D1.ticker Top Ten - the most clicked stories of the past week |
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Dallas Baptist University’s historic move to the Pac-12 highlights not only the Patriots’ growth as a national baseball power but also the expertise of CSA Search & Consulting in navigating the complexities of conference realignment. With decades of experience guiding institutions through transformational change, CSA played a key role in supporting DBU’s transition into one of the nation’s most storied and competitive leagues. This milestone underscores CSA’s reputation as a trusted partner for colleges and universities seeking strategic counsel in athletics, academics, and beyond.
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#10: Northwestern CRO Jesse Marks provides a visual introduction of the “extremely limited number of suite seating options for new Ryan Field” which include “better than TV views, all-inclusive premium clubs, heated seats, VIP parking and access to concerts.” According to Marks, Stadium Club Suites consist of 13-16 seats, while the Living Room Box boasts four seats. Take a look. (link)
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#9: Check out photos of the newly renovated Doak Campbell Stadium at Florida State. Scroll down in the X feed of Noles Gameday’s Logan Robinson. (link)
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#8: Buc-ee’s has officially entered the university retail market as Texas A&M becomes the first institution to partner with the roadside travel center franchise to bring more than 45 of its products to its main campus in College Station. (link)
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#7: AthleticDirectorU has released Part 2 of its survey on industrywide burnout, which focuses on the qualitative context for Part 1’s quantitative analysis. By and large, respondents expressed their levels of burnout, exhaustion and disengagement were attributable to one or more of three main factors: respect from leadership, compensation and/or workload. One former Group of 5 Deputy AD: “I left college athletics in 2023 after 30+ years, not due to fatigue or lack of energy. I grew tired of a business model that calls for spending more money than we have and churning, burning and underpaying our critical frontline workers. As an industry, we have also managed to devalue education. Like corporate America, college athletics has adopted a ‘Leaders Eat First’ mentality. I had a great career and loved the work and relationships. Don’t like what we’ve become.” One G5 Marketing Director explains why they left the industry after a decade: “Not every family can afford to support their post-college grad who took a $12K assistant role because that’s what’s required to break into the business. There’s also enormous pressure within conference realignment for schools to match what the bigger schools are doing in content and marketing despite the budgets remaining the same for those departments. And few things hurt worse than entire staffs going five years without a raise while your coaches and AD continue to get raises and bonuses. I haven’t looked back once with sadness or regret since leaving.” A Power 4 Marketing Director adds: “College athletics has turned into an all-around miserable environment. … You are working harder than ever to make your athletic director, head coaches, and now the athletes multi-millionaires, all while your pay has not increased at all.” Still, several respondents maintain a positive outlook on both their roles and the industry. For instance, one FCS AD says: “College athletics these days is certainly different. The NIL space can be a total burnout, but all other aspects of working with our teams and student-athletes is incredibly rewarding.” Lots more on ADU. (link)
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#6: The Atlantic’s Rose Horowitch takes a look at the “civil war” that is taking place between elite-university presidents and chancellors in the Ivy League and the South, writing: “The leaders of America’s elite universities are required, by the borderline-masochistic, semi-impossible nature of their job, to be skilled in the art of performative comity. So it was a bit of a shock when, at the end of an April panel discussion, Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber turned on the chancellors of Vanderbilt and Washington University in St. Louis, all but accusing them of carrying water for the Trump administration. Eisgruber argued that higher education was facing a politically motivated attack, and that the two men were inadvertently making matters worse by agreeing with President Donald Trump, against the evidence, that the sector had grown illiberal and out of touch with mainstream America. The chancellors, taken aback by the public confrontation, countered that the struggles of a handful of Ivy League schools were dragging down the reputation of America’s heavyweight research institutions. Perhaps, they suggested, it was time for the Ivies’ leaders to step back and let new figures – such as themselves – represent the country’s top universities. The argument, which took place at a Washington, D.C., meeting of the Association of American Universities, which Eisgruber chairs, went on for about 15 minutes, according to multiple people in attendance. The tone was civil, but awkward. The three public-university presidents unlucky enough to also be on the panel sat in bewildered silence. Meanwhile, many in the audience of assembled presidents shifted in their chairs and stared at their phones. When time finally ran out, some thanked a higher power.” Lots more on the increasingly fraught higher ed sector. (link)
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#5: Kansas AD Travis Goff on the timeline for Phase 2 of the Booth Memorial Stadium renovation: “Working on it. Working on it. We’re excited. We feel we’ve got a ton of wind in our sails. Based on a couple announcements last week, the city of Lawrence’s continued approval of the municipal incentives are going to be a really good spark for the project, in particular the Gateway of the East. … Mr. Booth’s remarkable, remarkable donation and the energy, the confidence that that gives us moving into Phase 2…[but] there’s still work to be done. You think about design, you think about having a schedule really refined. But the objective’s been stated. We want to demo that east side after this season and we want to get moving on construction. Of course, when things are finished and all that is still kind of in flux at this point.” (link); Meanwhile, KU shows off its $450M in renovations to Booth Memorial Stadium by flying a drone around the stands and into the attached football complex’s lounges, meeting areas, locker room, weight room and more. Take a ride for yourself. (link)
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#4: USF has debuted the first video look at its new on-campus football stadium, which includes the longest bar in the state. Have a look (at the whole stadium, not just the bar). (link)
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#3: Gardner-Webb names Wagner AD Brendan Fahey as the Bulldogs’ next AD. Interim President Nate Evans: “His experience, vision, and dedication will ensure he hits the ground ready to run. His personality will resonate with our Runnin' Bulldogs community, and he brings the energy needed to lead our athletic programs into an exciting new era. We are excited to have him on the team as we continue to elevate the student-athlete experience and build on our tradition of excellence.” (link)
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#2: One way Penn State is getting back some of the capacity lost during its $700M Beaver Stadium renovation is by “deploying Spacecubes, a rectangular temporary structure product created by an Australian company of the same name and distributed in North American by InProduction," according to SBJ’s Bret McCormick, who adds: “The two companies inked a deal earlier this year in which InProduction – among the world’s leading temporary structure gurus – buys Spacecube units from the Aussies at a favorable price and shares a cut of profits.” The units measure 20 feet by 8 feet and arrive “pre-kitted with electricity and plumbing. They can travel six to a truck, making the Spacecube’s shipping costs much cheaper than similar products that typically fit one or two per truck, said InProduction CEO Jason Tedrow. [...] The units are being used in their most basic form as a makeshift press box on Beaver Stadium’s west side, as well as temporary hospitality on the opposite side of the stadium in a bit more jazzed-up form. The use of temporary seating and other types of structures is helping lessen the financial blow of a large part of the stadium missing during football season.” (link)
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#1: The NCAA Committee on Infractions released its decision in the Michigan Football sign-stealing case. Penalties: four years of probation, financial penalties that include a $50K fine, plus 10% of the football program’s budget, a fine equivalent to the anticipated loss of all postseason competition revenue sharing associated with the 2025 and 2026 football seasons, a fine equivalent to the cost of 10% of the scholarships awarded in Michigan's football program for the 2025-26 academic year, a 25% reduction in official visits during the 2025-26 campaign and a 14-week prohibition on football program recruiting communications. From an individual standpoint, former staff member Conor Stalions received an eight-year show cause order, restricting him from all athletically-related activities over that period, former HC Jim Harbaugh was levied a 10-year show-cause order set to begin on Aug. 7, 2028, at the conclusion of a four-year show-cause order from a previous case, former Director of Player Personnel Denard Robinson earned a three-year show-cause order, while Moore reaped a two-year show-cause order as well as a suspension of three total games, that will see Moore serve a self-imposed two-game suspension in 2025-26 before sitting out the first contest of the 2026-27 campaign. ESPN’s Pete Thamel and Dan Wetzel were among the first to report the news. (link, link); Here’s the full infractions decision. (link)
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