Below you will find a detailed overview of these activities, as well as additional information for your visit, recognizing that some of you are coming for the weekend and others solely for the banquet.
Here goes!
FRIDAY
IF YOU’RE ARRIVING FRIDAY, you are welcome to join faculty and other alumni for an informal gathering at the Hangar Pub & Brewery from 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Some of you won’t recognize the “new” and much bigger Hangar, now located across the street on University Drive from the “old” Hangar. Folks are on their own for drinks. Note: This gathering replaces the originally planned reception at the Football Performance Center.
SATURDAY
REGISTRATION OPENS AT 9 A.M. ISENBERG LEARNING COMMONS, BUSINESS INNOVATION HUB
Hot and cold beverages, bagels, donuts, and Danish will be available to get you going! Come to pick up your gift bag and plan to stay for the morning activities (more on this below).
IF YOU ARE GOLFING, you will register and get your gift bag at the course (Cold Spring Country Club in Belchertown, MA, approximately a 25-minute drive from Amherst). You can either meet us at the course (no later than 10 a.m. for our 10:30 shotgun start) or take the bus that will leave from Haigis Mall (adjacent to Isenberg) at 9:30 sharp. For those more seasoned alums, this should evoke fond memories of Haigis Hoopla! The bus will return to Haigis Mall after the golf outing (expect to arrive back in Amherst around 4:30).
IF YOU ARE NOT GOLFING, we have lined up a full day of “educational” activities (we are a university after all :) ). Think of it as going back to school…
10:00 A.M. – 11:00 A.M. FACULTY RESEARCH PRESENTATION, ROOM N145
Come and learn what our award-winning faculty is up to in advancing the sport management disciple and impacting industry practice. Here are brief teasers in the words of your professors:
- There's no “us” without “them." In this talk I will share highlights on sport rivalry derived from surveying 30,000+ fans across 7 leagues. Findings include: the 3 core principles of rivalry; the Rivalry Recipe and its 10 ingredients; the benefits and risks of rivalry for brands, teams, leagues, broadcasters, and sponsors; and the most intense (and most unbalanced) rivalries in each league. I will also share how the Know Rivalry Research Lab integrates into the McCormack curriculum, involves students in analytics and research, and manages a database that yields insights far beyond just sport rivalry. For a sneak peak, check out www.KnowRivalry.com. – Dr. David Tyler
- What drives sport fans to purchase tickets? To watch games on television? To stream content? In each scenario, individual consumers are not acting in isolation, but rather as members of a larger collective. And this larger collective has a social structure to it; a network of ties and relationships that impacts those within it. Through a series of different studies in differing sport settings, I examine how an individual’s social network affects their attitudes and behaviors as sport fans. In situations like buying tickets in college hockey, watching WNBA games, participating in a European soccer fan club in the United States, and a few others, my research has tested how the characteristics of one’s fan network influences key marketing outcomes. It’s not just how a sport fan consumes or where a sport fan consumes—but also with whom they consume that matters! – Dr. Matt Katz
- Learn about the Laboratory for Inclusion & Diversity in Sport (LIDS), our department’s diversity and inclusion focused research hub. Founded in 2020 by Drs. Walker and Melton, the purpose of LIDS is to fundamentally change the culture of sport, so all people feel welcome and can thrive. LIDS focuses on race, gender, sexual orientation and disability in sport. Through focus groups, interviews, content analysis, surveys, and climate assessments, our research aims to provide decision-makers with data and evidenced-based solutions that can help make the sports industry more diverse, inclusive, and equitable. I’ll share news of our new $25,000 grant awarded by the Carnegie Initiative to LIDS to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the “culture” of ice in Division I College hockey. - Dr. Ted Fay, Co-Director of LIDS
11:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. CAMPUS TOUR
You say you don’t recognize the campus? If you graduated 20 years ago—for that matter, even 5 years ago!—a group of students will lead a walking tour to show off some of the highlights, particularly around the center of campus. The tour begins at Isenberg and ends at Berkshire Dining Hall.
12:00 P.M. – 1:30 P.M. LUNCH, ENJOY THE UMASS DINING EXPERIENCE or ON YOUR OWN
Find out for yourself why UMass Dining is year-in and year-out ranked the #1 college dining experience in the nation! If you plan to dine at the Berkshire Dining Commons, just let the counter-person know that you are with the McCormack Alumni Reunion group.
1:30 P.M. — 2:45 P.M. AN INSIDE PEEK AT THE MCCORMACK ARCHIVES, ROOM N145
Join McCormack Archivist Kirstin Kay for an inside look at Mark McCormack’s spectacular rise from lawyer to agent for the stars of sport and entertainment. Learn about McCormack’s early business ventures before the famous handshake agreement with Arnold Palmer, the addition of Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player to form the Big Three, plus other adventures in signing Pelé, Tiger Woods, and other celebrity clients and corporations. Original artifacts and documents from the Mark H. McCormack collection will be on display, plus an Olympic gold medal and Super Bowl ring that have since been donated to our growing array of sport history collections.
3:00 P.M. — 4:30 P.M. TOUR OF THE JOHN F. KENNEDY CHAMPIONS CENTER
We will walk from Isenberg down to the Mullins Center for a behind-the-scenes look into hockey’s newly upgraded facilities and then onto the John Francis Kennedy Champions Center for UMass Basketball for a tour of this state-of-the-art training and practice facility, including a peek into the locker rooms (we’re keeping up with the Joneses!). We’ll be joined by representatives of the UMass Athletics administrative and coaching staff for Q&A, and the NCAA Hockey National Championship Trophy will be on hand for photos!
*** REGISTRATION WILL CLOSE AT 3:00 P.M. AND RECONVENE AT THE MULLINS CENTER AT 6:00 P.M. ***
6:00 P.M. 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION BANQUET, MULLINS CENTER
If you have not yet checked in and received your gift bag, you can do so starting at 6:00 p.m. at the Mullins Center. Enter through the North Entrance; parking is free in any lots adjacent to or behind the Mullins Center. Dress is business casual. There will be a cash bar. Welcome remarks begin at 6:35 followed by a buffet dinner catered by our #1 ranked UMass Dining! It is open seating, so you can sit with old classmates & professors, or meet new folks!
The formal program will begin around 7:45. Before and during dinner, please be sure to visit the silent auction table and help support our program! The silent auction bidding will close five minutes after the conclusion of the formal program.
SUNDAY
9:00 A.M. BREAKFAST
For those who will be staying over, a buffet breakfast catered by UMass Dining will be served in the Isenberg Innovation Hub
10:00 A.M. – 11:30 A.M. TITLE IX PANEL, ROOM N145
In recognition of the 50th Anniversary of Title IX we are holding a panel, moderated by Pamela Levine, that will include the following:
- Kirsten Britton, Senior Associate Athletic Director, UMass Athletics
- Danielle Henderson, UMass Softball Head Coach and 2000 Olympic Gold Medalist
- David Wright, Chief Marketing Officer, US Soccer Federation
- Lisa Masteralexis, Sport Law Professor & Senior Associate Dean of Isenberg
This event, open to the public, is intended to spark conversation amongst the audience, so we hope you will join us and participate!
One final point on parking: there will be plenty of free parking around Isenberg, including in the Haigis Mall loop, Lot 34 (across the street from the University Drive side entrance to Isenberg) and the adjacent Visitors Lot.
We look forward to seeing everyone!