A new NCAA president could be hired this month, Fanatics’ valuation tops $30B and the IOC considers a Winter Olympics format change.
A new NCAA president could be hired this month, Fanatics’ valuation tops $30B and the IOC considers a Winter Olympics format change.
SBJ's Intercollegiate Athletics Forum presented by Learfield kicks off today in Las Vegas. If your line of work touches the college's space, this event attracts a who's who and is a must do on your itinerary. Today's lineup of speakers includes every Power five commissioner, outgoing NCAA president, mark Emer student athletes, and a couple of panels on NI sponsorships and licensing. If you're not taking it in live at the Bellagio, you can still register for a virtual pass so you don't miss any of the discussions. To do that and to follow along for highlights, go to sports business journal.com. Good morning. It's Wednesday, December 7th. This is your SJ Morning Buzz cast. I'm David Albright, filling in for a Mad Corps. The NCAA has narrowed the search for its next president and industry insiders say they expect an offer to be made by Christmas. Outgoing President Mark Emerett is available to stay on the job until next June, but NCAA officials believe a hire could be made before the end of the year.
While it's not certain if a clear leader has emerged just yet, the preferred candidates are a mix of execs from inside and outside college athletics and higher education. Emerett was a former college president, as was his predecessor Miles brand. The NCAA has begun its search for a media consultant to assist the governing body on its next media rights negotiations, which will include the Women's basketball tournament, several other championships, and the international rights to the men's basketball tournament. The package of rights currently held by ESPN covers about 30 championships and runs through August of 2024. The current deal pays the NCAA close to 40 million annually. Negotiations and a much higher price tag are expected to heat up later in 2023. There was an RFP issued last week by the NCAA seeking input from Media consultants. The deadline for those submissions is January 4th, and the selection will be made by the end of January.
Of the process stays on course. The NCAA has said it will consider unbundling the package of rights, which could include breaking out the Women's basketball championship and selling it on its own. It's thought that the rights for the Women's Basketball Tournament will generate more annual revenue than the entire package of championships does today. The other NCAA championships include volleyball, fcs, football, ice hockey, soccer, baseball, softball, track and field among others. The package includes about 20 D one championships and another 10 championships from other divisions. Continuing in the college space, NI company Open Doors announced a 20 million funding round with investors, including Flyover Capital, Sarah Ventures, advantage Capital, will Compton, and former F1 managing Director Sean Bras. Since its inception in 2012 open door's, total funding now sits at roughly 40 million with the new round of funding. There are a number of Route co-founder and CEO Blake Lawrence.
Plans to take school. Specific marketplaces were launched this past summer, followed by a front facing public nil marketplace for fans to access building open doors. Brand campaign staff is at the top of the list sources said with more funds raised open doors also could be approaching an acquisition period. Along with the announcement of new funding, the marketplace is planning to launch licensed NI clubs across partner schools. Fanatics has raised about 700 million from a group of investors pushing the sports merchandising company's valuation to 31 billion. The Wall Street Journal reports about two-thirds of the new money came from parties that hadn't previously invested in the company, including private equity firm, clear Lake Capital Group, which led the round an investment bank, lion Tree. Prior fanatics, investors such as Silver Lake, fidelity Management Research Company and SoftBank Group were also among the participants. Sources said that proceeds from the investment which comes in the form of common stock, will be set aside for strategic m and a.
The goal is to help fanatics grow across its divisions, including its soon to be launched sports betting and gaming business, and won't be used to fund its day to day operations. The IOC is considering overhauling the format of the Winter Olympics by using a rotating slate of host cities, rather than electing a new location every four years as it contends with the effects of climate change. The IOC said it will delay awarding the 2030 Winter Games originally set to be decided next year as its executive board contemplates academic research about climate sustainability proposals to cycle the games through a pool of hosts and whether those locations would need to adhere to a set of climate criteria. The 2026 winter games are already scheduled for Milan Cortina, Italy. A potential shakeup of the Winter Olympics could be the most significant change to the global sporting events logistics.
Since the IOC opted to split those games from their summer counterpart back in 1994. The decision to delay the selection of a 2030 host also comes amid declining enthusiasm, particularly in Europe for mounting bids to host the event. We'll close on a programming note, this week's edition of the Marsh Shannon Iran Sports Media podcast, Andrew and John discussed the latest developments in the PAC Twelves media rights negotiations, and the MLS has pushed to get a traditional TV network to carry its games next season. They also spend some time on whether Fox Sports is production of the World Cup from Qatar is getting better. Instead of a Call of the week, the host answer a reader's question that was submitted via Twitter. You can listen to the Marsh Shannon Iran Sports Media podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you download your podcasts, and that's your SJ morning buzz cast for Wednesday. I hope everyone has a great day and we'll see you back here tomorrow morning.