DAVID BERRI

Economics Professor, Southern Utah University

July 2022

David Berri researches and writes about sports economics. In this conversation we break down the changing economics of college sports. 

Show Notes:

1:30 History of NIL

4:00 College athletes and why they choose schools (hint: it’s changing)

10:00 Will college athletes begin to collectively bargain?

14:30 Will athletic departments soon be paying athetes directly?

17:30 Booster Collectives

21:50 Explain monopsony please

26:30 What will changing economy do to coach’s salaries in college athletics?

31:00 Realignment and TV money

36:00 The college sports industry

38:00 the ‘mythology’ of the college student athlete

STEVE SIPPLE worked at the Lincoln Journal Star for about 30 years, the last 15 as a columnist. His primary beat for much of that time is Huskers football. In June 2022 he left the Journal Star to work for On3, the newest of the sports sites dedicated to college athletics, mostly recruiting but not exclusively; the others are 247 Sports and Rivals. He has a long-term contract to do what he’d been doing in the newspaper business. He says he doesn’t think the local journalists have been too easy on Scott Frost, that the Nebraska football brand could turn around quickly but he’s not sure yet if Frost is the guy to do it. 

A candid interview with one of most senior Nebraska sports journalists.

Adrian Martinez and Geoff Exstrom host the podcast Athletes Unfiltered. They are both recent graduates of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Geoff with a degree in Sports Media and Broadcasting and Adrian in Business. Martinez has since transferred to Kansas State to play his final year of football. They talk about their podcast, how it got started, what they’re trying to do with it and where they go from here.

Gary Sharp hosts the morning show with Damon Benning at 1620 the Zone in Omaha. He talks about the chemistry he has with his partner; also, the difference in planning and delivering an early morning show and a midday show. A little more pop culture in the morning and a little more sports in the middle of day. 

MARK FAINARU-WADA has been on the investigative team at ESPN for 15 years. He and his brother Steve Fainaru often collaborate and did so on a piece released April 14, 2022, “Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai is the face of NBA’s uneasy China relationship.” John got Mark on the line within hours and recorded this conversation about the story, about the task of reporting on the ESPN's business partners, about the process of chasing down this story, which took a year to report, edit and deliver, and working so often with his older brother.

DAVE RAYMOND enters his sixth season as the television play by play voice of the Ranges. He was the lead announcer of the Houston Astros for seven seasons. The Stanford grad and Nebraska native says it's great to be back after the lockout. He says baseball is taking on its challenges, such as its style of play, which has affected the pace of the game. He says MLB also has a consumption problem, competing with the phone, tablets, other programming that is streamed and on television. The question of getting young people more interested could be answered when those two issues - style and consumption - are resolved.

KEVIN FRANDSEN in 2022 starts his first year as the TV analyst for the Washington Nationals, after two seasons as an analyst on Phillies radio broadcasts. Frandsen played for the Nats and says he thinks his time as a player in DC helped set the tone for his hiring. He thinks baseball should be concerned about its style of play, its TV blackout rules and he likes a good number of the enacted and proposed new rules in the game. 

KEN KORACH has been the lead radio voice of the A’s for 17 years, and with the club overall for 27 years.

DAVE RAYMOND is the lead TV announcer for the Texas Rangers, going into his sixth season. He spent seven years with the Houston Astros in the same capacity.

KEVIN FRANDSEN is entering his first season as the TV analyst for the Washington Nationals after two years in the Phillies radio booth.

All the guests are longtime friends, associates or former colleagues of the host, and they discuss the upcoming season, the lockout and the fans reaction to it and much more.

JB LONG has been the voice of the Rams since they returned to LA in 2016. He’s a Notre Dame grad who grew up in Northern California. The Rams won the Super Bowl in their home stadium in February 2022, an event Long says could be a once in a lifetime honor. Long says his role is as much about calling the games as it is helping the club grow a new generation of fans in Southern California.

Josh Planos is Director of Public Relations and Communications for the Better Business Bureau AND a freelance sports writer. He’s written for Sports Illustrated, Washington Post, and others. Most of his work now appears in the sports vertical of the Nate Silver founded site, Five Thirty Eight. He also does regular hits with CNN Philippines. He talks about the dual life in the media business and how he prepared for it; the process and the joy he gets from scratching both his public relations and journalism itches.