Teaching the Business of Sport
Lisa Delpy Neirotti was profiled in "Teaching the Business of Sport" by Lois Elfman, originally published in Women in Higher Education (June 2025). Below is a reprint of the article.
As people in academia wonderwhat to expect from name, image and likeness (NIL) or how col-leges and universities will handle the landmark House Settlement, which will require institutions to retroactively pay student-athletes for lost NIL opportunities, they will often consult Dr. Lisa Delpy Neirotti, the director of the MS in Sport Management program at the George Washington University School of Business (GWSB) and an associate professor of Sport Management.
Her accomplishments are many, including the Sports Tourism Innovator Award and the Outstanding Leadership and Service Award for the International Special Events Society. She co-authored The Ultimate Guide to Sport Event Management and Marketing.
Delpy Neirotti thrives in academia but also enjoys her forays in the business of sport, serving as a consultant for various companies and events.
I moved from being a practitioner to an academic but I never stopped working in the field,” she says. “I do a lot of consulting—economic impact with different events. I’ve done a lot of market research on sponsorship proposals for different sports events and entities. I still stay active in the field and that’s the best way to keep my knowledge up.”
Path to Academia
A competitive swimmer growing up, in college Delpy Neirotti had an internship at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs in the exercise physiology lab. She was assigned to take visiting VIPs on tours of the complex, which was new at the time, realizing she liked being out of the lab more than being in it.
She finished her science degree at California Polytechnic State University, but then pursued the business side of sports. Delpy Neirotti served as a volunteer for the U.S. Olympic Committee (now U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee [USOPC]) at the 1984 Olympic Winter Games in Sarajevo, which she followed up by being a volunteer International Olympic Committee (IOC) hostess at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.“By my experience of working the Olympic Games, I realized I wanted to be on the event business side of things,” Delpy Neirotti says. After several years working in professional sports, she was unhappy with aspects of it and pivoted to academia, earning master’s and doctoral degrees, joining George Washington (GW) University in the early 1990s.
Building Sports Leaders
Delpy Neirotti previously taught a course on the management of collegiae athletics and currently serves on GW’s athletic council. Since 1984, she has attended 22 consecutive Olympic Games as a consultant, volunteer or researcher, and has brought students to 15 of those to experience these global events. Undergraduate courses at GW include issues in sports management, which covers issues an administrator in collegiate or professional sports could come across, from doping to the changing landscape in collegiate athletics to problematic athlete behavior. There is a sports and events business course, which covers all the different career fields. The main project involves students creating and executing an event. At the graduate level, there are courses in sports law, sports media and communications, sports marketing, sports facilities and events and sports video production. “We teach a course on the management of global football (soccer),” she says. “Everything from youth soccer to FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association, which translates to International Federation of Association Football). We start with the governance structure of football in the world, and then we focus on the United States and what we are doing.” There are approximately 105,000 sports-based non-profit organizations in the U.S. With athletes and athletic organizations having increased interest in sport philanthropy, Delpy Neirotti started a sport philanthropy certificate program at GW, which gives a framework and crucial information, such as building a board of directors. Sports tourism involves people attending events such as the Super Bowl or World Cup or participating in an organized competition. Cities will research the viability of holding an event and what sponsors would be interested. In 1997, Delpy Neirotti founded the annual TEAMS (Travel, Events and Management in Sports) conference, which explores the field of sports tourism. “I do a lot of market analysis,” she says of exploring cities considering a sports event or franchise. “You’ve got to see if there is enough fan base and enough corporate partnerships to keep a team sustained.”
Eye to the Future
The students who accompany Delpy Neirotti to an Olympics or a World Cup typically volunteer for the organizing committee, the USOPC or the IOC, usually in guest services. There is also a series of meetings with IOC representatives, international federations and corporate sponsors, so they get an idea what goes on behind the scenes. “They can see all the different career paths and opportunities, not just at the Olympic Games, but 365 days a year,” Delpy Neirotti says. “We also collect data on spectators that we share with the IOC and organizing committees.” A lot of students are interested in analytics on both the business and player sides. The player side involves biometrics and how training schedules or regimens can be adjusted accordingly. Many alumni are working in sponsorships, which have multiple positions, including research, production, sales and servicing. An emerging area fields such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), business, and law. Without the department’s enforcement, gender discrimination could become more prevalent, negatively impacting women’s economic prospects. The economic implications of closing the department are significant. Closing the gender wage gap could add $512 billion to the U.S. economy, while achieving full gender parity in labor force participation could boost GDP by $1.9 trillion annually. Education is crucial for increasing labor force participation and earning potential, with higher levels of education correlating with increased workforce involvement. Women have made substantial contributions to the economy through their educational achievements, but without equitable access to education, gender disparities will persist, hindering economic growth. Federal programs like Title I and Pell Grants play a vital role in reducing poverty rates among women, particularly women of color. These programs provide essential support for low-income students, enabling them to pursue higher education and improve their economic standing. Eliminating these programs would exacerbate resource gaps in underserved areas, affecting girls who already face higher risks of dropping out due to various challenges. Pell Grants, in particular, are crucial for women, who make up 62% of recipients, helping them break cycles of poverty. The Department of Education also addresses gender disparities in STEM fields, which are critical for innovation and economic competitiveness. Women remain underrepresented in STEM jobs, which are among the fastest-growing and highest-paying sectors. By not fully utilizing the talent pool of women, the economy misses out on significant potential output. The department’s funding for STEM programs encourages girls to pursue careers in these fields, contributing to closing the gender wage gap and enhancing national competitiveness. Overall, the elimination of the Department of Education poses measurable economic risks, including widening gender equity gaps and weakening enforcement of protections like Title IX. This could lead to increased dropout rates and reduced lifetime earnings for those facing discrimination or harassment. The article argues that maintaining the department is not just about politics but about ensuring prosperity and equity for all, highlighting the importance of education as a foundation for economic growth and innovation. —MSNBC on Feb. 12, 2025
Researcher Loses NEH Grant
Ashley Robertson Preston, PhD, associate professor at Howard University, announced on LinkedIn that her grant for the prestigious National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship was terminated after recent changes in the federal government. Dr. Preston was researching and writing a book about Mary McLeod Bethune’s work with the Democratic party. “This year, $22.6 million in grants was awarded for 219 humanities projects at museums, historic sites, nonprofits and universities, so this impacts thousands of people. These were critical funds and some of these institutions may not be able to continue without it. Of course, I will continue my research on Mrs. Bethune, but this certainly makes it harder,” Dr. Preston wrote on LinkedIn. Women in Higher Education was proud to publish a pro- file of Dr. Preston in May 2017. You can read that article at bit.ly/42hmTFK.