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CCNY selects Louisiana (DI) Deputy AD/CFO Duane Bailey as its new AD. Asst. VP for Student Affairs Ramon De Los Santos: “Duane Bailey's appointment represents an exciting new chapter for CCNY. His energy, experience, and commitment to holistic student development align perfectly with our mission to foster leadership, wellness, and pride across our entire community — both on the field of competition and throughout the campus. Under his leadership, we look forward to advancing athletic excellence and building innovative leaders who will carry the CCNY legacy forward.” (link)

Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger provides this summary of congressional Democrats’ news conference: “Either of the two introduced college sports bills – the Republican-authored SCORE Act & the Democrat-authored SAFE Act – is unlikely, in its current form, to pass Congress by the mid-term elections next November. Authors and sponsors of the Democrat-backed SAFE Act have *not* held productive discussions with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) over a third piece of bipartisan legislation to govern college sports (though Cruz does continue to hold dialogue with others).” (link)

Denison AD Matt Tanney pens an op-ed on the current moment for DIII, standing “as the last bastion of amateur athletics designed to enrich the totality of students' collegiate experiences.” Tanney: “The new realities of Division I create uncertainty in Division III. The roster caps resulting from House, combined with the transfer portal, are a potent disruptor in Division III. […] Simply put, Division III has always included a broad array of institutions with differing needs, but an obvious, growing variance across the membership threatens the cohesion of Division III and its core principles. It's time to acknowledge the vast difference in athletics philosophies present on Division III campuses. Some institutions and conferences seek to maintain enrollments through a more expansive lens of athletics imitating Division I, such as NIL collectives and redshirting. It is abundantly clear there is a place for those approaches in intercollegiate athletics and space should exist within the NCAA. At the same time, there must also be a home for institutions dedicated to a four-year athletics experience, a commitment to financial aid untethered to athletics ability, and a holistic athletics experience deeply integrated with campus. We should reaffirm these commitments for the future betterment of Division III.” More on BOSCA. (link)

Of note from DI: The NCAA has sent messaging out to members that the 5-for-5 eligibility rule change that has been circulated isn’t coming to college sports for the foreseeable future. From the NCAA’s message: “The Division I Cabinet determined that, for the remainder of the current academic year and for the rosters competing during the 2026-27 academic year, it will maintain existing eligibility rules as they pertain to student-athletes competing in no more than four seasons of athletics competition in a particular sport over a consecutive five-year period. The Cabinet is studying these policies, along with several related eligibility rules, and will later consider what changes, if any, to implement for future academic years.” More. (link)

The Landmark inks an extension with FloSports that will keep the league’s media rights with FloCollege through 2032. The league is one of the flagship entities using FloSports Production Suite, with Catholic and Moravian already using the suite, which includes higher quality video, an upgraded graphics package and “a dramatic rise in uptime delivery.” The package will be available for all Landmark members in 2026-27. To date this year, the league has surpassed 2.5M live plays on FloCollege and 3M social media impressions. Commissioner Katie Boldvich: “FloSports has significantly enhanced our ability to deliver high-quality live event coverage, which is invaluably supported by their content engine that gives a full picture of our teams and athletes throughout the season. They are an essential partner to ensure the health and growth of our sports across the entire conference.” (link) 

Facility Features…
➤ William Paterson breaks ground on its new $40M transformation of the Sports and Recreation Center that will include a new 25-meter natatorium, athletic training and wellness spaces, as well as housing the Department of Kinesiology. The upgraded facility will see a 55K square-foot, two-story expansion to connect to the current space and be completed by June 2027. (link)
➤ Eastern Connecticut State has begun work on a $2.7M upgrade to its Baseball and Softball fields to add new turf and upgrade bullpens ahead of the upcoming season. (link)

Deal Digest…
➤ The NEWMAC partners with WePlayed Sports to support the highlights and content distribution efforts around conference championships. (link)
➤ The NJAC will move to electronic tickets for all championships through a partnership with HomeTown Ticketing. (link)
➤ Dickinson teams up with RADical Hope Foundation to support the mental health needs of student-athletes. (link) 
➤ Hudl has made its 18th acquisition by adding Athletic Data Innovations to its portfolio, per SBJ’s Joe Lemire, who notes ADI Founder Andrew Gray will join Hudl’s team. As part of the arrangement, ADI’s IP will be incorporated into Hudl Signal, the firm’s athlete management system that launched last April. (link) 

The NCAA Woman of the Year Selection Committee has announced the Top 30 honorees – 10 from each division. In DIII, honorees include Wisconsin-La Crosse Soccer student-athlete Ellie Arndt, MIT Soccer student-athlete Natalie Barnouw, Emory Track & Field student-athlete Nikki Boon, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Tennis student-athlete Ella Brissett, Nebraska Wesleyan Track & Field student-athlete Avery Decker, Bethel (MN) Track & Field student-athlete Hailey Gregg, Belhaven Softball and Volleyball student-athlete Ellie Jones, Catholic Cross Country/Track & Field student-athlete Emily Moehringer, North Central (IL) Triathlon student-athlete Hailey Poe and Amherst Ice Hockey student-athlete Alyssa Xu. (link)

Union will add Women’s Flag Football as its 27th varsity sport starting in 2026-27. (link)

Coaches.wire…
➤ Muhlenberg hires Lafeyette (DI) Tennis HC Ralph Van Ormer as its new Men’s and Women’s Tennis HC. (link)
➤ Neumann names Arcadia AC Evan Bohner as its new Men’s Lacrosse HC. (link)
➤ SUNY New Paltz selects Haverford AC Kroy Arnold as its Men’s Lacrosse Interim HC. (link)
➤ Wheaton (IL) promotes Men’s Golf AC Jonny Tink and Women’s Golf HC Kelly Vazquez to HCs of their respective programs. (link) 
➤ This morning’s edition of Coaches.wire is ready for your review. (link)

Warner Bros. Discovery is exploring a potential sale of some or all of its media holdings after reportedly rejecting Paramount’s second offer for the company, according to the Wall Street Journal’s Joe Flint and Lauren Thomas. WBD CEO David Zaslav: “After receiving interest from multiple parties, we have initiated a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives to identify the best path forward to unlock the full value of our assets.” The company did not further specify the interest. Warner Chair Samuel Di Piazza Jr. says the company will still move forward with a split between its streaming and cable properties: “We continue to believe that our planned separation to create two distinct, leading media companies will create compelling value. That said, we determined taking these actions to broaden our scope is in the best interest of shareholders.” Flint and Thomas note that Comcast is “expected to explore the Warner assets” while Netflix “was seen by some industry observers as a potential suitor for Warner’s entertainment assets, though the streaming company’s co-chief executive Greg Peters played down the idea” earlier this month. (link)

The Chronicle of Higher Education’s Nell Gluckman profiles the sport-performance major at Southern Virginia, which is exclusive to students participating in a competitive sport. The idea was brought to SVU by Professor of Philosophy John Armstrong who was inspired by a New York Times feature on NYU Professor David Hollander’s push for a sport major with the backing of Nike. In its first academic year, 29 student-athletes have enrolled in the major, with AD Josh Monsen believing that it could become one of the institution’s most popular majors. Hollander on the idea of an athletics major: “The leap that we’re trying to get people to understand is not that sports is a conduit to learning math or science or that sports is a conduit to learning sociology or leadership. Sports is a discipline unto itself, unique and rich, no different than music, art, dance, and dare I say math, literature. […] The only thing that’s different between athletics and these other disciplines is that it’s never been raised to the level of serious academia. That’s been a historic mistake.” While comparable academic programs are being proposed at American (DI), Lindsey Wilson (NAIA) where 12 academic credits would be awarded for sport participation, and more, detractors feel the idea would give schools and coaches more control over student-athletes and become a crutch to keep athletes eligible, with Indiana (DI) Emeritus Professor Murray Sperber stating: “The suggested sports-performing major seems an excuse to list current professional or semi-professional college athletes as university students. It seems a sad fiction.” (link)