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The college sports system is “irreparably broken, yet more popular than ever,” per the Boston Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy, who recently sat down with NCAA President Charlie Baker and outgoing Knight Commission member/former Northeastern/Dartmouth AD Peter Roby to discuss today’s college sports environment…

➤ Baker: “I think to say that the power conferences don’t care about education is wrong. …  I worry a lot about the transfer stuff having an impact on graduate rates, but the transfer rules we had were taken away from us in a court decision in West Virginia a couple of years ago. … Most of the student-athletes I talk to really want to be students first and want to play sports. They do not want to be employees. That’s not how they want to roll. … The thing that people don’t see that I get to see all the time is the kids. They make me glad I am in this role. They are smart, proud, accomplished. The lessons they learn playing sports about teamwork and putting your own interests aside and being able to take constructive criticism and do the grind. They’re applicable everywhere for the rest of their lives. … There’s a lot about [his job] that’s frustrating. But I spent most of my career in healthcare and government, and those can be frustrating environments, as well.”

➤ Roby: “Schools continue to complain about rising costs and the need for more revenue, yet they are paying out multimillion-dollar buyouts for fired coaches and hiring coaches at $12M per year. The way things are trending, the NCAA will not exist in its current form in the next few years. It will only manage sports championships. … It’s time to separate [schools with the biggest school-based NIL programs] from schools that believe in the primacy of education and the personal development of young people. … Let’s create another division within Division I to allow like-minded schools to compete on a more level playing field academically, philosophically, and athletically.” More. (link)

After Baylor (DI) added former 2023 NBA Draft pick James Nnaji mid-season, NCAA President Charlie Baker on the potential of granting eligibility to men’s basketball student-athletes who’ve previously signed NBA contracts, remarks: “The NCAA has not and will not grant eligibility to any prospective or returning student-athletes who have signed an NBA contract (including a two-way contract). As schools are increasingly recruiting individuals with international league experience, the NCAA is exercising discretion in applying the actual and necessary expenses bylaw to ensure that prospective student-athletes with experience in American basketball leagues are not at a disadvantage compared to their international counterparts. Rules have long permitted schools to enroll and play individuals with no prior collegiate experience midyear. While the NCAA has prevailed on the vast majority of eligibility-related lawsuits, recent outlier decisions enjoining the NCAA on a nationwide basis from enforcing rules that have been on the books for decades -- without even having a trial -- are wildly destabilizing. I will be working with DI leaders in the weeks ahead to protect college basketball from these misguided attempts to destroy this American institution.” (link)

Southwest Minnesota State AD Travis Whipple joins The Mustang Blueprint to discuss a number of topics, including the culture he wants to instill in Marshall, which he describes as one of excellence, continuous improvement and creating champions and Mustangs for life. Next up for SMSU, in addition to the ongoing strategic planning process, Whipple hopes to implement a refueling station and a sport psychology/wellness program. (link)

Of note, the Division I Cabinet is set to discuss allowing sponsored jersey patches in competition during the 2026 NCAA Convention over Jan. 13-16, per SBJ’s Ben Portnoy, who notes the talks don’t necessarily mean a vote on the topic will be held as one is not currently scheduled as part of the event’s agenda. The upcoming talks represent a “next step” in the “months-long process to open a lucrative sponsorship asset amid increased financial pressures throughout the ecosystem. … The shift in rules around jersey patches has also included varying conversations between NCAA stakeholders, conference commissioners and, of note, apparel companies.” Portnoy adds: “The actual value of jersey patches remains to be seen, but administrators and industry sources expect it could fetch millions annually for schools depending on how they package the asset for individual teams or department-wide.” (link)

Check out the fly-through of Lubbock Christian’s Rip Griffin Center expansion. (link)

Coaches.wire…
➤ Carson-Newman Football HC Ashley Ingram departs for the same role at VMI (DI). The Eagles promote DC Tyler Almond to become the Eagles’ next HC. (link, link)
➤ Central Washington names Wisconsin (DI) AC Scott Power as its next Football HC. (link)
➤ UT Permian Basin hires high school AD/Football HC Chris Softley as its new HC. (link)
➤ Football plus 15 other sports had coaching staff changes over the past week. Check them all out in this morning’s edition of Coaches.wire. (link)

Puck’s Dylan Byers surveys 173 C-suite and executive media insiders on the future of the industry and highlights a decisive pivot toward audience revenue as the primary driver over the next five years. Specifically, 34% of respondents expect subscriptions/memberships to eclipse advertising (27%) as their biggest revenue stream, with nearly half (43%) favoring "focused niche" strategies over the "one big product" flagship model. Other key findings include...

➤ ESPN’s Future: The industry is split on ESPN, with one-third predicting joint ventures will define its next chapter, while equal shares (24% each) bet on either the resilience of linear carriage or the rise of a flagship DTC product.

➤ Video/Streaming Dominance: 40% identify video/streaming as the biggest growth area in advertising, far outpacing contextual targeting (31%) and podcasts (7%).

➤ The End of Social Distribution: Only 17% expect social platforms to be their strongest audience relationship in five years, compared to 53% for owned-and-operated platforms.

➤ Warner Bros. Discovery Skepticism: 45% view David Ellison's pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery as logical consolidation, but 36% fear it's a "risky overreach" given debt loads and streaming uncertainty.

➤ AI Anxiety: Respondents overwhelmingly cited "diminished content quality" (39%) and "misinformation risks" (33%) as their top concerns regarding AI's impact, with one insider predicting "A.I. experiments will flop and disintegrate into A.I. slop." More. (link)