The CUSP Show

Kyra Barry, Team Leader for the USA Olympic Women’s Wrestling Team, came by the Columbia campus to talk about her summer with the team in Rio de Janeiro. Kyra returns from Rio as part of a team which made history, with Helen Maroulis becoming the first US woman wrestler ever to win Olympic gold. Kyra talks us through her rise to the top of women’s wrestling in the United States, including her role in Beat The Streets, where wrestlers compete in New York’s Times Square. And she lifts the lid on life inside the Olympic Village - including why after a few days in Rio all she wanted was a Big Mac. The Facts 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 @CUSportsBiz. Our presenters are Joe Favorito and Tom Richardson.

Tom is joined by Sarah Flynn (@flynnwaslike), Chief Marketing Officer at Thirty Five Ventures, a venture capital and multi-media company founded by the two-time NBA Champion Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman. Sarah got her start at Roc Nation in 2013, running their music and sports marketing ventures before joining Thirty Five Ventures in their nascent stages. In this episode, Sarah discusses her career story, evolution of the media industry, consumer engagement behaviour, digital marketing and investment strategy for Thirty Five Ventures and their three business verticals. She describes how the organization is always looking to stay ahead of the curve with emerging technologies and trends including NFTs, Metaverse, NIL etc. Additionally, she dives deep into the launch of Boardroom.tv, a multi-media sports business platform with newsletter, two flagship podcasts, premium videos, writing, news and much more. Enjoy this exciting and engaging episode on The CUSP Show. 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. The CUSP Show is hosted by Joe Favorito (@Joefav) and Tom Richardson (@ConvergenceTR). The show is produced by Tom Cerny (@Tom_Cerny19),Yash Agarwal’22(@yashagarwal655), Sam Marks’22, and Connor O’Neill’22, with Jillian Quinn’22 (@JillianMQuinn) and Dominique Smith’22 managing social media efforts.

Joe and Tom welcome Megan Griffith. Megan reflects on her 9 seasons at Columbia and preparing for this upcoming season with all of these changes in college basketball. She also speaks to how she positions the program with NIL and the impact NIL has on students. Megan also speaks about the positive attention on women’s basketball, how we got there and how the future of the game. She also speaks about how the transfer portal affects Columbia and how sustainable this NIL system is. Megan also talks about the training, equipment, performance metrics in women’s basketball and wearable technology they use. She also talks about the impact of Abbey Hsu and Kaitlin Davis being drafted into the WNBA and why this is what she coaches for. The CUSP Show is hosted by Joe Favorito (@Joefav) and Tom Richardson (@ConvergenceTR). The show is produced by Mike Schretter’25 (@mikeschrett1), LJ Holmgren (@LJ_Holmgren), and Danny Hagenlocher (@DhColumbiaSPS), with Mike Schretter’25 and Lissa Ruiz managing social media efforts. Links: IG: https://www.instagram.com/culionswbb/?hl=en LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/megan-griffith-2545133/ Coach’s Bio: https://gocolumbialions.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/coaches/megan-griffith/3165 Link to conference: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2024-columbia-university-sports-management-conference-registration-942111369467?aff=oddtdtcreator

Recorded during the 2019 Columbia University Sports Management Conference, Tom & Joe sit down with some top industry professionals from the sports industry. In this short, they sit down with Buster Scher, Founder of Hoops Nation, as he discusses the use of TikTok, the new social platform that has taken Gen Z by storm, and has brands scrambling to build a presence. 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) and student Rodrigo Duarte (@RodrigoDuarte).

Joe and Tom welcome Bronwen O’Keefe, Head of Global Brand Marketing and Content at the Harlem Globetrotters. Bronwen walks through her unique path to get to the Harlem Globetrotters. She discusses how she led in the accelerated world of content distribution and media and delivering entertainment value. Bronwen discusses Nikeloden’s jump into sports developing content and engaging in sports partnerships with leagues to get more youth fan engagement, and the importance of the NFL doing this to get confidence high in the league. Bronwen discusses the success of the brand of the Harlem Globetrotters and moving the company into a full entertainment company. She speaks more on the importance of the players and diversity in their vision. Finally, she talks about her connection to Bob and Chris Elliot. The CUSP Show is a production by the faculty of Sports Management at Columbia University. You can contact the program on Twitter @CU_SPS_Sports and Instagram @cu_sps_sportsmanagement. The CUSP Show is hosted by Joe Favorito (@Joefav) and Tom Richardson (@ConvergenceTR). The show is produced by Mike Schretter’25 (@mikeschrett1), LJ Holmgren (@LJ_Holmgren), and Danny Hagenlocher (@DhColumbiaSPS), with Mike Schretter’25 and Lissa Ruiz managing social media efforts. Links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bronwenokeefe/