Like many, my first vision of a career in media was in sports. I wanted to be a sportswriter. Then, I wanted to do sports radio. After that, a sports broadcaster with the final goal of doing all of that at once.
After getting most of that, albeit at the lower end of the food chain, an offer to do news came my way, and I decided to give that a shot.
Twenty years later, much of my career is defined by my hard news experience, but sports will always be, what I like to say, my native tongue.
I am careful not to over-talk sports on our morning radio show on WTIC 1080, though I am not always successful. It’s just too much fun.
Plus, there are times when sports stories are news stories, and that is what I want to focus on right now. No, this is not a Taylor Swift column – I’m all for clickbait, but I have (some) standards!
When Tiger Woods had his fall from grace – remember the wedge through the back window of his car? — that was a massive news story. When Saudi Arabia takes over golf, that’s a news story. When Formula One comes to America and captures our attention and money, that’s a news story.
Damar Hamlin: News story.
You get the picture.
Well, there’s a massive story right now that both the sports and news media worlds aren’t paying enough attention to, and they really need to pay attention.
NIL and the transfer portal in college sports.
As TV ratings in college football and basketball continue to explode, it feels like college sports are about to implode.
If your radio station is in an area even close to a Division I program, this should be on your radar … every day.
College athletes can now make money from their “Name, Image, and Likeness” and can also transfer schools without sitting out a year. Kids are now switching schools all the time, and many are making millions when doing it. Part of the reason for this stems from the major schools creating these so-called collectives that harness wealthy boosters to pay players enough money to come to their respective schools over others.
The NCAA is trying to reign it in, but if they penalized every school for violations, most likely, every school would be in trouble. There’s also an effort in federal courts to try and get the NCAA out of the enforcement game when it comes to NIL.
Huge names in the world of sports like Rick Pitino are all for the NCAA getting out, and they talk about it almost anytime there’s a microphone in front of them.
Meanwhile, as president of the NCAA, you have the former governor of Massachusetts Charlie Baker trying to save the organization that has dominated college sports for decades.
You need to pay attention.
When people like Pitino are ripping the NCAA and talking about college sports salary caps, you need to pay attention.
When the Dartmouth men’s basketball team wins the right to be considered employees and not just student-athletes, you need to pay attention – and understand that this isn’t a metaphorical skirmish. It’s a revolution.
And it’s an important news story.
Here in Connecticut, it matters because the highest-paid state employees are the football and head basketball coaches (men’s and women’s), and they all struggle competing against schools that can offer more money to players.
If you’re still skeptical and don’t think it’s news, consider that the University of Alabama athletic department brings in more than $200 million a year. Of course, it’s one of the biggest revenue-generating sports schools, but the point is that this is real money – not a million here and a million there.
The irony is that Alabama actually turns a profit on its athletics program, and even with all their success on and off the field, Nick Saban decided to retire as the football coach – and a major reason for it was this emergence of the arm$ race of NIL and the transfer portal.
Courts. Complaints. Retirements. Millions of dollars.
It feels like the system could collapse, and if so, it will impact every flagship university in every state. Even here in Connecticut where the UConn football team isn’t even in a major conference, this is a massive story.
So, maybe you cannot book Charlie Baker. Or Rick Pitino. Or even your highest-profile coaches on your radio show. That does not mean you ignore the story.
If you do, you hurt your credibility as a news operation.
