The Business of College Sports Kristi Dosh

Former UGA football players Ty Frix, Keith Marshall and Aaron Murray, along with Ty’s brother Trent Frix, recently created The Players’ Lounge, a digital collaborative space for college fanbases, with the University of Georgia as its initial focus. 

In addition to using a Discord channel to connect fans, the group will launch an NFT collection called DGD Mafia on Sunday, January 9 to benefit current UGA football players.
Those who purchase the NFTs will also gain access to exclusive content and experiences, both within The Players’ Lounge and also in physical locations. Fifty percent of all profits will go to current UGA football players who will leverage their name, image and likeness to help promote the NFT launch.

I recently sat down to speak with Ty Frix and Murray about this creative new approach that leverages the platform of former UGA players to benefit current student athletes. In this podcast, you can eavesdrop on our conversation about their plans and why they felt compelled to create something that benefits current student athletes after their own experience as players.

We also discussed how this model could be duplicated for other schools and fanbases, which I think makes it an intriguing listen for all college athletic admins and fans.

You can join The Players' Lounge community here and follow them on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

This episode, I'm joined by Wesley Haynes, President and Founder of The Brandr Group. His company has been on the leading edge when it comes to group licensing in the NIL era, signing nearly 20 schools to deals that allow their student athletes access to group licensing opportunities.

The Brandr Group currently has agreements with the following schools: UNC, Ohio State, Texas, Alabama, App State, Indiana, Michigan State, UF, NC State, Villanova, Nebraska, Maryland, Marquette, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Xavier, Purdue, and UGA.

Haynes and I discussed:
How TBG's background in pro sports is helping them navigate NILHis meetings with the NCAA about group licensingHow TBG's alumni programs opened the door for NIL work nowWhich student athletes are benefiting from group licensingWhat TBG's agreement with schools looks likeThe education is required to get student athletes on boardWhat group licensing with student athletes looks like for brandsThe results for schools and student athletes that are working with TBG alreadyPassive vs. active group rightsIn the podcast, we teased some results from Ohio State and UNC, which you can read more about here.

You can follow TBG on Twitter or check out their website for more information.
You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

In this episode, I'm joined by Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Commissioner Dr. Dennis E. Thomas to chat about the MEAC's new partnership with Syracuse University and how his conference is approaching name, image and likeness for its student athletes.

Dr. Thomas is the third full-time commissioner of the conference and entered his 20th year this summer. He's retiring in December, but he's made some big moves for the conference ahead of his exit.

In this episode, we discussed:
His approach to NIL at the conference level for MEAC student athletesWhat he thinks makes MEAC, and other HBCU, student athletes uniquely marketableHow HBCUs will benefit from their student athletes landing NIL dealsHow the MEAC's partnership with Syracuse came to beWhat he hopes MEAC student athletes, staff and professors will get out of the partnership with SyracuseHow partnerships like this one and the SWAC's with the Pac-12 can drive change
You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

I'm joined on this episode by Trevor Bechtold, Director of Sports, Recreation + Entertainment at HOK. He's an architect who has worked on projects like the expansion to the Penn State University Lasch Building and Clemson University’s new Allen N. Reeves Football Complex.

After hearing the news that Clemson is developing a new student athlete branding institute as part of their Poe Indoor Practice Facility renovation, I asked Trevor if other athletic departments are starting to think about how to adapt facilities to assist student athletes with their NIL activities. He gave a resounding "yes," so I asked him to come on the podcast and tells us more about how he thinks facilities will be impacted by student athletes' new NIL rights.

In this episode, we chatted about:
How athletic departments are starting to factor NIL into facilities planningThe types of spaces, tech, graphics and other features that can enhance NIL opportunities for student athletesWhat features seem to be most popular right now in these discussionsHow spaces might be adapted with recruiting in mindHow even departments with smaller budgets can take NIL into considerationYou can connect with Trevor on LinkedIn or by email.

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

In this episode, I'm joined by Zach Beebe, the co-founder of NIL Management. Based in Columbus, Ohio, NIL Management has secured a steady stream of local deals for Ohio State student athletes, including cars for six football student athletes from one dealership.

After interviewing Zach for my piece on all of the car deals we've seen so far, I asked him to come on and talk more about the NIL economy in Columbus, Ohio. A few cities and schools have stood out to me while reporting on NIL, and Columbus and Ohio State are among them. Zach is at the epicenter of it all, so I wanted to learn more about how local businesses are embracing NIL and how it's benefitting Ohio State student athletes. 

We chatted about:
The opportunities he's seen student athletes get the most excited about and the strategies they're buildingThe reception around Columbus to the opportunity to work with student athletesHow Zach got a local dealership to give cars to six different student athletesThe comprehensive marketing plan he helped build with Coughlin ChevroletHow much content creation a marketing agency like his is having to do with student athletes to maximize dealsHow he thinks Ohio State has embraced NIL from an athletic department standpointOpportunities for female student athletesYou can follow Zach on Instagram.

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

In this episode, I am joined by Dave Capitano, the Higher Education Practice Leader at Baker Tilly. Dave has worked with hundreds of universities on a variety of higher education matters, from finance and operations issues to esports and name, image and likeness.

I was recently on Dave's podcast discussing the first 50 days of NIL. In our time off air, he mentioned his passion for esports, and I jumped at the chance to have him come on and educate me because I've admittedly been sleeping on esports.

Did you know more than 175 colleges and universities have an officially recognized varsity esports program with more than 5,000 student athletes participating in esports? There's a whopping $16M in scholarships for elite esports players--a fact I was shocked to learn. In addition, more than 475 institutions have esports clubs.

Dave joined me this week to share what it takes to add esports, the revenue opportunities, and even the crossover opportunities with athletic departments. Sneak peek: he shared a fantastic idea I think all athletic departments should steal with regards to engaging donors!
Some things that Dave and I discussed on the podcast were:
The popularity of esports at college universities ranging from the Division I to the club sports levelThe scholarship opportunities involved with esportsThe different revenue opportunities involved with esportsFacility considerations for esportsThe challenges of policing your team in a competitive, virtual worldA look at esports recruitingCrossover opportunities for athletic departments and esports programsCheck out Baker Tilly's esports evaluation guide for more information.

You can follow Baker Tilly on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. As mentioned, you can also follow Dave on TikTok.

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.