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Sports Innovation Institute IU Indianapolis

2022 MLB Offseason Analysis: What’s Coming in 2023?

Posted on by Geoff Sherman

By Brady Kas, IUPUI Sport Management and Analytics Undergraduate Student

The 2022 MLB season has officially wrapped up, as the Houston Astros have defeated the Philadelphia Phillies to claim their second title in six years. As it is with every season, there were highs and lows for every team. For example, the Phillies were seven games under .500 when they fired Joe Girardi in early June. Nobody would’ve predicted the run they would eventually go on in October to make the World Series. Staying in the NL East, the Mets had their best season in a long time winning 101 games in the regular season, yet it still wasn’t enough to win their own division. To wrap up the season, I decided to dig into the numbers, and find one stat for each team from this past season, that best summarized their performance in 2022. To begin, let’s start in the American League East.

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Capstone Students Tackle Esports and its Place in Indianapolis

Posted on by Geoff Sherman

by Geoff Sherman

At the beginning of the semester, I was tasked with teaching a course that I had not even thought about teaching during my time at IU Indianapolis. A senior capstone course was not anywhere on my list of things to do, but I was asked to lead the fall 2022 capstone course. The only problem was that I didn’t have a project or a community partner.

I had developed an interest in Esports during the COVID-19 pandemic and had just completed a Sports Innovation Podcast with Chris Scroggins on the topic. So, naturally, my mind went to Esports as I asked the question: what is IU Indianapolis doing with Esports and, furthermore, what is the city of Indy doing?

The NBA 2K League was in Indianapolis and Jeff Hintz, vice president of innovation at Indiana Sports Corporation and executive director of SportsTech HQ, was leading the efforts there and I decided to get in touch with him. So, after a short conversation, we embarked on a semester-long project that focused on the question: How might we make Esports part of the Indianapolis events community?

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Sports Innovation Journal Special Issue on Innovations in Engaged Learning in Sport, Tourism, and Live Entertainment Education

Posted on by dpierce3

The Sports Innovation Journal announces a call for papers for a special issue on innovations in engaged learning in sport management, tourism, recreation, live entertainment, and related fields led by guest editors Elizabeth Gregg (University of North Florida), Jessica Braunstein-Minkove (Towson University), and Heather Alderman (Commission on Sport Management Accreditation).

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Mudsock Youth Athletics Strategic Plan

Posted on by Geoff Sherman

The Sports Innovation Institute team partnered with Right Hand, a marketing agency in Indianapolis, to create the five-year strategic plan for Mudsock Youth Athletics. The relationship started with 2019 with graduate students in the Applied Research Methods class conducting a brand analysis of the previously named Southeastern Program of Recreational Team Sports (SPORTS), which served as the grassroots community sports organization in Fishers, Indiana. Using this research, Right Hand rebranded SPORTS to Mudsock Youth Athletics in 2020, and was contracted again to develop the strategic plan. Dr. Pierce and SII students conducted 25 interviews with stakeholders and engaged in ideation sessions with the Right Hand team to develop and present the final strategic plan.

Sports Innovation Journal – College Sports Governance Special Issue

Posted on by Geoff Sherman

In the latest edition of the Sports Innovation Journal, the editing staff called out for a special issue focused on the current state and future of governance in intercollegiate athletics. With Name, Image, Likeness coming to the forefront, the college athletics landscape has changed, and we called for researchers to provide us their studies focused on College Athletics Governance.

Below is the abstract and link to each research article published by these fantastic authors:

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Sports Innovation Podcast – Understanding the Esports Landscape with Chris Scroggins

Posted on by kjmechel

Host Dr. Geoffre Sherman sits down with Chris Scroggins of Esports Development and Growth Enterprises (EDGE). Scroggins discusses the origins of his career in esports as a fan, a player, and a professional researcher. Chris was a member of a small team that implemented an esports program at Shenandoah University at a time when esports was still growing into the mainstream, this effort not only led to a one-of-a-kind degree program and esports facility, but also inspired the formation of EDGE. Shenandoah University was the first program in the world to have a dedicated esports venue, an academic major, and a varsity level team – positioning the school as a leader in esports studies and competition. EDGE allowed the group of experts that implemented the esports program at Shenandoah to share their methods with other educational institutions to help further legitimize scholastic esports and create esports advocates across the country. Scroggins discusses the stigmas and obstacles that esports face and must overcome to further grow into a mainstream pastime and how the benefits of Esports far outweigh the perceived negatives.

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Four approaches to enhancing long-term program development in high school athletics

Posted on by kjmechel

During the Spring semester of 2022, students in the Sports Management Consulting senior capstone class at IUPUI were tasked with reimagining the entire youth and high school sports ecosystem in a partnership with the Center for Sport Transformation and renowned coaching expert Dr. Wade Gilbert. Students set out to understand the needs and challenges faced by youth sports stakeholders through interviews. Each student conducted 4 interviews with student athletes, parents, coaches, school officials, and Athletic Directors, reaching a total of 100 interviews as a class.

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Sports Innovation Podcast – NFTs in Sports with Dr. Bradley Baker

Posted on by dpierce3

In this publication of the Sports Innovation Journal, authors Bradley Baker, Anthony Pizzo, and Yiran Su explore the emergence of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) in the sports industry. NFTs are a form of digital ownership that is recorded to a permanent ledger on blockchain. NFTs have transformed from free digital art pieces to highly valued and sought-after collectibles in a matter of years. Baker and his fellow authors explore the emergence of league-based NFT marketplaces, such as NBA Top Shot, and examine how this new trend can lead to exciting and lucrative revenue generating opportunities for sports leagues, teams, and athletes alike. This article serves as a research primer for sports academics and professionals who are interested in finding a use for NFTs within their organizations. Click here to access the full article in the Sports Innovation Journal. 

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Indy Eleven – An Overview of the 2021 Season

Posted on by SII Team

By Anshuman Dixit, IUPUI Informatics graduate student

Indy Eleven had a difficult season last year where it managed to finish 6th in their Eastern Central Division despite a good start to the season early on. Out of the 31 teams in USL championship, Indy Eleven came 25th with a record of 9-8-15 in their 32 match season.

As the new season commences this week, let’s look at the performance of Indy Eleven in the 2021 season in more depth and understand what really went wrong for Max Rogers and co.

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