69 episodes

Welcome to The Business of College Sports podcast! Host Kristi Dosh is a sports business contributor for Forbes and formerly ESPN's sports business reporter. A recovering attorney, she is the author of "Saturday Millionaires: How Winning Football Builds Winning Colleges." She's joined each week by experts in and around college sports to discuss the latest news and the impact it has on the industry. Whether you work in the industry or are simply a fan of college sports, this is where you come to learn what's really going on behind the scenes.

The Business of College Sports Kristi Dosh

    • Sports
    • 4.9 • 23 Ratings

Welcome to The Business of College Sports podcast! Host Kristi Dosh is a sports business contributor for Forbes and formerly ESPN's sports business reporter. A recovering attorney, she is the author of "Saturday Millionaires: How Winning Football Builds Winning Colleges." She's joined each week by experts in and around college sports to discuss the latest news and the impact it has on the industry. Whether you work in the industry or are simply a fan of college sports, this is where you come to learn what's really going on behind the scenes.

    The Future of Multimedia Rights

    The Future of Multimedia Rights

    Big announcement this week: Kristi has a new co-host, Jeff Schemmel! Jeff is the President and CEO of College Sports Solutions, a consultancy focused on helping athletic departments maximize their efficiency, leverage their resources and increase revenue.

    Kristi and Jeff are joined this week by Cole Gahagan, CEO of Learfield—a leading media and technology services company in intercollegiate athletics. 

    They discuss: 
    Recent changes at Learfield and how they help Learfield be better positioned for the future The current state of the college sports multimedia rights landscape The Learfield Allied NIL program Conference realignment With Colorado as a Learfield partner, what “The Prime Effect” has been like this season Visit Learfield.com to learn more about the many services they offer within intercollegiate athletics. 
    You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

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

    Need data and real-world experts to help you make decisions in your athletic department? Check out College Sports Solutions and connect with Jeff on LinkedIn.

    • 46 min
    Automating NIL Operations for Collectives and Universities

    Automating NIL Operations for Collectives and Universities

    Thomas Thomas Jr. is the co-founder and CEO of Basepath, whose software is used by student athletes, collectives, and universities to automate name, image, and likeness operations. 

    Thomas joins the show to discuss: 
    How Basepath started, the work they currently do, and how they work with collectives The first steps they take when onboarding a collective and its athletes The ways they help partner with universities to bring clarity to the financial complexities of student athletes How Basepath’s services differ between for-profit collectives and nonprofit collectives The NIL Collectives Consortium - what it is, who it’s for, and how it has benefited collectives . . . and much more! For more information about Basepath, visit basepath.co.
    You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

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

    Need data and real-world experts to help you make decisions in your athletic department? Check out College Sports Solutions and connect with Jeff on LinkedIn.

    • 45 min
    New Developments in NIL for International Student Athletes

    New Developments in NIL for International Student Athletes

    In this episode, I’m joined by Ksenia Maiorova and Amy Maldonado. Ksenia and Amy are very accomplished immigration attorneys who work with international athletes seeking to take advantage of NIL. They've been able to secure O-1 visas for several athletes and are sharing with us both their successes and the challenges.
    Topics we covered include:
    The limitations on a student visa and how it complicates an international student’s NIL possibilitiesThe types of visas that are available to international student athletes beyond student visas, including O-1 VisasWhen a student athlete might consider pursuing an O-1 visaWhy some sports are easier than others for getting other types of visasPotential passive income opportunities for international student athletesCompleting NIL activities out of the countryThe potential consequences of failing to adhere to visa requirements/guidelinesKsenia Maiorova can be reached on Instagram at @sportsvisalawyer.
    Amy Maldonado can be reached on her website at amaldonadolaw.com. 
    You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

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

    Need data and real-world experts to help you make decisions in your athletic department? Check out College Sports Solutions and connect with Jeff on LinkedIn.

    • 40 min
    The Growth of Group Licensing in NIL

    The Growth of Group Licensing in NIL

    This episode, I am joined again by Wesley Haynes, President and Founder of The Brandr Group. If you missed the first episode from last year, it's available here.

    The Brandr Group remains one of the leaders of the group licensing sector of NIL, with more than 70 schools signed to group rights partnerships. 

    In this ever-changing NIL scene, Wesley gives updates on: 
    The Brandr Group’s growing list of partners and licensees A breakdown of group licensing categories and trends and how these have changed over time How royalty rates are determined for jerseys and other merchandise Potential relationships between NIL collectives and group licensing Future opportunities within the group licensing sector How universities and their athletic departments unite to embrace group licensing and the benefits for both the university and the student athletes Check out some of the latest news on Business of College Sports involving The BrandR Group:

    New NIL Deal Provides Flights for the Families of Student Athletes
    The Brandr Group and AJS Collective Partner to Create NIL Opportunities for Female Athletes
    More Player Apparel and Jerseys Coming Thanks to The BrandR Group Partnering with Follett
    Subscription Box for UNC Tarheel Fans Latest Creative NIL Idea
    You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

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

    Need data and real-world experts to help you make decisions in your athletic department? Check out College Sports Solutions and connect with Jeff on LinkedIn.

    • 35 min
    A View of College Athletics from a Board of Regents Seat

    A View of College Athletics from a Board of Regents Seat

    This episode, I'm joined by Jordan Acker, the Immediate Past Chair of the Board of Regents at the University of Michigan and a partner at Goodman Acker in Detroit.

    A lifelong sports fan, Jordan was an early advocate of allowing student athletes to monetize their name, image and likeness. We chatted about the role of the Board of Regents relative to athletics issues and opportunities and where he seems college athletics heading from here.

    Some of the things we discuss include:
    The process of being elected to the University of Michigan Board of RegentsThe benefits of having younger RegentsThe impact a successful athletics program can have on the universityWhen the Board of Regents should defer to the athletic director or president on decisionsHow the Board of Regents participates in processes and decisions regarding the Big TenThe biggest developments he sees coming in college athleticsHow the Board of Regents at Michigan prepared for NILHis thoughts on how Michigan has approached NILIssues facing college athletics such as athletes becoming employees and revenue sharing...and more!You can follow Jordan on Twitter. 
    You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

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

    Need data and real-world experts to help you make decisions in your athletic department? Check out College Sports Solutions and connect with Jeff on LinkedIn.

    • 49 min
    Replace Traditional Ticketing, Increase Attendance and Revenue

    Replace Traditional Ticketing, Increase Attendance and Revenue

    I'm joined this episode by Chris Giles, co-founder and CEO of FanRally, a platform that replaces traditional season tickets with a tech-enabled subscription service.  
    Members pay a monthly subscription fee instead of paying for tickets and can reserve seats directly on their phones, finding games that work best for their schedules.

    FanRally is aimed at modern consumers, including younger fans, who are comfortable with subscription services. Also, the seat reservations can't be resold, so it helps teams identify the fans attending games and to build more direct relationships with them.
    The company was founded in 2020 after Chris had served as COO of the Oakland A's and VP of Sales & Strategy for the San Francisco 49ers.  
    Backed by Capital One, it has already partnered with more than 20 teams across the NCAA, NBA, MLB, MiLB and NHL.

    In the episode, we discussed:
    How university partners have used FanRallyHow FanRally can replace season tickets in a way that benefits both fans and the athletic departmentIntegrating an existing point-based system into FanRallyHow FanRally allows athletic departments to reclaim revenue currently going to third-party resellersThe data available to departments using FanRallyWays professional sports teams are doing ticketing better than college athleticsUsing FanRally to increase student attendance at gamesHow sponsors can benefit from FanRallyHow FanRally increases a team's yield from a revenue perspective on premium seatsYou can follow FanRally on Twitter and LinkedIn.
    You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

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

    Need data and real-world experts to help you make decisions in your athletic department? Check out College Sports Solutions and connect with Jeff on LinkedIn.

    • 39 min

Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5
23 Ratings

23 Ratings

ksbridge ,

Great NIL Content

Helpful education for any athlete and administrator trying to understand the NIL landscape better. Thanks Kristi!

stephaniescout ,

Great Resource!

Very thoughtful analysis of the industry. I always learn something new!

MLBfan2000 ,

Expert commentary you didn’t know you needed

As an avid (psycho) college sports fan, I’ve been reading Kristi’s stuff for years. She always provides insight I didn’t consider and situations that made me think.

With this podcast she’s taking it to the next level!

If there’s an aspect where college sports and business cross, Kristi is not only sure to touch on it, but to advance your knowledge of it and answer the questions you always wanted to ask.

Love that she’s finally putting her extensive knowledge, hard work, and creativity into long-form podcasts!!

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