D1.ticker - Eliminate the barrage of articles & time-consuming searches. Efficient D1 athletics news in a daily email. |
| |
|
LEARFIELD unlocks the value of athletics through media, data, and technology. Reaching 180M+ college sports fans attending games, wearing licensed gear, engaging with sponsors, and engaging with custom content, official websites, and live streams 24/7/365. We are your comprehensive solutions provider for external revenue generation, and proud sponsor of the Directors' Cup. |
|
|
D1.jobs... New openings at Evansville, Iowa, North Alabama (x3), Maryland, North Texas, Oklahoma State, Tennessee and Tulane below. 91% of DI departments have relied upon D1.jobs more than once. Click HERE to post your openings for tens of thousands of administrators to see.
|
NCAA VP of Enforcement Duncan sits down with Connect/MB Sports' Banker from the NCAA Convention to discuss pressing enforcement matters across the NCAA including NIL, cooperation from members, sports gambling and more. Duncan offers some best practices as they relate to athletic departments dealing with collectives, telling Banker: "We would always rather present a violation than process one, and so to the extent that we can, we're happy to work with schools, collectives, with some of the third parties involved in this environment, to share our understanding of what we're seeing, the bylaws as we understand them, in an effort to help schools [and] collectives not commit violations. But also to collect information because we know there are violations occurring, we know there are behaviors out there that are inconsistent with NCAA rules, and those relationships not only help us to prevent violations before they occur, but detect ones on other campuses after they occur. So, the other thing we can share with institutions and with collectives is types of behaviors that we would see that could raise an eyebrow in enforcement: "When a collective is announced, here's what we might be looking at. When we hear about collective behaviors, these are things that might cause a question or cause some correspondence with the enforcement staff, and we're always happy to share those things with schools, yet without giving interpretive guidance, which we won't do." More. (link)
|
The Mercury News' Wilner reports the Pac-12 will hire a replacement for former CFO Willman but not for former Pac-12 Networks President Shuken, according to a source with knowledge of the plans. Wilner observes the decision not to replace Shuken, combined with the recent deal to move production facilities to an office in the East Bay, does not portend well for the Pac-12 Networks' future. "Commissioner George Kliavkoff has stated publicly that the Pac-12 will remain in the content production business during the next media contract cycle, which begins in the summer of 2024. ... That said, there is no indication the Pac-12 Networks will exist in their current form - as a media distribution company. In fact, the news release issued two weeks ago about the move to San Ramon was framed this way: The Pac-12 'announced the relocation of its San Francisco production studio.' It said nothing about the Pac-12 Networks, the linear media company with a national feed and six regional feeds." If the model is changing, as Wilner suggests, he foresees two options: an "entity that produces streaming-only content about Pac-12 Olympic sports" or "a production facility that provides Pac-12 Olympic sports content and produces sporting events for a major digital media company like Amazon or Apple." More from Wilner. (link)
|
CBS' Dodd makes the case for San Diego State to join the Pac-12, writing: "After years of priming itself in hopes the West Coast's flagship conference would notice, SDSU doesn't have to flirt anymore." Aztecs AD Wicker: "We basically went from, 'Hey, you're doing a good job. Your break is coming,' to, 'You're the only team in Southern California that plays FBS football that isn't in the Big Ten. ... People in this town will lose their mind if, in the same academic year, they get a brand new football stadium and San Diego State goes into the Pac-12." Wicker also points out that "Pac-12 folks have been impressed with what we've done. [Pac-12] commissioner George Kliavkoff said to invest in football. I have a $310M investment [in Snapdragon Stadium]. ... You want San Diego State in your league at [a full media rights share] because you don't want us in the Big 12. All the Big 12 schools [would] have a reason to come to Southern California to recruit." (link)
|
New on Connect: D1.ticker/Connect's Eargle welcomes Florida State Assoc. AD for New Revenue Generation and Marketing Dennard to discuss the Sports Cinema department and how FSU is utilizing it to engage with fans, provide an update on the Seminoles plans for a football-only facility, the double-digit FB season ticket renewal rate and what successful initiatives the Noles will carry over from 2022. Dennard: "Also, double-digit increases on new sales at this point. [...] We continue to focus on the game weekend experience. Not the gameday, the game weekend. So from the minute you drive in to the minute you leave, we want to program you and have something for everybody to do while they're here. We can't control the outcomes of games, but we can control how big of a party we throw for everyone when they come back." Lots more. (link)
|
Eastern Michigan extends its multimedia rights partnership with LEARFIELD through the 2032-33 season in a deal assisted by LEONA. (link) |
Get out your readers to see this, but SkullSparks has put together a list of the top 150 college athletic departments ranked by interactions generated on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook from the last four years. USC led the way in 2022 with 7,010,406 total interactions, an increase of 45% YOY. Kansas was second with 5,974,134 but saw the largest jump, improving 523% from 2021. Looks like the leader in 2021 was Texas with 5,488,918 and the Longhorns claimed the top spot in 2020, as well, with 4,942,019 total interactions. The Trojans took the top spot in 2019 with 5,680,652. (link)
|
It's Personnel...
+ Former Texas Tech Deputy AD Hernandez details his plans to launch a consulting firm: "My primary mission would be to try and make athletic departments - especially with the whole landscape with NIL, the transfer portal - more efficient, better-run operations. I want to be a behind-the-scenes guy for eight to 10 athletic departments that I'm just really involved in and help them almost on a daily, weekly basis on whatever their needs are. But mostly try to make them a better-run business, because these days it really needs to be that, in my opinion." Hernandez's new venture will be called Fortify College Athletics & he clarifies that he does not plan to do executive search work. (link)
+ CollegeAD has Virginia Assoc. AD for Business Operations May exiting the Cavs department for a role on campus. She is no longer listed on the Cavs staff directory (link)
+ Administrative moves at Delaware, Notre Dame, Arizona, McNeese, Vanderbilt, Louisville, Central Michigan, Texas Tech, Georgia Tech and more on The Wire from Collegiate Sports Connect. (link) |
Middle Tennessee State yesterday broke ground on its $66M, 85K-sq-ft Student-Athlete Performance Center, which will feature a nutrition station, strength and conditioning room and an athletic training room equipped with hydrotherapy pools. Additionally, the first floor will be the new home for the Blue Raider FB team with a new locker room and player's lounge and equipment room. Blue Raiders AD Massaro: "Today marks the latest milestone in a project that countless Blue Raiders have worked on and dreamed of for many years. The Student-Athlete Performance Center is transformational for our department, the University, and for our community. We will be able to better develop our players, attract top-notch recruits, and make our student-athlete experience second to none." You can check out renderings inside. (link)
|
Georgia will delay its request to fund upgrades to Foley Field from February to the spring due to the impact inflation has had on costs. If approved by the UGA Athletics Board of Directors, the project would still commence shortly after the baseball season ends, per the Athens Banner-Herald's Weiszer, who reports: "An initial price tag posted in August by Turner Construction Company on its website put the price tag at $28M, but costs have soared past that and completion of the project now isn't expected to be completed until the 2025 season." UGA is also making enhancements to the Jack Turner Softball Complex with similar timelines, and Bulldogs AD Brooks explains: "As you can imagine during this time of really heightened inflation, we've had to be very intentional about being smart with the design for both facilities. The design process is taking a little longer than normal, but I think it's smart. It's a wise process because we want to make sure everything we're doing in both these projects that we're being efficient while at the same time maximizing our student-athlete's spaces." (link)
|
Maine's Mahaney Dome collapsed yesterday due to heavy snowfall and inclement winter weather. The soccer team was practicing in the dome when a portion of the inflatable structure blew out, but the university says no injuries have been reported. It's estimated the dome will be back up and running in about a week. (link)
|
Legendary CBS MBB analyst Packer, who was on the call for 34 Final Fours, has passed away at the age of 82. CBS Sports Chairman McManus: "Billy Packer was synonymous with college basketball for more than three decades and set the standard of excellence as the voice of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. He leaves part of his legacy at CBS Sports, across college basketball, and, most importantly, as a beloved husband, father and grandfather. He will be deeply missed by all." (link)
|
Also Noticed... + Sunday's NC State-Louisville WBB matchup on ABC averaged 624K viewers, making it the second-most watched WBB game on any network this season. (link)
+ Harkening back to a December tweet in which he pointed out that when Peacock was unveiled in January 2020, NBCUniversal said it would be EBITDA breakeven in 2024, bestselling author/Epyllion CEO Ball points out "Peacock EBITDA losses surged to $978M in Q4 alone, or runrate $4B, on $678M in revenue, or runrate $2.7B. ... Peacock, a US-only streaming service with 1% national video share, is set to lose a third of a Meta Reality Labs in 2023 (?)." (link)
|
Yesterday's Evening Standard... |
Louisiana-Monroe names former Utah State/Troy AD Hartwell as its next AD, with a press conference scheduled for Monday. ULM President Berry: "ULM was fortunate to attract an athletic leader of John's caliber through our national search. ... He brings a significant level of successful leadership and passion for the ULM Warhawk community." (link)
|
The NCAA operated at a nearly $59M deficit for FY22 after generating revenue of $1.14B and expenses of $1.195B, per USA Today's Berkowitz, who notes the association's net assets stood at $458M. Berkowitz also points out the NCAA received a $17M loss-of-revenue insurance payout connected to the 2021 MBB tournament. Additionally, the NCAA recorded $90.5M in investment losses, while dividends, interest and realized gains totaled just over $18M, meaning the net investment losses totaled around $72M. Expenses included a $657M distribution to DI conferences and an "$84M charge taken as the NCAA on March 1, 2022, established a new business entity that is essentially an insurance company owned by the association itself," according to Berkowitz. (link); Sportico's Novy-Williams breaks down the financial picture via a bar chart that shows $940M of the NCAA's FY22 revenue came from TV rights. The chart also illustrates the severity of the loss of revenue - which totaled just $165M from media rights - during the COVID year of FY20 when compared to recent years. (link)
|
The NCAA has released the findings of its Coach Well-Being Study, which found that 80% of the 6K HC, AC and AHC respondents across all three divisions reported spending more time talking about mental health with their players than they did before the pandemic. About one-third of coaches reported they "constantly" or "most every day" experienced mental exhaustion, feelings of being overwhelmed by all that they had to do, and sleep difficulties. Additionally, coaches who identified as Black, Indigenous or people of color; female; or members of the LGBTQ+ community reported higher rates of mental health concerns, similar to data found in the student-athlete surveys. Among DI respondents, 25% indicated they felt high levels of stress related to the perceived need to recruit four-year transfers into their programs. Full report. (link)
|
It's Personnel... + Notre Dame taps Delaware Deputy AD/SWA Vining-Smith to take over as Senior Assoc. AD tasked with leadership of the GLD (Grow, Lead, Do) Center. (link)
+ SMU announces a reorganization of its senior staff along with several promotions. Deputy AD Pottkotter has been named Executive Deputy AD/COO; Senior Assoc. AD for Executive Affairs Adee takes over as Deputy AD/CRO; longtime Mustang staffer Harris has been promoted to Deputy AD for Facility & Event Operations; Senior Assoc. AD for External Affairs Sutton has been elevated to Deputy AD/Chief Communications & Branding Officer; Director of Compliance McCabe takes on the role of Assoc. AD for Compliance; Director of Sports Medicine Mortin is the new Assoc. AD for Student-Athlete Health and Wellbeing; Director for the Center for the Academic Development of Student-Athletes Rawlins has been named Assoc. AD for Student-Athlete Success; and Asst. AD for Development Whittenburg has been promoted to Assoc. AD for Development. (link)
|
Oklahoma AD Castiglione delivered the opening remarks at an NIL Symposium organized by the SANIL-managed Crimson and Cream Collective and the Norman Chamber of Commerce, telling attendees: "This is super important to the future of intercollegiate athletics and our ability to compete at the highest level like we have been doing. And we want to go all in, with you, with our partners to make it happen.... We are going to do one thing well and that's adapt to change." Sooners MBB HC Moser also participated in the event and confirmed that NIL was one of the first topics brought up by recruits. "I can give you numbers of what's going on and you'd be astonished. I love what Joe says - we have to adapt to change. You don't have to like it. But we have to change with it." Women's Gymnastics HC Kindler added: "I have not recognized any difference from my athletes. When they are in the gym, they are dialed in. I honestly have not seen any difference whatsoever in their focus or production in the classroom." (link)
|
Tulane AD Dannen reiterates his position on NIL, asserting that it's less like the Wild West than people think "because everybody's lying. The numbers you hear, don't believe any of them. There are a lot of people representing numbers in order to try to get a better deal at some other school. We've had it happen to us with recruits saying, 'I've been offered X by school Y, now what will you offer me?' And when the coaches call school Y they say, 'No we didn't.' So it's not as wild but it has exerted an influence in the recruiting wars that's riled people up." (link)
|
Monmouth AD Stapleton addresses the Hawks' 1-19 MBB season and insists there's no buyer's remorse after leaving the MAAC for the Colonial. "I think it's a tremendous opportunity for the school, for our athletic programs, for our coaches and athletes. This is not a one-year plan. This is where is Monmouth University going to be over the next 20 years. Do we have growing pains? Absolutely. But we had those in the MAAC when we went from the NEC. And now we have some going from the MAAC to the CAA, and I think it's just natural, normal growth in our programs." Stapleton says of the impact of NIL that "trying to wrap our heads around the collective at our level is also something that is a work in progress for us, and I don't know if anyone has the answers. It's a real shift. The kids get a full scholarship, they get cost of attendance, and now there's (NIL) benefits that kids are eligible for. What is the amount for a shooter? I don't know. Is that what it's come down to? I don't know. It probably is to some point, but is that sustainable for every level of Division I? I don't know if that is." (link)
|
Dollars & Cents...
+ Arkansas has received a $5M gift from the Marsha and Marty Martin Family and will name the Basketball Performance Center in their honor at a ceremony in March. (link)
+ North Dakota State's athletic department will come out of President Cook's budget cut proposal largely unscathed, Inforum's Kolpack reports, noting the Bison will see roughly $200K trimmed from the school's contribution to the department. Last year, $5.5M of the Bison's $25.2M budget came via institutional support. Cook says of the athletic department: "To their credit, they're incredibly entrepreneurial. Obviously their success is pretty much second to none when it comes to the space we compete in and because of that success we have great donors who care deeply. And there's a lot of success in terms of people coming to the games so that certainly helps us in this case." (link)
+ UCLA's athletic department posted a deficit of $28.045M during FY22, down from the record $62.5M the previous fiscal year, per the Los Angeles Times' Bolch, who adds: "Nevertheless, it makes it a four-year shortfall of $130.845M as Bruins prepare for the Big Ten... Still weeding through the numbers, but a big boost came from ticket sales going from 0 the previous year because of COVID-19 to $17.494M in FY22." (link)
+ Ohio State brought in $251.6M in revenue during FY22, far surpassing the $106.8 the Buckeyes earned in FY21 and also eclipsing the $233.8M figure from FY20. OSU's revenue includes $59.6M in ticket sales, of which $47M came from FB. Philanthropic support accounted for $62.9M while media rights accounted for $48.9M. Operating expenses for the Buckeyes totaled $225.7M compared to $170.5M the previous year and $2152M in FY 2020. (link)
|
Coaches Wire... + Oregon State names Penn State AHC Dalby as Men's Soccer HC. (link)
+ Fairleigh Dickinson taps Howard Cross Country/Track & Field AC Stephens to take over as HC. (link)
+ Eastern Michigan Volleyball HC Dorton has stepped down. (link)
+ Charlotte and FB HC Poggi will be the subject of a new HBO documentary titled "The Cost of Winning," per FootballScoop's Samuels. Details regarding when the series will air have yet to be released. (link)
+ Grambling FB HC Jackson's revenue-sharing agreement with the university has yet to pay dividends, according to Sportico's Libit, who notes Jackson's deal with the Tigers calls for him to "earn 25% of any new monies he brings into the university through promotions, sponsorships or other initiatives." Libit notes Jackson earns a base salary of $400K and "according to Grambling's most recent NCAA revenue and expense report, Jackson received total compensation of $783,585 in 2022, inclusive of all bonuses and benefits. For that same year, the school reported earning $385,583 in football donations, an increase over the $273,987 the program reported for the pandemic-constrained year (2021) prior to Jackson taking the helm." (link)
|
Western Michigan unveils the Broncos REIGN strategic plan, which outlines six strategic goals to guide WMU, including student-athlete holistic development; competitive success/championship culture; aggressive revenue generation; DEI; facilities; and community engagement. The Broncos teamed up with Collegiate Sports Associates to help develop benchmarks and gap analysis studies to compare Western Michigan to its peers in the MAC/NCHC and other aspirational Group of 5 institutions. (link)
|
It turns out the Uber Eats/DoorDash delivery person who interrupted last night's Loyola Chicago-Duquesne MBB game was a kid "clearly doing a prank for Youtube/TikTok," per Ramblers Asst. AD for Content Development and Broadcast Operations Hansen, who adds: "You can see that he is wearing a microphone, and tons of students were filming him with their phones. They didn't kick him out. He just casually walked back into the stands with his McDonalds in hand. I will personally tackle anyone else who does this. Just let the athletes play the game without worry that they are going to get hurt by a stray delivery person." Preach. (link)
|
INFLCR has announced a partnership with Intuit TurboTax to provide financial education, tax tools, and other resources to INFLCR student-athletes. Through the partnership, both companies will work together to equip the nearly 90,000 student-athletes at INFLCR partner schools to maximize their brand potential & help them understand the tax and financial implications of these paid NIL opportunities. (link)
|
Quick Hitters...
+ The WCC will celebrate the first week of February as Bill Russell Recognition Week. Student-athletes from all 20 MBB and WBB programs will wear a shirt representing Russell's No. 6 during pregame activities for conference contests on February 2 and February 4. Additionally, a tribute video honoring Russell's legacy will air prior to each game and the league will recognize Russell and Black History Month on its digital platforms and broadcasts. (link)
+ The Big East in partnership with Villanova will celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day on February 1. The day will feature a "female forward" broadcast as the Wildcats host Marquette. Prior to that, events include a Women's Leadership Panel with NBC Sports CFO Dorfler, Playfly Sports Properties President Hedgpeth, WNBAPA Executive Director Jackson, and Philadelphia 76ers COO Price. (link)
+ The Iowa State NIL Store powered by Campus Ink has officially opened for business, offering custom and co-licensed merchandise sold for student-athletes. (link) |
|
|
Interested in advertising a job opening in D1.ticker? Click here to submit your position. To view more recent job openings by discipline, click on the corresponding button below...
(NEWEST!) Assistant AD, Ticketing (Oklahoma State University / Stillwater, OK): The Assistant AD, Ticketing will lead and continuously improve the OSU Athletics Ticketing team and related functions for OSU Athletics. More details HERE.
(NEW!) Director of Digital Marketing & Web (University of Tennessee / Knoxville, TN): The Director of Digital Marketing will help lead the way for Tennessee Athletics' digital marketing and web strategy. More details HERE.
(NEW!) Director of Human Resources, Athletics (University of Maryland / College Park, MD): Develops human resources strategies, procedures, activities, and staff in the HR unit, ensuring alignment, implementation, and compliance for human resource functions consistent with department vision. More details HERE.
(NEW!) Coordinator of Game and Ticketing Operations (University of Evansville / Evansville, IN): Coordinates and assists with game & event operations to ensure facilities and staff coverage needs are met. - Oversee entering and coding all season ticket accounts into TicketMaster and HomeTown. More details HERE.
(NEW!) Coordinator, Creative Media & Communications (University of North Alabama / Florence, AL): UNA is accepting applications for the position of Coordinator of Creative Media and Communications. Responsible for creative and social media content creation, etc. Check it out! More details HERE.
(NEW!) Assistant Athletic Trainer (University of North Alabama / Florence, AL): UNA is looking for an assistant athletic trainer! Check it out and join our team! More details HERE. (NEW!) Head Coach, Cross Country (University of North Alabama / Florence, AL): UNA is accepting applications for Head Coach, Cross Country. Check it out! More details HERE.
(NEW!) Associate Head Coach, Volleyball (Tulane University / New Orleans, LA): Assists with the coaching and administrative duties of the NCAA Division I volleyball program. Primary function is the proper instruction and teaching of the fundamentals of the sport assigned. More details HERE.
(NEW!) Director of Volleyball Analytics & Video Coordinator (University of Iowa / Iowa City, IA): The Director of Volleyball Analytics & Video Coordinator is responsible for providing video editing and production support to the volleyball program, as well as providing analytic information. More details HERE.
|
Job openings by discipline, posted in the past 30 days... |
|
|
|