Some heavyweights in the sporting world will descend upon Amherst this weekend, as UMass’ McCormack Department of Sport Management celebrates its 50th anniversary with a flurry of events.
The program, which began as the Department of Sport Studies (DDS) in 1971 — just the country’s second-ever sport management program (Ohio University) — has enrolled some of the sporting world’s top executives during its five-decade tenure. That list includes the likes of PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, as well as current and former Major League Baseball executives Dave Littlefield, Neal Huntington, Chris Antonetti and Ben Cherington.
The centerpiece event of the weekend is a banquet Saturday night at the Mullins Center, which will be emceed by ESPN reporter and alum Mike Reiss (BS, ’97). Notable alums expected this weekend include Joe Fitzgerald (VP/Events, NHL), Pamela Levine (CEO, Manduka) and David Wright (Chief Marketing Officer, US Soccer Federation). The event will also include the induction of the sport management program’s 2021 and 2022 classes of distinguished alumni award winners.
In addition, the department will sponsor a Title IX panel discussion that is free and open to the public Sunday (10-11:30 a.m., Isenberg School of Management Business Innovation Hub) that will intersect the 50th anniversary with 50 years of Title IX.
Sport Management Department Chair Steve McKelvey said the weekend’s events are “a labor of love,” and he’s looking forward to welcoming back esteemed alums and members of the UMass community.
“We’ve got a great group coming back to campus to celebrate our 50th anniversary,” said McKelvey, himself a product of the graduate Sport Management program at UMass (1986).
Monahan, who graduated from the master’s program 25 years ago, said his experience in Amherst helped his ascent in becoming one of the most powerful executives in professional sports.
“The year I spent at UMass opened many doors and expanded by knowledge of the industry, while establishing a group of allies amongst my classmates, may of whom are industry leaders today,” he said.
Sunday’s Title IX discussion will be moderated by Levine, a former UMass women’s tennis player who successfully sued under Title IX to have the sport reinstated when UMass attempted to cut it in the early 1990s. Other panelists include Wright, Isenberg School of Management Senior Associate Dean Lisa Masteralexis, UMass Senior Associate AD Kirsten Britton, and UMass softball coach Danielle Henderson.
Founded in 1971 by Drs. Harold VanderZwaag and Guy Lewis as the Department of Sport Studies, the program at UMass evolved from an initial focus of the history and philosophy of sport to a more business-centric approach.
UMass hired Bernie Mullin to teach marketing and other business-related courses in 1977, and Glenn Wong came on board in 1979 to teach the program’s first sport law classes.
In 2001, Graduate Program Director Dr. Jay Gladden helped create a dual MBA/MS degree and the following year, the program moved into the Isenberg School of Management. Another big step came in 2010, when the program was renamed the Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management after the IMG founder.
The program enrolls about 500 students a year in the undergrad program, and graduates about 125 each spring. The graduate program was ranked No. 1 by SportBusiness in 2019, and has occupied the No. 2 spot in the publication’s rankings the past two years. There are now over 350 sport management programs throughout the country.
“Being in Isenberg, the cache that comes with that is huge,” said McKelvey. “We’re also a closed major, so you need to apply to get in. The quality of our students — it’s such an ambitious group year in and year out — is second to none.”
There’s a photo of former NBA Commissioner David Stern speaking to UMass sport management students that resonates with faculty and alums, as the late Stern was part of the program’s Executive in Residence (EIR) program that brings high-profile figures to campus each fall.
“That’s something that’s really helped take our program to another level, having people of that nature lending their advice and expertise to our students,” said McKelvey.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) Board Member Anita DeFrantz was on campus last October for the program, following in the footsteps of an impressive array of professionals that includes Stern, Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman and former ESPN President George Bodenheimer.
McKelvey, who has been with the sport management program for two decades, said he always looks forward to checking a weekly email with updates on current and former students and the organizations/jobs they pursue.
“This program has become a true pipeline into the sporting world, and it’s something everyone here takes great pride to be a part of,” he said.
That list includes current graduate jobs at places like Nike, the NFL and Philadelphia Flyers, and internships with companies such as Elevate Sports Ventures, Wasserman and Marquee Sports Network.
The program is also devoting resources to focus on the analytics world, with a more global focus than ever before. McKelvey also lauded the program’s work in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), as well as the work of Women in Sport Management (WISM), which was formed at UMass in 1992 in order to help women in the department.