Sport & Story Daily April 4, 2024

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April 4, 2024

Good morning! The Anomaly That is NC State

NC State Brings Hot Streak, Low Debt Into Men’s and Women’s Final Fours
As Sportico’s Eben Novy-Williams writes, “There are many ways NC State stands out in the men’s Final Four. The school pays its coach the least, spends the least on men’s basketball, and had by far the longest title odds heading into the NCAA tournament. The Wolfpack is also the only team that wasn’t ranked in the Top 25 at all this year.

“The Wolfpack reported $32.4 million of outstanding athletics debt in fiscal 2023, the fourth lowest total for any public school in the Power Five. Of the Final Four teams, UConn is next at $58.8 million, followed by Purdue at $130.8 million and Alabama at $226.8 million.”
^sportico.com

Sports Media Pod: Caitlin Clark Effect, WrestleMania
On this week’s pod, SBJ’s Austin Karp is joined by Richard Deitsch of The Athletic to talk all things sports media. The duo discuss the Caitlin Clark Effect, WrestleMania expectations, and the Masters. Later in the show, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy drops in to talk about his thoughts on the Final Four for both the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball tournaments.
^{sportsbusinessjournal.com}

Women’s Sports Seizes a Prime Moment to Shine Thanks to Math, Gravity and the Perfect Storm Around March Madness (Column)
Between the media numbers put up during the women’s games in March Madness thus far and the recent news of Caitlin Clark’s effect on sports betting, the financial impact of the women’s sports world right now is hard to deny.

As Variety’s Cynthia Littleton writes, “In a perfect storm, the annual bracket-bonkers frenzy around the NCAA college basketball tournament has conferred a level of respect to the women’s game that is rarely been seen across sports media, but for the quadrennial exception of the Women’s World Cup. It’s happening this year for all the right reasons – basically, math and gravity. The games have been too good to ignore and the stats put up by such players as the University of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, Louisiana State University’s Angel Reese, USC’s freshman phenom JuJu Watkins and University of Connecticut’s Paige Bueckers are too eye-popping to not analyze.”
^variety.com

Women’s Soccer Doc May Help Revive Athlete-Led Reality TV
Box to Box Films, the makers of Formula 1: Drive to Survive among other sports hits, is producing the show, which is currently in the editing phase. But so is Alex Baskin, whose producing credits include reality staples Vanderpump Rules and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
^sportico.com

Aliyah Boston Joins ESPN’s NCAA Studio Team
Per SBJ, Aliyah Boston, the unanimous 2023 WNBA Rookie of the Year, will join ESPN’s studio broadcast team this weekend during the NCAA Women’s Final Four in Cleveland. Boston will team with Elle Duncan, Andraya Carter, Chiney Ogwumike and Carolyn Peck at the desk from Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

“We cannot wait to watch what she brings to our coverage as someone who won the National Championship just two years ago,” said Sara Gaiero, ESPN’s vice president of production.
^{sportsbusinessjournal.com}

Kansas City Stadium Plans in Doubt After Voters Reject Tax Measure
Voters in Jackson County, Missouri, rebuked the proposed sales tax measure to fund a new ballpark for the Royals and improvements to the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium.

As FOS reports, “In an issue that had already sharply divided the Kansas City area, voters turned down by a whopping 58%-42% margin a proposal that would have created a new ⅜-cent sales tax mechanism over 40 years to generate as much as $2 billion. That money, in turn, was aimed at supporting the Royals on recently announced stadium plans for a site near downtown and the helping the Chiefs conduct a large-scale upgrade to what is now the NFL’s third-oldest stadium behind Chicago’s Soldier Field and Green Bay’s Lambeau Field.” 
^{frontofficesports.com}

MSG Sports President & COO David Hopkinson Quietly Departs Company
Per SBJ, MSG Sports President & COO DAVID HOPKINSON has departed from the company as of yesterday. He will receive severance pay in accordance with the terms of his employment agreement. He joined the company in 2020 as EVP & President of Team Business Operations, overseeing all aspects of business operations for its collection of pro sports franchises and had some very healthy years on the business side.
^{sportsbusinessjournal.com}

Andy Enfield Says He Wouldn't Be SMU's Coach if Not in ACC
As the AP reports via ESPN, “Andy Enfield went from Florida Gulf Coast's ‘Dunk City’ and the Sweet 16 to Los Angeles and now to Dallas to take over the SMU program that is headed to the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 36-year drought since winning an NCAA tournament game. Enfield said he wouldn't be in Big D if the Mustangs weren't about to move into that basketball-rich league.”

"Uh, no," Enfield said when asked just that. "We were extremely happy at USC, and I had an incredible staff, players, great support from the administration, and we lived at the beach.”
^espn.com

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry Threatens Scholarships After LSU Players Miss National Anthem Before Iowa Loss
Landry’s Tweet:

Sportsbooks Say Iowa-LSU Smashed Records
As FOS’ Margaret Fleming writes, “Caitlin Clark has broken records all season for TV viewership, attendance, and scoring. Monday night’s win over LSU showed another indicator of her popularity: heavy sports gambling.

“The Iowa-LSU regional final set a new record as the most-bet-on women’s college basketball game on FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars Sportsbook, BetMGM, Bet365, ESPN Bet, and Fanatics Sportsbook, representatives for the sportsbooks tell Front Office Sports. The game was the most-bet women’s sporting event on FanDuel and BetMGM.”
^{frontofficesports.com}

NCAA Women's Tournament Brass May Mull Changes This Summer
"Given the trajectory of success we've experienced over the last couple years, I see no reason to wait to start that review," Lynn Holzman, vice president of women's basketball, told ESPN on Tuesday afternoon. "The governance structure has to approve [a review], but that is our ask coming out of this championship. I believe that will take place."
^espn.com

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