The CUSP Show

The CUSP Show
  • 4.8 (28)
  • Sports
  • Updated Weekly

Home of the Columbia University Sports Management Podcast ('The CUSP Show'), faculty members Joe Favorito and Tom Richardson host thought leaders from across the sports industry as they discuss a wide array of topics. thecuspshow.substack.com

  1. 6d ago

    532: Former MLB Player Travis Snider on How 3A Athletics Is Fixing Youth Sports

    Joe Favorito welcomes Travis Snider, former MLB outfielder and co-founder of 3A Athletics, to discuss his 15-year professional baseball career, the mental and emotional challenges that followed, and the youth sports crisis he is now working to address. Snider traces his path from being a first-round draft pick to the Toronto Blue Jays and making his MLB debut at 20, through years of ups and downs across multiple organizations, to the identity crisis he faced at the end of his playing career. He shares how working with executive life coach Seth Taylor helped him understand how childhood experiences shaped him as a player, husband, and father, and how that led to the founding of 3A Athletics, a platform offering parent education courses and coach certifications designed to bring mental and emotional awareness back to youth sports. The conversation covers the $40 billion youth sports industry and why Snider believes the professionalization of children’s athletics is robbing kids of joy, creating burnout, and building identities too fragile to survive failure. Connect with Travis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/travis-snider23/ Subscribe to the CUSP Show: Substack The CUSP Show is hosted by Joe Favorito (@Joefav) and Tom Richardson (@ConvergenceTR) and produced by Sam Henry (@s_henry11), LJ Holmgren (@LJ_Holmgren), and Danny Hagenlocher (@DhColumbiaSPS), with social media efforts led by Lissa Ruiz and Sydney Cristall. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecuspshow.substack.com

    532: Former MLB Player Travis Snider on How 3A Athletics Is Fixing Youth Sports

  2. Sep 22

    531: ZRG Turnkey's Rick Alessandri on Building a Career in Executive Search

    Joe Favorito welcomes Rick Alessandri, Managing Director of Media and Sports Technology at ZRG Turnkey, to discuss a career that spans four decades across some of the most pivotal moments in sports media history. Alessandri traces his path from running the overnight newsroom at Sports Ticker in 1982, to his role as George Bodenheimer’s first-ever chief of staff at ESPN, and his years building new business ventures inside ESPN’s enterprise development group. He shares how a call from a headhunter led him to Univision, where he spent seven years building businesses for the US Hispanic market including a pharmacy discount program that saved 2 million members over $70 million in healthcare costs. Alessandri covers what he has learned in eight years running executive search, including why the two qualities he looks for above all else are curiosity and trust, and how to push back against clients who want to hire the wrong candidate. He also discusses his new children’s book Ricky Stands Tall, and why he gets joy from sharing the story with others. Connect with Rick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rickalessandri/ Subscribe to the CUSP Show: Substack The CUSP Show is hosted by Joe Favorito (@Joefav) and Tom Richardson (@ConvergenceTR) and produced by Sam Henry (@s_henry11), LJ Holmgren (@LJ_Holmgren), and Danny Hagenlocher (@DhColumbiaSPS), with social media efforts led by Lissa Ruiz and Sydney Cristall. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecuspshow.substack.com

    531: ZRG Turnkey's Rick Alessandri on Building a Career in Executive Search

  3. Sep 15

    530: Former NBA Head Coach Stan Van Gundy on Leadership & Coachability in the Modern Era of Basketball

    Joe Favorito and Tom Richardson welcome Stan Van Gundy, former NBA head coach with 554 career wins who led the Orlando Magic to the 2009 NBA Finals, to discuss leadership, coachability, the state of college athletics, and his transition from the bench to the broadcast booth. Van Gundy shared why he believes college presidents, not players or coaches, are responsible for letting money overwhelm the educational mission of college sports. He also shares candid thoughts on the transfer portal, NIL, and why the best coaches in the country are walking away from college athletics because building a real program is no longer possible. The conversation shifts to the NBA, where Van Gundy argues that professional players are actually more coachable than college athletes, explains what separates the truly elite from the merely talented, and shares the story of working alongside JJ Redick long before anyone imagined he would become a head coach. He also reflects on the WNBA’s moment, praising the quality of play while also calling out the league’s failure to control its own narrative. Learn more about Stan: https://press.amazonmgmstudios.com/us/en/cast/stan-van-gundy/331 Subscribe to the CUSP Show: Substack The CUSP Show is hosted by Joe Favorito (@Joefav) and Tom Richardson (@ConvergenceTR) and produced by Sam Henry (@s_henry11), LJ Holmgren (@LJ_Holmgren), and Danny Hagenlocher (@DhColumbiaSPS), with social media efforts led by Lissa Ruiz and Sydney Cristall. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecuspshow.substack.com

    530: Former NBA Head Coach Stan Van Gundy on Leadership & Coachability in the Modern Era of Basketball

  4. Sep 8

    529: Play-by-Play Announcer Jamie Watson on Making Sports Accessible Through Audio Description

    Joe Favorito and Tom Richardson welcome Jamie Watson, soccer broadcaster and play-by-play announcer, to discuss her unconventional path into sports media, the evolving world of remote broadcasting, and her groundbreaking work in audio descriptive commentary for FIFA and Netflix. Watson shares her journey from Division I soccer player at UMass and college coach at UMBC to becoming a golf teaching pro before pivoting to broadcasting in her 40s, calling nearly 100 games in just the last two years. She breaks down what audio descriptive commentary actually is, how she trained with FIFA’s accessibility partner in Washington DC to call six matches at the Club World Cup for blind and low vision fans, and how she later applied those skills to Netflix’s Field of Dreams game as an overlay commentator. The conversation also covers the state of women’s soccer from the NWSL’s explosive growth to the challenge of elite American players leaving for overseas, the debate over whether star announcers actually move ratings, and what remote broadcasting technology now makes possible for play-by-play talent calling live international events from their home studios. Learn more about Jamie: https://jamiewatsonsports.com/ Subscribe to the CUSP Show: Substack The CUSP Show is hosted by Joe Favorito (@Joefav) and Tom Richardson (@ConvergenceTR) and produced by Sam Henry (@s_henry11), LJ Holmgren (@LJ_Holmgren), and Danny Hagenlocher (@DhColumbiaSPS), with social media efforts led by Lissa Ruiz and Sydney Cristall. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecuspshow.substack.com

    529: Play-by-Play Announcer Jamie Watson on Making Sports Accessible Through Audio Description

  5. Sep 3

    528: UT Austin’s Chris Plonsky talks Building a College Athletics Powerhouse

    Joe Favorito welcomes Chris Plonsky, Senior Associate Athletic Director and Chief of Staff at the University of Texas, to discuss her remarkable career in college athletics and what it takes to build and sustain one of the country’s most successful athletic programs. Plonsky traces her path from Kent State and Iowa State through seven years at the Big East Conference, where she helped launch one of the first federated football conferences in the country, to her arrival at Texas in 1993, where she has spent nearly four decades helping transform the athletic department into a commercial powerhouse. She shares how Texas grew its licensing revenue from $600,000 to $13 million, how the department navigated the merger of its men’s and women’s programs without conflict, and why the careful, collaborative approach to institutional change made Texas ready for the SEC. The conversation also covers the human side of college athletics today - the transfer portal, NIL, and what Plonsky worries about when she sees young athletes jumping from program to program without building the networks, mentors, and identity that will carry them past their playing days. Connect with Chris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisplonsky9700165/ Subscribe to the CUSP Show: Substack The CUSP Show is hosted by Joe Favorito (@Joefav) and Tom Richardson (@ConvergenceTR) and produced by Sam Henry (@s_henry11), LJ Holmgren (@LJ_Holmgren), and Danny Hagenlocher (@DhColumbiaSPS), with social media efforts led by Lissa Ruiz and Sydney Cristall. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecuspshow.substack.com

    528: UT Austin’s Chris Plonsky talks Building a College Athletics Powerhouse

  6. Sep 1

    527: Sirius XM’s Chris Childers on Why College Football Can't Save Itself

    Joe Favorito and Tom Richardson welcome Chris Childers, host of Full Ride on Sirius XM College Sports Radio and founder of Show Pony Media, to discuss the state of college athletics as football season kicks off, the growing momentum behind women’s sports, and what the future of independent sports media looks like. Childers breaks down why he believes the Protect College Sports Act will not pass, arguing that the Congressional Black Caucus opposition and the structural difficulty of getting 60 Senate votes make it a long shot regardless of the SEC’s lobbying push. He explains the power dynamics driving college football’s current chaos, with ESPN and Fox effectively controlling the agenda through their media deals with the SEC and Big Ten, and why without a true commissioner or revenue sharing model, the sport will continue operating in anarchy. The conversation shifts to the rise of women’s sports, with Childers sharing his passion for women’s soccer, volleyball, and flag football, and why he believes women’s flag football will become one of the next great international sports. Connect with Chris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-childers-b12981a/ Subscribe to the CUSP Show: Substack The CUSP Show is hosted by Joe Favorito (@Joefav) and Tom Richardson (@ConvergenceTR) and produced by Sam Henry (@s_henry11), LJ Holmgren (@LJ_Holmgren), and Danny Hagenlocher (@DhColumbiaSPS), with social media efforts led by Lissa Ruiz and Sydney Cristall. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecuspshow.substack.com

    527: Sirius XM’s Chris Childers on Why College Football Can't Save Itself

  7. Aug 25

    526: Andrew Cooper on Why Collective Bargaining Is the Only Real Fix for College Sports

    Joe Favorito and Tom Richardson welcome Andrew Cooper, co-founder of the United College Athletes Association, to discuss his mission to unionize college athletes and why he believes collective bargaining, not federal legislation, is the only sustainable path forward for college sports. Cooper shares his origin story, from running track at Washington State and being elected president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, to the moment a PAC-12 meeting on mental health protections convinced him that real change would never come from within the existing system. He explains how the UCAA was founded, recently formalized as a labor union, and why women’s basketball at Oregon State became the starting point for the first-ever union petition filed on behalf of women’s college athletes. The conversation breaks down the NCAA’s lobbying campaign for an antitrust exemption, why the Protect College Sports Act faces bipartisan opposition from major sports unions, and what collective bargaining would actually look like in practice across different sports and divisions. Cooper also reflects on testifying before the House Judiciary Committee and what it was like to make the case for athlete rights in one of Washington’s most charged rooms. Connect with Andrew: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewcooperucaa/ Subscribe to the CUSP Show: Substack The CUSP Show is hosted by Joe Favorito (@Joefav) and Tom Richardson (@ConvergenceTR) and produced by Sam Henry (@s_henry11), LJ Holmgren (@LJ_Holmgren), and Danny Hagenlocher (@DhColumbiaSPS), with social media efforts led by Lissa Ruiz and Sydney Cristall. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecuspshow.substack.com

    526: Andrew Cooper on Why Collective Bargaining Is the Only Real Fix for College Sports

  8. Aug 18

    525: Sportico's Kurt Badenhausen on What It Takes to Value a Sports Franchise

    Joe Favorito and Tom Richardson welcome Kurt Badenhausen, Sports Business Reporter at Sportico and one of the pioneers of sports franchise valuation journalism, to break down how teams are valued, why those numbers keep climbing, and what a record-breaking week in sports business really tells us about the industry. Badenhausen walks through the methodology behind franchise valuations, explaining why revenue multiples, not profits, are the standard measure, and how factors like market size, venue situation, and media rights shape the final number. The conversation covers the NFL’s latest valuations, including the mind-bending reality that the least valuable team in the league is worth more than almost every other sports franchise on the planet, as well as the Lakers’ $12.5 billion sale, the Apollo-Yankees deal, and what private equity’s growing appetite for sports ownership actually means for the market. The discussion also tackles the WNBA’s surging valuations, why MLB’s numbers lag behind despite its massive content library, and what categories (from real estate to fan data) could drive the next wave of franchise value growth. Connect with Kurt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kurt-badenhausen-90bb185/ Subscribe to the CUSP Show: Substack The CUSP Show is hosted by Joe Favorito (@Joefav) and Tom Richardson (@ConvergenceTR) and produced by Sam Henry (@s_henry11), LJ Holmgren (@LJ_Holmgren), and Danny Hagenlocher (@DhColumbiaSPS), with social media efforts led by Lissa Ruiz and Sydney Cristall. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecuspshow.substack.com

    525: Sportico's Kurt Badenhausen on What It Takes to Value a Sports Franchise
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Ratings & Reviews

4.8
out of 5
28 Ratings

About

Home of the Columbia University Sports Management Podcast ('The CUSP Show'), faculty members Joe Favorito and Tom Richardson host thought leaders from across the sports industry as they discuss a wide array of topics. thecuspshow.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    The CUSP Show
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2026
  • Episodes
    536
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © The CUSP Show
  • Show Website
    The CUSP Show

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