Syracuse Sport Management | Sport Analytics 2022-2023 Newsletter

Building the Future

Congratulations to the Class of 2023 

New major in Esports Communications and Management 

Dual degree with Whitman 

Sport, Entertainment and Innovation Conference planned 

Sport Analytics program highlights 

Alumni news 

It has been said “success breeds success.” Each May, we celebrate the scholarly accomplishments of our graduates, but the amazing success of our Class of 2023 elevated the level of achievement to new standards. We conferred the largest number of degrees in our department’s history with 141 students graduating from Sport Management, Sport Analytics, and our graduate program in Sport Venue and Event Management. 

Overall, 65 percent of our undergraduate students graduated with honors, achieving a 3.4 or above GPA – which was another program milestone! Sport Management had 58 percent of its class graduate with honors, while Sport Analytics had an astounding 78 percent of its students earn academic honors. Additionally, a record number of 49 seniors earned the distinction of the Director’s Academic Achievement Award by attaining a minimum 3.4 GPA for every semester at Syracuse University, which is an outstanding accomplishment. I am extremely proud of the Class of 2023! 

As I begin my final year as the founding director and chair of this fabulous program, by announcing my retirement, I wish to reflect on the previous 18 years, but reassure everyone that just like the Class of 2023, Sport Management will set new standards! Syracuse University will continue to offer a preeminent program and be a “success engine” for the future through innovative education, research and service. 

Our mission is unwavering. To provide resources and deliver real-world experiences that empower students, educators and alumni success. To engage in cutting-edge and collaborative research that advances knowledge and catapults the sport industry forward. To maintain a diversified curriculum that is responsive to the ever-changing needs of this global industry, and our constituents and stakeholders. To be the interdisciplinary model of exceptional service and civic engagement to Falk College, our University and communities. To promote diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility by using sports as a platform for social responsibility. 

We have positioned ourselves as a global leader in this academic field, which is a credit to the graduates, faculty and staff, along with administrators such as Falk College Dean Diane Lyden Murphy, and benefactors such as David and Rhonda Falk and our nationally renowned advisory council of sports executives. 

This department has prided itself on creating pathways for women in sports and creating cutting-edge programs. Syracuse University designed the first undergraduate sport analytics degree program of its kind in the nation, and the results have been phenomenal. We have also just created a one-of-a-kind dual degree program in Esports Communications and Management, a joint program between Falk College and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. In August 2024, we will enroll our first cohort of students in our fourth undergraduate degree program, an interdisciplinary degree in Sport Business and Management developed in conjunction with the Whitman School of Management. We have, and will continue, to move the needle in academic excellence. No other Research I and Power Five Conference university offers such a unique blend of degree programs, a feat we are exceptionally proud of. I hope you are as well.

I have tried to live some of the teachings of legendary Hall of Fame basketball coach John Wooden, who said, “True success comes only to an individual by the self-satisfaction of knowing that you gave everything to become the very best that you are capable of.” I know success can be fleeting. Sustained success is not a destination, it is a journey, and that journey of success will continue. 

I wish to thank each one of our graduates for enriching my life and giving me the passion to help this program be the best. To the parents who entrusted your sons and daughters to us, thanks for believing in our family culture. To our donors, benefactors and supporters, you have helped us make an indelible impact and difference in hundreds of students’ lives. To advisory council members past and present, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your unwavering support, friendship, dedication and loyalty. To my colleagues, best wishes and sincere gratitude. You’re THE BEST! We’re ORANGE TOGETHER! 

Sincerely, 

Michael Veley 

Director and Chair 

Rhonda S. Falk Endowed Professor of 

Sport Management

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