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SBJ Intercollegiate Athletics Forum takes on Las Vegas...Groups move to second round in bid for Suns...XFL reveals Under Armour uniforms for '23 season

Learfield's Gahagan on changes in college sports

By Mike Boylan

Learfield President & CEO Cole Gahagan sees this current period of changes in college sports as “a bit paradoxical.” Speaking today at the SBJ Intercollegiate Athletics Forum, presented by Learfield, Gahagan said while there is “a lot that's changing” in college sports, “I don't know if I've ever seen … this much excitement, this much fervor, this much fandom, this much constant chatter about the opportunities around the space.” He added there is “so much to do that's going to provide growth opportunities to everybody, every stakeholder in the space,” but there still are “some challenges to work through.” Gahagan said “determining the right ways for us to help drive that change” requires they “make certain that we're focused on the right things.”

One major area of change in college sports is NIL, which Gahagan said is “absolutely a positive in terms of the opportunities” being created for student athletes that “were long past due to be creating.” However, there is “still a great deal of work” needed to figure out “what the long-term solutions for NIL are going to be.” Gahagan said Learfield's position around NIL has “evolved significantly to create opportunities” for student athletes. He added the company done “over 120 deals for student athletes just in the last nine months alone” at both the national and local level.

Gahagan noted they have seen a “huge increase in digital engagement with fans coming out of the pandemic,” while there has been a 20% “increase in ticket downloads on Paciolan.” It shows how “excited” college sports fans are and how that translates into them “exhibiting their fandom on an everyday basis.” Gahagan said fans are “telling us increasingly that they want more” content around college sports. He also highlighted how “critically important” it is that they “recognize the female fans value and contribution to our business on the whole.” Gahagan: “They now make up 42% of the fan base that we have data around. … They manage 85% of the consumer decisions in the household.

Sankey on collaboration among Power 5 leaders

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said there’s a spirit of collaboration among Power 5 conference leaders, but acknowledged that they are not always in agreement. “Sure, there are tensions,” Sankey said during a one-on-one interview at the Intercollegiate Athletics Forum in Las Vegas. “When we spoke last year, I acknowledged contributing to those tensions with membership transition. [But] I think we’ve done, among the five ... a pretty good job of functioning well.”

See Sankey’s full comment below.

Warren: Not closing door on future deals with ESPN

Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren told attendees at the SBJ Intercollegiate Athletics Forum today that he has great respect for ESPN and would never close the door on a future deal with the network. "I never say we’re not doing a deal with ESPN or anyone else," Warren said during a one-on-one interview. "Just maybe we haven’t done one up till today. I’m a great believer that life is long and I will continue to have communications with … and great respect for them."

See Warren’s full comment below.

Scenes from the SBJ Intercollegiate Athletics Forum

The SBJ Intercollegiate Athletics Forum, presented by Learfield, kicked off today in Las Vegas, providing an insider’s view over two days from those who have guided the industry through the pandemic and are now focused on shaping the future of college sports. Here's a look at today's events thus far: 

Groups move to second round in bid for Suns

There are a “handful of bidding groups" for the Suns who have "advanced to the second round of vetting as they look to try to identify the best possible offer.” There are a “number of high-profile American teams for sale,” including the Nationals, Angels, Commanders, as well as the Suns, and “some of those same groups are looking at those other opportunities.” Figuring that all out "might take some time." But people who advise team sales "believe this will be a record sale and that the value of the Suns will crest the $3B mark when it’s all said and done” (“SportsCenter,” ESPN, 12/7).

XFL reveals Under Armour uniforms for '23 season

The XFL selected Under Armour as the league's Official Uniform Partner and revealed the lineup of 2023 season uniforms, including home and away sets. The design process was a collaboration between XFL ownership, marketing and Under Armour teams. Each jersey features a "Blood, Sweat, Respect" mantra -- a personal message from ownership to players, which is sublimated on the interior collars of all team uniforms. Additional design details include embroidered team wordmarks and branding at the base of the neckline, UA's ArmourGrid nameplates with twill lettering and all uniforms will be branded with XFL, Under Armour and Project Rock Brahma Bull patches. The XFL season kicks off on February 18 with broadcast partner ESPN (XFL). XFL Chair & owner Dany Garcia: “The goal here was uniforms that really connected our athletes to their cities and also, uniforms that were just spectacular. We wanted them to feel good” (“SportsCenter,” ESPN, 12/7).

Bird, Rapinoe launch production company

Former WNBAer Sue Bird and USWNT F Megan Rapinoe have launched a new production company, A Touch More. Bird and Rapinoe created the company to help amplify "narratives around identity, activism and underrepresented communities, including LGBTQ people, POC and women." The production company was created in partnership with TOGETHXR -- the media and commerce company Bird co-founded with USWNT F Alex Morgan, snowboarder Chloe Kim and swimmer Simone Manuel. A Touch More will focus on "both scripted and unscripted content" and launches with “30 for 30: Pink Card,” a four-part audio documentary series that will be released on Dec. 8. The series follows the "lives of women in Iran fighting for the right to watch soccer" (VARIETY, 12/7).

Zippin opens three stores at St. Louis' CITYPARK

By Bret McCormick

Zippin has deployed three of its checkout-free stores at St. Louis City SC’s CITYPARK, which soft opened this fall and will be ready to host the MLS expansion team’s first season in 2023. The CITYPARK stores are Zippin’s first in a soccer-focused stadium. Checkout-free tech makes sense for soccer, which, because of its lack of stoppages, has concentrated rushes of fans to concourses pregame and at halftime. Zippin has nearly 75 stores in action, 49 of which are in sports venues.

The stores debuted during a recent friendly match at the 22,500-seat stadium between St. Louis City’s reserve team and German club Bayer Leverkusen and transaction times were as fast as 10 seconds. The stores featured local food favorites, grab-and-go drinks, and snacks. The stores are placed in high-demand areas of the stadium, including two on the concourse behind the supporters’ section.

Zippin has opened three checkout-free stories at St. Louis City SC's CITYPARKZippin

Academy Sports + Outdoors beats earnings

Academy Sports + Outdoors came out with quarterly earnings of $1.69 per share, "beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.64 per share." This compares to earnings of $1.75 per share a year ago. These figures are "adjusted for non-recurring items." This quarterly report "represents an earnings surprise" of 3.05%. A quarter ago, it was expected that the company would "post earnings of $2.07 per share when it actually produced earnings of $2.30, delivering a surprise of 11.11%." Academy Sports + Outdoors posted revenues of $1.49B for the quarter ended October 2022, compared to year-ago revenues of $1.59B. Academy Sports + Outdoors shares have added "about 12.3% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's decline of -17.3%" (YAHOO FINANCE, 12/7).

Podcast Picks: Performance Issues

The “Alexi Lalas’ State of the Union Podcast” featured co-hosts Alexi Lalas and David Mosse, with special guest Landon Donovan, discussing the USMNT losing to the Netherlands and what the future is for coach Greg Burhalter. Lalas said anytime you lose in the World Cup “its sucks,” but this was “kind of a dud performance” by the USMNT against the Dutch because “we all expected more from the U.S.” Lalas said the USMNT has “nurtured and developed a lot good, young talent” there is a still a “void” with the lack of a dynamic goal scorer for the U.S. team. Mosse said Burhalter has this team “play a progressive style of soccer” to compete with the world’s best.

GETTING SPONSORS: Westwood One VP/Sports Sales & Marketing Adam Shifrin spoke with “Seller to Seller” about attracting sponsors to Westwood One, noting one important aspect was to be able to “prove the value of what we were providing to our customers.” Shifrin: “From the sports sales and sponsorship side, the math is important, the rating points are important, but it falls more into that consultative type sale and understanding how to sell the value of what we’re doing.”

DONNIE BASEBALL IS HERE: “The Show: A NY Post baseball podcast with Joel Sherman & Jon Heyman” welcomed former Yankees 1B Don Mattingly to the show to talk about his playing and managing career, as well as the future of baseball in Miami. Mattingly said “you don’t have to look too far to be optimistic” about the future of the Marlins who have several young, quality starting pitchers on their roster. But Mattingly said the team got off track when it “went from one ownership to the other and then the Derek turnover and that’s created more changes.” Mattingly said of new Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, “You have to have a young energy down there right now to keep building this and keep going through it.”

Know of a podcast we should keep tabs on? Send an email to pbounds@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Also, check out SBJ's podcast home.

Speed Reads....

Diamond Baseball Holdings added to its portfolio of MiLB teams with yet another purchase, finalizing a deal to acquire the Single-A Carolina League Salem Red Sox for a reported $14M. The deal comes amid a host of acquisitions for Diamond, which announced purchases of three other MiLB teams over the past two days (TWITTER.com, 12/7).

Tiger Woods is opening a new PopStroke location in Houston. This will be the fifth location nationally and will feature two 18-hole putting courses, a full-service restaurant, rooftop bar, playground and ice cream parlor (TWITTER.com, 12/7).
 
The ESPN Films documentary "Fate of a Sport," which follows Paul and Mike Rabil as they build the PLL, will be available to stream on Hulu on December 9th (PLL).
Hulu

Quick Hits....

"Thankfully, the venue here help up pretty well during the storm, a few miles from here not so much, and really our focus has been on how can we use our platform to provide financial relief for the southwest Florida community … and then also to provide sort of a break and some sense of enjoyment" -- QBE Shootout Tournament Dir Rob Hartman, on preparing the golf course after Hurricane Ian caused extensive damage in the area around Naples, Florida ("Golf Today," Golf Channel, 12/7).

“Apparel and footwear are definitely ones that customers are buying. Our team sports, they still want to play the sports and activities. Some of the bigger ticket merchandise is a little more challenging ... but overall, they’re looking for value. They will buy something, even thought it might be a stretch, if they see it meeting the need but providing value at the same time” -- Academy Sports and Outdoors President, Chair & CEO Ken Hicks, on what categories are doing well despite inflationary pressures (“The Exchange,” CNBC, 12/7).

"You hope, if you’re the New York Yankees, that this does not turn into Albert Pujols and I understand that they are different players. But there is one thing ... that is undefeated in sports and that is age” -- ESPN’s Jeff Passan, on the Yankees giving RF Aaron Judge a nine-year, $360M contract (“This Just In,” ESPN, 12/7).

Twitter Me This....

Channel Surf....

Roger Federer will appear on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show."

Jeff Gordon and William Byron will appear on Fox's "LEGO Masters."

Today in SportTechie....

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Don't miss this week's issue of SBJ. U.S. Soccer's Cindy Parlow Cone kicks off this week's issue, as we look at her journey from national team standout to federation president, where she's displaying her true "superpower." Also, we asked and you answered: The 2022 Reader Survey results are in.

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Daily Digit....

$247,000 -- The amount Yankees RF Aaron Judge will earn per game with his new nine-year, $360M contract ("CBS Mornings," 12/7).