Playfly's Monumental Media Deal

Playfly Sports signed a 15-year MMR partnership with Texas A&M—likely the biggest one in college sports—that will begin in July 2026.

March 3, 2025

Playfly Lands Texas A&M Multimedia Rights in 15-year Pact
Playfly Sports signed a 15-year MMR partnership with Texas A&M—likely the biggest one in college sports—that will begin in July 2026. The Aggies’ existing deal with Learfield, a 10-year extension that began in July 2015, was set to expire (no contract was broken). A Texas A&M fan site cites sources as saying that the deal is worth $515M and is “fully-guaranteed.” The site also noted A&M jumps from $18M annually to $34M annually.

“We’ve always had an alignment and shared values around being really focused on unlocking full revenue potential and fan engagement,” said Christy Hedgpeth, president of Playfly Sports Properties.
^{Sports Business Journal}

NFL Scouting Combine’s Value Transcends Mere TV Ratings
Sportico’s Anthony Crupi writes, “If the annual scouting combine doesn’t necessarily send the Nielsen dials spinning, the televised event is still integral to league’s bottom line.

“While Saturday’s numbers marked a healthy 19% improvement from the year-ago draw of 329,000 viewers, the combine deliveries were eclipsed by what might be charitably characterized as niche offerings.”
^Sportico

One Group Is Funding the NCAA Transgender Ban Lawsuits
FOS’ Amanda Christovich writes, “Throughout the past year, the NCAA, conferences, and schools have been hit with three lawsuits attempting to ban transgender athletes from competing in women’s college sports. All target rare-but-high-profile instances of transgender athletes competing at the Division I NCAA level.

“All three are being funded by the same organization: the Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS), a little-known nonprofit that describes itself as ‘not political.’” 
^{Front Office Sports}

Chelsea Sale Money Still Frozen Three Years on From Being Earmarked for Ukraine War Victims
The Athletic’s Dan Sheldon report: “The £2.5billion ($3bn; €3bn) generated from the sale of Chelsea Football Club remains frozen in a UK bank account — three years on from when it was announced it would be used to support humanitarian causes following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“Roman Abramovich was forced by the UK government to sell the Premier League club after the invasion in February 2022 and on March 2 of that year released a statement saying that ‘all net proceeds from the sale will be donated for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine.’”
^{The Athletic}

Bill Belichick, UNC to Be Featured on Offseason Version of 'Hard Knocks'
HBO's Hard Knocks will pivot to covering a college football team this offseason by featuring legendary NFL coach Bill Belichick as he takes over UNC's program in the 2025 season, sources told Front Office Sports' Ryan Glasspiegel via SI. This decision by the popular sports show comes after NFL Films reportedly could not find an NFL team to sign up for the season.
^{Front Office Sports via Sports Illustrated}

Delaware AD Rawak Won't Lead USA Swimming. Group Cites Complaint From Years Ago
Sports Illustrated senior writer Pat Forde posted on “X” a copy of a text message Rawak sent to UD staffers that said the sudden death of her mother-in-law and her father-in-law being “not in a good place” and likely moving to Delaware led to “the incredibly difficult decision.”   

However, in a subsequent statement Saturday night, all that was contradicted by USA Swimming, which said Rawak withdrew from the position due to a SafeSport complaint from years ago that had not previously been known. It came from her days as a Michigan assistant coach, according to swimswam.com.
^{Delaware Online, Sports Illustrated, Swimswam.com}

Fox Hires Peter Distad, Previously Head of Ill-Fated Venu Sports, as CEO of Direct-to-Consumer Streaming Service
Fox Corp. has hired Distad as CEO of the company’s recently announced direct-to-consumer streaming division. Distad most recently headed Venu Sports, which Fox, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery shuttered in January. Before Venu, he served as an executive at Apple for a decade following six years at Hulu.
^Variety

Albert Pujols Will Manage Dominican Republic in World Baseball Classic, Sees Path to MLB
The Athletic’s Sam Blum writes, “In past years, when Albert Pujols came as a guest instructor to Angels camp, he was in the more immediate aftermath of his playing career. One of the greatest all-time players, he was still a novice to the game’s teaching element. This time, however, he arrived as his coaching career has taken off…

“Pujols confirmed reports that he will manage the Dominican Republic, his home country, in the World Baseball Classic next year.”
^{The Athletic}

Ohio Stadium Draws Big For NHL Outdoor Game
The NHL Stadium Series matchup between the Blue Jackets and Red Wings at Ohio Stadium on Saturday drew 94,751, the second-largest NHL outdoor attendance. The only crowd larger to watch an NHL game was the 105,491 in attendance at Michigan Stadium for the 2014 Winter Classic between the Maple Leafs and Red Wings.

ESPN took it a step further, posing possibilities for further outside games.
^{Sports Business Journal, ESPN}

Chicago Sky Finally Move Caitlin Clark Games to 21,000-Capacity United Center
FOS’ Margaret Fleming writes, “Teams around the WNBA moved their games against the Fever last season to their city’s larger venues to accommodate the army of Caitlin Clark fans coming to see the eventual Rookie of the Year. But the Sky, whose Wintrust Arena holds close to 10,400 fans, never made the move to the United Center. These games will mark the first time in the Sky’s 20-year history that the team will play in the United Center.”
^{Front Office Sports}

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NCAA Shows Revenue Increase to $1.4 Billion and $166 Million Surplus in 2024 Fiscal Year
Even adjusting for inflation, that total is the association’s best in at least two decades, and it represents a nearly $91 million increase over the revenue total it reported for 2023. The new statement is the first that reflects the NCAA’s anticipated liability of nearly $2.8 billion from the damages portion of the proposed settlement of three athlete-compensation antitrust cases against the association what had been the Power Five conferences.
^{USA Today Sports}

SBJ Q&A: Commissioner Brett Yormark Sounds Off on Big 12’s Basketball Strategy, and Success
“If you think about what we’ve done over the last six months with ESPN, specifically, we’ve diversified our media partners when it comes to basketball. Everyone knows that ESPN and Fox are two big platforms, but moving into next year, Fox now becomes a distribution partner for basketball. We’ve announced TNT. CBS has taken a bigger position in their sublicensing efforts with ESPN. So next year, we’re going to have [a minimum of] four major partners and all their resources marketing and promoting Big 12 basketball, which, to me, is critically important.”
^{Sports Business Journal}

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