College Athletes "Dash For Cash"

As AP News notes, “The delay in approving the House vs. NCAA antitrust settlement means the rules around compensation are not yet in place, blowing up the market for the amount of money players can receive from their schools’ name, image and likeness collectives or from third-party endorsement deals.”

April 18, 2025

College Football Players Chasing Dollars With Portal Open and House Settlement Approval Delayed
AP News’ Eric Olson writes, “The opening of the college football transfer portal has created a dash for cash.

“The delay in approving the House vs. NCAA antitrust settlement means the rules around compensation are not yet in place, blowing up the market for the amount of money players can receive from their schools’ name, image and likeness collectives or from third-party endorsement deals.

“More than 400 players have entered the portal since it opened Wednesday, according to tracking by 247Sports. Athletes have until April 25 to enter, and they clearly have leverage until the settlement is approved by U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken in California.”
^{AP News}

Trump’s Harvard Foreign Student Ban Would Disrupt Crimson Sports
The staff at Sportico write, “The government’s threats could impact Harvard’s athletic department, which sponsors 42 varsity sports—more than any other D-I school in the country. There are 919 individual students listed on Harvard’s public athletic rosters, and 196 of them have hometowns outside the U.S, according to a Sportico analysis. More than 50% of the athletes on the current women’s soccer, women’s golf and men’s heavyweight rowing squads are from outside the U.S.”
^Sportico

Sources: NFL Expected to Decide Soon on New Super Bowl Merchandising Rights Deal
SBJ’s Terry Lefton writes, “Legends has held the rights to sell on-site and across hotels in the Super Bowl host city for the past six years. The current rights deal ends with this year’s Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, where Legends established a record at Super Bowl 50.

“Those same sources tell me that among the handful of those bidding is a group of ‘usual suspects’ -- I’d take that to mean the likes of Delaware North, Levy and Aramark -- along with the incumbent Legends and Fanatics, the licensing industry’s 8,000-pound gorilla.”
^{Sports Business Journal}

New US Women’s Soccer League Says It Has Millions in Funding Lined Up
A new second-tier U.S. women’s soccer league that is launching next year says it has attracted interest from numerous investors, including an Ohio group led by movie executives that will own a founding team and invest in the league itself. It will sit just beneath the two Division I U.S. women’s soccer leagues, the National Women’s Soccer League and USL Super League, which launched last year. 
^{Front Office Sports}

Lee Corso’s Best ‘College GameDay’ Moments: Headgear Picks and an Unexpected Expletive
I’s Tess DeMeyer and Lauren Merola write, “Corso, the longtime ESPN analyst, will retire from ‘College GameDay’ after Week 1 of the 2025 season, ending a 38-year run. The 89-year-old became a Saturday morning staple for fans with his weekly headgear selections, in which he predicted which school would win the chosen ‘GameDay’ matchup by donning a mascot head of his pick. By doing it week after week — more than 400 times — he endeared himself to fans nationwide.”
^{The Athletic}

Netflix Rises While Markets Slide—Thanks in Part to Live Sports
FOS’ Eric Fisher writes, “Netflix is becoming so powerful, it’s blowing right past any economic turbulence from the tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, with sports continuing to be a critical part of that growing might.

“The streaming giant said late Thursday it generated $10.54 billion in revenue in the first quarter, up 12.5% from the comparable period last year, and $2.89 billion in net income, up 24%. Both figures surpassed analyst expectations, and even as this was the first quarter in Netflix’s long-held plan to stop regularly reporting subscriber figures, the growing business remained on full display.”
^{Front Office Sports}

Sources: YouTube TV, Amazon, WBD Bidding on Mini-NFL Rights Package for 2025
SBJ’s Ben Fischer and Austin Karp write, “Along with the NFL Draft, the NFL has another media rights deal in the market and bidding is strong, sources tell me and my colleague Austin Karp. It could be for one of two games, including the high-profile Week 1 Brazil game to be played Friday, Sept. 5, in São Paulo, pitting the Chargers against an undetermined team -- but it looks like it will be the popular three-time defending AFC champion Chiefs, substantially increasing the value of the game. YouTube TV, Warner Bros. Discovery and Amazon have shown interest, sources said, with some calling YouTube a favorite.”
^{Sports Business Journal}

Sources: Kings Finalizing Deal to Hire Scott Perry as GM
Perry, who started his executive career in 2000 with the Detroit Pistons, spent three months with the Kings in 2017 before leaving for the New York Knicks. Perry will replace Monte McNair, who is out as Kings GM after the sides mutually agreed to his departure following Wednesday night's season-ending loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the play-in tournament.
^ESPN

MLB-Worst Rockies Fire Hitting Coach Hensley Meulens, Name Former Manager Clint Hurdle Interim Replacement
Meulens was in his third year as Rockies hitting coach, hired before the 2023 season.

At 3-15, Colorado has the fourth-worst team batting average in the National League (.220) and third-worst team OPS (.629). The Rockies have the second-most strikeouts in MLB at 195, are tied for the second-fewest home runs with 12, and rank last in the majors with 52 runs scored. Last season, the Rockies' .242 team batting average and .704 OPS were the worst in franchise history.
^{Yahoo! Sports}

Report: PWHL to Announce Vancouver Expansion Team
The PWHL will “soon be announcing an expansion team in Vancouver, likely to play at the Pacific Coliseum,” according to a source cited by Patrick Johnston of the Vancouver PROVINCE via SBJ. The PWHL’s Toronto Sceptres and Montreal Victoire played at Rogers Arena in January and drew 19,038 fans, a “larger crowd than any Canucks game this season.” It is “expected that a PWHL expansion team for Seattle will also be announced in short order.”
^{Vancouver Province via Sports Business Journal}

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Auburn, Playfly Extend Multimedia Rights Deal Through 2034-35 School Year
SBJ’s Austin Karp reports: “Auburn and Playfly are extending their multimedia rights for another decade, with the SEC school eyeing more use of Playfly Max, the NIL platform launched last June for schools centered on better monetizing existing revenue streams and exploring new ways to add dollars to athletic department budgets. The 10-year deal, which runs through the 2034-35 school year, will also see Playfly expand its on-campus team to help drum up even more business on The Plains and create new sponsorship categories/opportunities.”
^{Sports Business Journal}

Florida State Cancels All Athletic Events, Classes After Mass Shooting on Campus
Two people were killed and six others were injured when a student allegedly opened fire near the student union building on campus around noon on Thursday.

Both the Florida State baseball and softball teams were scheduled to host games in the coming days. The Seminoles baseball team was set to open a three-game series with Virginia on Thursday, and the softball team was going to host Georgia Tech on Friday. It’s unclear if those games are going to be rescheduled.
^{Yahoo! News}

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