Good morning, and thanks for spending part of your day with Extra Points.
A few logisitical announcements to share before we dig into it:
First, in case you missed this a few days ago, we’ve launched a new community function here at Extra Points, and it’s open to everybody. Anybody with an EP subscription (free or paid) can participate, share stories, comment on existing newsletters, talk with one another and more.
We have channels set up right now where we share college sports news, discuss our various games and software projects, where readers can recommend stuff for me to FOIA or report out … and more! Our premium subscribers also get a few extra updates on conference realignment and video game development.
I’d love to see more of you hang out and share your thoughts. Check it out today!
Second, I’m going to experiment with something that has been surprisingly effective the few times I’ve tried it on LinkedIn.
For next week only, if you want to hop on the phone with me for 30 minutes, feel free to grab a time here. These are off-the-record conversations, so if you’re a college sports industry professional wanting to introduce yourself, a startup founder trying to get a foothold in the college sports world or just a reader who wants to chop it up for a little bit, sign up!
Between my vacation last month, software development projects, a journalism mentoring project I’ve been doing for Northwestern and some other Extra Points Business Stuff, I haven’t had as much time to catch up with my readers as I’d like. I hope this will fix that!
Again, for the sake of my calendar’s sanity, please only book times from August 24-28.
Thanks! I look forward to hearing from you!
The University of the Incarnate Word has launched a national search for its next director of athletics.
The University of the Incarnate Word is partnering with KC Smurthwaite and the Athletics Admin team to identify and evaluate qualified candidates for this important leadership position.
The Cardinals are proud members of the FCS Southland Conference and are seeking a mission-driven, student-athlete-centered leader who understands the important role athletics plays throughout the university and across the greater San Antonio community.
To learn more or apply, please visit UIWAD.com, or email here.
Not everybody loves the Big 12’s sponsorship package with Monster
By my count, about 40 programs across Division I have announced some sort of jersey patch sponsorship program. While I’ve seen some fans complain about jersey patches in general, I haven’t seen too much complaining about any particular school’s jersey patch agreement. Maybe a few folks who aren’t thrilled that Wisconsin’s Culver’s patch is blue, but not so many who are upset about the concept of promoting Culver’s, you know?
The Big 12’s leaguewide partnership with Monster is a different story. Beyond fans complaining that the patch is ugly, many have also expressed frustration that the deal isn’t worth nearly as much money as partnerships for Ohio State, Notre Dame or even smaller brands.
I think complaining about the dollar figure is a little unfair, since the Big 12’s Monster package isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison with Ohio State or Notre Dame. But there’s another group that’s opposed to the deal on entirely different grounds.
A group of 17 physicians and scientists from across the world, calling themselves Protect Young Fans, has sent a letter to the NCAA, asking the organization to “initiate an independent health review of youth-
facing energy-drink sponsorship in college athletics,” as well as “a voluntary pause in youth-facing activation during that review.” The largest concentration of doctors in the group practices at UTHealth in Houston, which is part of the Big 12 footprint.
The group’s objective, according to a copy of that letter shared with Extra Points, isn’t to specifically single out Monster or to ban energy drink consumption among athletes. From the letter:
Our concern is simple: children copy their heroes. Research shows that young people can interpret sports-themed energy-drink advertising as encouraging use during sports. Controlled pediatric studies have also documented measurable short-term cardiovascular effects after energy-drink exposure, including changes in heart rhythm, autonomic regulation, and 24-hour blood pressure.
Also, via USA TODAY:
“The reason for focusing on the Big 12 is primarily the scale and demographics of its audience,” said John Higgins, a sports cardiologist with the Houston Rockets and Rice Athletics who is part of the group. “Big 12 games can reach roughly 10–18 million viewers per weekend, with particularly strong exposure among younger fans. That makes the conference an especially important environment to examine when considering the marketing and consumption of energy drinks among young people.”
Executives from energy drink companies have previously told Congress their companies would not directly market to children. The physicians are concerned that advertising on college athletics uniforms violates the spirit of that promise, even if it doesn’t break the letter of the law.
Now, I have not made it a secret that I am a regular consumer of energy drinks, including the occasional Peach Monster. But I would certainly never give one to my daughters (who are 8 and 12, and thus filled with more than enough energy on their own), and I’m not of the opinion that energy drinks are good for you. I also don’t view the Big 12’s sponsorship program as anything resembling a medical endorsement.
But since the very early days of NIL, schools have prohibited some categories of deals on the grounds that promoting certain products would have societal harm, as well as damage institutions’ reputations. For decades, schools declined to do formal endorsement deals with alcohol companies. Few would likely sell a billboard to a weed dispensary, a firearms dealer or a strip club.
Should energy drinks be in that same category?
Might be worth discussing.
Hey, did you know that you, yes, YOU, could advertise in Extra Points? Each one of these newsletters reaches more than 66,000 people, including thousands of college sports industry leaders. We’d much rather run an ad from an Extra Points reader. We’ve been testing out a Cost per Lead program where we deliver email and contact info instead of just impressions or clicks.
So this is the perfect place to promote your newsletter, job opening, business and more.
Here’s what else we’ve been working on:
I talked to the folks behind the college football games in Dublin to better understand how the travel works, what else happens at these events besides college football games and why the Ireland series seems to work so well.
And speaking of jersey patch advertisements, Division II hasn’t formally announced a policy permitting schools to add them. But one school, Central Missouri, has gone ahead and announced a partnership, and I expect others to follow.
As the Protect College Sports Act wanders around legislative purgatory, I tried my hand at coming up with a narrow compromise that could provide limited labor force stability, actually pass Congress and pave the way for more comprehensive college sports reform. I call it the PAY MATT BROWN NINE BUCKS ACT.
And oh yeah, I’ve been toying with building a grid-game version of Who’s That Football Team. The beta version is out now, and free, right here. Your feedback makes these games better!
I can make computer games, hit the phones, update the Extra Points Library and do everything else we do around here, thanks to your subscription support. Nine bucks a month gives you access to every single newsletter, and will give you the warm and fuzzy feeling of supporting independent media.
Thanks for reading, everybody. Enjoy the weekend, and I’ll see you on the internet.
