Sportaneous was founded by Omar Haroun, Co-Founder & CEO, and Aaron Royston, Co-Founder & President. Omar is currently a JD/MBA candidate at Columbia University. He earned a BA from Berkeley in Quantitative Economics and an MA from Oxford in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. Aaron is currently pursuing his combined MD/MBA degree at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Wharton School of Business. Both are avid sports fans, obviously.

Once downloaded and opened on your iPhone, the app shows a list and a map of all the events that have been proposed or confirmed in close proximity to the user’s location. There are nine sport categories to choose from including soccer, ultimate frisbee, basketball, rugby, volleyball, and yoga. Users can join a preexisting game or propose a new pick-up game. Users can set the number of players needed for the game, the location and time of the game, and invite their friends. Sportaneous is also available online.

Sportaneous is currently available only in San Diego and New York City but more cities are expected to join the app soon. For more information you can visit their website at www.sportaneous.com or download the app from the iPhone App Store.

TSBX was on-site in Harrison, NJ for Sportaneous’ launch party. The slideshow below captures the excitement from the event. All pictures are courtesy of Sportaneous or The Sports Business Exchange.

We have no idea where this comes from. The username associated with this video, MrIndenturedServant, has only uploaded this one video. However, it already has 7,000+ views in the week since it was posted and is very much worth your time watching. Please share your thoughts and your own stories in our comment section below.

(Warning: Language used may be offensive to some people and may be inappropriate to watch at your workplace)

Name: Josh Feinberg
Email: Email Josh here
Twitter: @joshfeinberg
Age: 25
Name of Company: Oakland Athletics
Favorite sport to play: Baseball
Favorite sport to watch: Football
Favorite professional team(s): Yankees, Jets, Nets
Favorite college team(s): Rhode Island Rams, St. Johns Red Storm

Please briefly describe your background in sports business:
I began my career began with two internships, first with New Jersey Nets, second, within the Athletic Office at the University of Rhode Island. My first full time position I encountered was with the Lakewood BlueClaws (New Jersey), the single-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. With the BlueClaws, my responsibilities were plentiful, including dealings with ticket sales, social media, career fairs, community relations, and special events. In August 2010, I made a career transition, moving cross country to work for the Oakland Athletics as an account executive. With the A’s, I build the team brand through season ticket, group, and suite sales.

If you could change one thing in sports business what would it be?
I would like to see a solution to the challenges facing collegiate sports in terms of improper benefits. There needs to be a change. There is no clear cut answer, but until the decision makers among the big time NCAA conferences take a stand, there will continue you to be infraction after infraction.

What’s your most prized possession that you display at your desk and why?
Opening Day commemorative baseball of the NEW Yankee Stadium (I know, it can be a conflict of interest to my employer).

Do you think you have encountered any unique challenges or advantages because of your age?:
I am ALWAYS the youngest person in the room at any business/networking function. It’s important to use your age and experience to your advantage. Create you’re own personal foot print. Just because it’s been done before a certain, doesn’t mean that’s the right way or the path you need to follow.

What campaign do you think is working right now?
Social media is an important tool that is continuing to gain notoriety. I believe there is a handful of sports franchises that using social media very well, but there are quite a few teams that do not use SM tactics to their advantage. Overall, I believe the sports industry has made strong strides during the past year, when using SM to strengthen a team’s fan base and continuing to build a team’s brand.

What’s one issue in sports that needs to be addressed immediately for the betterment of the sport?:
This may not be an answer for the “betterment of sports” but for the betterment of college students. Once upon a time, you would be able to find a college/university that had a Sport Management degree program. This was somewhat rare. Today, nearly every school out there, from state to state, have a Sport Management degree program. I believe these programs have become watered-down and do not have the same “effect” it did years ago. I would encourage students to pick a major that is more generic, be it business or communication studies. Further, create a minor that includes sports business/management in the shape of an internship at your school’s athletic department. This way, you do not limit yourself at the time of graduation, when looking for a job. Sports properties do not necessarily care what your “degree” states but that you have the qualifications, desire, and passion to be an asset to the company.

What’s the toughest part of your job and what’s the easiest part of your job?
Toughest: Selling tickets in a “traditional” fashion in a competitive, overly crowded sports market. Easiest: Creating new, out-of-box, non-baseball related purposes/ideas that drive people to buy tickets and experience A’s Baseball.

If you could give one piece of advice to young sports business professionals coming up the ranks behind you, what would it be?
Continue to build your professional network and be sure to never burn bridges with past encounters. Within this business, you never know “who know’s who”. The Sports Industry is an extremely close knit group of professionals, from coast to coast…everyone knows everyone!

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An Evolving Multimedia Rights Landscape
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Stearns looks at the evolving landscape of multimedia rights in college athletics. He takes a look at both the big news from the summer along with the evolving inventory and how clients are leveraging their partnerships.

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Heck discusses brand relevance at the NCAA Division I level from the perspective of a mid-major school, Central Michigan University.

Collegiate Sports Information: More Than Just Building Buzz
By Chevonne Mansfield
Mansfield provides a summary of the sports information field, the role of a Sports Information Director, and how it varies across the NCAA.

The Influence of the Bowl Championship Series on Competitive Balance in College Football
Dr. Stephen W. Dittmore and Craig M. Crow
A Special from The Journal of Sport Administration & Supervision
The purpose of this study was to assess whether competitive balance within the six founding Bowl Championship Series (BCS) conferences has improved since the implementation of the BCS.