Colleges Rob Peter to Pay Paul

Schools are using field logos, pricey concessions, and more to pay for the new era in college sports

August 25, 2025

Schools Use Field Logos, Higher Concession Prices and More to Pay for the New Era in College Sports
AP News’ Eddie Pells writes, “Just last week, the board of Virginia Tech received a bracing message from athletic director Whit Babcock: Without an influx of around $44 million to bring the sports budget to $200 million, the Hokies would keep falling behind.”

“If we don’t radically leap forward now,” Babcock said, “we’re likely sealing our own fate for years and generations to come.”

“As the financial requirements in college athletics continue to evolve and grow, the pressure on athletic departments, our multimedia partners and others to provide new and different revenue streams is certainly there,” said J Batt, the athletic director at Michigan State, which has partnered with PlayFly Sports to identify new ways to raise money.
^{AP News}

Schools Are Hesitant to Allow PE Into Their Athletic Departments
FOS’ Amanda Christovich writes, “In June, sports consultancy firm Elevate and two unnamed schools inked the first athletic-department private-equity deals. But no firm has landed a deal since, as schools are largely hesitant to allow private equity into their individual athletic departments. 

“Some are uncomfortable with bringing private capital into an educational setting, and they would prefer to opt for more traditional revenue streams. Others believe the money isn’t worth the risk of handing over control to private-equity business moguls or getting stuck owing money they can’t repay. (The hesitancy largely extends to the conference level, where the Big Ten is the only power league actively pursuing private-equity offers.)”
^{Front Office Sports}

South Carolina Officially Inks 10-Year Nike Deal
The Univ. of South Carolina is officially “changing its apparel partners” from Under Armour to Nike in a 10-year deal worth $70M in product, $5M in cash and more. South Carolina will also “receive 15% of net sales of USC-licensed Nike products.” Also as part of the deal -- which “will go into effect” July 1, 2026 -- Nike “will provide South Carolina football with a redesign of at least three uniforms in the first four years of the deal.” It “will do the same for women’s basketball, but with at least four uniforms.” In addition, “Nike designers will lead a re-design of the basketball court inside Colonial Life Arena.”
^{Columbia State via SBJ}

UNC Football Docuseries Coming to Hulu This Fall, Bill Belichick Announces
“It’s going to feature the players working hard, which you guys do,” Belichick said. “It’s about the players improving and getting better through their hard work, which you do, and the program starting from where it started from seven months ago to wherever it’s going to go through the course of the season, which, of course, will be determined on the field, alright.
^{The Athletic}

MLB Short-Term Media Plan Coming Into Focus
SBJ’s Austin Karp writes, “Among the developments that stand out is a report of bringing Netflix into the fold for the Home Run Derby at $50M annually, per CNBC. That event has been on ESPN since it was first nationally televised in 1993. Netflix execs have shown an affinity for big, singular events like this that it can ‘event-size’ and the Derby certainly fits that bill, as it remains the second-best All-Star event audience in the U.S., behind only the MLB All-Star Game. And with Netflix rounding third on this deal for the Derby, there could also be more interest in additional tentpole MLB events like the World Baseball Classic, which has been on Fox and MLB network, or special affairs like the recent Speedway Classic. MLB last year also got into the documentary space with Netflix, airing two series around the Red Sox.”
^{Sports Business Journal}

Canzano: The CW Lined Up for New-World Pac-12 Football
The details and depth of the five-year deal are expected to be formally announced as soon as next week. The partnership provides the conference with broad TV exposure and is an expansion of The CW’s existing two-year relationship with the Pac-12.

In the 2025 season, The CW and CBS will broadcast 11 of the Pac-12’s 13 home games, reaching 100 percent of U.S. households. “CW Football Saturday” kicks off on Saturday, Aug. 30, with a Pac-12 football game between Idaho and Washington State.
^{John Canzano}

Kobe Bryant Movie in the Works: Warner Bros. Nabs Spec Script About Lakers Star’s Dramatic Draft Day
Variety’s Matt Donnelly and J. Kim Murphy report: “The project comes from screenwriters Alex Sohn and Gavin Johannsen. Rumors of the project had piqued the interest of multiple studios and streamers. One source told Variety that Warner Bros. preempted an auction and took the script, tentatively titled ‘With the 8th Pick?’, off the table early. Star Thrower and Religion of Sports will produce the project.”
^Variety

$2B A’s Vegas Stadium Hits Milestones, on Track for 2028
The A’s are not just moving dirt around in Las Vegas, as some have suggested, and they say there will be visible progress on their planned ballpark in the coming weeks. Two months after a high-profile stadium groundbreaking along the famed Las Vegas Strip, club officials told the Las Vegas Stadium Authority that several key development milestones are planned for between now and November, including the beginning of vertical construction.”
^{Front Office Sports}

Bay FC Breaks NWSL Crowd Record at Oracle Park
Fans “flocked in droves to Oracle Park” to watch Bay FC host the Washington Spirit on Saturday, “generating the highest single-game attendance in U.S. pro women’s sports history” -- 40,091 attendees. The figure “shattered the previous record” of 35,038, which was set last year for a Red Stars-Bay FC game at Wrigley Field.
^{S.F. Chronicle via Sports Business Journal}

Phillies, Twins to Face Off in Revival of MLB’s Field of Dreams Game
The Athletic’s Matt Gelb and Dan Hayes write, “For the first time in four years, Major League Baseball is returning to Iowa. The Phillies and Twins will play a regular-season game sometime in August 2026 in a revival of the league’s Field of Dreams game held at Dyersville, Iowa, multiple major-league sources said. It will be a home game for Minnesota.”
^{The Athletic}

Shaquille O’Neal to Invest in New LSU Arena
Basketball HOFer Shaquille O’Neal will “invest in the proposed new arena” on the LSU campus. O’Neal “vouched” for Oak View Group, the “developer that is the solo finalist for the project,” saying in a statement, “I’ve worked with OVG in venues across the country (with my Big Chicken Brand) and they are the best partners and great operators.” O’Neal “did not say” how much of a stake he was “planning to invest in the new facility, or what that deal might look like.”
^{New Orleans Times-Picayune via Sports Business Journal}

Kansas Officially Opens Renovated Football Stadium
Univ. of Kansas football fans attended yesterday’s season-opening game against Fresno State at the “newly renovated” west and north stands at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Fresno State will “forever have bragging rights about being the first” team to play in it. Nearly “everything at the stadium” -- except the east and south parts -- is “new after the completion” of the $450M in Phase One renovations
^{K.C. Star via Sports Business Journal}

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NCAA Considers Making High School Athletes Register NIL Deals
Incoming Division I athletes may soon be required to report the NIL (name, image, and likeness) deals they earned while in high school to the clearinghouse established by the House v. NCAA settlement. The NCAA is currently considering adopting a new rule that would require incoming Division I athletes to disclose all the NIL deals they earned during their junior and senior years of high school, upon enrolling in college. The rule also extends to junior college athletes who transfer to D-I programs, requiring them to disclose all deals executed while at a junior college. 
^ESPN

CFB Opener in Ireland Sees Electric Atmosphere
Iowa State defeated Kansas State in the first college football game of the season in Dublin on Saturday, and the “pregame atmosphere inside Aviva Stadium made Farmageddon in Ireland feel every bit as electric as a major bowl game.” Iowa State and Kansas State fans “both sold approximately 11,000 tickets apiece for this one-of-a-kind clash, and every single seat was full at kickoff.” Supporters “on both sides stayed loud throughout the contest and roared after every big play.”
^{Wichita Eagle via Sports Business Journal}

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