Afleveringen
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My guest today is Dr. Welch Suggs, Associate Professor in journalism and mass communications at the University of Georgia. Welch and his colleagues had a study published in Spring 2024 with the journal Research in Higher Education that may be interesting for university leaders to consider. Simply speaking, adding a college football team may not be the enrollment panacea once believed.
The conversation revolves around three key points:
1. Adding a football program results in a short-term spike in enrollment, but no long-term increase in overall enrollment, tuition revenue, or male/diversity enrollment.
2. After the initial spike from recruiting football players, enrollment patterns tend to shift back over time, with the new football players essentially replacing other students who would have enrolled anyway.
3. In their final analysis comparing schools that added football to those that didn't found no significant long-term differences in enrollment numbers, tuition revenue, or gender/racial makeup of the student body, unless the schools did something very specific beyond just adding football.
Its an important consideration in the higher education space that is dealing with varying enrollment challenges. I think you’ll enjoy the conversation.
The Forbes.com referenced in the podcast is available here:
"In A Rising Tide Of College Closures, Impact On Division III Athletics Becomes Clear" https://www.forbes.com/sites/karenweaver/2024/04/30/in-a-rising-tide-of-college-closures-impact-on-division-iii-athletics-becomes-clear/?sh=527ed08170f3
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The 2024 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball tournament broke all kinds of viewership records. From Iowa and Caitlin Clark, to Angel Reese and LSU, to Dawn Staley's undefeated and national champion USC Gamecocks, it was a tournament to remember.
I've invited Jill Bodensteiner back to the podcast to take us inside the NCAA team selection process for this marquee event.
Take a peek behind the scenes of NCAA Women's Basketball in the Selection Room. Join committee members during conference tournaments in Indianapolis as they discuss team selection and seating arrangements. Experience the process firsthand as criteria are reviewed, rules are followed, and brackets are formed. From thoughtful deliberations to collaborative decision-making, explore the careful planning that goes into creating the tournament. It's an inside look at the dedication and attention to detail that define NCAA Women's Basketball.
Here's the link to the Synergy app that Jill mentioned in the conversation.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Jim Cavale, founder and Chairman of Athletes.org, joins the podcast. Athletes.org, serves as a players association for college athletes. It is dedicated to maximizing their income, amplifying their voices, and providing on-demand support for key decisions as they navigate college athletics and beyond. AO enables college athletes to have a say in crucial matters affecting their future.
The American Council of Education provided a statement to Congress advocating against Dartmouth’s men’s basketball team joining a campus union. This statement is what precipitated my conversation with Jim.
We talk directly about the issues higher education is most fearful of: athlete organizing and collective bargaining. In our conversation, Jim stresses the need for dialogue and collaboration with athletes to resolve issues. If college athletics intends to restructure, it must focus on maximizing revenue and ensuring equitable sharing across programs.
We also discuss what private equity bring to the table-offering an initial financial boost with potentially injecting millions into athletics departments. Jim stresses fair opportunities and regionalizing sports to optimize resources and support all athletes.
Here is the link to the ACE document noted in the podcast
https://www.acenet.edu/Documents/Statement-NLRB-House-Hearing-031224.pdf
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Today we welcome back Jason Belzer, CEO of Student-Athlete NIL (SANIL), a company that is leading the field in athletes leveraging their NIL opportunities. Jason launched the Student Athlete NIL Summit in Atlanta in 2023 (attracting over 500 athletes) and his company today supports over 1500 athletes in managing their NIL contracts and transactions.
Jason is at the forefront of navigating the evolution of this still very young industry. This conversation is a great opportunity for presidents to look around the corner and see what’s next.
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Joining me for the conversation today is the Big Ten Conference’s Chief Medical Officer, Jim Borchers.
Jim is the former Ohio State team physician and current president of the US Council for Athlete Health. We discuss the growing challenges facing athletic healthcare professionals, including burnout among athletic trainers, pressures from coaches and parents, need for independent medical authority, and advice for college presidents to prioritize athlete health and safety. Today, more than ever, this is an important conversation for campus leaders to hear.
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Val Ackerman, Commissioner of the Big East Conference joins the podcast for a wide-ranging discussion on the substantial changes in college athletics, particularly as they impact schools that do not play big-time football. Called basketball-centric schools, they have to navigate the transfer portal, NIL, conference realignment and other tidal waves at a time where their primary revenue source is success in March—March Madness.
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Today I’m joined by Jill Bodensteiner, the Vice President and Director of Athletics at Saint Joseph’s University. Jill is a member of several key NCAA DI Committees imagining the future of college athletics. Ironically, it was 20 years ago this month that the St. Joe’s men’s basketball team was at the top of the world. Undefeated and ranked #1 in the nation, the team brought excitement to campus that only a few schools get to experience. Today, the realignment winds have blown through NCAA sports, and St. Joe’s has had to recalibrate around culture and transparency.
Bodensteiner discusses the challenge of managing rosters and team culture in a transfer friendly environment, the battle to keep athletes from being employees and union members, and the overall challenges facing higher education today.
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On today’s podcast, we discuss the opportunities and challenges in streaming hundreds of live events from Division II and III campuses. The money is nowhere near the millions pouring in to some Division I programs, so the question becomes what makes it worth the significant effort?
My guests today are Steve Ulrich, a pioneer in media and tech usage when he was the long time commissioner of the Centennial Conference; Katie Boldvich, the commissioner of the Landmark Conference, the first to partner with Flo Sports (who is jumping into the space with both feet), and Ryan Scott from d3hoops.com, who has chronicled the workload increases being made on athletic communications professionals on these campuses.
Thinking about streaming? Take a listen to these experts!
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My guests today are two national leaders in the college athlete’s rights space. Congresswoman Lori Trahan from Massachusetts has been an outspoken advocate for college sports reform and for strengthening Title IX compliance. Chase Griffin, UCLA Quarterback and National NIL Athlete of the Year, recently appeared at a Congressional hearing and spoke of the synergies NIL opportunities have with the purpose of higher education.
Three important takeaways for presidents came from this conversation:
1. Open direct lines of communication with student athletes to understand their perspectives and needs. As Chase Griffin emphasized, presidents should not rely solely on athletic directors or coaches to represent athlete views.
2. Prioritize Title IX compliance and closing loopholes that disadvantage women's sports. Strengthening Title IX enforcement is an urgent need that presidents have power to address now.
3. Prepare for coming changes like NIL rights and revenue sharing that will further empower student athletes. Presidents should engage positively with these changes rather than resist them, as the athletes themselves are driving this progress.
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On the podcast, we welcome back Dr. Holden Thorp, Editor in Chief of Science, and Professor of Chemistry and Medicine at George Washington University. Holden has closely followed the challenges the Atlantic Coast Conference faces. With Florida State in open revolt and trying to leave the ACC as soon as they can, to the internal political battles that loom over any moves by North Carolina, North Carolina State and Duke, and what the future holds for this venerable athletic conference.
Holden asks the fundamental question that many are beginning to wonder-can college presidents really manage what athletics has become? Should the elite programs separate from the university? As the former chancellor at UNC-Chapel Hill, he brings a deep insight into the conversation.
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Deep inside the Prudential Center, the home of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, thirty-seven-year-old Michael B. Jordan was shuffling a deck of cards. You’re a card player, I asked? He said, yes, and he listed a few games, some of which I’ve heard of, some not. He seemed at ease. He had just done a pre-recorded hit for NBC’s the Today Show, and was about to do an interview with me.
Named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list in 2014 for Hollywood and Entertainment, Jordan has since added to his impressive list of accomplishments major leading roles in three movies, “Black Panther”, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”, and “Creed”. His net worth is pegged at $25 million. Now he wants to climb to the top of the sports world. I asked him what his ultimate goal was. With a serious look, he said, “I want to own an NBA franchise”.
Jordan knows what equity and wealth have meant to him. Now it was time to share that insight with others who grew up like him.
Just before the launch of the two day Invesco QQQ Legacy Classic, a showcase tournament for four HBCU men’s basketball teams in Newark, NJ, I was invited to exclusively interview Michael for Forbes.com. Over the 30 minutes we spent together, Michael shared wisdom and insight that is valuable to everyone, but in particular, college athletes trying to navigate the great financial potential of name, images and likeness.
Here is my conversation, recorded February 2, 2024. You can learn more about the Legacy Classic and that historic weekend in my piece for Forbes.
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An emerging trend on larger college campuses is the creation of innovation districts. Typically located adjacent to the campus (or in the case of colleges with multiple campuses, the main location), these ecosystems involve businesses, residential and entertainment/sports options, creating a “24 hour a day” energy to an otherwise sleepy part of town. The upside of this trend is obvious to real estate businesses; increasingly, colleges are realizing the potential these have to create a new campus spirit.
My guest today is Erik Williams, the Real Estate Practice Chair at Saul Ewing LLP. Erik has extensive experience in this industry and is based in Philadelphia, an emerging hub in innovation districts. We also discuss the potential for using this financial vehicle to further energize NIL possibilities for college athletes.
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The worlds of higher education and college athletics are changing so fast, it's dizzying. Those who work in the industry are hit with change seemingly every day. How are your students, faculty, coaches and others handling all the challenges in their world?
Enter Real Response. Originally a tool for college athletes to speak up and share their experiences with athletic administrators has evolved into a multi purposed, multi faceted way used to solve problems facing college campuses today (and not just in athletics).
Leveraging the comfort that Gen Z has with texting on their phones, Real Response provides a way to give instant feedback on support staff, athletic training, strength and conditioning, to more complex, difficult to talk about areas like sexual assault, guns in the locker rooms and inappropriate relationships. The end result may mean that administrators get to hear about these issues much earlier in the process, get them the help they need more quickly, and hopefully changing the behavior sooner.
I’m joined today by David Chadwick and Samantha Huge. David is the CEO of Real Response and Samantha is the EVP of Collegiate Athletics. Both bring important information to the table that allows presidents and leaders to learn about tools available to them to assess constituent feedback and get ahead of potentially serious issues.
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You've likely heard the old adage, "I'm shocked-there's gambling in this establishment?". While it is an old movie line, it applies to today's college campus. College students (and others) are betting on sports on their phones, hourly, daily and sometimes, more often.
With sports betting now legal in over 35 states, college presidents and campus leaders must address the explosion of this new form of entertainment now, both from a mental and emotional health perspective AND because some may be betting on your own teams and players. It doesn't matter what Division or sport-if the game is being played, there is likely someone wagering on it.
A longtime newspaper reporter and editor, David Purdum began covering the sports betting industry in 2008. He chronicled the nearly 10-year legal battle that led to sports betting expansion after a ruling from the United States Supreme Court in May 2018. A husband and father, who coaches competitive youth soccer in his free time, Purdum is now in his ninth year with ESPN.
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For the past 20 years, it seems as if wherever there’s been a sports law story involving athlete rights, Michael McCann has been near the epicenter of it. Whether it was as a member of former Ohio State player Maurice Clarett’s legal team in the groundbreaking Clarett v NFL, case; co-authoring a book with Ed O’Bannon, the former UCLA men’s basketball player who found his likeness had been sold off by the NCAA to EA Sports for a college basketball video game, or writing for Sports Illustrated or Sportico, Michael McCann has been both in the trenches and writing about them.
Michael McCann is a Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and Founding Director of the Sports and Entertainment Law Institute at the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law, where he is also Professor of Law.
Our conversation centers around recent key developments in Johnson v NCAA, including the decision by the judge to certify class action status for all Power 5 athletes with regards to BNIL; the new ability for the NLRB to certify joint employer status in cases beginning later this year; Dartmouth’s MBB unionization appeal as we begin the basketball season, and his stark predictions for the future of college sports. -
Last week, former players in Northwestern's Football Program appeared at a press conference with attorneys who are representing them. What are they asking for? Simple-cultural change and restitution on behalf of dozens of Northwestern athletes who have alleged similar behavior.
The podcast opens with a sound clip from plaintiff’s attorney Parker Stinar from the press conference.
Why do institutions fail to protect its athletes from this abusive behavior? Has it always been this way? I’m joined by higher education scholar, former provost and dean at several high profile universities who has studied the reactions of both institutions and leaders during and after these crises.
My guest is Don Heller, the retired Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at the University of San Francisco and former Dean and faculty member at Michigan State and Penn State respectively.
This podcast may be difficult to hear some of the terminology describing the alleged behaviors of former coaches and administrators, but it is an important conversation to have.
Don’s article here: How Weak Leadership Enables Campus Scandals
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When it comes to the "old definition of amateurism", the NCAA is under legal assault on at least 3 different fronts.
Our podcast conversation today focuses on three pending legal cases involving athletes as employees-Dartmouth’s men’s basketball team attempting to unionize; Johnson v NCAA, with the plaintiffs arguing athletes should be treated as employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act; and the NLRB upcoming hearings probing whether USC, the Pac-12 and the NCAA are treating athletes as they would an employee.
A prominent journalist and a legal scholar join me today to talk about the 3 cases moving their way through the political and legal systems involving athletes as employees.
Sam C. Ehrlich, JD/PhD is an assistant professor of legal studies at Boise State University. Sam’s research focuses on the legal governance of sports leagues, specifically through sport-specific antitrust exemptions, athlete fairness in collective bargaining and employment, and tort and constitutional liability for overseeing athletic organizations.
Amanda Christovich is a reporter at Front Office Sports based in New York City covering the business of college sports. Her work has previously appeared in USA TODAY and The Wall Street Journal. She plans to be in the NLRB hearing covering the arguments in December 2023.
All three cases are moving ahead in an environment where the NCAA is also putting great pressure on Congress to decide the definition of amateurism in college athletics in a post-Alston world. These cases could fundamentally alter college athletics. Let’s get started.
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Kicking off the fifth season of this podcast, West Georgia President Brendan Kelly takes us inside the decision to move their athletics program from Division II, where they were highly successful, especially in football, to Division I.
Kelly began his tenure in March 2020, as the campus (and most of the world) closed down for the pandemic. 3+ years later, he and his team took a deeper look at where the institution is coming out of a disruptive event. With his former conference changing members, he began conversations with the ASUN about joining them. Their response? "We'd love to have you."
Kelly said "This is not just an elevation of UWG Athletics. It raises the expectations – and visibility – of our institution as a whole."
We are One website
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Chase Griffin, a UCLA quarterback heading for his third year in 2023, has a boatload of great insight and advice for senior campus leaders about how NIL really works. In this conversation, he tells us his perspective and shares how he brings his personal mission and beliefs into his work on and off the field. Since 2019, he has earned a bachelor's degree, a master's degree, and is on track to earn his second master's degree before he completes his football eligibility.
Griffin is also involved in charitable NIL endeavors, including the L.A. Food Bank. He understands deeply the challenges food insecurity brings to a campus and its surrounding areas. Chase is also an active contributor to Senator Chris Murphy and Representative Lori Trahan's most recent NIL bill, submitted for consideration at the end of July.
In the release from Murphy's office, Griffin said: "For the past two years NIL has enabled college athletes, like me, to become small business owners, taxpayers, support the families that raised us, contribute to charities, and re-invest in the communities that we represent. My lived experience with NIL is why I wholeheartedly support Senator Murphy, Congresswoman Trahan, and the College Athlete Economic Freedom Act. This legislation codifies our NIL rights, preserves the economic progress that we have already made, and aligns the United States Congress with college athletes on the right side of history."
This is a must-listen podcast to understand an insider's perspective on what the future holds for big-time college athletes.
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How can colleges and universities creatively leverage new trends in finance? Technology? Real Estate? NIL? This conversation provides valuable Insight from long-time higher ed consultants: Baker Tilly's Adrienne Larmett and Dave Capitano. We discuss mergers/acquisitions, reimagining too much or too little housing space on campus, should private equity and NIL deals include private off-campus housing for college athletes, and other emerging ideas.
Dave and Adrienne have worked alongside NCAA Division I, II and III campuses as they wrestle with these new challenges. It's an interesting way to consider the new ways campuses are becoming more resilient in the 21st century.
Here's a link to our previous discussion referenced in the podcast.
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