Picking Up Where Brand Left Off

By all accounts, the late Myles Brand had a successful tenure as NCAA President. He continued the successful businesses in football and basketball, while putting much needed focus on academic reform, instituting programs and policies that have only started to show the impact they may eventually have. Now is not the time for complacency though, [...]

Create the College Football MLB Stadium Tour

The NHL crafted a regular season event with the Winter Classic, MLB and the NBA have All-Star games, the NFL and MLB have taken the show on the road to play overseas, college football has an opportunity to ratchet things up in the regular season that has started to take form.
Grant it college football has [...]

Pac-10, ACC Logical Media Partners

Here’s the lay of the land for college conference media deals: the ACC, Big 12, and Pac-10 will all vie for new contracts over the next two years, the two models are partnership [with established media networks for substantial rights fee] or ownership [of your own network].
The partnership model yields lower risk, however few options [...]

A-B College Beer Cans – Great Idea, Poor Execution

A-B’s campaign to brand beer cans with local college colors was a simple, yet brilliant product marketing idea. They have successfully rebranded bottles and cans in the past and fans have exhibited a definitive affinity to purchase school branded products. Sometimes, the best ideas simply reinvent the wheel. However, A-B fell asleep at the wheel [...]

Essence of SEC New Media Policy What Content Owners Need

The SEC partnered with XOS Technologies last month to form the SEC Digital Network, and the conference didn’t execute the deal for charity purposes – they intend to generate revenue, potentially lots of it. Put aside the mega 15-year television rights packages with ESPN and CBS Sports, the SEC, as many major college conferences do, [...]

NBA Draft Picks Should Temper Marketing Expectations

The Washington Post reports Ty Lawson is preparing to embark on a marketing program to generate awareness and eventually lead to sponsorship deals. It actually sounds as though Lawson and his team have put together a thorough, well thought out personal marketing plan for the former UNC point guard that involves a logo, social network [...]

CBS Makes Fantasy Breakthrough Amid Controversy

CBS Sports will unveil the first College Football fantasy game this season using actual player names. The NCAA they oppose CBS’ decision in no uncertain terms, which makes for interesting bedfellows since CBS holds a lucrative college basketball television contract with the NCAA, plus broadcast with multiple college football conferences.
Opponents argue using the names violates [...]

High Schooler Not Sacrificing Education with Euro Venture

Brandon Jennings decision to skip college in favor of playing professionally in Europe until he becomes eligible for the NBA draft raises many issues and controversial topics. Len Elmore, the superb broadcaster, former All-American player, and lawyer, took a strong stance on why the Jennings decision is wrong on many levels in this week’s Sports [...]

Mayo Incident Raises Question of NCAA Rules

Unless you have your head stuck in the sand, it’s no surprise to hear OJ Mayo received benefits from agents and other “business associates” as far back as high school. He’s not the first, not the only, and not the last – to think otherwise is naive. College football and college basketball are big business, [...]

No Playoff, More Bowl Games – Where’s the Logic?

Last week’s meeting of the minds between the 11 NCAA Division 1-A football commissioners, and Notre Dame’s AD Kevin White, ended with no changes to the flawed system for determining college football’s national champion. The consensus is, well, there is no consensus on how to do it. The sport continues to thrive, two distinct television [...]