Global Sport Matters

This week on the show, a deep dive into Urban Meyer's tenure and downfall with the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars. Professors Kenneth L. Shropshire from Arizona State's Global Sport Institute and Scott Rosner from Columbia University discuss the hire of Urban Meyer and its precedent in football history, why Meyer didn't work in the NFL, and what the Meyer situation in Jacksonville has to do with wider change in football at the NFL and NCAA levels across the United States.

On the show, CEO of the Global Sport Institute Kenneth L. Shropshire and award-winning journalist William C. Rhoden of The Undefeated dig deeper into the decision by top recruit Travis Hunter to choose Jackson State University and head coach Deion Sanders over Florida State, what it means in the wider history of HBCU football, and whether it signals a true sea change in the landscape of college sports, or if it's unique to "Coach Prime" and Hunter's priorities in 2021.

This week on the show, a look at a tumultuous time in sports business from college to the pros to international competition. Professors Kenneth L. Shropshire from Arizona State's Global Sport Institute and Scott Rosner from Columbia University discuss the holdout by the Women's Tennis Association against the Chinese government on the heels of Peng Shuai's disappearance from public life; the lockout in Major League Baseball; and the financial and competitive reasons behind NCAA football coaches changing schools and earning huge paydays.

Guest producer Karen Given hosts a women's basketball roundtable, exploring how the sport can become more equitable, what research shows us about fandom and passion around women's hoops, and how to grow the sport as the NCAA and other social factors stand in the way. Joining Given are Dr. Nicole LaVoi, director of the Tucker Center at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Nancy Lough, the director of the University of Nevada at Las Vegas sports management program, and Lindsay Gibbs, who writes the Power Plays newsletter covering women's sports.

This week on the show, a deep dive into two high-profile absences in the NFL and NBA. Professors Kenneth L. Shropshire from Arizona State's Global Sport Institute and Scott Rosner from Columbia University discuss the drama surrounding Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers as well as Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers and what these public feuds between player and team tell us about the state of player empowerment during a chaotic time in American society as well as who stands behind controversial disputes, from the player to the team to the league to corporate sponsors and beyond.

Guest host and producer Karen Given tells the intertwining stories of Muffet McGraw and Marianne Stanley, two pioneering women's basketball coaches who have seen the changes in the sport from before Title IX until now. The two discuss the challenges in travel, treatment and compensation in the early days of NCAA women's basketball, the lawsuits that created change, and the meaningful triumphs along the way.

Given also speaks with Danielle Donehew, the executive director of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association and a former director of basketball operations for the University of Tennessee women's basketball program under Pat Summitt, about the legacy of Summitt and the work of advocacy groups like the WBCA to create parity and equity in the sport.

This week on the show, a closer look at sport's chain of command. Professors Kenneth L. Shropshire from Arizona State's Global Sport Institute and Scott Rosner from Columbia University discuss the ways in which the Chicago Blackhawks and the NHL failed in the Kyle Beach sexual assault saga, and how in 2021 such a devastating failure can still happen. Then, a look at MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred's comments on the Atlanta Braves and the tomahawk chop, and why the focus is on peripheral stories relating to race and culture at this year's World Series.

Global Sport Institute CEO Kenneth L. Shropshire and sportswriter William C. Rhoden of The Undefeated examine the latest news in the NFL, including the continued fallout over the investigation into the Washington Football Team and Jon Gruden and what it tells us about the racial power dynamics in the league, as well as the role a young, successful Black quarterback like Lamar Jackson plays in the NFL and in his community in Baltimore as a role model and advocate. The pair examine why race remains such a strong force in the NFL and how the faces of the league are navigating it.

This week on the show, a closer look at power dynamics in U.S. pro sports. Professors Kenneth L. Shropshire from Global Sport Institute and Scott Rosner from Columbia University discuss the fallout from Jon Gruden's resignation and the ongoing NFL investigation into the Washington Football Team and former president Bruce Allen as well as the sexual assault allegations and subsequent labor strife between the National Women's Soccer League and its players. What do Gruden's emails and the NWSL scandal tell us about who wields power in sports and the precarity of these institutions?

'Sports Professors' is a bimonthly production of the Global Sport Matters Podcast, where professors Kenneth Shropshire and Scott Rosner discuss the 101 on what happened in sports business. Each episode gives you a quick recap of the past week in sports, before diving deeper into a bigger topic to look at what's happening and why it matters.

Guest host Jerome Allen begins the story of the Athlone Athletics (A’s), a Coloured South African Baseball team borne out of survival against White domineering post-Apartheid. In Part One, team founders Mervyn Wedel and Sean Campbell tell their story while sports historian Lou Moore of Grand Valley State University draws parallels with baseball’s segregated history in the United States. Allen's personal experience with the team interweaves with both American and African history to tell parallel stories of how sport can be used to divide people and to bring them together.