Opinion
See you on the field: America’s coming decade of sports diplomacy
More than 2,000 years ago, the Greek orator Isocrates observed that athletic festivals allowed people to set aside their conflicts, gather together and renew bonds to unite them. The ancient Greeks understood something: Sports have always been a form of diplomacy.
Go beyond the patch: How to drive real engagement with college fans
Six seconds on the clock. Down 64-63. The 2023 MEAC Championship is on the line. I’m standing at the free-throw line in Norfolk, Virginia, and the only thing between Howard University and its first trip to the NCAA Tournament in 31 years is two shots. The crowd is deafening. I step to the line, find...
What happens when a $200K college athlete gets a $65K job offer?
Picture this conversation. A college athlete finishes eligibility having earned six figures or more through NIL deals and revenue sharing. He or she has been performing at a high level, managing his or her own brand and carrying professional expectations most people don’t develop until their 30s. Ho...
Forum: From Julius to Ellie: The impact of ‘Soul Power’
My uncle turned me on to Dr. J. It was the early 1970s, and Dr. Jim Ralph was the sports team doctor at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. When my family would visit, or when he’d bring his four sons to see us in Manchester, Vermont, he spoke about this young man he got to know and clearly ...
The quiet factors shaping the future of sports for girls
The challenge in youth sports today isn’t getting kids to start playing — it’s keeping them playing. Girls continue to leave sports at higher rates than boys, and the reasons why are rarely about talent levels or lack of motivation. More often, it comes down to whether the environment builds confide...
Sports districts demand more from community benefits agreements. Can teams deliver on their promises?
Community benefits agreements (CBAs) have reached an inflection point, and most teams haven’t recognized it yet. For decades, CBAs functioned as political mitigation tools — negotiated late in the approval process to offset construction impacts, address game-day labor concerns and secure buy-in long...
Competition is coming for the organizers of international competitions
What if you wanted to build a new Olympic movement, but without the International Olympic Committee? We’re not talking about just staging a series of nation-based competitions, but building an entire global governance infrastructure for international sports. If you wanted to create a competitor for ...
Why sports can’t tune out ESG, no matter how loud the critics get
Few topics in corporate America are as politically charged as ESG (environmental, social, governance). Once a relatively unknown framework used by investors and risk professionals, ESG has become a cultural flashpoint. Depending on who you ask, it is praised by some as essential to modern business, ...
March Madness is big business, and players deserve the right to organize
With another March Madness in full swing, people across the country are packing into stadiums, tuning in to buzzer beater matchups, and as a result, helping to fuel a multibillion-dollar sports enterprise.
Unintended Consequences: Baseball, antitrust, and the residue of design
Opening Day is upon us, but an off-the-field baseball epiphany is also in the works. On Jan. 26, Puerto Rico’s professional baseball league asked the United States Supreme Court to keep baseball’s absurd antitrust exemption in place (Cangrejeros de Santurce Baseball Club, LLC v. Liga de Béisbol Prof...
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Quote of the Day
Just from my position, especially being a Black man, there’s still work to be done. Now that I’m in this position and have this platform, I’m going to be intentional about what we do from a grassroots effort to a director level.-- Falcons GM Ian Cunningham, on his plans to continue to push for more diversity in the NFL’s leadership positions.
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