The CUSP Show

Joe Favorito and Tom Richardson mark a milestone, 10 years of The CUSP Show, by welcoming Aggregate Sports CEO Chris Pearlman for a conversation on career-building, Olympic marketing, and the realities of the global soccer business. Pearlman retraces his path from early internships and sales roles at ESPN and ABC to working at Van Wagner, and a pivotal leap overseas as the Chief Operating Officer at Swansea City FC, where he learned firsthand how deeply clubs “belong” to supporters, and why American-style fan experiences don’t always translate in the UK. He also explains how Aggregate Sports evolved from a European football rights-aggregation idea into a fast-growing agency helping Olympic NGBs package, sell, and service sponsorships across events, broadcast inventory, and athlete-driven storytelling, while navigating the constant reach vs. revenue tradeoffs of a fragmented media landscape. Pearlman breaks down what “sports marketing” really means across property sales, consulting, naming rights, and media rights, and digs into why he created the Aggregate Academy, which has become a talent pipeline for young professionals in the sports industry. Pearlman closes with practical advice for young professionals, which is to network authentically, and reflects on the moments that have shaped his journey, from Swansea memories to Olympic-relationships that continue to shape where his business is headed.Connect with Chris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-pearlman-483b8b53/Aggregate Sports: https://aggregatesports.com/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. 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

Joe Favorito and Tom Richardson welcome Columbia Sports Management student and Lebanese taekwondo standout, Ward Selman, for a powerful conversation about resilience, identity, and building a career in sports beyond the mat. Selman, who began taekwondo at age four and joined Lebanon’s national team at twelve, discusses her TEDx talk on “Resilient Dreamers,” shares what it meant to pursue a “non-traditional” sport for women in a tight-knit society, how her parents shielded and supported her through early skepticism, and how public perception shifted as her results made her impossible to ignore. She reflects on the moment she truly believed an Olympic run was real (a bronze at the 2022 Asian Championships), the heartbreak of missing Paris 2024 by a single point, and the hard-earned lesson that a career can’t be defined by one outcome alone. The talk also explores Lebanon’s sports landscape with the challenges of limited infrastructure, why individual sports can sometimes outpace team sports in resource-constrained countries, and how Ward’s competitive drive shows up everywhere, from Ivy League tournaments to a love of extreme sports like skydiving. Now navigating her first months in the U.S. and NYC, Selman discusses her emerging interests in sports events and player-facing roles, and her long-term dream of creating a roadmap and support system for Lebanese athletes,so the next generation doesn’t have to build it from scratch.Connect with Ward: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wardselman/Follow Ward: https://www.instagram.com/ward.selman/?hl=enThe 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 Sydney Cristall, Emily Kim, and Lissa Ruiz. 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

Joe Favorito welcomes ViewLift President & Co-Founder Manik Bambha for a behind-the-scenes look at the streaming infrastructure powering modern sports consumption. Bambha traces his path from an early role at MySpace to building one of the first OTT movie platforms and launching some of the earliest apps on iPad, Roku, and connected TVs, before turning that technology into ViewLift’s white-label streaming business. He explains how ViewLift now supports clients like Monumental Sports, NESN, LIV Golf, and NBCUniversal’s cable brands, how U.S. streaming differs from Asia, and how device quality, bandwidth, and Android fragmentation shape fan experience around the world. The conversation digs into RSNs going direct-to-consumer, quad-screen viewing, dynamic ad formats, and how legalized sports betting integrations are being woven into team and regional streams, as well as the tradeoffs of AI-powered live translation versus traditional language booths. Bambha also looks ahead at AI’s impact on media operations, makes the case that every job seeker needs a concrete answer to “how do you use AI?”, and shares how he structures a global, 24/7 team to keep live events running smoothly through holidays, late nights, and the next wave of tech disruption.Connect with Manik: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bambha/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 Sydney Cristall, Emily Kim, and Lissa Ruiz. 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

Joe Favorito and Tom Richardson welcome Pro Sports Assembly CEO & co-founder, Laura Dixon, for a deep dive into why the sports industry went so long without its own professional trade association, and how she’s fixing that. Dixon, the former head of External Relations for the San Antonio Spurs, explains what “external affairs” really means inside a team front office, why informed and inclusive leadership is at the core of Pro Sports Assembly, and how member resource groups and small leadership cohorts are quietly driving best (and worst) practice sharing across leagues, teams, unions, and venues. The conversation touches on hot-button issues like sports betting regulation, infrastructure and real estate plays, private equity, NIL, and the structural challenges facing women’s sports and emerging properties. Dixon also shares her philosophy treating each job as “big time,” the importance of hearing directly from Gen Z, and the mentors and moments, from the Spurs to Game Changers, that shaped her path.Connect with Laura: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauraddixon/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 Sydney Cristall, Emily Kim, and Lissa Ruiz. 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

Joe Favorito sits down with Mark Neifeld, the Founder, and current Commissioner & CEO of the Sport Fishing Championship (SFC), for a conversation about how an emerging league can scale into a global sports property. Neifeld explains how he went from working in the NHL, NFL, MLB, and collegiate athletics to identifying a massive opportunity hiding in plain sight: more Americans fish than play golf and tennis combined. Neifeld breaks down how SFC built a media-first, live-broadcast product by using modern technology to stream directly from the ocean. He discusses the league’s team-ownership model, featuring names like Scottie Scheffler, Raheem Mostert, Randy Moss, and Florida Georgia Line’s Brian Kelley, as well as the structure of a season, from hospitality-focused events to hosting championships in Cabo San Lucas and beyond. He also reveals SFC’s global ambitions, including planned expansion into Australia and the Persian Gulf, the launch of a major new studio venture in Fort Worth, and why fishing’s massive participation base, loyal sponsors, and deep regional roots create a uniquely scalable product.Connect with Mark: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markeneifeld/Mark’s Profile: https://www.sportfishingchampionship.com/mark-neifeldThe 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 Sydney Cristall, Emily Kim, and Lissa Ruiz. 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