The Business of College Sports

This episode, I'm joined by Justin Herzig, co-founder of Own the Moment NFT. He's schooling me on all things NFT, so if you barely understand what an NFT is, this episode is for you!

Justin gave me some great background on NFTs and then we dove into what they might look like in the college space. Here are some highlights from our talk:

• The definition of an NFT
• How NFT’s can be beneficial for all student athletes 
• The impact athletic departments can have on the value of an NFT
• How a player’s NFT can be beneficial in promoting their own content while also not creating tension within their teams.

Justin Herzig is the co-founder of Own the Moment NFT, a venture-backed content and analytics company that helps people invest and collect NFTs with confidence. He has been working in blockchain technology for the past seven years combined with a background in predictive sports analytics.

You can follow Justin on Twitter here and Own the Moment NFT here.

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

This week I'm joined by two guests: Jim Cavale, CEO of INFLCR, and Ryan Detert, CEO of Influential. We're chatting about how AI can help student athletes improve and grow their social media platforms and attract offers from brands.

INFLCR and Influential announced a partnership that will give the student athletes on INFLCR's platform the ability to tap into Influential's IBM with Watson APIs to gain insight into their current influence. These analytics will help student athletes improve their social media presence and allow brands with whom they're in alignment to find them.

Jim and Ryan both shared more about how their respective companies are helping student athletes as we enter this new NIL era. Ryan also shared some great advice for student athletes based on all the many data points his AI-powered platform will share with brands.

Jim on Twitter: @jimcavale
INFLCR website

Ryan on Twitter: @RyanMDetert
Influential website

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

This episode I'm joined by Jim Carr, the President and CEO of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). As I mention in the opening, we originally recorded this informally as an interview for a Forbes piece I was writing. However, we had such a great chat I decided to ask Jim if we could turn it into a podcast episode, and he graciously agreed.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How the NAIA has relaxed its rules around NIL over the past five years 
• Why the NAIA was able to pass NIL legislation more quickly than the NCAA
• The NAIA's stance on student athletes wearing school gear in NIL-related activities
• How the NAIA is approaching compliance
• Plans for educating student athletes on NIL
• What the marketplace looks like for NAIA student athletes

You can review the basics of the NAIA's rule change here.

In this episode, we talked briefly about NAIA student athlete Chloe Mitchell and the company she co-founded, Playbooked. You can check out my interview with Mitchell and learn more about the opportunities student athletes are getting through her platform in my piece on Forbes.

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

I'm joined this week by Darren Heitner, a Florida attorney who helped draft and promote Florida's initial NIL legislation to talk about where we're at currently with NCAA, state and federal legislation.

As of the publication of this episode, five states have NIL laws that go into effect on July 1, 2021, with several other states still pushing to pass legislation with the same effective date. We talk about Florida nearly changing its effective date, why some states are still holding out and what the landscape will look like if the NCAA or Congress doesn't enact something for this school year.

Darren and I also discuss what we think the marketplace might look like as student athletes as the NIL era begins, how it might impact things like recruiting and more.

You can follow Darren on Twitter: @DarrenHeitner. 

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

I'm joined in this episode by Brian Kappel, a partner in Lightfoot, Franklin & White's NCAA Compliance & Investigations practice group. Kappel is here to break down the NCAA's new Independent Accountability Resolution Process (IARP).

The IARP is a group of lawyers, judges and arbitrators who operate separately from the NCAA to handle complex infractions cases. There are often significant disagreements between the involved institution and the NCAA's enforcement staff.

Because of trial-like procedures involved in the work-up and presentation of IARP cases, the elevated stakes and penalties associated with the process, and the lack of an appellate remedy, it is critical that institutions and individuals going before the IARP understand what’s involved and approach it like a litigator, with an eye toward not only NCAA practice and precedent but also advocacy.

Kappel says institutions or individuals before the IARP should thoroughly understand the process and their role, as well as that of their counsel. This includes the best methods to assist or participate in fact gathering and any re-investigation done by the CCU, the drafting of early submissions to the IARP regarding procedural and dispositive rules interpretations questions, and hearing preparation.

Listen in as Brian shares how the IARP works, the types of cases making it into the system and the consequences of decisions made through this process.

You can learn more about Lightfoot, Franklin & White at www.lightfootlaw.com.

You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

I'm joined this episode by Eric Nichols, Senior Associate Athletics Director for Marketing and Branding/Chief Marketing Officer at the University of South Carolina.

This spring, South Carolina announced it would be rolling back its season ticket prices to 2010 prices in an effort to motivate fans to purchase. Like most athletic departments, South Carolina had a difficult year financially in 2020, so it was a risky move.

Eric discusses  ​the​ ​methodology​ ​behind​ ​the​ ​decision​making​ ​process​, ​including​ ​the​ ​financial​ ​modeling,​ ​elasticity​ ​tools,​ ​and​ ​hedging​ ​opportunities.​ ​In​ ​addition,​ ​he shares what the​ ​response​ ​has​ ​been​ ​in​ ​the​ ​forms​ ​of​ ​KPIs,​ ​such​ ​as​ ​new​ ​leads,​ ​web​ ​chats,​ ​phone​ ​call​ ​logs,​ ​and​ ​sales​ ​trends.​ ​He also discussed​ ​how​ ​they ​will​ ​measure​ ​the​ ​success​ ​or​ ​failure​ ​of​ ​the​ ​strategy.​ ​

Listen in as Eric shares the behind the scenes of this interesting decision.

You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

Todd Berry, executive director of the American Football Coaches Foundation, joined the podcast to discuss the concerns football coaches across the country as name, image and likeness legislation is passed at the state level and proposed at the national level and within the NCAA.

There were a lot of interesting nuggets in this one, including:

• What recruits are already asking football coaches
• How boosters are getting involved in NIL and why it's concerning
• Why you can't talk about NIL without also talking about potential changes to the transfer rules
• How NIL rights may return college football to some of the behavior seen in the 1970s and 1980s
• How and why farm teams might emerge in college football
• The impact of NIL in the locker room
• ...and more!

Todd Berry coached college football for over 30 years including head coaching jobs at Illinois State, Army and Louisiana-Monroe. An Oklahoma native and graduate of Tulsa, Berry took over directorship of AFCF on March 1, 2016.

The American Football Coaches Foundation is the professional development arm of the American Football Coaches association providing professional development and educational resources and tools to football coaches from high school to all levels of college football.

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

It's been seven months since Tim Russell, CEO of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, joined the podcast to talk about why tennis was being cut more than any other sport during the pandemic. It was my most-listened to episode of 2020, so I asked Tim if we could revisit the subject now that we've seen several more tennis programs eliminated.

The ITA is the governing body of college tennis, overseeing men's and women's varsity tennis at all levels -- NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and Junior/Community College. In addition to providing resources to its members to help support programs, the ITA also put together opportunities while competition was halted in collegiate tennis.

Listen in to hear more about why tennis may be taking the brunt of the cuts, Tim's opposing argument and also great advice for coaches in any sport to be more proactive in demonstrating value to their administrations.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Health Index (a useful tool for coaches in any sport)
• Tim's response to AthleticDirectorU the role of Olympic sports on college campuses

You can follow the ITA on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

In this episode, I'm joined by Samantha Arsenault Livingstone, an Olympic Gold Medalist,  high-performance consultant, speaker, educator and mental health advocate. 

Samantha was a member of the U.S. Swimming National Team, 1999 U.S. Pan Pacific Team and 2000 U.S. Olympic Team. As an 18-year-old, she stood atop the Olympic podium in Sydney, Australia after swimming the lead-off leg of the record-setting 4 x 200 Freestyle Relay. Post- Olympics, Samantha battled an eating disorder, depression and shoulder surgery. 

With the help of an amazing mentor, she rose from the rubble stronger, happier and healthier, ending her career as a 7 x NCAA All-American. To close out her career, Samantha led her teammates to the 2005 National Championship title as the co-captain of the Georgia Bulldogs.

At home in the classroom, Samantha spent six years teaching high school science and coaching swimming. She is the founder of Livingstone High Performance and the Whole Athlete Initiative (the WAI) providing pillars of support to athletes, coaches, parents and organizations to elevate mental health and improve performance. In addition to private and group coaching, Samantha consults with teams and organizations on athlete wellness initiatives, leadership, strategic planning, rising skills and developing high-performance cultures.

She is a certified instructor of Mindful Sport Performance Enhancement (MSPE) and a certified instructor of Mental Health First Aid. Samantha holds a master's degree in secondary science education from the University of Georgia. She lives in New England with her husband, Rob, and four daughters. 

In this episode, we discussed:

• How coaches and administrators can spot issues student athletes might have coming into their program from home or previous sports experience
• How administrators can set the tone for compliance for everything from practice limits to sexual abuse and communicate to student athletes that it matters
• Samantha's message for student athletes who fear coming forward about violations will lead to retaliation
• How coaches can create a culture where student athletes feel comfortable talking to them about issues
• The lack of mental health resources and education in intercollegiate athletics
• As a parent, how Samantha talks to her kids about what is and isn't appropriate behavior from their coaches

Samantha's website: www.samanthalivingstone.com
Follow Samantha on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

I'm joined today by Stephanie Stabulis of Social Creates Impact, who I've been partnering with on some educational programming for coaches, administrators and student athletes as we enter the NIL era.

Stephanie is a former award-winning, top influencer marketing agency executive passionate about bringing more training, resources and education to influencers and brands. She has designed campaign strategies for hundreds of brands from small-startups to dream clients like ESPN, OREO, Nickelodeon, Southwest Airlines, Macy's, Gilden Apparel, and Sour Patch Kids.

In this episode, I tapped into Stephanie's knowledge on a variety of topics related to how brands will likely work with student athletes once they're able to monetize their name, image and likeness, including:

• The difference between an influencer vs. ambassador vs. affiliate
• How much of a student athlete's content should be directly related their athletic performance
• What brand deals typically look like and the process behind them
• How brands find the people they want to work with
• The importance of having written agreements
• Some of the risks and pitfalls student athletes need to be aware of
• The opportunities for developing content creation skills that can take student athletes beyond graduation

You can connect with Stephanie on Instagram: @socialcreatesimpact.

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.