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Virtually an entire D1.ticker could be dedicated to the National Labor Relations Board's decision that Northwestern FB student-athletes can't unionize, but you've likely already reviewed a ton on the issue & it seems fairly certain there's still a long way to go on determining what additional compensation looks like for student-athletes, CBSSports.com's Solomon has it covered well, as usual (link, link), Twitter feed of SportsBusiness Journal's Mullen is also solid (link) & includes comments from notable attorney Kessler, "I think now that the NLRB has acted, it is very clear antitrust is the right way for the players to go"
Indiana & Adidas have agreed to an extended deal through 2024 that will increase the Hoosiers annual haul from $3.7m to $6.7m, works out to $53.6m over eight years, AD Glass, "Adidas fits us well, we've had a long relationship with them," every IU program will get more swag, as the co-marketing budget, number of alternate uniforms & helmets will also get bumped up, Glass & his team used Navigate Research to thoroughly analyze the landscape - link
It's behind a paywall, though many of you likely have access, as SportBusiness Journal's Smith reports on UCLA's new deal with IMG College that, per sources, runs 10 years for an eye-opening $150m, figure is nearly triple what the Bruins current agreement is worth, super interesting in the context of the Pac-12's push to aggregate sponsorship rights from member institutions, piece says Oregon is leaning toward the conference model, while Cal & Stanford are fully vetting options - link
In a two-part interview Cal AD Williams covers a bunch of angles on the Golden Bears, hiring a head of development & starting to execute an organizational structure that he prefers were the only two items to change once he shed the Interim title, credits Chancellor Dirks for convincing him to take the role permanently, focused on delivering best possible student-athlete experience, believes skill set developed in the private sector translates well to athletics leadership, wants to connect with donors in meaningful & emotional ways, lots more - link, link
This one seems to have flown under the radar a bit, but Villanova's AD search reviewed by Philly.com, school is working with Parker Executive Search on the process, author wonders if using a search firm gives the client enough bang for its buck, thinks a revenue-generating leader should be heavily considered, also, "The new AD needs to know that Villanova doesn't have unlimited resources, that Drexel has a bigger endowment." - link
Clemson's IPTAY fundraising arm pulled-in $60.1m in FY15, breaks down to $25.5m in annual giving, $29.6m in major gifts, $2.3m of planned giving & $2.7m in premium seating revenue, athletic department pushed $10.8m back to the university for support, annual fund had 14,988 donors & a 91% renewal rate, AD Radakovich points to facility upgrades as a direct manifestation of IPTAY's contributions - link
UNLV AD Kunzer-Murphy excited to report a budget surplus from 2014-15 for the first time in a number of years, FB season ticket sales have eclipsed last year's mark as 4,129 have been moved in advance of HC Sanchez's first season, $85k in single game tix were sold the first few days they went on-sale, all 17 sports achieved the APR minimum of 930, moving forward with full cost of attendance coverage though she says there's no real plan in place to pay for it - link
Football & basketball facilities aren't the only venues receiving fan experience upgrades as Wisconsin has added StadiumVision to the UW Field House where the Badgers highly-ranked Volleyball program plays its home games, 20 more TVs have been added around the concourse, complementary wi-fi also upgraded thanks to a partnership with AT&T & Cisco, announcement comes on the heals of an additional $1.5m enhancement for the team's locker room & support space - link
Cal State Bakersfield AVP for Student Affairs Drnek who has chaired the school's search committee to find a permanent AD says his group will forward a recommendation to university brass around the middle of this week with an announcement possible by the end of this week or early next, final two candidates are Interim AD Siegfried & Queens College (NY - DII) AD Jude - link
New Southern Utah AD Butikofer introduced in Cedar City, "It's going to take some time for me to come in and develop an understanding of what's in front of me. I'm coming in with eyes wide open and I'll evaluate all aspects of the department." Deputy AD O'Driscoll points to Butikofer's strong body of work during stops at Army, Minnesota & Arizona State, 2013-14budget for the Thunderbirds was $10.598m, smallest in the Big Sky - link
Things are finally back to normal on the East Coast after a control center issue impacted nearly 1,000 flights on Sunday, Reagan, Dulles & BWI were the most affected, which of course spider-webbed with so many connections in the balance, 'Flypocalypse' quickly became the moniker on social media, malfunctions at Leesburg, VA facility prohibited the monitoring of planes above 20,000-feet - link
Deseret News writer Benson on the 28-year tenure of Utah AD Hill, "Chris Hill is an institution at an institution," recounts his story of how he ended up in the state & why he's stayed so long, "the people, the surroundings, it's wonderful," says the length of his post can be attributed to the relationships he's built across campus as "the job is a lot more precarious than people think," points to all the AD movement in the Pac-12 over the last decade, challenges that come with increased visibility are his biggest headaches, whole lot more - link
New Troy AD McClain likes how the Trojans have executed facility improvements across the board for revenue-generating & Olympic sports alike, allows his staff to focus more on the $17m North End Zone project that he says will transform the entire department, set to dive right in on possible solutions for cost of attendance coverage & notes the department's drug testing program will continue - link
Arizona Daily Star's Hansen on Arizona's decision to stay Nike includes comments from student-athletes, former Notre Dame FB transfer Neal, "Adidas was nice. They even make a real good cleat now, the Adizero. But it's absolutely not Nike." FB HC Rodriguez says simply that student-athletes identify easily with the Swoosh, Hansen notes Wildcats AD Byrne didn't try to leverage the deal to get more from Under Armour or Adidas -link
Deadspin reviews a sexual assault case involving Baylor FB student-athlete Ukwuachu that it says has flown completely under the radar since the university has been aided by local authorities in not mentioning the situation, jury selection started yesterday, Ukwuachu started his career at Boise State before being dismissed, columnist Moskovitz tries to dig, but doesn't turn-up much, closes with searing words, "No matter the outcome of the case, Ukwuachu's case has been a win for Baylor football...it's only the optics that matter." - link
USA Today reviews the growth of Rice FB coming off 25 wins over the last three seasons, notes two situations of former student-athlete leaving the program early, one for the NFL & the other for a six-figure paying job with Centurion Pipeline, HC Bailiff talks about helping to make decisions in the same manner as he would with his own son, says five years out of school former players should be the boss, 10 years out they should be able to pay back their scholarship in donations - link
Late last week Florida tweeted out pictures of its new $17m FB indoor practice facility that could open as soon as this Saturday, Gators also pushed out a video of the new digs, logo work on the field still being completed in the pics, Executive Assoc. AD for Internal Affairs Howard also noted how the surface itself was still due a little more love - link
Winthrop rolls-out new branding campaign around 'W1NTHROP' with focus on "One Team, One Family, One Goal, One W1NTHROP," aim is to bring all 18 programs closer together with an emphasis on education, opportunity, community & tradition, AD Hickman believes the roll-out will energize his department, notes "special product" produced by the Eagles including 60% of student-athletes achieving a 3.0 GPA or better - link
For all the talk around virtual reality & STriVR, who seems to be gobbling up the marketplace, Tennessee Sports Technology Coordinator Harrington figured out how to build his own version after sampling STriVR's offerings, convinced FB HC Jones to let him give it a shot, goes through his building steps & says there were a number of times he didn't think he could pull it off, Jones impressed, but not surprised at Harrington's drive, gotta be a big cost-saver for the Vols, as well - link
Minnesota says former AD Teague didn't disclose the fact that there was a pending gender discrimination settlement in the works at VCU during the Golden Gophers AD hiring process back in 2012, search firm of record Parker Executive Search stands by its thorough work on the assignment, once the situation was uncovered a VCU attorney said no information could be provided on the settlement due to a confidentiality agreement, Parker has earned $285,521 from UM since 2007 - link
Indiana Attorney General Zoeller backs ESPN's fight to get access to more Notre Dame student records, "The state takes the legal position that transparency is needed in the exercise of public power in order to maintain the public's trust," at the center of the debate is a subset of police records that could include info on student-athletes who have stepped out of bounds, the university has repeatedly denied the requests of ESPN & other media outlets - link
Former West Virginia AD Pastilong talks about his semi-retirement as he's still helping West Liberty (DII) with some fundraising initiatives, "When you are working in the athletic world, and particularly at universities and going 24 hours a day then all of a sudden you put the breaks on. It takes you about a year to get used to it. And after that year is up, it's pretty nice." Also recounts some of the strong personal relationships he had with HCs - link
Rocky Mountain Showdown between Colorado & Colorado State gets a new title sponsor for this year as Albertsons/Safeway comes aboard for the mid-September FB clash in Denver between the two rivals, Albertsons/Safeway will work closely with the sponsorship properties at both schools to fully activate around the opportunity, social media 'submit it to win it' campaign one piece of the puzzle - link
Closing up a previous development, Maryland WBB AC & former Xavier staffer McKey has resigned his post in College Park stemming from allegations of sexual abuse of XU student-athletes right before he made the move to the Terps this past summer, after learning of the situation late last week UMD athletics brass suspended McKey & one day later he technically resigned - link
Former Louisiana Monroe Men's Golf HC Williams sounds-off on why he chose to leave the Warhawks for a similar position at DIII LeTourneau in Texas, notes that he enjoyed working for AD Wickstrom who he thinks is trying to change the culture, but, "I just don't think the university cares about athletics...athletes seemed like just a necessary evil to them (university administration)...I've never worked in a place so negative" - link
When you spend $485m to renovate a facility a three-day grand reopening is more than necessary & that's exactly what Texas A&M has planned for Kyle Field the weekend of September 11th, highlights include the Aggies home opener against Ball State, country concert with Pat Green & rock band Relient K, along with the unveiling of a new statue & free tours of the next west side of the facility, being dubbed the 'world's largest tailgate' - link
