Trustees and Presidents: A Podcast for University Leaders On College Athletics

Dr. Karen Weaver
  • 5.0 (14)
  • News Commentary
  • Updated Weekly

Hosted by Karen Weaver, EdD, she interviews key leaders, stakeholders and those impacting the business of college sports and higher education. From Division I to Divisions II and III, senior campus leaders now have a chance to learn about the challenges nearly every institution is facing post-pandemic. Today, athletics plays an even more crucial role in enrollment, retention, alumni donations, campus spirit, housing and dining, and marketing Pre-order Karen Weaver's new book NOW: "Understanding College Athletics" https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/33296/understanding-college-athletics

  1. 1d ago

    Chris Bevilacqua Says Colleges Have Gone Silent on Congress — and Are Sitting on Untapped Media Value

    Universities created the conferences. Conferences exist to serve universities, not to control them. That's the argument Chris Bevilacqua made in a June Philadelphia Inquirer op-ed, and where this conversation begins. As Congress weighs the Protect College Sports Act, he says individual institutions have gone quiet, leaving conference offices to speak for them on decisions that will shape the next hundred years. Chris then talks about the opportunities. Drawing on four decades in sports media — including founding CSTV, the first 24-hour college sports network — Chris explains why the traditional distribution fight was never winnable outside the Power Four, and why that no longer matters. Short-form video and social storytelling cost little, reach niche audiences precisely, and generate first-party data on future students. Small colleges need to reinvent themselves in this space.

  2. 6d ago

    WSU's Betsy Cantwell: Stop Reacting to College Athletics. Start Designing It

    Most university presidents are reacting to the upheaval in college athletics. Dr. Elizabeth "Betsy" Cantwell is running scenarios on it — a habit she picked up long before higher ed. Before she became Washington State University's 12th president (and its first woman in the role) in April 2025, Cantwell built her career in national security, where scenario-based planning is standard practice: you can't know what's coming, so you prepare the country for many versions of it. She's an engineer and a research administrator by training, with prior stops leading Utah State and senior roles at Arizona State and the University of Arizona. She now applies that same discipline to a program left behind by the near-implosion of the 108-year-old Pac-12 — and to a roughly $20 million annual athletics revenue gap. In this conversation with host Karen Weaver, Cantwell argues that athletics is the leading edge of every disruption bearing down on higher education — demographics, politics, the collapse of state funding, questions about cost and value — and that WSU has roughly a three-year window to position itself before the pieces land. Her framing throughout: Washington State and Oregon State were burned waiting for someone else to decide their future, and they don't intend to do it twice.

    WSU's Betsy Cantwell: Stop Reacting to College Athletics. Start Designing It

  3. Aug 14

    Surprise! There's A Campus-Wide Gambling Crisis You May Not Know About

    Sports betting has moved from casinos to every student's phone — and campuses aren't ready. Karen Weaver is joined by Dr. Jim Borchers (U.S. Council for Athletes' Health, Big Ten), Dr. Lindsey Mortenson (University of Michigan), and Sara Custer (Inside Higher Ed) to unpack what Borchers calls the largest mental health epidemic facing 18-to-24-year-old men. They discuss why health centers screen for alcohol and depression but not gambling, how prediction markets recruit inside fraternities, the harassment athletes face from losing bettors, and whether universities can warn students while taking sportsbook money.

  4. Aug 12

    Boards Stayed Out of Athletics. Blake Flanders Says That's Over.

    "State assets generally aren't for sale to the highest bidder." Dr. Blake Flanders spent 10 years as President and CEO of the Kansas Board of Regents. He's leaving with a warning about where Division I athletics is headed — and a case for why governing boards need to stop staying out of it. His board governs six state universities. Three compete in Division I: 🏀 University of Kansas 🏀 Kansas State University 🏀 Wichita State University It also coordinates 19 community colleges, six technical colleges, and Washburn University, and regulates for-profit institutions in the state. Flanders explains why the old hands-off norm made sense, why NIL and revenue sharing broke it, and what actually happens when private equity buys into college sports. Chapters 00:00 – I ntro 00:56 – What the Kansas Board of Regents actually oversees 06:11 – From livestock judging coach to system CEO 12:01 – Athletics as the "front porch" 14:46 – Why boards need to be more involved than ever 16:47 – At-will leaders and the evaluation process 19:12 – The policy born from a conference move 23:33 – The KU athletics deficit and the faculty survey 28:40 – Utah's $500M spin-off and Big 12 equity 30:43 – The private equity math: 10–12% returns 32:48 – When a donor becomes an investor 36:15 – What boards should watch for now #CollegeSports #CollegeAthletics #NIL #HigherEd #KansasBoardOfRegents #Big12 #RevenueSharing #PrivateEquity

    Boards Stayed Out of Athletics. Blake Flanders Says That's Over.

  5. Aug 2

    Cinderella Doesn't Make the Bracket: Inside the Fight Over the House Cap

    March Madness runs on upsets — the 16-seed, the mid-major, the coach nobody could name until Sunday night. Now the House settlement's pay cap is under pressure to climb, and the schools that make Cinderella possible weren't in the room where it's being negotiated. Dayton President Eric Spina and Saint Mary’s President Roger Thompson wrote the op-ed saying so. Why they believe the mid-majors are footing the bills for college football while their voting power shrinks.   Op-ed from Presidents Spina and Thompson: https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/cinderella-may-soon-casualty-college-090646622.html

    Cinderella Doesn't Make the Bracket: Inside the Fight Over the House Cap

  6. Jul 29

    Capitol Hill vs. the Wild, Wild West of College Athletics-Gordon Gee's Take on the PCSA

    College sports hits a Congressional crossroad. Five-time university president Gordon Gee joins Karen Weaver to break down the Protect College Sports Act, the Cantwell-Cruz bill racing toward Big Ten and SEC sign-off. Gee calls it "the last, best hope" for reining in runaway spending, delivering antitrust protections, and saving Olympic and women's sports from football's revenue grab—before Washington's involvement becomes the only thing standing between college athletics and total collapse.

  7. Jul 29

    When Winning Costs Too Much: A Hard Look at College Sports Spending

    “When the guy in charge of bench presses makes more than the university president, 10 times an average faculty salary, and absorbs the average cost of attendance for 60 students, it might be time to pause and reflect a little on where this is all going.” Economist and Dean Emeritus of Purdue's Daniel School of Business, David Hummels, joins Karen Weaver to dissect the runaway spending in college athletics — from million-dollar strength coaches to ballooning student subsidies. Drawing on his research (and his Substack, Finding Equilibrium), Hummels argues universities have stopped asking whether athletics spending actually advances their mission. He challenges leaders to weigh subsidy costs against institutional value, and makes the case for reinvesting in broader student experience — intramurals, arts, community — rather than chasing prestige on the field.

  8. Jul 18

    From Deficits to Dream Economy: Leading Edward Waters University

    Dr. Zachary Faison, president of Edward Waters University, joins Karen Weaver to unpack his "Dream Economy" model—a mission-aligned alternative to the Power Four athletics framework. They explore how presidential leadership, financial discipline, and strategic athletics investment drive enrollment and retention at HBCUs and small private colleges, turning championship seasons and national TV exposure into surging applications, new revenue, and expanded academic programs.   #DreamEconomy #HBCU #EducationTransformation #StudentSuccess #HigherEd

See All (211)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
14 Ratings

About

Hosted by Karen Weaver, EdD, she interviews key leaders, stakeholders and those impacting the business of college sports and higher education. From Division I to Divisions II and III, senior campus leaders now have a chance to learn about the challenges nearly every institution is facing post-pandemic. Today, athletics plays an even more crucial role in enrollment, retention, alumni donations, campus spirit, housing and dining, and marketing Pre-order Karen Weaver's new book NOW: "Understanding College Athletics" https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/33296/understanding-college-athletics

Information

You Might Also Like