Leigh Steinberg, renowned super-agent, hosted his 33rd Annual Super Bowl Party, presented by Wormhole Labs and CARTA’s Immersive Studios for Altered Reality (iSTAR) program. FIU iSTAR is an extended reality (XR) incubator that will provide student mentorship and hands-on learning opportunities to prepare students for employment using the latest innovations in technology surrounding all industries.
Through iSTAR, Steinberg will bring his extensive professional expertise to FIU in the sports management and sports communication sectors, where XR is becoming increasingly important. Mark Roesler, iSTAR advisory board member, and iSTAR founders and board members Lee Caplin and Travis Cloyd, who is also a CARTA faculty member, were in attendance. Proceeds from the event benefited the Make-A-Wish Foundation. This year, the foundation sponsored three children (who were in attendance) with a trip to Super Bowl LIV.
According to Steinberg – who is also the agent of KC Chiefs’ star quarterback and Super Bowl LIV MVP Patrick Mahomes – iSTAR can put FIU on the cutting edge of where technology is heading. This technical knowledge expands people’s vision, in a way, by training a whole group of students to be the pioneers for tomorrow, explained Steinberg.
The Leigh Steinberg Party is a signature event of Super Bowl weekend. Steinberg, who inspired the hit film, Jerry McGuire, hosts the annual party as a client appreciation event and awards ceremony. The 2020 Steinberg NFL Draft Class was presented and Steinberg DeNicola Humanitarian Awards were dispersed to notable athletes, industry professionals, and Mahomes’ philanthropic organization: 15 and The Mahomies. Mahomes’ philanthropy supports initiatives that focus on health, wellness, and communities in need of resources and other charitable causes.
“I think that we can train a whole new generation of sports professionals with ethics and values and make a real difference in the world,” said Steinberg when asked the effect that he hopes AR/VR training will have on the sports industry.
FIU iSTAR combines the expertise of research and teaching faculty; the energy and ambition of students, and the knowledge, application, and entrepreneurship of private industry professionals in an incubator-instruction-service model. Housed within one of the nation’s most diverse and highly ranked, public research universities, FIU iSTAR provides consultation services, innovates and tests new technologies, and provides training and instruction in the creation of multimedia experiences (MME) in extended reality (XR), a related set of technologies that are changing the way we interact with the world and with each other: virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR).
