Sport & Story Daily January 9, 2024

Stay Ahead of the Game

January 9, 2024

Good morning! Headlines impart the same thing - “just undo it” - as Tiger and Nike part ways

Tiger Woods, Nike Announce End of 27-Year Partnership
"Over 27 years ago, I was fortunate to start a partnership with one of the most iconic brands in the world," Woods said in a statement posted to his X account. "The days since have been filled with so many amazing moments and memories, if I started naming them, I could go on forever. Phil Knight's passion and vision brought this Nike and Nike Golf partnership together, and I want to personally thank him, along with the Nike employees and incredible athletes I have had the pleasure of working with along the way."
^espn.com

Amid a ‘25-Year Bull Market,’ College Football Coaches Continue to Cash In
As The Athletic’s Justin Williams writes, “This is the new normal in college football: An impressive (or even promising) season by a head coach equals getting poached for a new, higher-paying job or incentivized with an extension to stay put. The more successful coaches can increasingly command longer and more lucrative contracts; Harbaugh is sitting on a contract extension from Michigan as he considers a return to the NFL next season and leaving the NCAA investigations behind. But it doesn’t take reaching the title game to cash in, either.
^{theathletic.com}

Sports Media: 2024 Predictions: One Final Look Into the Sports Media Crystal Ball
SBJ takes one more look at the year ahead in media by noting ESPN will surely retain the top rights package in the NBA alongside Warner Bros. Discovery, Prime Video, and NBC. 2024 will be ESPN’s year in sports media. ESPN is faced with several massive decisions — from rights deals to carriage deals to corporate mergers.
^{sports.yahoo.com}

CFP Officials in Contact With FBI Over Threats Made After Florida State Snub
College Football Playoff officials have been in contact with the FBI over threats to its own employees and members of the CFP selection committee over Florida State being left out of the playoff, CFP executive director Bill Hancock said.
^{sportsbusijnessjournal.com}

CFP 'In Midst of Negotiations' With ESPN, Delays New Format Vote
ESPN and the CFP were "in the midst of negotiations to maintain the network as the sole rights holder of the event for the next eight years," sources told the network Monday night. The deal "would include the final two years on the current CFP contract plus a new six-year agreement
^{sportsbusinessjournal.com}

Mizzou Football Coach Eli Drinkwitz Receives Raise. The Details of New Deal Through 2028
As Columbia Daily Tribune’s Calum McAndrew writes, “Drinkwitz will earn $9 million in 2024 before bonuses. He will earn an additional $250,000 beginning in 2026, and in the final year of his contract — 2028 — the coach is due to earn $9.5 million.

That’s a significant leap from Drinkwitz’s previous deal, which had him set to earn $6.25 million after the 2024 season and $7 million in the final year as his contract was due to expire after the 2027 campaign.
^{columbiatribune.com}

Is Pat McAfee on Borrowed Time at ESPN?
Pat McAfee recently called out ESPN executive Norby Williamson publicly, stating that the tenured boss had been trying to sabotage his show, leaking information to make him look bad. As Barrett Sports Media’s Jason Barrett writes, “No matter how much I enjoy McAfee, this part was a mistake. Pat may be right about Norby, but if you are going to accuse an executive of sabotage, you better have evidence. In some ways, this is a page out of the Howard Stern playbook, except this is happening at Disney on ESPN, not on WNBC in the 1980s.”
^{barrettsportsmedia.com}

Royals Commit To Building New $2B Ballpark in K.C., But It’s Complicated
After months of rising uncertainty and local political angst, the Kansas City Royals have opted to build their new stadium in downtown Kansas City—and taxpayers are likely to get a better deal in the process. But there are still plenty of complications surrounding the planned $2 billion project.
^{frontofficesports.com}

Black Monday: Harris Takes Next Steps in Commanders Overhaul
Five months after Josh Harris’s ownership group seized control of the Washington Commanders with a record $6.05 billion purchase, head coach Ron Rivera was fired, a search team for both his replacement and the head of football operations was announced, and Harris told reporters at the team’s headquarters there were more changes ahead. 
^{frontofficesports.com}

Giants DC Don ‘Wink’ Martindale Resigns, per Report
New York Giants defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale has resigned from his role with the franchise, Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News reported Monday afternoon. The report comes a day after the Giants’ 27–10 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 18 to finish the season with a 6-11 record.
^si.com

Belichick Still Under Contract, Open to Change With Personnel Role
"I'm under contract,” Bill Belichick said during his regular-season-ending video conference early Monday. “I'm going to do what I always do, which is every day I come in, work as hard as I can to help the team in whatever way I can."
^espn.com

W&M Holds Tight to CAA Affiliation as League Continues to Evolve
“We’re certainly disappointed that JMU and Delaware have decided to move along. We love those rivalries. We’ve been competing against them in a lot of sports for a long time,” Brian Mann, W&M’s director of athletics since 2021, said Monday. “We’re certainly sad to see them go.

“For us, we remain committed to the CAA, as we have been for a long time, and believe that it’s our job to do everything we can to strengthen that conference as much as possible now.”
^richmond.com

Will Washington See Any of $11.7M Its Run Has Earned Pac-12?
As Sportico reports, “As part of their settlement, which has yet to be finalized, the departing schools all agreed to pay the Pac-12 $65 million total, according to multiple people familiar with the deal. That’s $6.5 million for each of the league’s 10 defectors, a list that includes Colorado, USC and UCLA, which announced their plans to leave the conference prior to the others. Apart from the exit fee, the conference agreed to evenly divvy up this year’s league revenue among the dozen members, said sources, who were granted anonymity because the details are private.”
^sportico.com

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