the NFL named its championship trophy in his honor.

One of Lombardi’s Fordham classmates, Wellington Mara, FCRH ’37, also had a share in two Super Bowl victories. As longtime co-owner of the New York Giants, he steered the team to the top in 1987 and 1991.

More recently, Wellington’s son John Mara—a 1979 Fordham Law grad and the Giants’ current president, CEO, and co-owner—has hoisted the Lombardi Trophy twice, in 2008 and 2012. In both games, the odds were against his team, and in both games, the Giants defeated the New England Patriots.

No doubt Roseman will be looking to extend that Fordham underdog tradition on Super Bowl Sunday.

Update (Feb. 5): The Eagles defeated the Patriots, 41-33, to win the Super Bowl 52. After the game, Roseman told NBC Sports Philadelphia, “It’s hard to win a world championship. Everything has to go right. And not everything went right for us. … [But] we’re world champions forever. This group is a special group.” 

A business manager brings the genius of Albert Einstein to social media

Albert Einstein died in 1955, but the theoretical physicist is riding—dare we say it?—a gravitational wave of popularity that’s been rippling through the fabric of space, time, and social media.

Case in point: On February 11, 2016, after scientists recorded the “sound” of two black holes colliding a billion light-years away, confirming one of Einstein’s century-old theories, @AlbertEinstein tweeted a picture of the scientist smiling at his desk. A microphone, obviously photoshopped, hung in mid-air near his raised left hand. If Einstein were alive, the tweet said, “he’d totally do a mic drop.”

If Einstein were alive, he'd totally do a mic drop after today's #LIGO conference on #gravitationalwaves. #NSFLigo pic.twitter.com/0vaAxVXxvt

— Albert Einstein (@AlbertEinstein) February 11, 2016

That tweet is one of thousands crafted by Anthony Iliakostas, a Queens native who majored in communications at Fordham and, since 2015, has been handling the verified social media accounts for “the World’s Favorite Genius.” It’s part of his job as a business affairs manager in the New York office of Greenlight, a rights-clearance agency that represents the Einstein estate.

In addition to promoting the Einstein brand on social media, Iliakostas helps make commercial licensing deals on behalf of the estate. That’s how depictions of Einstein end up on apparel, on TV shows, and as smartphone emoji. It’s big business: Last October, Forbes listed the Einstein estate at No. 9 on its list of “The Highest-Paid Dead Celebrities of 2016,” with earnings of $11.5 million.

Before joining Greenlight, Iliakostas created Law and Batting Order, a web show on sports law that he still hosts; earned a J.D. at New York Law School; and worked briefly in the rights department at ABC News. He says Einstein’s enduring popularity, particularly among millennials, has much to do with his playful, rebellious personality and his passionate sense of social justice.

“People see Einstein as a man for our times,” Iliakostas says. “I try to tell that story on social media by humanizing him. I try to go beyond his scientific theories to highlight Einstein the humanitarian, Einstein the civil rights activist, with insightful quotes from him on love and art and topics that make it clear that he was not just a brain, and that he had flaws and passions just like the rest of us.”

Read more “20 in Their 20s” profiles.

“Alternative Investments” and “Sports Business,” which are being headed by Kevin Mirabile, lecturer in finance and business economics, and Mark Conrad, associate professor of law and ethics, respectively, will launch in time for the spring 2013 semester.

Conrad, who teaches sports law, said sports-related businesses have matured a great deal in the last 20 years, and so the need for graduates who understand the basics of business is greater than ever. This gives the program a leg up over sports management programs that are often run by liberal arts or continuing education programs, and may have only a smattering of business courses.

“We are saying you have to come in with the basics of finance, marketing, accounting, management, and communications. And then we’re adding specific courses dealing with business issues in the field of sports,” Conrad said.

Students wishing to earn the sports business specialization must complete courses in sports marketing, business of sports media, and sports law, and a capstone summary experience. That final aspect of the degree can be a presentation at a sports-related academic conference, an internship, or a sports travel experience, analyzed in a final paper. Symposiums and appearances by experts in sports business will also be a part of the program.

Conrad said that New York City is home to a plethora of sports-related businesses, from high-profile teams like the Yankees and the Knicks to all the firms that specialize in marketing, advertising, law, and finance.

“The worst thing that sports organizers find in students is they come to interviews and they simply don’t know the business. They do it because they’re fans of the team. We dissuade that,” he said.

“We say this is a business. If you’re a Yankees fan but you get a job with the Red Sox, you take the job with the Red Sox.”

Likewise, alternative investments are of interest to business students in New York City. Mirabile, who teaches a class on hedge funds, said that the New York metropolitan area has the largest concentration of alternative asset managers in the world.

The field has been growing, too. In the last 20 years, more money has been allocated to hedge funds, private equity, and other investment vehicles that are not publicly listed on exchanges. Endowments and high-net-worth individuals in particular have been drawn to them.

And unlike in the past, the boutique firms that specialize in them are now giving undergraduates a look. Specialized courses like those in private equity and commodities, which will be rolled out as electives next fall, are rare at the undergraduate level, which Mirabile said makes the program unique.

“With the pressure in the markets for managing expenses and performance, a lot of private equity firms and hedge funds are looking for undergraduate students. In the past, they had no chance of getting jobs in these firms; they only looked at graduate students or people with five years’ experience,” he said.

The specialization will feature coursework that covers private equity, hard assets, venture capital, commodities, real estate investment management, and hedge fund investing.

Students wishing to earn the specialization will be required to likewise complete three courses covering hedge funds, venture capital, or real estate. A capstone course and project will cover advanced aspects of alternative investment strategies.

It too will be supported by a student organization called the Alternative Investments Club.
Mirabile said the club’s role is to invite speakers to the campus and sponsor skill set training, including Excel training and Bloomberg University training. There is additional training in soft skills like interviewing and resume development specialized for these managers.

It’s a certain alternative to “going to JP Morgan, where you might meet the owner of the firm or be asked to wait six hours because it’s a busy day in the markets,” he said.