Talking conference realignment, the NCAA's future and The Alliance with longtime administrator Kevin McNamee
One of the biggest storylines in college athletics right now is just how many major storylines there are, particularly those that take place in boardrooms or courtrooms, ranging from conference realignment, to the outcome and potential ramifications of Alston v. NCAA, to the start of the NIL era, to first-time transfers being eligible to play immediately in all sports, to the NCAA’s upcoming constitutional convention.
Read full storyArizona Bowl reportedly has 'contractual oversight provisions to allay uneasiness' of sponsor Barstool Sports
If you plan on watching the return of FBS football this weekend, you can turn the channel to CBS Sports Network, ESPN or FOX on Saturday. If you want to watch Eastern Illinois at Indiana State, you better have a subscription to ESPN+, just as you need to sign up for FloSports in order to tune in to UTEP at New Mexico State.
Read full storyIs the SEC eyeing a women’s basketball challenge with the ACC over the Big 12?
Last month, University of Texas Executive Sr. Associate AD/Chief of Staff Christine Plonsky wrote to Texas Director of Athletics Chris Del Conte and women’s basketball coach Vic Schaefer, “Sounds like SEC is wanting to eliminate future Big 12-SEC wbb challenges and instead create one with ACC. Marginalization.”
Read full storyHere's what the month of July has been like for compliance officers
Even after state laws and university policies regarding college athlete compensation went into effect on July 1, there has been no shortage of questions about name, image and likeness (NIL) rights, activities and policies. What’s allowed and what isn’t? What needs to be disclosed to universities? When and how do athletes need to seek permission to engage in certain NIL activities?
Read full storyNIL, media access and the future of college sports coverage
When I was an Indiana men’s basketball beat reporter for the Indiana Daily Student, then later as a freelancer for the IndyStar and Louisville Courier-Journal, my dream story that I never got around to writing was a day-in-the-life feature about Tim Priller, the 6-9 forward and fan favorite whose number of career games played matched his jersey number, 35, and whose career point total was nine less than that, 26.
Read full storyI tried to FOIA NIL disclosure forms. Here's what I learned
As someone who has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request or two, I wondered: What happens when the NIL era of college athletics is finally here and you submit FOIA requests for copies of any name, image and likeness (NIL) disclosure forms submitted to universities on the first day of the NIL era, July 1, 2021?
Read full storySights and sounds from July 1: The start of the NIL era of college athletics
The name, image and likeness (NIL) era of college athletics kicked off on Thursday and I caught up with stakeholders from across the industry to get their reactions to the long-awaited date of July 1, 2021.
Read full storyTrends in transferring, playing experience and race among DI men's basketball coaches
Current DI head coaches transferred at a rate not too dissimilar from the alleged ‘transfer epidemic’. NCAA Research data released in July 2020 found that 29.8 percent of Division I men’s basketball players during the 2018-19 season were transfer students, which was the highest percentage in the sport since the data was first collected in 2004. The NCAA found that “about 40 percent” of all men’s basketball players who enroll at a DI school directly out of high school leave that school by the end of their sophomore year.
Read full storyESPN's Mike Couzens on broadcasting during the pandemic, increased TV exposure for female athletes
I’m really excited to share today’s interview, which is the transcript of an extended conversation with ESPN play-by-play broadcaster Mike Couzens. How his travel schedule changed over the course of the last year.
Read full storyAmerican Athletic Conference requested meeting with Power 5 to discuss the American's inclusion
In an eight-page letter I obtained that was dated May 7, 2021, the members of the American Athletic Conference’s Board of Directors wrote to the Autonomy 5 (A5) conferences – the official name of the Power 5 – to request a meeting to discuss the American’s inclusion in the A5, a meeting that the American requested would include the chairs of the A5 conferences, American Athletic Conference Commissioner Mike Aresco, select members of the American’s Board of Directors and the board’s chair – a role that University of Cincinnati President Neville Pinto is taking over from the outgoing chair, University of Memphis President Dr. David Rudd.
Read full storyPower 5 spending on coaches, support staff increased by average of $1.7M per school in the 2020 fiscal year
On average, public Power 5 schools spent roughly $761,000 more per school on coaching salaries, benefits and bonuses in the 2020 fiscal year compared to 2019, according to their NCAA Membership Financial Reporting System (FRS) reports, which Division I institutions are required to file annually to the NCAA. Their financial reports show an even larger average year-over-year increase in spending on the compensation, benefits and bonuses for support and administrative staff – roughly $940,000 more per school compared to the previous year.
Read full storyIn 2020, revenue from media rights rose for most of the Power 5, NCAA distributions decreased for (almost) all
After compiling the NCAA Membership Financial Reporting System (FRS) reports for every public Power 5 institution for the 2020 fiscal year, I previously wrote that the 52 public Power 5 athletic departments reported a combined, year-over-year decrease in revenue of $205 million, or a decline of roughly $3.9 million per school.
Read full storyPower 5 financial reports from 2020 fiscal year show early impacts of the pandemic
One of the biggest stories in college athletics over the last year-plus has been the financial impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on athletic departments – and universities at large – as many athletic seasons were canceled or postponed, fan attendance was severely limited or eliminated in some cases, athletic programs were cut and athletic departments enacted cost-saving measures, such as layoffs and furloughs. There have been countless anecdotes about these consequences but in an effort to provide greater context and specificity in regards to some of the early effects that the pandemic has had on the Power 5 conferences – the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC – I obtained the latest NCAA Membership Financial Reporting System (FRS) report for every public Power 5 school from the 2020 fiscal year in order to conduct a comprehensive analysis.
Read full storyHere's how college football recruiting hotbeds have evolved since 2000
By landing the top-ranked recruiting class in college football in 2018, Georgia became the first non-Alabama school since Florida in 2010 to sign the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class, according to the the 247Sports Composite rankings. Then the Bulldogs earned the top spot again in 2020, thanks to a recruiting class that featured 10 of the top 60 recruits in the country.
Read full storyHere's what Power 5 college football programs have accomplished in the lifetime of 2022 recruits
The schools at the top of the 2021 college football recruiting class rankings are nearly identical to the schools that have the highest winning percentages during the lifetimes of current high school recruits. Alabama’s 2021 recruiting class checks in at No. 1 in the 247Sports Composite rankings, just ahead of Ohio State, LSU, Georgia, Clemson and Oregon. Since the start of the 2003 college football season, which is roughly when some of the oldest current high school juniors and class of 2022 recruits were born, Ohio State has the highest winning percentage of any Power 5 program, winning just shy of 85 percent of its games. Alabama is second, LSU is fourth, Clemson is fifth, Georgia is seventh and Oregon is ninth.
Read full storyAs athletic department revenue increases, how is it spent? And what would theoretical revenue sharing look like?
As part of the NCAA Membership Financial Reporting System (FRS), member institutions must file an annual FRS report to the NCAA, the latest version of which features 23 categories of expenses. You can make the case that six of those expense categories are directly tied to competition (such as financial guarantees, team travel and sports equipment, uniforms and supplies), four relate to money spent on coaches (salaries, benefits and bonuses paid by the university, those that are paid by a third party, severance payments, and bonuses from bowl games), three categories pertain directly to athletes (athletic student aid, meals, and medical expenses and insurance) and two are for support staff. Plus, there are individual categories for recruiting, spirit groups, and the all-encompassing “other operating expenses” category, which includes expenses related to team banquets and awards, or non-team travel.
Read full storyHere's how national players of the year Paige Bueckers and Luka Garza might approach monetizing their NILs
At the Big Ten men’s basketball media day in October 2019, California Senate Bill 206, which was signed just days earlier and which is otherwise known as the “Fair Pay to Play Act,” dominated the discourse that morning and early afternoon, six states away in Rosemont, Illinois.
Read full storyCould NIL rights delay the starts of pro careers and change roster construction in college basketball?
Women’s college basketball stars could earn more from endorsements than WNBA players earn from their professional contracts early in their careers. The 2021 WNBA Draft was Thursday night and while 29 of the 36 players who were drafted played at the college level last season, only seven of the 15 players who were named a first, second or third-team All-American by The Associated Press heard their names called. That’s because in order to enter the WNBA draft, women in the U.S. must be at least 22 years old during the calendar year of the draft, while international players who were born, and reside, outside of the U.S. must be at least 20 years old during the year of the draft, which limits the early-entry pool.
Read full storyPower 5 schools roughly twice as likely as those in Group of Five to contract with third-party NIL companies
Until several state laws that will grant athletes their name, image and likeness (NIL) rights take effect July 1, 2021, so much of the coverage about NIL is speculative and when you speculate, you often turn to experts for insight. Many universities and athletic departments have done the same, turning to companies that provide various professional services regarding NIL, including those pertaining to education, branding, social media and technology. Today’s newsletter will be the first in a two-part series that explores which universities have signed contracts with which third-party companies, which universities haven’t signed any agreements with third-party agencies and what creative services athletic departments and universities might be able to perform in-house in order to differentiate themselves from their peers.
Read full storyExploring potential conflicts of interest among the NCAA's finalists for its name, image and likeness administrator
In just six weeks, state laws will take effect that will allow college athletes in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and New Mexico to monetize their names, images and likenesses (NILs), the financial details of which will ultimately be disclosed to universities, in accordance with state laws, and also in accordance with to-be-determined NCAA legislation. If, when and how those financial details are made available to the public, they could answer long-awaited questions about the value of a college athlete’s NIL, which athletes will benefit the most and what percent of athletes will actually realize some level of earning potential.
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