We live in a digital world where consumers have an infinite number of content choices. Sports represents the last and best opportunity to aggregate these audiences. However, as technology advances, the challenge of keeping fans constantly engaged has become more and more difficult. Any lull in the game leads fans to divert attention to their phones and other forms of content. As a result, teams and leagues are focusing more and more on increasing offenses. Purists question whether such a focus is impacting the integrity of the games they love.
We are also seeing trends like:
* Athletes building themselves as brands and content creators;
* European soccer becoming the 2nd most-played youth sport in America. For the first time, more US adults 18-34 identify soccer as their favorite sport over baseball, forever considered America’s Pastime;
* Teams becoming more and more analytical in their operations;
* The rise of eSports as athletes, executives, and owners jump into the arena of avid gamers;
* Streaming media options to view sports growing in prominence;
* Augmented and virtual reality giving fans the opportunity to get “closer” to athletes while having a single platform to access a wealth of data;
This unique course will look at many aspects of the business of sports through a combination of guest speakers, case studies and a fun, stimulating group project where you become the owner of your own sports franchise. Come prepared to share your thoughts as we talk sports. Play ball!
Team Project: You Own an Expansion Franchise
You can access the template as a Google Slides deck or download it as a PowerPoint deck.
| Team: Miami Pioneers League: MLS Market: Miami, FL Owners: Andrew, Giovanni C, Francesco | Team: San Diego Surfers League: MLS Market: San Diego, CA Owners: Finn, Deren, Ela, Griffin | Team: Seattle Emeralds *** League: NBA Market: Seattle, WA Owners: Zach, Giovanni B, Jake | Team: Las Vegas Spades League: NBA Market: Las Vegas, NV Owners: Jesse, Jake, Jack | Team: San Diego Surf League: NBA Market: San Diego, CA Owners: Ty, Grant, Josh | Team: Pittsburgh Knights League: NBA Market: Pittsburgh, PA Owners: Josh, Blake, Zander |
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| NFL FANTASY DRAFT | ||||||
| QB | Patrick Mahomes | Drew Brees | Baker Mayfield | Aaron Rogers | DeShaun Watson | Andrew Luck |
| RB | Saquon Barkley | Christian McCaffrey | Alvin Kamara | Ezekiel Elliott | James Connor | David Johnson |
| RB | Todd Gurley | Mark Ingram | Joe Mixon | Melvin Gordon | Dalvin Cook | Le'Veon Bell |
| WR | Davante Adams | Julio Jones | Odell Beckham Jr | JuJu Smith-Schuster | DeAndre Hopkins | T.Y. Hilton |
| WR | Brandin Cooks | Antonio Brown | Adam Thielen | Keenan Allen | Michael Thomas | AJ Green |
| TE | Evan Engram | George Kittle | Zach Ertz | Hunter Henry | OJ Howard | Travis Kelce |
| FLEX | Leonard Fournette | Mike Evans | Julian Edelman | Nick Chubb | Stefon Diggs | Robert Woods |
| Bench | Derrick Henry | Damien Williams | Josh Jacobs | Tyreek Hill | Amari Cooper | Phillip Lindsay |
| Bench | Sony Michel | Calvin Ridley | DJ Moore | Aaron Jones | Marlon Mack | Tarik Cohen |
Selected Sports Movies & TV Series
Movies (Wikipedia master list of sports movies)
- Knute Rockne, All American (1940)
- The Pride Of The Yankees (1942)
- Jim Thorpe – All-American (1951)
- Bonzo Goes to College (1952)
- They Call It Pro Football (1967)
- Paper Lion (1968)
- Brian’s Song (1971)
- The Longest Yard (1974)
- Semi-Tough (1977)
- North Dallas Forty (1979)
- The Natural (1984)
- Hoosiers (1986)
- Bull Durham (1988)
- Field of Dreams (1989)
- Rudy (1993)
- Blue Chips (1994)
- Hoop Dreams (1994)
- Jerry Maguire (1996)
- When We Were Kings (1996)
- He Got Game (1998)
- The Life & Times of Hank Greenberg (1998)
- Varsity Blues (1999)
- Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
- Million Dollar Baby (2004)
- Coach Carter (2005)
- Glory Road (2006)
- Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise & Fall of Jack Johnson (2006)
- The Express (2008)
- More Than A Game (2008)
- Bigger, Stronger, Faster (2008)
- The Blind Side (2009)
- Ballplayer: Pelotro (2009)
- Moneyball (2011)
- 42 (2013)
- Draft Day (2014)
- Foxcatcher (2014)
- Creed (2015)
- I, Tonya (2017)
- Beyond The Mat (2018)
- Uncle Drew (2018)
- The Miracle Season (2018)
- High Flying Bird (2019)
- Fighting With My Family (2019)
TV Series
- Sports Night
- Ballers
- 30 for 30
- Baseball (Ken Burns)
- Arliss
- ABC Wide World of Sports
- Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel
- Pardon The Interruption
- Hard Knocks
- Pitch
- Skip & Shannon: Undisputed
- A Football Life