This newsletter doesn't have a catchy headline but you'll enjoy reading it I promise
Matt Brown
April 29, 2022
Good morning, and thanks for spending part of your day with Extra Points.
It's been a super busy week here at Extra Points HQ. Let me share with you some of the other things we've been working on.
In our latest edition of Going For Two, Bryan and I caught up with Friend Of The Newsletter Andy Schwarz, an economist who specializes in college sports and antitrust. In addition to doing things like 'helping California write NIL bills' or 'helping to bring back UAB football', Andy has built a new board game that combines resource trading, trash-talking, and college sports recruiting.
You've seen us mention it a few times in the newsletter. It's called Envelopes of Cash, and I keep talking about it, in large part, because I'm really excited about it.
In this podcast, the three of us discuss, among other things:
What IS a Euro-style board game, exactly, and what makes these games different from most of the American-style board games you probably have collecting dust in your basement somewhere
How YOU, yes YOU, can get into the game. Like, by having your face on a playing card or something.
How this is a college football board game, and also very much not a college football board game
How exactly one goes about trying to build a board game based on around message board arguments
And more!
Going For Two is the free podcast of Extra Points, which drops every Wednesday and Friday. You can find it via Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you get your podcasts.
You can also find the videos of our previous podcasts right here.
We also did some video interviews that I think you'd be interested in
Bryan and I regularly produce video interview content for Collegiate Sports Connect. This service is completely free, and as a company, we're cranking out several videos a day. I'd encourage you to sign up for an account, where you'll be able to watch all of them. And hey, if you want to get a job in the college sports industry, this is the place to do it.
One of those interviews that I conducted this week was with the Wichita State beat writer for the Wichita Eagle:
Taylor and I dug into WSU AD's pointed commentary about the state of the NIL market, how it's impacted recruiting, and why the school was closer to get into the collective business.
Specifically:
“Where we erred was focusing on educating our athletes about NIL and not just collecting cash and paying kids to come to Wichita State,” Boatright told The Eagle in an exclusive interview. “We were told all along this was not pay-for-play, but now it appears the NCAA has no problems with that, so why not?”
Also, Wichita State has an NIL collective now. So!
Also, if you're really interested in the nuts and bolts behind how stadiums get built, especially in these, uh, uncertain times, I did an interview with a construction project management expert to better understand how things like the bond market are making it more expensive for schools to build stuff.
Did I know what the bond market REALLY did? No, because I have a degree in political science and the closest thing I've had to education on how the financial services industry works is by reading a few Michael Lewis books. But I do understand this a little better after this interview, so maybe you will too!
I'll have an interview with the athletic director at Eastern Kentucky, as well as an update on international students and NIL, later in the day on Friday, so be sure to check out CSC.
Here's what our paid subscribers got this week
Andy dug into the newspaper archives to look at all the other times the NCAA needed to select a new president. Who were the other major candidates that could have been selected? What were seen as the biggest problems each commissioner needed to address? Are those problems mostly the same over the last fifty years? I mean, I would like you to subscribe so you can read the article....but yes.
I've been working on this story for a while, but I talked to agents, CPAs, lawyers, and other experts to get their opinion about whether it is legal, or ethical, for NIL collectives to register as non-profits. Surprise! There's a LOT of skepticism in the industry that this approach is going to hold up once everybody turns in their tax paperwork and somebody decides to audit one of these groups.
We also have some bonus content about the NCAA's search for a new president, who should be considered for that gig, and what we think that gig ought to actually BE.
Next week, I'll have some updates about what I'm hearing for a bunch of mid-major realignment storylines, a spotlight on some interesting academic research, probably more NIL coverage, and more.
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Finally, I do have some open ad inventory on Going For Two and on Extra Points for the end of May and beyond. If you want to reach our audience of over 10,000 college sports administrators, industry professionals, students, academics, reporters and die-hard fans, I'd love to work with you. The rates are surprisingly affordable! Drop me a line at [email protected], and I'll get you taken care of.
Thanks for reading, everybody. Feel free to ping me at [email protected], tweet me at @MattBrownEP, hit us up on Instagram at @ExtraPointsMB, or troll us on reddit at /r/extrapointsmb