GSM Live: Threatcasting the Future of Sport
This event took place on 6/19/2020. View the recording here. To stay up to date on upcoming events, sign up for our newsletter.
Threatcasting uses data and methodology to better predict and prepare for the future. Professional sports leagues, tech companies, the military and more have called on Brian David Johnson, the Father of Threatcasting, to give story to today's information that will help them survive an unpredictable future. So what does the future of sport look like?
Today, pandemics aren't a possibility, they are a certainty. At the same time, we are seeing a shifting moral mindset as injustice seen in the digital age is arming sports fans, players and front offices with new knowledge that is prompting demands for change... or else.
So then, what threatens the future of sport? How should the world of sport be preparing? How do current policies like the Rooney Rule lessen or worsen possible threats? And what else are we missing?
In this episode, we talk with Brian David Johnson , Dr. Deborah Stroman, Kelvin Watt, and Global Sport Institute's Kenneth Shropshire about Threatcasting, innovation, and the shifting world of sport.
On the show:
Brian David Johnson | Futurist in Residence, Center for Science and the Imagination and Professor in Practice in the School for the Future of Innovation and Society. Brian David Johnson is a Professor of Practice at Arizona State University’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society, and a Futurist and Fellow at Frost & Sullivan, a visionary innovation company that’s focused on growth. He also works with governments, militaries, trade organizations, and startups to help them envision their future. He has over 30 patents and is the author of a number of books of fiction and nonfiction, including Science Fiction Prototyping; Screen Future: The Future of Entertainment, Computing and the Devices We Love; Humanity and the Machine: What Comes After Greed?; and Vintage Tomorrows: A Historian and a Futurist Journey through Steampunk into the Future of Technology. His writing has appeared in publications ranging from The Wall Street Journal and Slate to IEEE Computer and Successful Farming, and he appears regularly on Bloomberg TV, PBS, Fox News, and the Discovery Channel. He has directed two feature films, and is an illustrator and commissioned painter.
Kenneth Shropshire | CEO of the Global Sport Institute and adidas Distinguished Professor of Global Sport at Arizona State University. Shropshire's career has been highlighted by leading the launch of several noteworthy ventures including leading the 1984 Olympics boxing competition event, founding the Wharton Sports Business Initiative, guiding the launch of the non-profit Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality (RISE), among others. His most recent books are "The Mis-Education of the Student Athlete: How to Fix College Sports"; "Sport Matters: Leadership, Power, and the Quest for Respect in Sports"; "Negotiate Like the Pros: A Top Sports Negotiator’s Lessons for Making Deals, Building Relationships and Getting What You Want" . He has also consulted on projects with NCAA, MLB, NFL, NFLPA and is on the board of directors of Moelis & Company, a global independent investment bank, on the nonprofit board of the USA Volleyball, and as an adviser to the Sixers Innovation Lab. After a 30-year career at Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Shropshire launched the Global Sport Institute, a research-focused entity examining critical issues impacting the world of sport.
Deborah Stroman | Adjunct Associate Professor at the Gillings School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to joining the Gillings School, she was a clinical associate professor at UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School, where she provided instruction and service to students related to organizational behavior and the examination of the extensive sport business industry. Along with Dr. Geni Eng, Dr. Stroman co-designed and teaches in the popular “Leading for Racial Equity” graduate student course, which propelled similar instruction and education across the entire campus. Dr. Stroman has three decades of extensive experience working with senior administrators, faculty, staff, students and alumni on leadership and equity issues on campus and beyond. She also currently serves as an entrepreneur-in-residence at the American Underground, the South’s largest business accelerator (located in Durham, N.C.), and as a trainer with the Racial Equity Institute LLC.
Kelvin Watt | MD Africa and Asia at Nielsen Sports. Kelvin joined MegaPro Marketing fresh out of University in 1992 and enjoyed 8 years at South Africa’s preeminent sports marketing organisation working on the 1995 Rugby World Cup, the 1996 African Cup of Nations and the initial Commercialisation of South African Rugby amongst other ground breaking projects in Africa. In 2000 he started his own Group of companies which finally included Frontiers S&E, Kaelo Engage, Repucom Africa, Mazoe Productions and Sportsworld Africa with interests ranging from sponsorship, event activation, hospitality, PR and communication, broadcast production as well as research and insight. In late 2017 Repucom Africa was sold to Nielsen and as part of that transaction Kelvin joined Nielsen Sports to run Africa and the Middle East and follow his passion for research and data and their application to the modern sports industry. Today, he leads the Nielsen Sports and Games business for Africa and Asia.
Led by:
Andrew Ramsammy | Director of Digital Content at Global Sport Matters
Global Sport Matters Live is a conversation series presented by Global Sport Institute at Arizona State University and Global Sport Matters. Diverse thought leaders and experts will come together virtually to give their perspective on the most relevant issues impacting sport. From their corner of the globe, a rotation of guests will discuss what they’re facing locally, take questions and ideas from a virtual audience, and share solutions that improve the world of sport.
