#10: Northwestern announces it will play the majority of its football games the next two seasons at the Lanny and Sharon Martin athletics facility on campus. “With views of the lake, North Campus and downtown Chicago, the temporary structure Northwestern will build at the Martin athletics facility will provide a stunning backdrop for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, bridging the gap between the old Ryan Field and the new, state-of-the-art stadium, scheduled to open in 2026.” To make the enhancements to the Martin athletics facility, Northwestern has partnered with InProduction, the company behind the structures used for the NASCAR viewing area in downtown Chicago, as well as temporary seating, staging, structures and more for college athletics at Hawaii and Florida State. The school continues to have discussions with other Chicagoland venues for other home games in 2024. (link)
|
#9: Auburn inks a new 10-year apparel partnership with Nike, effective in July 2025. Sportico’s Brendan Coffey and Eben Novy-Williams report the Tigers’ deal with Under Armour has decreased in value by $8.6M due to its equity component. As part of the 2015 arrangement, the school agreed to accept $10M in Under Armour stock to be paid out over the life of the contract, “a bet that the apparel company would continue its rapid growth, therefore increasing the school’s compensation.” Unfortunately, the deal was signed a week after UA’s stock hit its all-time high of $54.70. The stock is currently trading for around $6.80. (link); Auburn x Nike video. (link)
|
#8: Former Kansas/Illinois State AD Sheahon Zenger has been named president of Illinois Wesleyan (DIII). (link) |
#7: Ole Miss AD Keith Carter had some fun on X on last Friday to celebrate Men’s Basketball HC Chris Beard staying in Oxford. Posting photos of his turkey hunt with Realtree VP of Strategic Partnerships and Digital Host Tyler Jordan, Carter compared the “beard” of a turkey to Coach Beard. Carter: “Pretty good Friday morning. Brought this beard back from Georgia @TylerJordan @Realtree and kept another Beard rolling with @OleMissMBB @ChrisBeard. Ole Miss Athletics isn’t messing around folks. We’re here to win and win big!” (link)
|
#6: Sportico’s Daniel Libit reports on the IRS letter sent to NIL collectives back in January as “watchdog publication” Tax Notes obtained a copy, leading former IRS lawyer & non-profit expert Phil Hackney to remark: “This seems to be an indictment against [the tax-exempt status of] all the collectives and should mean the other collectives lose their status as well. [...] It puts a real burden upon the professionals who are advising these organizations. Can they in good faith give legal advice or auditing advice that the organization continues to qualify? In my own, personal opinion, I wouldn’t sign off on one.” Further, Hackney believes collectives that have already received 501(c)(3) status were due to an administrative error. More. (link - article, link - letter)
|
#5: News has multiple reports indicating Arkansas will hire Kentucky Men’s Basketball HC John Calipari for the same role in Fayetteville. Compensation for Calipari is expected to be in the $8M range with another $5M for NIL purposes. No buyout would be due to the Wildcats. (link, link)
|
#4: USF unveils two new renderings of its new $340M on-campus football stadium. A groundbreaking ceremony is planned for homecoming week October 14-19. (link) |
#3: Stanford leads in the Learfield Directors’ Cup winter standings with 802.75 points followed by Texas (746.5), North Carolina (733.5), Notre Dame (698), Tennessee (652.5), Wisconsin (637.5), NC State (606), Penn State (603.5), Alabama (587.88) and Ohio State (544.25) in the top 10. (link, link)
|
#2: The Athletic’s Mitch Sherman: “Today is the last day in Nebraska athletics for Doug Ewald, executive associate AD and CFO. He began under Trev Alberts at Nebraska in November 2021. Ewald had worked previously in business and finance development at Nebraska-Omaha and UNMC.” (link)
|
#1: SBJ releases this year’s class of Forty Under 40, which includes Toledo AD Bryan Blair, Elevate CBO Jonathan Marks and Learfield Chief Strategy Officer Ben Mathan. (link)
|
|
|