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D1.jobs...new opportunities at Baylor, Mississippi State and Washington State, below. 330 different DI departments have chosen D1.jobs to help fill their open positions. Click HERE to post your openings for tens of thousands of administrators to see.
D1.ticker FBS Attendance Trends Tracker...has been updated with data through Week 9. Overall, year-over-year average attendance is up 7.27%. Top 5 averages thus far this season: Michigan (110,224), Penn State (107,540), Ohio State (104,438), LSU (100,897) & Texas (100,648). Notable YoY gains: New Mexico State (+41%), Tulane (+29.48%), Arizona (+25.43%), Syracuse (+23.52%) & TCU (+20.02%). Lots more in the full database. (HERE)
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CollegeAD reports Ball State will use TurnkeyZRG for its AD search. No indication of timeline yet. (link)
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UAB AD Ingram speaks about his FB HC search, notes the tight timeline on which many FB HC hires have to be made, believes his longer horizon allows for deeper relationship-building & research of candidates. Further: "People say you should have this list in your desk drawer. You might have that list. That doesn’t mean you have a relationship with everybody on that list. It doesn’t mean that everybody on that list would like to leave the job they’re in. This is a list of people that you think in your mind, if our job came available, I’d like to talk to these people because of the reputation they have or the job they’ve done. They might not be very happy where they’re at and not want to come here. You can’t just assume, just because you called them, they’ll say, ‘Oh yeah, definitely I’m in.’ You go through that list, but you’re trying to build a working relationship before you make that hire. [...] The flaw is you’re trying to hire the highest profile individual with an incredibly small amount of time and a small amount of interaction, which is why you run into personality conflicts down the road. There are things that come up that wouldn’t be a standard interview question." (link)
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Georgia Southern AD Benko also chimes in on FB HC searches & the benefits of being a first mover, like new Georgia Tech AD Batt is currently experiencing: "You get extremely hyper-focused. I have the ability to do that, which is good and bad, where I get tunnel vision, and I’m locked in on it. [...] The prevalent thought that comes back to mind is, the more time you have, in my opinion, the better chance you have to mitigate additional risk or make a rushed decision. [...] What you end up doing is trying to really compile a 360 (degree) evaluation, or a viewpoint, on each coach. And you can only do that with time. Otherwise, it’s tough." (link)
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Monday is the final town hall meeting to discuss potentially adding football and handful of other sports at New Orleans. At that point, a 48-hour referendum opens for students to vote. The digital voting period ends Tuesday night. Privateers AD Duncan: "I’m excited. I’m excited about the opportunity our students have to determine the destiny and change the trajectory of the university. ... We’ve done a ton of work to get here. I believe we're ready for the moment." (link)
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Kansas generated a $1M surplus for FY22, per Executive Assoc. AD/CFO Kaufman, who notes MBB's National Championship was a net win, but not as big of a financial windfall due to the Jayhawks already maxing out revenue lines items like ticket sales, donations, etc connected to hoops. KU AD Goff indicates the FY23 ledger is millions of dollars ahead of projections thanks to football's surge. (link)
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Stanford President Tessier-Lavigne touches on conference realignment challenges in his presentation to the Faculty Senate: "We’re very proud of the student-athlete model that we have at Stanford that functions at the highest level, where we pair academic excellence with excellence on the playing field. These students are really quite extraordinary, and to have them in your classes, it is really one of the jewels in the crown of Stanford, and it’s something that we should cherish, and that we wish to preserve. And we worry about how these external developments may affect our ability to continue to do this. So that’s really the starting point for all of this – the students come first, and they come first as students, but also extraordinary athletes." A bit more feedback from faculty members and AD Muir addresses the high number of sports offered for scholarships relative to the school's student population: "We’re trying to balance both. We’re doing academics at a high level, similar to the Ivies, but we’re trying to compete at the highest level [athletically], and that’s where we’re unique, and that’s part of the fabric of the place. That’s the challenge that we’re facing." (link)
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George Washington partners with Ticketmaster for all games, concerts and ticketed external events at the Charles E. Smith Center. (link)
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New Mexico State adds "Aggie Roast" as its latest Pistol Pete-themed product, thanks to a deal with Beck's Roasting House & Creamery. The athletic department will receive 12% of the wholesale price for all Aggie-licensed consumables, which in addition to the coffee, includes beer, whiskey, salsa and candles. NMSU AD Moccia estimates the cumulative effect of that at $100K in new dollars for the department, a number he says ranks fifth in the nation regarding revenue from collegiate-licenses consumables. (link)
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ESPN's Olivieri reports: "The Mississippi Department of Human Services [MDHS] on Thursday rejected a proposal from the University of Southern Mississippi to make campus facilities, including a volleyball facility at the heart of the state's ongoing welfare investigation, available to the government agency, which serves the state's poor. The university announced the proposal earlier in the day in response to an investigation into millions of dollars of misspent welfare funds that has involved the school and its former quarterback, Pro Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre." MDHS says it cannot accept the offer. The statement from Southern Miss, according to Olivieri: "Southern Miss said it has provided hundreds of pages of public records about the Wellness Center and would continue to do so. It also said it would fully cooperate with ongoing investigations." (link)
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Army West Point FB HC Monken is this week’s guest on HeadCoachU with former BYU/Virginia FB HC Mendenhall and D1.ticker/Connect’s Fischer. Monken notes that West Point is one of the most diverse campuses in the country. “A lot of our cadets are either interested in the military, interested in West Point, very high-achieving students. So, their choices are Harvard, Yale, Stanford, MIT, West Point, and they end up at West Point because there is no cost in terms of monetary cost. Some end up here because they want a world-class degree and they frankly can’t afford to go to Harvard. And then a lot of our athletes had never heard of West Point or never considered West Point and didn’t think West Point was a place that anybody could go to school.” Full podcast. (link)
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Vanderbilt FB AC Jackson has apologized for comments he made in support of Kanye West on Facebook, which included saying the entertainer was "two steps ahead of everyone." Jackson called his own wording "careless" and "To be clear, antisemitism has no place in our society. and I reject all forms of hate." On the same topic, Nike has suspended its relationship with NBA star Irving. Per ESPN, the company "will no longer launch Irving's new shoe, the Kyrie 8 [...] slated for a November 8 release." (link, link)
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A New York arbitrator issued a decision yesterday in the ongoing legal battle between Fox Corp. and Flutter, one which Sportico's Novy-Williams says could have "significant ramifications for the future of U.S. sportsbooks FanDuel and Fox Bet." The ruling affirms Fox's 10-year right to buy FanDuel, starting at a $20B valuation, which is higher than Fox's original proposal, but lower than Flutter's. Additionally, the arbitrator ruled that FanDuel cannot IPO without agreement from Fox, and Flutter does not have to dedicate equal resources to the two brands. In their respective statements, both Fox and Flutter said they are "happy" with the ruling. FanDuel declined to comment. More on the overall impact to the industry. (link)
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DraftKings generated $502M in revenue in Q3, a 136% increase YOY thanks to "strong customer acquisition and retention, launches in new markets, high hold rates largely from NFL wagering, and reduced spending on promotions." CFO Park believes that the sports betting business seems unaffected by recent economic uncertainty. The company has raised its full-year revenue to range between $2.16B-$2.19B (previously $2B-$2.18B), but it projects an adjusted EBITDA loss of between $780M-$800M in FY22, "an improvement from an estimated loss of between $756M-$835M last quarter." Shares of DraftKings slumped as much as 25% on Friday. More analysis from FOS. (link)
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Yesterday's Evening Standard...
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Mississippi State President Keenum officially launched the search to find the Bulldogs’ next AD, explaining: “The landscape of college athletics has changed dramatically in recent years and brings new challenges and opportunities. Our next director of athletics needs to be experienced and nimble in navigating those changes but also committed to doing things the right way and in keeping with the rules. Compliance, good sportsmanship and seeing our student-athletes leave this institution with an earned degree remain our abiding commitments.” (link); Mississippi State will also expand its NIL efforts and launch a new marketplace with Opendorse. (link)
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The NCAA corrects guidance from earlier in the week that could have impacted the transfer portal at the end of the current semester. Per CBS' Dodd: "In walking back their guidance, players will be able to transfer between semesters, enrolling in new schools and playing for those programs in the spring despite confusion otherwise." (link)
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Xavier AD Christopher camps with The Enquirer’s Baum on a number of topics. On Big East media rights: "We're not at a point yet of entering into any kind of informal or certainly not formal conversations with any potential TV partner. We certainly watch the landscape and read the news of what other conferences are doing because it may influence where we're headed down the road. … Hands down, we have the best television exposure in college basketball. Every single game is on national TV and there's no other Division I conference that can say that. That's going to be important to us in addition to whatever the rights fee could or may be down the road." On rumblings of FB returning, Christopher says conversations began last year about ways to increase enrollment with Xavier having preliminary discussions with the Pioneer Football League. "Where does this fit with all the other priorities and ideas that Xavier has? And for most of what we do in athletics, it's about fundraising. Is there interest in supporting something like this down the road?" Additionally, the $10M Klekamp Family Training Center is on pace to open “between Christmas and perhaps early January.” (link)
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The Mercury News’ Wilner downplays reports of a possible Gonzaga-Big 12 marriage in the near future. “The degree to which it's news just depends on how eager whatever conference is, in terms of getting it out there. The Big 12 is not the only one talking to Gonzaga. I don't know where Gonzaga is gonna end up [or] if they're gonna go anywhere. I mean, that decision is up to Mark Few, I think, and Mark Few by himself, right? He runs that school. He runs the conference, he runs the WCC, and I don't know that he wants to finish out his career, you know, in the Big 12, where the competition is much more difficult and the path to a high seed in the NCAA Tournament is much more difficult.” While the Pac-12, Big 12 and Big East are the destinations Gonzaga is most often tied to, JohnCanzano.com's Canzano cautions to keep an eye on the SEC. “Greg Sankey and Mark Few have served on a couple committees together. When I talked to Few he kept bringing Sankey up. Few mentioned listening to our podcast with Greg Sankey, which was a few episodes ago, and I think Few wants to come on with us. So we should get Few on and talk about some of this stuff. But I think you're right in that Mark Few will do what Mark Few wants to do. And I just don't know if leaving the WCC gives him any inherent advantages.” Full podcast. (link)
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West Virginia MBB HC Huggins sounds off on rumors that Gonzaga is considering a move to the Big 12, telling reporters on Thursday: "To get in this league and play who we play day-after-day, I would think it would be a tremendous awakening. You don't get to make your own schedule in the Big 12." (link)
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It's Personnel...
+ The South Carolina State Board of Trustees approved a new contract for President Conyers, which begins retroactively on April 29, 2022, and runs through June 30, 2026. Conyers will receive an annual base salary of over $248K. Conyers was named the 13th president of the university in April, but trustees had yet to formally approve a contract for him. (link)
+ Army West Point Executive Assoc. AD Brandenburg adds the SWA title and responsibilities to her role. (link)
+ Rider names Rutgers Asst. AD of Athletic Compliance Merriam as Senior Assoc. AD for Compliance and Internal Operations. (link)
+ High-profile ESPN commentator Fowler’s contract with the Worldwide Leader is set to expire next year and FOS’ McCarthy ponders if Fowler could leave ESPN, pointing to comments from notable author Miller: “I think Fowler will be a really interesting case study to follow. Because he’s not at the crazy 15-plus [million] that Aikman and Buck are. He’s not in Stephen A. territory. But he’s a guy who makes a really, really good living, and deserves to make a good living. And let’s see what ESPN’s appetite for keeping Fowler is. There won’t be anybody at ESPN who will say, ‘We don’t want to keep Chris Fowler.’ But are there going to be people who are going to be, dare I say, audacious enough to say, ‘We only want to keep Chris Fowler at a certain price’? To me that sounds crazy. But let’s see how far this discipline of theirs extends. … They could cross their hands and say, ‘Where else are you going to get tennis? We basically own tennis.’” (link)
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Florida AD Stricklin takes to Twitter to respond to Heitner Legal’s namesake on ADs' concerns about supporting NIL and the impact on fundraising dollars. Stricklin: “My observation is that most boosters look at Collectives and other NIL opportunities as additional to what they are already doing to support the Gators!” (link)
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Dayton AD Sullivan sent a letter to season ticket holders regarding NIL and the new Dayton 6th collective, which states in part: “We are operating in a challenging and dynamic regulatory environment, and I feel compelled to continue giving you a clear picture of the NIL ecosystem and its impact on the University. The success of our basketball programs is influenced by many factors. The third-party compensation for use of a student-athlete's name, image and likeness is rapidly rising into the top group of critical success factors, along with coaching, facilities, fan support, academic excellence, and overall quality of campus life. … Dayton 6th is making a meaningful impact on the Dayton Flyers basketball programs and across our community. For this reason, I strongly encourage you to visit Dayton6th.com and consider supporting our athletes.” (link)
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San Diego State has significantly reduced ticket prices for the remainder of its home FB schedule. Tickets for tomorrow’s matchup against UNLV that were priced from $78 to $103 are now $50, and tickets priced from $128 to $203 are now $75, per the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Kenny, who also reports the $50 and $75 price points will be in place for the season’s other two remaining home games. Aztecs VP for Premium & Ticket Sales Greene: “As we’ve had these conversations the last couple of weeks, our goal and our North Star is, ultimately, to get as many fans in the stadium as possible, create the best experience for our student-athletes and expose as many new people to a new stadium that could be future long-term customers. We thought making these changes would, ultimately, drive more ticket sales and more people in the building over the last three home games.” (link)
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The SEC has formed the SEC Event Security Working Group to review and update policies intended to address post-game field-storming. Kentucky AD Barnhart, Alabama AD Byrne and Georgia AD Brooks will serve on the group alongside event management directors and campus safety personnel. Commissioner Sankey: "Current Conference policies need to be reviewed and improved with a focus on addressing field and court incursions by spectators after contests. The SEC's Working Group on Event Security will focus its efforts on reviewing existing policies, developing new strategies and identifying best practices to enhance crowd management and more effectively address field and court incursions at future SEC athletics events." (link)
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D1.ticker/Extra Points Brown is joined by Degree Insurance CEO Eyerly, former Southern Utah AD Corum and Weber State MBB student-athlete Jones to discuss "How Insurance Can Help Athletic Departments Recruit and Retain Student-Athletes." Jones, who has an NIL deal with Degree Insurance, explains what he was looking for in an NIL partner, but also why Degree Insurance is a valuable resource for student-athletes. Corum on what this could mean for an AD or school president: "I was sitting in a president's cabinet meeting when we heard [Degree Insurance's] presentation, when NIL was beginning... and the early stages of the transfer portal. My brain immediately went to 'is this a tool for athletic administrators and universities to retain athletes to their school?' ... and I started talking to some athletes and found out that my intuition was correct." Full conversation (link)
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Deals, Deals, Deals...
+ Miami (FL) is the latest to partner with RealResponse. Canes AD Radakovich: “We are excited to partner with RealResponse in our continued efforts to enhance the student-athlete experience at Miami. RealResponse is an innovative and intuitive platform that gives our student-athletes the opportunity to communicate in real time and share important feedback.” (link)
+ Oklahoma teams up with Mercury to assist with “a premium digital platform providing specialized Sooner student-athlete-driven NIL content, official OU Athletics digital collectible drops and opportunities for fans to win experiences that bring them even closer to their favorite teams and athletes.” (link)
+ Green Bay will also partner with Opendorse for its NIL marketplace. (link)
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Fundraising Wins...
+ Cal MBB alumnus Abdur-Rahim and his wife have “contributed an impactful gift” to support the Cameron Institute endowment. (link)
+ Northern Illinois’ week of giving generated over $1M from 358 gifts. (link)
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Coaches Wire...
+ Georgia Southern Men's Soccer HC Murphy will step down to pursue other professional opportunities. AC Vega will serve as interim HC while a national search takes place. (link)
+ Queens MBB HC Leonard has been suspended for the first five games of the Royals' inaugural DI campaign following his DWI arrest last week. (link)
+ Former Oklahoma FB HC Stoops has never seriously considered a return to college football, telling a Dallas radio show: "I have been asked more than a few times, but no I haven't been close to coming back. If I thought I was ever going to do that I wouldn't have left in the first place. I was in a great situation with great people to work with, and it was just my time. When I left, no one believed me. I just wanted my own time and space. Everyone thought there's a smoking gun or there's health issues. Here we are six years later and everyone realizes I was telling the truth." (link)
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Quick Hitters...
+ The UT Student Government is calling on Texas to ban music by Ye from being played at athletics events in the aftermath of the rapper’s recent antisemitic comments. The push for the ban follows an incident last weekend when an antisemitic message was projected onto a building outside a Jacksonville stadium where Florida & Georgia were playing. (link)
+ Southern Indiana will begin selling beer at Screaming Eagles Arena athletic events beginning November 11. (link)
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