The CUSP Show

Joe sits down with Brendan Hannan, Vice President of Marketing, Communications & Digital at the LA Galaxy.

Listen to Brendan as he talks about his journey from the University of Colorado Boulder to working and living in the Top 3 media markets in the US. New York, Chicago and currently LA. Also, hear about his ideas and implementation that made splashes impacts on PR professionals around the world.

Follow him:

Twitter: @brendanhannan

The CUSP Show is a production by the faculty of Sports Management at Columbia University. You can get in touch with the program on Twitter @CU_SPS_Sports. Our presenters are Joe Favorito (@Joefav), Tom Richardson (@ConvergenceTR), and produced by Tom Cerny (@Tom_Cerny19).

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecuspshow.substack.com

Tom and Joe sit down with 18-year-old Buster Scher, creator of Hoop Nation. 

Listen to his take on the key demographics every marketer tries to reach, 18-34-year-olds, how to reach them, and what platform he thinks outperforms all of the others. This platform is not what you would expect someone to say! 

Follow him:

IG: @buster

IG: @hoopsnation

The CUSP Show is a production by the faculty of Sports Management at Columbia University. You can get in touch with the program on Twitter @CU_SPS_Sports. Our presenters are Joe Favorito (@Joefav), Tom Richardson (@ConvergenceTR), and produced by Tom Cerny (@Tom_Cerny19).

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecuspshow.substack.com

Tom sits down with Peter Dopkin, Founder of Deeds Alone. 

Pete has 20 years of experience across the lifecycle of sports content, distribution, and monetization.  His background encompasses naming rights, sponsorships, production, video, mobile and social media.


Pete served as Head of Digital, North America for Repucom (now Nielsen Sports).  Before that, he oversaw business development, strategy, and production for the USTA’s digital properties, including the US Open Tennis Championships.


Pete has built multiple 7-figure digital businesses for both properties and agencies.  He has worked with influential properties, like Red Bull Media House, NBA, WSL, Miller Sports, ATP World Tour — and brands, including IBM, American Express, GoPro, Pepsi, EA Sports, and VW.

The CUSP Show is a production by the faculty of Sports Management at Columbia University. You can get in touch with the program on Twitter @CU_SPS_Sports. Our presenters are Joe Favorito (@Joefav), Tom Richardson (@ConvergenceTR), and produced by Tom Cerny (@Tom_Cerny19).

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecuspshow.substack.com

Joe and Tom sit down with Anya Alvarez to talk about her journey and how her love for writing and sports into a sports journalism career. Her writing focuses on covering women in sports, highlighting their greatest achievements on and off the field. With features in various outlets such as ESPN, VICE, Rolling Stone, Salon, The Guardian, Playboy magazine, and two produced podcasts with NPR’S ONLY A GAME, and a produced documentary on CBS Sports, Anya has made it her mission to amplify the voices of women in sport. Her goal is to inspire girls to continue PLAYING LIKE A GIRL, and help break down the stereotypes that women and girls don’t belong in sports.

Website: www.majorleaguegirls.com 

The CUSP Show is a production by the faculty of Sports Management at Columbia University. You can get in touch with the program on Twitter @CU_SPS_Sports. Our presenters are Joe Favorito (@Joefav), Tom Richardson (@ConvergenceTR), and produced by Tom Cerny (@Tom_Cerny19).

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecuspshow.substack.com

Tom and Joe sit down with Deputy Academic Director, Lj Holmgren as she discusses her path from SUNY Cortland, through Harvard and St. Johns to Columbia University. A pillar in the Columbia University Sports Management Program and find out what makes her come to work everyday! 

Prior to her role at Columbia, she was a Senior Account Executive at NCG Visuals, where she led large-format graphic installations with the Children’s Museum of Manhattan, collegiate and high school athletic programs, the NFL, the New York Jets, and partners of the NY/NJ Super Bowl Host Committee.

As Assistant Athletics Director, Director of Facilities and Operations at St. John's University, Holmgren oversaw day-to-day operations of athletic facilities, planned and executed athletic events, and created capital plans to address infrastructure improvements.

During the 2012-2013 basketball season, Holmgren was recognized by NCG Visuals and the New York Liberty as part of their “Inspiring Women” home game. In addition, she was recognized by the Big East Conference for her contributions to the athletics department on National Girls and Women in Sports Day.

Holmgren held an operations internship with Harvard University Athletics in 2006-07 and an athletic administration internship at Boston College the following season.

At St. John’s University, she taught Current Issues in Sports to Sports Management undergraduate students during the Fall 2014 and fall 2015 terms. In 2016, in partnership with CSM Sports Management (formerly GlideSlope), she led a Supervised Research Project entitled Olympians as Brands in the Columbia University Sports Management program.

Holmgren graduated from the State University of New York, College at Cortland with a degree in Sport Management and an MBA from St. John’s University.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecuspshow.substack.com

Tom sits down with CRO of Vox Media, Inc. Ryan Pauley, to discuss his journey to his current position and the new trends he sees in the landscape. 

Before being named the Chief Revenue Officer at Vox Media, Inc., Pauley led the 2016 conceptualization and launch of concert, Vox Media’s premium ad marketplace. Since the launch, he has led Concert’s expansion to include partners such as Quartz, New York Media, PopSugar and Rolling Stone, and has led and driven new business and advertising strategies across the company.

The CUSP Show is a production by the faculty of Sports Management at Columbia University. You can get in touch with the program on Twitter @CU_SPS_Sports. Our presenters are Joe Favorito (@Joefav), Tom Richardson (@ConvergenceTR), and produced by Tom Cerny (@Tom_Cerny19).

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecuspshow.substack.com

Tom sits down with Rahat Ahmed to discuss his roll in advancing strategy of virtual reality-based sports science.

Rahat previously managed assets for Prince Street Capital, an emerging markets hedge fund, where he specialized in understanding the impact of emerging technologies on consumer behavior and corporate profits.He was also the primary strategist at DKMS US, where he helped increase transplant conversion ratios for blood cancer patients in the United States.

Founder of B·deshi, an organization geared towards bridging the gaps between the populace of the Bangladeshi diaspora.

Loyal to his sports teams: the Tennessee Titans, Arsenal, Houston Rockets, Houston Astros and Texas Longhorns.

The CUSP Show is a production by the faculty of Sports Management at Columbia University. You can get in touch with the program on Twitter @CU_SPS_Sports. Our presenters are Joe Favorito (@Joefav), Tom Richardson (@ConvergenceTR), and produced by Tom Cerny (@Tom_Cerny19).

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecuspshow.substack.com

Join Joe on the final episode of his trilogy (Episodes 139, 140 & 141) from the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. Hear from guest host and Columbia University’s Sports Management Academic Director Scott Rosner as they sit down with friends of the program and leaders in the sports industry. 

Joe Rosales is the Vice President of Research & Development and International Development at Sports Info Solutions (SIS), a company that specializes in providing in-depth baseball and football data, including cutting-edge research and analysis, with the mission to educate professional teams and the public about sports analytics. Since starting with SIS in 2013, Joe has been involved with the company’s expansion from covering primarily Major League Baseball (MLB) to also include minor league, college, and Japanese baseball as well as the National Football League (NFL) and NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).

The CUSP Show is a production by the faculty of Sports Management at Columbia University. You can get in touch with the program on Twitter @CU_SPS_Sports. Our presenters are Joe Favorito (@Joefav), Tom Richardson (@ConvergenceTR), and produced by Tom Cerny (@Tom_Cerny19).

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecuspshow.substack.com

Join Joe on the second episode of his trilogy (Episodes 139, 140 & 141) from the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. Hear from guest host and Columbia University’s Sports Management Academic Director Scott Rosner as they sit down with friends of the program and leaders in the sports industry. 

Kenneth L. Shropshire is the Adidas Distinguished Professor of Global Sport and CEO of Global Sport Institute at Arizona State University. He recently closed out a 30-year career as an endowed full professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was also director of the Wharton Sports Business Initiative, professor of Africana Studies, and academic director of Wharton’s sports-focused executive education programs. He now holds the title of Wharton Endowed Professor Emeritus.

The CUSP Show is a production by the faculty of Sports Management at Columbia University. You can get in touch with the program on Twitter @CU_SPS_Sports. Our presenters are Joe Favorito (@Joefav), Tom Richardson (@ConvergenceTR), and produced by Tom Cerny (@Tom_Cerny19).

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecuspshow.substack.com

Join Joe on the first episode of his trilogy (Episodes 139, 140 & 141) from the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. Hear from guest host and Columbia University’s Sports Management Academic Director Scott Rosner as they sit down with friends of the program and leaders in the sports industry. 

Terry Lyons is widely known in the sports world for his 25+ year career helping build the NBA into a globally-recognized sport, business, and philanthropic property. Terry Lyons has successfully transitioned into a second career as an entrepreneur in the world of multimedia, brand-building, and communications.

Digital Sports Desk

The CUSP Show is a production by the faculty of Sports Management at Columbia University. You can get in touch with the program on Twitter @CU_SPS_Sports. Our presenters are Joe Favorito (@Joefav), Tom Richardson (@ConvergenceTR), and produced by Tom Cerny (@Tom_Cerny19).

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecuspshow.substack.com