Three 性视界 University seniors are about to do something no one has done before: graduate with a degree in .

Ryan Blankenhorn 鈥�26, Cole Hilary 鈥�26 and Brianna Nechifor 鈥�26 were drawn to the interdisciplinary program for its blend of sport management, digital media and gaming through classes offered by the聽 and the .

They entered with different esports backgrounds鈥擝lankenhorn as an avid gamer, caster and coach, and Hilary and Nechifor producing, directing and supporting the live streaming of varsity esports competitions鈥攁苍诲 will leave as trailblazers, the first students with an esports degree.

鈥淚 came to 性视界 because I wanted to help this esports program grow, which I knew would advance my career at the same time,鈥� says Blankenhorn, who broadcasts 性视界鈥檚 varsity esports competitions. 鈥淭o be part of the inaugural class that sets the stage for future esports students really means a lot.鈥�

Leading up to Commencement, the trio reflects on making history and shares how the degree will help with their post-graduation career goals.

How special is it to be part of the inaugural esports graduating class?

Ryan Blankenhorn: 鈥淚 wanted to leave something behind not only as a legacy, but as something that future generations of students can build on what we started. This program required risk-taking, ambition and desire, and while there may only be three of us graduating now, there鈥檚 going to be a lot more students graduating in the next four years. I appreciate knowing there are people who are going to continue to grow that foundation.鈥�

Cole Hilary: 鈥淭his is a conversation starter and will give us a huge leg up. This degree gave all of us so many different skills, from communications to event management and event production, and those skills can easily transfer over to other industries. It鈥檚 a valuable degree that will open a lot of doors.鈥�

Brianna Nechifor: 鈥淚t’s amazing being part of this first class. That鈥檚 why I joined, to make a lasting impact. I wanted to take those first steps for students like me who want to make a career out of esports. I wanted to be part of making history. This has been a great experience. I鈥檒l be sad to go but I鈥檓 very happy we have left this imprint because esports is a major that offers students so many interesting opportunities.鈥�

How has the esports degree program left a lasting impression on you?

Hilary: 鈥淚 chose a business focus because I was receiving plenty of hands-on experience on the esports production side and I wanted to balance my skills. The business side has shown me how much I like marketing esports and working with companies to advance esports. Learning how to plan esports events helped me see the field in a different way.鈥�

Nechifor: 鈥淲hen the degree program became a reality, I wanted to gain tangible skills that can carry over to jobs in the fields of sports, esports, traditional entertainment and business management. It has been amazing, building up this program and being part of the first graduating class. I love the direction this program has taken.鈥�

Blankenhorn: 鈥淓sports is a relatively new industry. Whether you’re an event organizer, a coach, a student competitor or a caster, you鈥檙e constantly going to be changing as the industry evolves. I learned how to become a problem-solver while learning how to stay calm under pressure. This management major helped me understand that things are going to go wrong no matter how thorough your plan is. I鈥檝e learned how to become a leader, someone who knows how to adapt.鈥�

What are your post-graduation plans?

Nechifor: 鈥淚鈥檝e accepted a full-time role as a broadcast multi-skilled operator at Gravity Media on assignment with Riot Games. Gravity Media is a remote broadcast center for Riot Games. This is honestly my dream job! I鈥檒l be working in Washington state starting in June, and I cannot wait to make an impact there!鈥�

Blankenhorn: 鈥淚鈥檓 beginning a master’s in management and human resources program at the University of Tennessee while helping grow Tennessee鈥檚 esports program. They鈥檝e had an esports club program for more than a decade, and I want to help Tennessee become the first SEC Division I school to earn varsity esports status.鈥�

Hilary: 鈥淚 want to run my own production team or serve as a content director for a professional organization. I鈥檝e always enjoyed creating content, and with esports, I love being able to share that content and those stories live with the audience. Being able to tell a story live and use that content to entice and excite people to watch a competition motivates me.鈥�

鈥淎 dark presence looms over the sanctity of a collegiate event.

In walks the top-ranked player, in walks the destroyer of worlds.

You asked for friendlies and you got a war; Syrup is in the building.鈥�

Those were the words commentators uttered as Andrew Mo 鈥�29聽 took his place with his 性视界 teammates , the largest gaming competition for Super Smash Bros. in the world. The University competed at the August event, facing off in a best of three crew battle against Shenandoah University.

When it was his turn at the controller, Mo sat slouched slightly forward in the black folding chair, focused on the monitor before him, seemingly unshakable as onlookers and commentators reacted to his gameplay.

鈥淭his guy is crazy,鈥� one of them said.

After one devastating blow to an opponent, the commentators let out squawks of delight while people in the crowd clasped their hands to their heads in amazement.

Mo deftly removed his headphones, offered his opponent a fist bump and turned forward again, waiting for the next player to take a seat beside him.

By the time the battle was over, the commentators labeled the 鈥淪yrup sweep鈥� complete.

At the time, Mo was ranked eleventh globally for Super Smash Bros Ultimate. His Smash Bros. coach , who is also the esports program manager in the , says Mo is now trending closer to the top five.

鈥淗e鈥檚 probably the fifth in the world right now,鈥� Bair says.

What Makes Syrup So Good

Mo, an undeclared major in the , first picked up a controller when he was 5, playing Smash with his brother. He says what he loves about the game is how free form it can be.

鈥淭here’s a lot of room for creativity and your gameplay has personality in it,鈥� he says. 鈥淵our gameplay is your own, and it’s unique.鈥�

He began playing competitively in 2019 at the age of 12, starting with local tournaments in his home state of New Jersey.

Mo says when he was getting ready to compete in his first match, he forgot to create his 鈥渋n-game鈥� tag, or name. So he played with the moniker left behind by another player鈥擲yrup.

鈥淚t was someone else’s, so I was just like, 鈥極K, this is mine now,鈥欌�� Mo says.

Now, it鈥檚 how he鈥檚 known around the world.

Why He Chose 性视界 University

Mo says he was drawn to 性视界 for its programs, but also for its investment in esports and new state-of-the-art facilities.

Esports started on campus in 2017 as a student club, but the University now has both an esports communications and management bachelor鈥檚 degree鈥攐ffered jointly by the and the 鈥攁苍诲 , meaning the squads are school-supported, under . Thirty students field the six varsity teams playing Call of Duty, Counter-Strike 2, Overwatch 2, Rocket League, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Valorant.

Programs are run out of two gaming facilities on campus, at the Barnes Center at The Arch and the Schine Student Center. A third space is also being built in the Marley Building.

鈥溞允咏� is probably the only school with two whole facilities,鈥� Mo says. 鈥淎nd the facilities inside, they’re very advanced and modern looking. It’s literally the perfect place to play any competitive game.鈥�

While the NCAA doesn鈥檛 currently support esports, the University鈥檚 varsity teams compete in the Power Esports Conference (PEC) against other Division I schools, such as Michigan State, Boise State and Ohio State, among others. With a fall and spring season, the University plays each school in the fall and then again in the spring, culminating with an in-person championship in April. Some of the varsity teams also compete in the PlayVS College League (PCL).

There are seven student-athletes on the varsity Smash team, including Mo.聽Bair said separate of his skill, Mo鈥檚 contributions as a person and teammate in the program have also been significant. He鈥檚 humble when Smash comes up in classes, a good student and hardworking member of the varsity team.

鈥淗e represents collegiate esports really well,鈥� Bair says.

The Impact at 性视界

To convey what it means to have a player of Mo鈥檚 caliber, Joey Gawrysiak, executive director of esports and professor of practice, brings up another 性视界 legend.

鈥淭he analogy we always use is that Andrew is the best recruit 性视界 has had since Carmelo Anthony,鈥� he says. 鈥淗e is not only just technically gifted, he is mentally gifted at the game and understands how somebody is going to react to his play style, so he can then counteract it really well and not have to react in real time as much as the average person might have to.鈥�

Bair says Mo might be the most talented person at a single skill you could meet in your lifetime.

鈥淚 don’t know if I will meet someone better at something than Andrew is skilled at this video game,鈥� he says.

Part of Mo鈥檚 talent is simply innate, Bair says.

But the coach stressed the time Mo puts in to develop his game is also huge.

Mo says he tries to play every day. And if he can鈥檛 pick up a controller, he is still thinking about the game.

鈥淚 think about Smash a lot,鈥� he says. 鈥淎 big way to improve once you reach a higher level is you have to start thinking of new situations and how to implement new ideas into your game.鈥�

Mo says 性视界 is the 鈥減erfect place to go鈥� if you鈥檙e interested in esports.

He鈥檚 learned in his own classes how esports can translate to other majors, like business, management or production.

鈥淚 want to lean toward learning how to make content and get into maybe the production side of things, which 性视界 can definitely help me with,鈥� he says.

The earliest memories聽 has involve playing sports and watching the golden age of Big East Conference basketball with stars like Patrick Ewing, Chris Mullin and 性视界 University star Pearl Washington.

Now, as a father of two children who play youth sports, Tainsky says the 鈥渁nchor events鈥� in their household revolve around his children鈥檚 games and practices, and the sports they watch together on TV. Tainsky built his research career around the idea that sports bring people together, and that鈥檚 the focus and sensibility he鈥檚 bringing to the as its new senior associate dean of faculty affairs and academic operations.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the same feeling I hope to experience very shortly at the (JMA Wireless) Dome,鈥� Tainsky says. 鈥淏eing able to come together and root, root, root for the home team with the family was a salient experience for me as I grew up and became an athlete. Then, as a soon-retired athlete, it evolved from me competing to being one of the people either coaching or analyzing what鈥檚 going on for others to do their best to compete at the highest level.鈥�

Tainsky, who started at Falk College on July 1, was previously a professor of management and Director of Sport and Entertainment Management at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, where he was awarded Mike Ilitch School of Business awards for innovative teaching and excellence in research. He鈥檚 currently editor in chief of the , the official research journal of the (NASSM) and he has co-authored over 50 journal articles, becoming a NASSM Research Fellow in 2015.

At the core of Tainsky鈥檚 research are the decisions made by high-level sports managers and how they impact both organizational performance and the collective well-being of fans.

鈥淪cott鈥檚 research interests鈥揺conomics of sports leagues and teams, player performance analytics, and corporate social responsibility in national and international sports leagues鈥揳lign perfectly with our vision for creating the nation鈥檚 premier College of Sport,鈥� says Falk College Dean Jeremy Jordan. With programs in esports, exercise science, nutrition, sport analytics and sport management, the Falk College of Sport launched July 1 as the on a high-research activity campus (R1) to focus on sport through a holistic academic lens.

We connected with Tainsky to learn more about his research and how it will impact the College of Sport.

How did you develop an interest in studying the impact of sport?

My curiosity about the world and trying to incorporate that into my daily life. Being able to better the community that I鈥檓 a part of is ingrained by the fact that I grew up in a house where my father (Dr. Michael Tainsky) was a researcher鈥攊n his case he was trying to cure cancer and improve people鈥檚 lives that way.

Mine was much more social. As a social scientist, I have noticed the way sport can be such a valuable part of people鈥檚 lives. My first memory was watching Big East basketball, and I liked math. I try to bring those two worlds together to create the best social experiences for the greatest number of people possible.

One of the College of Sport鈥檚 areas of excellence is community sport and wellness, or as Dean Jordan also calls it, 鈥渟port for good.鈥� How does your research fit with the uplifting power of sport?

The intellectual side of that is no one has to do sport; it鈥檚 an elective part of our lives. Since so many are choosing to spend so much of our attention on this leisure activity, it鈥檚 an incredible opportunity to see what people truly value. At the same time, we can provide leadership in utilizing that to help create the most good in the community.

We鈥檙e here to help round out that part of their choice, to provide the right amount of sport, marketed and delivered in a way that鈥檚 consumable and made more efficient, where the product is better and where the athletes are more informed.

Is there a specific theme throughout your research?

If there鈥檚 a theme to my research, it鈥檚 this idea of positive externalities, and that鈥檚 a very technical term of what is being produced can produce additional good captured by others. So, for example, in that I did with (Sport Analytics Professor) , we look at how the hotel industry is impacted by college football games. It鈥檚 not like Marriot or Hilton does anything different to be able to raise their rates or increase their occupancy rates on home football games. It happens because there鈥檚 so much excitement around sport; so much interest in being a part of that experience. So, in that case, we鈥檙e looking to quantify the externalities produced by football games.

There are other ways this presents in terms of viewership. When I follow 性视界 basketball and 性视界 basketball is having a good year, you would think that because we only have so much leisure time and I鈥檓 watching more of the Orange, it might take away the amount I choose to watch other basketball teams. But in fact, the opposite is true. As I become more deeply connected to 性视界 basketball, I鈥檓 actually more interested in some of the rival teams we鈥檙e competing against. So, we鈥檙e looking for those externalities, quantifying those externalities, and then helping round out the experience with the understanding that those things that may be counterintuitive are in play. How do we capitalize on this knowledge to produce the most good?

What are your impressions of the Falk College of Sport and what it can become?

Falk College and 性视界 University have recognized that there are four legs of the stool, and you can鈥檛 get any balance unless all four of them are functioning and working together. You can鈥檛 create athletes and have competition at the highest level without understanding the exercise science portion and the nutrition portion of sport. You can鈥檛 produce teams and individuals functioning at their highest level without sport management and sport analytics. You can鈥檛 appreciate the whole of it unless all of those pieces are talking with one another…and there is not one other place that鈥檚 doing what鈥檚 happening right now at Falk College. It鈥檚 100 percent the reason I wanted to be a part of this project.

What drew me to Falk College was this vision of what can be if we bring together these disciplines that are often times separated and siloed. It鈥檚 such a welcome idea that I expect us to be doing incredible things quickly because of all the support I鈥檓 seeing and all of the buy-in for what we鈥檙e doing from so many different, important pieces of this puzzle.