D1.ticker - Eliminate the barrage of articles & time-consuming
searches. Efficient D1 athletics news in a daily email.
Your daily Illinois AD search update comes from Prez Killeen & Interim Chancellor Wilson who both indicate recruiting a new leader with Illini ties would be "icing on the cake." Killeen, "I know there's a lot of interest in that. I think that might be a value that would be brought to the table...I don't have long Illini ties but I care a lot about winning." Wilson adds that it's "one of many criteria on the list that are really important...I think when people say that, what they want is someone who is committed to this university and who is going to really take us to the next level. And I think you can assess that in different ways." No indication from either if the process is narrowing, though Killeen says a decision should come "in days to weeks, not months" - link
Florida State settles with former female student Kinsman, who was at the center of the Jameis Winston saga, to the tune of $950k, Kinsman will receive $250k with the remaining $700k to her lawyers, deal also includes FSU's commitment to a five-year awareness & safety campaign, Kinsman's lawyers already dispute the reported haul they'll receive, "The lawyers are not taking anywhere close to $700,000, and FSU knows that. Just more of the same PR effort from FSU, unfortunately." University spokeswoman Brooks, "This is a non-issue." - link
Racing in the SEC, Part I: Arkansas will ask its Board of Trustees this week for permission to move forward with full design & cost estimate work for a sizable renovation to Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, a new north end zone complex with suites, loge boxes, club seats & a club area a key potential addition, upgrades to the current suites in the facility another piece, along with a new video board & rebuild of the Broyles Athletic Center, early projection on investment is $160m. AD Long, "This project is about improving the gameday experience for every Razorback fan...This is the next step for Razorback Football and the legacy of the on-campus Home of the Razorbacks." - link
Racing in the SEC, Part II: Auburn recently sent a letter to donors & supporters outlining "lofty plans for improving facilities to assure the highest competitiveness in the toughest conference in college," Phase I would include a $75m revamp to the north end zone at Jordan-Hare Stadium to include new locker rooms, recruiting area & multiple premium seating areas, a $30m FB operations building & a $25m sports medicine facility; Phase II is comprised of nine upgrades ranging from $15m for the Tigers soccer complex to $10m for a student-athlete development center to $5m for an SEC Network studio extension & more - link
FCS Commissioners are due to meet in Naples starting today with heavy discussion expected on the format of the FB Playoffs, Eastern Washington AD Chaves has suggested expanded seeding from eight to 16 to further divide the 24 teams who make the post-season, also advises first round games to be moved off Thanksgiving weekend, MVFC Commish Viverito took issue with all five of her members being placed on one side of the bracket & Big Sky boss Fullerton questioned home hosts, more - link
Nebraska AD Eichorst on the topic of satellite FB camps, a key issue for the NCAA FB Oversight Committee of which he's a member, "I hear the ‘level playing field’ all the time — there is no ‘level playing field’ in college athletics. Clearly not in the Power Five (conferences)...Over time, recruiting has gone from a regional activity to a national and global activity. And with that, we have to evolve. There needs to be fundamental fairness that permits institutions and young people to weigh their options in a way that is not disadvantaged by geography or resources." - link
More Eichorst, calls ticket demand for the 2016 FB season "very solid," likes the capacity of Memorial Stadium & wants to be "very deliberate and strategic" with any future enhancement projects, renewal rate for the '15 campaign was around 95%, student ticket sales can continue to improve, sell-out streak sits at a hearty 347 straight games, believes the key to an outstanding fan experience is melding the best of being at a game in-person together with the comforts of watching from home - link
Sports Business Journal Executive Editor Madkour writes in wrap-up of the NCAA Convention, Texas Women's AD Plonsky says progress was made to create more flexibility for student-athletes, especially points to the medical autonomy measure, Michigan State boss Hollis on push-back from some student-athletes in attendance, "In their minds, it’s on a slow pace. But we’re trying to get to the right place in an appropriate way. Every sport is different and every community is different. How can you put rules in place on a very diverse set of campuses?" - link
The 2024 Summer Olympics & Paralympics bid by Los Angeles will heavily include UCLA & USC as was announced yesterday, the residence halls in Westwood would serve as the Olympic Village with SC playing host to the Media Village, access to top-notch Bruins training facilities is also a major point of leverage, both university leaders, Block & Nikias, are proud to be a part of the process & think the inclusion of their top-ranked institutions should only help to enhance the city's proposal - link
Missouri news: The 2014-15 fiscal year produced an operating surplus of $4.358m, record-setting $91,217,778 in revenue was produced which was up 9% year over year thanks to SEC Network proceeds since ticket sales, donations, royalties & camps were actually down, local & conference broadcast rights alone surged by 40.2% to nearly $37m in total, operating expenses ended at $86.859m, Executive Assoc. AD Hickman notes FB ticket sales have expectantly leveled after the Tigers entry into the SEC a couple of years ago, more (link); A troubling video surfaced last night of FB student-athlete Mauk, who has once again been suspended from the program as AD Rhoades indicates the situation is under review (link)
Former Illinois offensive lineman Cvijanovic will be on HBO's Real Sports tonight, discussing "whether winning outweighs long-term health for athletes in college football programs." Says he thinks coaches and doctors were in "cahoots" and that he "wasn't being accounted for as a human." It was Cvijanovic's accusations of mistreatment that some consider the last straw for former Illini leaders. - link
Fermata Partners secure a big piece of business as the PGA moves its domestic & international licensing portfolio to the boutique Atlanta firm, "Fermata will work closely with the PGA TOUR to expand its retail licensing business and the scope of the TOUR's brand presence within the consumer marketplace worldwide," in total it's a $1.6b piece of business according to Sports Business Journal's Smith, IMG was the incumbent - link, link
Penn AD Calhoun says she & her Ivy peers will discuss the possibility of a MBB post-season tourney in the near future, notes that ultimately league Presidents will make the final decision & there's no indication at the moment where things will land, "We stand for some pretty lofty ideals and we’re OK to march to our own drum. But yet, at the same time, I think that there’s a feeling that we also don’t want to keep doing things because we’ve always done them." Penn Prez Gutmann senses strong support of the move from her campus - link
North Dakota State brass returned to the negotiation table to further discuss their proposal for an increased student fee, student fee advisory board member Swanson again questioned what has changed for the Bison since a 2014 five-year plan to bump fees by $300k to $1.4m, Deputy AD Phelps & Senior Assoc. AD for Development Maughan a bit short on how the previous decision was made, but indicate the plan on the books would still leave the department behind competitive peers - link
Grieving Colorado State MBB student-athlete Omogbo is expected to be back in Fort Collins tomorrow night for the Rams tilt against San Jose State, the GoFundMe page setup to support Omogbo & his family was nearly at $95k as of yesterday afternoon, AC Hodge joined Omogbo for the trip back to Maryland, "I think he, as we all have been, has just been overwhelmed with the amount of support that it’s raised. Other coaches, other players in the league, random strangers have all contributed. It’s just been really unbelievable." - link
While we all love Twitter, Wall Street is having a much harder time with the relationship & it's resulted in a handful of personnel changes at the highest level of the company, VP of Global Media Stanton, SVP of Product Weil, Head of HR Schipper, Head of Vine Toff & SVP of Engineering Roetter will exit, more responsibilities will fall to COO Bain, as well as CTO Messinger & Head of Commerce Hubbard, stock price for the little blue bird stands at barely above $17 after a high of almost $70 in the summer of 2014 - link, link
Chronicle of Higher Ed's Wolverton reviews the departments around the nation who contributed the most back to their universities, as 40 athletic departments gave back with 10 of those pushing more back to campus than they received in subsidies. Top Ten include Texas, Ohio State, Alabama, Florida, LSU, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kentucky, Michigan and Purdue. The group combined for $140m in campus donations, with more than half of that from action in Austin and Columbus. - link
The Pope Picks Sports: The Vatican hired Canadian-based Lang Marketing to develop and operate a multi-faith invite-only sports conference in October called "Sports at the Service of Humanity." Lang subcontracted with Atlanta-based The Aspire Group, which will handle organization and sales for the event. TAG currently selling three $1.8m sponsorships to cover event costs. "Pope Francis will make sports a focus of his papacy's third global initiative on education" along with school and jobs. Event should boast 150 of the world's sports, government and religious leaders with invitations to be sent out this summer. More - link
Former South Carolina FB HC Spurrier offers his perspective on recent coaching moves around the SEC, says he wasn't surprised that Georgia decided to make a change, "Although I’m glad Mark got the job at Miami. Maybe he can get them back to where they used to be. Time will tell." Says new UGA boss Smart has "been very good on defense," but also notes how former USC quarterback Garcia had a career day against Alabama back in 2010, surely we'll see/hear more Spurrier commentary next season - link
UTSA AD Hickey notes the importance of new FB HC Wilson's "vital role in reaching out to the corporate community. He is touted as the No. 1 football recruiter in the country, so he has great transferable skills on the corporate sales side." Several donors and sponsors chime-in on Wilson's abilities to bring in money, a key skill in addition to his leadership of the Roadrunners program - link
As was generally expected, the NFL Conference Championship games did really impressive TV ratings, impressive to the point of recording some of the best marks in 30 years for this point in the playoffs & thanks in part to Winter Storm Jonas keeping millions indoors on the East Coast, the early Broncos-Patriots match-up attracted 53.3m viewers, while the late game of Arizona-Carolina pulled-in 45.7m, SBJ's Ourand notes general TV usage by market on the East Coast was up by 1% compared to the same games last year to 11% in D.C. - link, link, link, link
More news & notes: Ball State Prez Ferguson resigns from his leadership post in a surprise move, had only been in Muncie since August 1st of 2014, former chair of the University Senate Kelly, "There is something going on for his resignation to be so sudden, and the trustees ought to tell us what it is" (link); The gender discrimination trial for three former Minnesota Duluth female HCs likely won't take place until next year (link); How cool is it that MBB student manager teams around the nation now have a power rankings system for games played against their peers, usually the night before the tip between their university teams? (link); One Beaver Nation, Oregon State's fundraising arm, has reorganized with Nelson to Assoc. AD for Major Gifts & Kanan up to Asst. AD for Development (link) ; Tally yet another for Teamworks as Vanderbilt is the latest department-wide addition (link)
For the first time in 33 years Ron Prettyman isn't leading an athletic department. Which makes it a good opportunity for some reflection by the NCAA's new Managing Director of Championships & Alliances. Items discussed: Challenges of the changing financial landscape, skill set requirements & expertise needed by ADs in the current era, as well as, "No AD that I know wants to be mediocre or wants to finish low on the totem pole," plus a bit more. Click the link to listen to the entirety of Ron's 1.Q response. - link (length - 3:37)
