Sports Business Journal — March 15, 2021

MARCH 15-21, 2021
VOLUME 23 ISSUE 47 • $10.95

Take
The Shot

Just like in his NBA playing days,
G League President
Shareef Abdur-Rahim didn’t miss
his chance to become a leader.

PAGEs 16-17

Glut of betting promos Younger fans key to Big Ten, Big Moves: In-Depth: How two
could be a problem for Disney’s desire for Kevin Warren fills four cities will handle the
new deal with the NHL. Madness of March.
U.S. companies. new roles at HQ.
PAGE 8 PAGE 18
PAGE 6 PAGE 9

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STATE OF PLAY

What A Difference A Year Doesn’t Make

The Big East tournament started again at Madison Square Garden last week, but it didn’t look much different from the way it ended a year ago. A St. John’s-
Creighton game on March 12, 2020 (above left) that allowed limited fans was suspended at halftime and marked the last college basketball game of the season
on the day most sports shut down around the country. This year no fans were allowed inside MSG for the event, which started on March 10 (above right).

TAKING ATTENDANCE

40,518 Maximumcrowd
size at Globe Life
Field, home of the
Texas Rangers, which
will be allowed
to open at 100%
capacity this year,
the only MLB stadium
planning to do so.
6.29RATINGSGAME $75MCASHONLY
KANSAS CITY
MILLION Amount
Sporting KC will have The Victory Viewers for the last Stanley Cup Final game of money
Project as its kit sponsor, making it on ABC, Game 7 in 2004, won by Tampa Bay Dallas
the first MLS club to put a charitable against Calgary. Disney has a new seven-year Cowboys
rights deal with the NHL that will bring quarterback
foundation in that spot. Cup Final games back to ABC. DAK
PRESCOTT
THE METER will be paid
in 2021, an
KANSAS NFL record
and part
The University of of a four-year,
Kansas fired football $160M deal.
coach Les Miles and
Getty Images (5); @SportingKC Twitter Athletic Director Jeff “ ”MONEYTALKS
Long departed after Cool people play basketball.
accusations against
— TROY JUSTICE, NBA vice president and head of international basketball development,
Miles for on why the sport is growing in popularity in India, population 1.37 billion.
inappropriate
behavior while he was
at LSU became public. 

W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M MARCH 15-21, 2021 | 3

FORUM

Sports has key role to play SBJ/SBD
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A FRIEND sent me an article titled, and community. For more information BUZZCAST
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White House and government leaders be- that looks at the top sports
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edged a collective plan has been dis- Smith’s Sports Business
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its media assets and air time to commit to of Leaders Group Holdings
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to signage and PR messaging during without permission, of
ABRAHAM MADKOUR Caine to promote the safety of vaccines games and also share the stories of the editorial or graphic content
diverse leaders of the medical communi- in any manner is prohibited.
PUBLISHER AND and that in the U.S, the nonprofit Ad ty who helped develop the vaccines and Street & Smith’s Sports
EXECUTIVE EDITOR even feature them at sports events. In ad- Business Journal (ISSN-
Council introduced a vaccine education dition, any message could promote the 1098-5972) is published
“The sports industry dynamic environment and experience of weekly, with the exception
initiative with the tag, “It’s Up to You.” a vaccinated society. of the first week of July
has been a leader and the last two weeks of
during this entire The sports industry has been a leader I’m bullish about this for the physical December, for $315 a year
pandemic, and it benefit, but let’s not be naive; there’s a by Street & Smith’s Sports
should continue during this entire pandemic, and it massive business emphasis here. The in- Business Journal, at 120
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educating and should continue by aggressively educat- live events, not just for ticket revenue 310, Charlotte, NC 28202.
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better off. It’s a delicate balance in a

society where sports and entertainment

celebrity can strongly influence society,

but many athletes are understandably

not comfortable telling people what to do

concerning medical and health

decisions. But even if some individuals

are hesitant, the sports industry can

collectively play a role to encourage

public acceptance in line with local

guidelines.

Look at what the NBA has done,

featuring Hall of Famers like Kareem

Abdul-Jabbar, Julius Erving and Bill

Russell in NBA Cares ads to promote the

vaccine. In his ad, Erving says Hall of

Famers “were never afraid to take the

big shot. And today is no different. I’m

getting vaccinated for my family, friends

THIS WEEK

OPINION. . . . . . . . . . 24 MEDIA MARKETING MEDIA LABOR OPINION
CLOSING SHOT. . . . 26
8 TOUR PARTNERS 13 THE LEFTON 14 THAT’S 15 SENIOR BENEFIT 25 A MATTER
Cover image by Getty Images REPORT ENTERTAINMENT OF TRUST
Early restart in the Senior Bowl players who
pandemic helped The Jackonville Jaguars A pay-per-view boxing met with scouts have A client’s evaulation of
PGA Tour establish are hiring ticket sales event headlined by a a leg up on virtual NFL an agency must consider
relationships that personnel in a hopeful YouTube star has the combine participants, the best fit and extend
continue in new season. sign for the industry. attention of media execs. agents say. beyond the new idea.

By John Lombardo By Terry Lefton By John Ourand By Liz Mullen By Dave Grant

4 | M A R C H 15-21, 2021 WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM

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upfront

The Italian government
banned sportsbook
advertising and
sponsorship entirely in
2019, killing deals such
as the jersey partnership
for SS Lazio of Serie A.

Responsible growth sor enhancements and TV visible signs, the specifics of which
the league would not disclose.
Wary of the betting firestorm in Europe, U.S. properties seek
The spate of sportsbook ads is not unique to NBA telecasts. A
the right balance of promotion and advertising. BY BILL KING recent Colorado Avalanche game carried a similar load of 12 spots.
I
N A THREE-MINUTE SPAN before a recent Detroit Pistons “With the amount of money being spent on traditional media in
game, fans watching locally saw 30-second commercials the growth market of sports betting, I think that they could sell as
touting offers of $100 at BetMGM if the Pistons made a many ad units in our games as they wanted to, if they were able
to,” said Adam Davis, chief revenue officer of Harris Blitzer Sports
three-pointer, a 5-to-1 payoff from Fox Bet if they scored & Entertainment, owner of the Sixers and New Jersey Devils. “But
I don’t think that would be the responsible thing to do for the fans.”
at all, and daily $25 refunds attached to FanDuel’s single-game
While six, seven or even 10 minutes of commercials spread
parlays. Golden Nugget’s online casino reminded them that it across a 2½ hour window may not sound like much, they can
rise like a chorus when delivered steadily by a half-dozen brands,
could take their sports bets, too. a rat-a-tat-tat reminder of what you’re missing if you haven’t
gotten around to signing up and plunking down.
By game’s end, Fox Sports Detroit viewers who stayed for all
This is the most tangible, immediate upside that the sports
of a 10-point loss in New Orleans had seen 20 spots advertising industry will see from the introduction of legalized betting: An
infusion of cash from advertising and sponsorships, coming as
some form of gambling, including 14 for online sportsbooks. COVID-19 restrictions have sapped other critical revenue streams.

DraftKings, BetRivers and PointsBet all joined in the parade. But with that promise comes risk.
Clubs and networks across Europe bathed in the flood of spon-
Recent broadcasts of Philadelphia 76ers and Chicago Bulls sor and advertising revenue that came as online sportsbooks
took off across the globe in the back half of the last decade, with
games on NBC Sports RSNs in those markets also carried hefty those in England, Italy, and Spain benefiting the most, thanks
to their popularity both domestically and abroad.
loads in the category, with 13 spots from six sportsbook sites in

Philly and 13 from four sites in Chicago. Getty Images

The similar counts of the three NBA games indicate that the

hot market has all of them bumping up against league-imposed

caps in the category, which include limits on in-game spots, spon-

6 | M A R C H 15-21, 2021 WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

For many, the benefit was short lived. Spurred The Sky Bet logo on the arm of a Fleetwood Town before coming to the U.S. as CEO of what is now
by concerns about increases in problem and under- player in England reminds fans to bet responsibly known as BetMGM in 2018. He saw the consequenc-
age gambling, the Italian government banned and to set limits for how much they will wager. es of operators in Europe acting too late and stressed
sportsbook advertising and sponsorship entirely the importance of sportsbooks educating bettors
in 2019. Clubs in Spain were told in October to ex- owe it to the industry and also our fans to also pro- and watching for problem behavior. But he ques-
pect the same fate after this season. Germany will mote a responsible gaming initiative and help edu- tioned whether advertising limits were the answer,
prohibit gambling advertising during sports broad- cate bettors on how to set limits and hopefully avoid and where to draw the line.
casts beginning in July. developing a problem in this area.”
“‘Too far’ is a matter of interpretation,” Green-
In England, where half of the 20 Premier League The predictable fervor of U.S. sportsbooks jockey- blatt said. “It’s subjective. If policy objectives of
clubs have sportsbooks as their shirt sponsors, ing for airspace in newly legalized states, coupled regulation are met, then by definition you’re on
operators took a step toward self-regulation, agree- with worries that too many ads would turn off fans the right side of the line. If you’re protecting the
ing to a “whistle-to-whistle” ban on spots during who won’t bet, led both the NBA and Major League vulnerable, insuring sufficiency of funds — to the
matches in 2019. Still, many predict government Baseball to set restrictions in the category, loosening extent that operations and regulations meet those
intervention is on the horizon. them in recent months but still maintaining them. compliance objectives, I think we should be OK.

Those lessons weren’t lost on the American ca- “We are trying to take a proactive approach and “It’s very tricky at the moment. It’s tricky to get
sino industry. put reasonable limitations on advertising and ex- the right balance at this early stage where there is
posure for sports betting operators in an effort to so much exuberance to see more sports betting in
At this time last year, when barely 10% of U.S. avoid the issues we’ve seen in the U.K. and Italy more states. And it is a competitive landscape. So
adults had access to online sports betting, the and elsewhere,” said Scott Kaufman-Ross, the senior the opportunity cost of not advertising today is
American Gaming Association launched a PSA vice president who heads fantasy and gaming at meaningful.”
campaign designed to educate fans on the perils of the NBA. “We recognize that there is a financial
problem gambling, recommending that they set opportunity for us and our teams and our broadcast FanDuel CEO Matt King wasn’t with the company
and stick to limits and gamble within their means. partners. We acknowledge that. But we do have to to see the blowback that came when daily fantasy
strike a balance, because if it gets out of control blitzed the airwaves with spots at the start of the 2015
NASCAR, the NHL and PGA Tour all have signed the over-corrections will come.” NFL season. But he knows the story and has pledged
on, developing sport-focused creative around joint- not to repeat it. Between that and the restrictions
ly branded PSAs and digital content that spins from Regulated U.S. operators typically offer a range most of the U.S. operators’ parent companies have
the AGA’s “Have A Game Plan” toolbox. FanDuel of responsible gambling tools, allowing customers faced abroad, King said he’s confident there are enough
became the first sportsbook to pledge its participa- to set their own limits and accept cool-down periods cautionary tales to bring the sportsbooks, leagues
tion last week, offering its megaphone to provide before they’re able to deposit more money. State and media companies together to self-regulate.
a significant awareness boost. regulators offer voluntary exclusion programs that
allow problem gamblers to block themselves from “The reality is, it’s not actually the operators
As sportsbook advertising increases, responsible opening accounts. But the conversation around that can control the overall tonnage that goes in
gambling messages can provide a counterbalance. advertising, which emerged as the prickly point in the game,” King said. “It’s the media companies
Europe, lives outside that scope. and the leagues. What they need is for the operators
“When we started talking about this even before to hold hands and say — this is what we as stake-
[the first states legalized], our colleagues overseas Adam Greenblatt spent eight years in corporate holders agree is the appropriate load. But this isn’t
kept telling us that we had a real opportunity here development with a U.K.-based sportsbook operator one where any individual operator can take uni-
to learn from their mistakes,” said Casey Clark, lateral action. And I would argue it’s one where
the AGA senior vice president who has worked to even all the operators themselves taking unilat-
add leagues and sportsbooks to the campaign. eral action doesn’t necessarily solve the problem.”
“There has been a ton of education needed across
the entire spectrum about what this [sports betting] The NBA is considering what the role of a league
industry actually is, and who owns responsibility should be in the responsible gambling conversation,
for responsibility. … From where we sit, this has Kaufman-Ross said. It could eventually pair with
always been a shared responsibility and a shared the AGA, with sportsbook sponsors, with a problem-
imperative.” gambling nonprofit, or even go it alone.

Scott Warfield, the PGA Tour’s vice president King said he hopes the AGA’s campaign could be
of gaming, held a similar position with NASCAR the gateway to convene sportsbooks, leagues and
when it became the first league to join the AGA’s networks around responsible gambling issues as
responsible gaming campaign a year ago. He the legal sports betting map expands.
brought the tour to the campaign in his first month
in his new job. “It is exciting that sports betting is increasingly
getting woven into the fabric of sports,” King said.
“First and foremost, it’s the right thing to do,” “But we need to recognize that we need to introduce
Warfield said. “I know that sounds cheesy. But if legalized sports betting in a responsible manner
we — NASCAR and now the PGA Tour — are going to the broader sports fan population. It’s about mak-
to realize the benefit of this category and what it ing sure the focus on responsible gaming scales at
means from a commercial standpoint and viewer- the same rate as the category itself does.”
ship standpoint and engagement standpoint, we

30-second spots from sportsbooks in a recent sampling of local RSN broadcasts

DETROIT PISTONS* CHICAGO BULLS* PHILADEPHIA 76ERS* COLORADO AVALANCHE*
13 12
14 13
6
Fox Sports Detroit NBC Sports Chicago NBC Sports Philadelphia Altitude Sports

FanDuel 5 PointsBet DraftKings 3 PointsBet 6

BetMGM 3 FanDuel 3 BetMGM 3 BetMGM 3

DraftKings 2 BetRivers 3 PointsBet 3 DraftKings 3

BetRivers 1 DraftKings 1 FanDuel 2

PointsBet 1 Bet 365 1

Getty Images Fox Bet 1 Unibet 1

Golden Nugget 1 * Includes two postgame spots
Source: SBJ Research
*Includes pregame show *Includes one postgame spot * Includes one spot in overtime

W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M MARCH 15-21, 2021 | 7

UPFRONT

Inside ESPN’s media rights deal with the NHL

BY JOHN OURAND ESPN saw potential streaming customers when it reviewed the NHL’s younger fan base. said, negotiations with ESPN started
to get much more serious. When that
ESPN’S STRATEGY to take the main NHL is audience expansion. That includes tionship with ESPN, which would happened, Bettman and his team fo-
media rights package from NBC start- attracting this younger demographic.” mean more games on their networks cused on cutting a deal with Disney
ed nearly three years ago, soon after and more “SportsCenter” highlights. for an “A-level” package. Once that
Jimmy Pitaro was named ESPN pres- Pitaro told NHL Commissioner was completed, the league would head
ident. Gary Bettman that when he was ready Bettman had made it clear that he out into the market with a secondary
to talk about his league’s new rights wanted to split rights between two or “B-level” package.
At the time, Disney had embarked deal, ESPN was prepared to listen. more media companies. Negotiations
on a bold media strategy that focused with NBC were not progressing well NBC had been the NHL’s sole rights
on developing streaming services such NHL executives were enthused by — the two were far apart on price after holder since 2006. The league felt like
as Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+. Pitaro, Pitaro’s response. League executives early renewal meetings, sources said. it needed time to figure out how to craft
who is now Disney’s chairman of were happy with NBC, but they felt it two packages. Last week, ESPN agreed
ESPN and sports content, sat down was important to have a deeper rela- About two months ago, Bettman to a seven-year, $2.8 billion deal for the
with his leadership team and pored top package. The other package re-
over viewership stats of the various mains in the market, and Bettman said
leagues. several suitors have asked about it.

Statistics around the NHL’s viewer- “This has become an increasingly
ship almost immediately stuck out to complicated media landscape,” Bettman
Pitaro. It wasn’t about overall viewer- said. “We needed to make sure that we
ship, which generally lags behind were crafting a package that made sense
other leagues. Rather, the NHL stood to ESPN and the Walt Disney Co., and
out for its younger and more engaged at the same time attempt to reserve
fan base — the types of people that enough rights that we believe would be
would be more apt to subscribe to a attractive for a second package. We
streaming service. believe we’ve accomplished that. You
had to do one at a time in order to get
“They have a young demographic it right and make sure that we weren’t
here — one of the youngest in sports,” going to be promising the same thing
Pitaro said. “When you look at ESPN’s in two different places.”
priorities, one of our top priorities

PGA Tour mines Whoop, with pionship held in Coke’s
relationships built its health-
during pandemic monitoring home market of Atlanta.
wrist bands, Other departures include
signed as MetLife and Grey Goose
a PGA Tour vodka, which activated

partner this heavily at PGA Tour
year. events.

THE PGA TOUR was among the first properties to One of the biggest ef-

restart during the pandemic, and its early return forts is to sign a new partner to replace

to play last June helped attract and sustain a string Coke. Oliver said the tour has not yet de-

of sponsorships, including in categories such as cided on whether to build on the Maestro

sports betting and spirits. Dobel deal by adding other spirits, such as

The tour now counts four betting partners and a bourbon sponsor. Other categories under

has added its first tequila deal with consideration include medical products,

BY JOHN Maestro Dobel that began at last pharma, food products and men’s grooming.
LOMBARDO week’s The Players Championship.
Also signing official marketing As Oliver goes to market for new deals,

he will benefit from the tour’s recent uptick

partnerships in 2021 are AWS and in TV viewership. NBC Sports has seen

Whoop, as the tour, aided by its PGA weekend viewership gains for the tour with

Tour Active digital platform that highlights player across all of its tours. a 30% increase this year on NBC and a 24% increase
“Golf has been a category we’ve seen success in
health and fitness, helps draws more lifestyle brands on the Golf Channel through the Arnold Palmer In-
and that started two years ago with the players,”
to the sponsorship portfolio. Hyperice also signed said Scott Haskell, PGA marketing manager for vitational. Viewership on CBS is up 1% so far in 2021.
Whoop, which makes health-monitoring wrist bands.
in October 2020. “Over time it made more sense to partner with the The tour counts more than 100 tournament and
tour and start to expand it.”
“The restart helped us develop relationships that official marketing partners, with the OMPs paying
Whoop also is a presenting partner of PGA Tour
led to deals,” said Brian Oliver, executive vice Active and will roll out real-time heart rate data around $1 million annually. Long-term deals are
on players during competition as another form of
president of corporate partnerships for the PGA content. typical, with 46 of the tour’s sponsors having deals

Tour. “We ended up seeing the results in the early Despite the recent gains, the tour has seen some in place for 10 years or more, and 13 sponsors hav-
sponsorship attrition. Oliver said the tour typically
portion of this year. At the same time, the metrics sees an annual 5% sponsorship attrition rate, and ing been with the tour for more than 20 years.
this year proved no exception. Coca-Cola departed
are improving on consumption and we are seeing as an official marketing partner, though Coke will “The tour owns a very specific audience and that
continue to be a top-level partner of the Tour Cham-
more deals that are renewed or new deals. And we’ve serves you well in turmoil,” said Kern Egan, pres-

got several more in the coming weeks.” ident of consulting for SportFive, which represents ESPN Images; Whoop

Since last June, the tour has renewed 10 tourna- clients such as PointsBet, Citi and Bridgestone that

ment title deals and signed six new title sponsors have tour deals. “There is always a desire to diver-

across the PGA Tour, Korn Ferry Tour and PGA sify, and they continue to evolve into lifestyle brands

Tour Champions. The tour has renewed seven of- and more digital engagements. You will find the

ficial marketing partners and added seven new deals tour in a great spot.”

8 | M A R C H 15-21, 2021 WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

Warren adds diversity, Bucs ride river of positive returns
new in-house roles to in wake of Super Bowl triumph
Big Ten leadership
ON FEB. 10, Tampa Bay Buccaneers executive Atul Khosla was riding in

a sheriff’s boat in the middle of a crowded Hillsborough River as part of

the team’s Super Bowl LV celebration when head coach Bruce Arians

reached over the rails of his craft and handed Khosla the Lombardi

Trophy with an order: “Pass this over to Tom’s boat.”

BY MICHAEL SMITH of college sports, to business to law, Khosla, the chief corporate development and

who can come in and make sure we BY BEN FISCHER brand officer, did as he was asked, getting the
trophy in the hands of quarterback Tom Brady.
COMMISSIONER KEVIN WARREN has re- truly understand this point of inflec-

shaped the Big Ten Conference’s tion that we’re in.” Khosla then took in the view: As far as he could see,

Chicago-based front office with four Warren, who is the first Black com- thousands of fans crowded the riverfront, straining for glimpses of the

new hires and a reduction in out- missioner at a Power Five conference, new NFL champions.

sourcing. stressed the emphasis on hiring di- It was a remarkable change of scenery for Khosla, who joined the

The conference office for years has verse candidates. Two of the hires, Bucs in 2017 in a newly created position just before the team’s sixth

outsourced vital functions, such as Brown and McKinley, are Black. Neu- last-place finish in seven seasons. In the wake of the franchise’s second

human resources and legal, but War- man is an Orthodox Jew whose Shab- title, the Bucs’ business side has been working to make the most of it.

ren’s preference was to bring them bat is from sundown Friday to “We clearly have been building and investing for a moment like this,

in-house. Those areas sundown Saturday, and we clearly have the eyeballs, and there’s a gusher of attention

represent two of the when he refrains from that’s going to occur,” Khosla said.

four new hires an- work, making it seem Improved sales for a Super Bowl championship team is hardly surpris-

nounced this week by unlikely that he would ing. But the Bucs are especially well positioned to post big revenue

the second-year com- work in college sports, jumps over 2019, the last non-pandemic year, which was estimated at

missioner. given the number of $419 million by Forbes.

Warren has filled a events on Saturdays. For starters, the club finished $160 million in capital improvements to

newly created position Brown McKinley “So, to give him that Raymond James Stadium before last season, allowing it to promote a

of chief sports officer opportunity is really cutting-edge experience at one

with longtime Ohio special,” Warren said. of the league’s oldest facilities.

State administrator The hires not only One of the cheaper tickets in

Diana Sabau while brought legal and HR the league before now, the Bucs

also naming a chief in-house, they also cre- believe they have room to raise

legal officer/general ated a new role for prices across the board this

counsel, Erica McKin- Sabau, who will serve offseason, at a time when fans

ley; a vice president of Neuman Sabau as the conference’s are still celebrating the title.

people and culture to first chief sports offi- The roster of about 125 suites

oversee human resources, Omar cer and deputy commissioner. will sell out this year, including

Brown; and a chief of staff, strategy Sabau, who has had 27 years of col- on the traditionally hard-to-move

and operations, Adam Neuman, who lege athletics experience, had been sunshine side behind the

also will be deputy general counsel. Ohio State’s deputy senior athletic visitor’s sideline. And the general With Tom Brady on board, Tampa
ticket sales boost that had been Bay expects a big revenue boost.
Warren said he had hoped to make director, where she oversaw football

these moves sooner, but the pandem- since 2017 and managed many of the expected after Brady’s signing

ic slowed the process like it did for Buckeyes’ most important commercial last offseason will come to bear, immediately taking the Bucs out of the

many businesses. He relationships, including bottom 20% of the NFL in attendance.

called the restructuring NEW HIRES those with Learfield On the sponsorship front, the main priority is renewing major pouring
both fiscally sound and IMG College, Coca-Cola,
rights deals with A-B InBev, Coca-Cola and Molson Coors. Khosla

necessary to better The Big Ten made Nike and Big Ten Net- characterized those talks as going well.
serve the conference’s four additions to its work.
14 member schools. It’s executive leadership While he’s having the same tough renewal negotiations that every
uncertain what the an- team: As chief sports offi-
nual savings will be for cer, Sabau will admin- property is during the pandemic, the strength of the Bucs brand in the
the conference, but it’s n Omar Brown: VP, istrate all 28 sports in
culture and people the Big Ten, from run- market is driving strong deals, he said. Local TV ratings were up 27%.

Despite fierce in-market competition from the Rays and Lightning, the

Bucs sold double the specialized license plates as all other teams in

thought to be well into officer ning championship central Florida combined, according to state records. The emerging

the tens of thousands of n Erica McKinley: events to scheduling, strength of the once lower-tier NFL brand, along with the Bucs’ empha-

dollars at first. Chief legal officer, media, officiating and sis on building sponsor-ready community programs, has opened doors

“We’re just trying to general counsel sportsmanship. Most of to new sponsors too.

be smart and creative n Adam Neuman: those areas had previ- Critically, Khosla noted, the staff built under the ownership of the
with these hires, and Chief of staff, strat- ously been reporting
replace consultants egy, operations and directly to the commis- Glazer family is intact — no layoffs or furloughs despite the deep
with full-time people,” deputy general sioner.
Warren said. “If you counsel shortfalls that have hit every NFL team. That’s allowed him to flood the
look at where college “This is a complex
athletics are going, not n Diana Sabau: business,” Warren said. zone with social and digital content creators, spreading the hype from
just over the last 36 Chief sports officer, “Diana, with her skill
deputy commissioner set, gives us someone events like the Super Bowl parade.

So when Brady threw the Lombardi Trophy over the open water to

tight end Rob Gronkowski, the Bucs didn’t have to rely on a chance to

go viral. They did it themselves.

Getty Images months, but for the next who is very comfortable “You have to be able to capitalize on that moment,” Khosla said. “We

5-10 years, I want to in all of those areas as feel really good about the investment we’ve made to be able to take

make sure we have individuals inside we’re continually looking to trans- advantage. We feel very good about the position we’re in.”

our organization from a cross-section form the conference.”

W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M MARCH 15-21, 2021 | 9

UPFRONT

Alt brings new approach
to trading card market

ALT, A NEW ONLINE MARKETPLACE for trading cards, Larry Fitzgerald. Alt soft launched to about 1,000

is aiming to shake up the sports memorabilia in- beta users last fall and went fully live late last week.

dustry by offering collectors access to real-time “The biggest businesses in many spaces in fintech

valuations and low-fee transactions. Founder and are on-ramp businesses, so they unlock participa-

CEO Leore Avidar, who began dabbling in card col- tion to a new asset class,” said Broadhaven Ventures

lecting in 2016 and has since amassed a partner Michael Sidgmore, who made a

multimillion-dollar portfolio of over 300 BY CHRIS SMITH personal investment in the Series A. “In
cards, said the core goal is to introduce the sports card space, you have platforms

transparency and liquidity to an industry like Alt that are creating the on ramp for

that has long been in need of both. the everyday investor or individuals who

“I’d run into a lot of problems over the years, could just be passionate about sports cards, and

from eBay to the grading companies to fraud and they can now invest into sports cards and own them,

payment issues, and I just always thought there and have custody in a safe way.”

was going to be a better way,” said Avidar. “In prob- Alt offers real-time estimates of asset values,

ably 2019, I was like ‘Wait, I’ve become an expert which have thus far been the main focus of its

at this. Should I be the one doing it?’” 30-person staff and which use recent transactions

As pandemic-related lockdowns accel- at auction houses and eBay as a guide. CEO Leore Avidar is looking to shake up the industry.

erated interest in sports memorabilia as As for liquidity, Alt takes custody of the charges 25%. Alt also charges prospective sellers
a 0.39% annual fee on the value of cards held in its
an alternative investment class, Avidar physical cards listed on its site and then vault.

decided to take on the challenge. The authenticates them, providing potential Avidar remains an active participant — he sold
a card featuring soccer star Alex Morgan for $400
company was founded last June, and sellers both security by keeping it in a on the Alt platform last week — and foresees a bright
future for this asset class. “This is the version of
shortly thereafter raised a $7 million seed vault as well as the possibility of imme- art for our generation, and that’s making them more
and more appealing,” said Avidar. “Over time these
round and a $24 million Series A led by Reddit co- diate transactions; the moment cards are sold, buy- are going to become a lot more attractive.”

founder and Angel City FC lead investor Alexis ers take ownership of the asset on Alt and sellers

Ohanian’s venture capital firm, Seven Seven Six. are transferred the funds.

Other investors include tech and finance heavy- Another key selling point: low fees. Alt charges

weights, including BlackRock co-founder Sue Wag- a 1.5% transaction fee to the seller, far below the

ner, as well as Arizona Cardinals wide receiver established marketplace; Heritage, for instance,

Nevada senator seeks to establish esports commission

BY KEVIN HITT, THE ESPORTS OBSERVER fans watching livestreams. Kieckhefer sees creating who also is the co-owner of one of North America’s
a commission as the first step in bringing esports
A STATE SENATOR FROM NEVADA has formally events full time to the city. The commission would major esports organizations, NRG Esports, sees
introduced a bill that would create a three-mem- function much like the Nevada Athletic Commis-
ber commission to govern esports in the state of sion, which governs boxing and MMA in the state. the bill as a way to help alleviate those fears while
Nevada. It’s all part of an effort to bring much-
needed competitive integrity to esports competi- “As esports continues to grow and mature, I creating an environment of fair play.
tions and entice live esports events — and the think it is going to be a dominant force in the
resulting revenue — to the state. entertainment industry going forward,” he said. “I like the idea,” he said. “Anything that legiti-
“And there’s no place on Earth better positioned to
In order to get tournament organizers and game take advantage of that than Las Vegas, Nevada. mizes the competitive integrity aspects of the
publishers such as Activision Blizzard, Epic Games, The city can handle anything from small LANs
Nintendo, Riot Games and others to bring events to [local area network] to large-scale, major tourna- games is important to moving forward with
Las Vegas, Senate Bill 165 — which will have its first ments and championships.”
hearing on Wednesday — would not only create esports competition and betting. However, it
the aforementioned three-person commission, but Andy Miller, co-owner of the Sacramento Kings
also help create a playing environment that is free needs to be done in concert with the leagues and
from the competitive integrity issues that have long
been a hot-button topic in esports. Third-party event organizers.”
programs have allowed for match-fixing and
cheating by, for example, helping players see If the bill ultimately passes, the commission
through walls, and those advantages have some-
times gone unchecked. would have to work together with tournament

The bill, from Sen. Ben Kieckhefer (R-Carson organizers and game publishers, who could
City) is meant to provide stability to esports at a
time when it is enjoying an ongoing boom while otherwise simply refuse to bring their events to
proving to be somewhat insulated from the
pandemic. Organizers have pivoted to playing Las Vegas, which has infrastructure and event
remotely while still providing production value for
space to handle the growing appetite for in-person

esports events.

“Creating a commission that works hand-in-hand

with the game publishers and IP holders is neces-

sary in creating a competitive environment that can

be looked upon by everyone as ‘fair and trusted,’”

Kieckhefer said. “With a Nevada state commission Courtesy of Alt; Getty Images

behind them, tournament organizers can rest

assured that they have the backing of an experi-

The League of enced entity that can and will
Legends World hold esports to the highest of
Finals would be a competitive integrity
fit for Las Vegas. standards.”

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SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

ing payroll with [season-ticket] payments.”

Those small businesses that were eligible for the

second installment must have no more than 300

employees, received the first draw and will or have

used it for appropriate reasons. Finally, they must

prove “at least a 25% decline in gross receipts be-

tween comparable quarters in 2019 and 2020,” ac-

cording to the SBA website.

Larry McQueary, president and COO of

The Milwaukee the ECHL’s Indy Fuel, said the club was com-
Admirals have pletely funded in mid-February, a month after
gotten roughly filing its second PPP application. For Round
$220,000 from 2, the Fuel were approved for an “almost
both rounds. identical” amount in the $150,000 to $350,000

range as last April.

Though PPP money only covers current

employees, having the additional funding will allow

the Fuel to hire at least two more ticketing staffers

by the end of March, according to McQueary.

Meanwhile, Howard Dolgon, owner of the AHL’s

Syracuse Crunch, said the team in early February

received between $150,000 and $350,000 for PPP

Round 2, which was the publicly available data fol-

AHL, ECHL teams making use lowing Round 1 approval on April 13, 2020.
“Minor league sports were effectively closed, as in,

sign on the door, ‘nobody home, can’t help you even

of second round of PPP loans if we wanted to, can’t take your money and sell you
anything,’” said Scott Sproat, executive vice president
and co-owner of the Fort Wayne Komets, adding that

the club was approved for the second PPP draw in

MINOR LEAGUE HOCKEY TEAMS in the AHL and ECHL ployees have remained onboard amid the corona- mid-February, though he couldn’t disclose an exact

are tapping into the second draw of the federal gov- virus pandemic. amount or range of funding. On April 10, 2020, the

ernment’s Paycheck Protection Program, a process Roughly $220,000 from the first round of PPP fund- Komets were approved for between $150,000 and

that’s been quicker, easier and more efficient than ing assisted his club through Dec. 1, Greenberg said, $350,000, according to publicly available SBA data.

the first installment in 2020, according to before longtime owner and CEO Harris During the first week of February, the Atlanta

team executives. Those interviewed are BY MARK J. BURNS Turer injected an undisclosed amount of Gladiators — one of 12 ECHL clubs that opted out
hopeful the received money — coupled money into the business. During the first of playing this season — applied for the loan and

with some combination of ticketing, spon- week of February, Greenberg said the team “within an hour” was approved and completely

sorship and merchandise dollars — can received a similar amount via PPP Round funded, according to President Jerry James. He

carry clubs into the spring and summer months 2, just days after initially filing paperwork with the said the loan will help provide an opportunity for

without having to find alternative financing options. assistance of U.S. Bank, the team’s largest banking the club to ramp up season-ticket sales and sponsor-

“The two PPP loans have been invaluable for us sponsor. ship efforts heading into next season.

to be able to keep our staff and not have to make “We can stretch out the money as long as possible,” “It will continue to allow us to keep our people

any changes,” said Milwaukee Admirals President said Greenberg. “The goal is at the end of each month and keep our head above water,” said James. “It

Jon Greenberg. All of the club’s 19 full-time em- and heading into the summer to be basically cover- buys us time. That’s what it’s really designed for.”

Pit Boss adds more sizzle to NASCAR partnership

AFTER ENTERING NASCAR as a sports marketing gate midways and fan campgrounds. Boss is also seeking to find beneficial business-to-
Pit Boss saw growth in brand awareness in the first business relationships that could boost ROI, and it
rookie in 2018, Pit Boss Grills is doubling down to will have one such promotion this week in conjunc-
couple years of the deal — doubling its recognition tion with Walmart at Atlanta. Pit Boss bought two
unlock extra value, including a new, longer deal metrics among fans in its category — and will now primary paint scheme positions on Stewart-Hass
use a more holistic approach across different Racing’s No. 10 driven by Almirola, one for the
with the sanctioning body. stakeholders and with added assets to unlock more March 21 Atlanta race and one for the previous
value. Parent company Dansons brought on sports weekend’s event in Phoenix.
The multiyear extension is marketing veteran Carlos Padilla — who has prior
stops at Axalta, International Speedway Corp. and Pit Boss, which has also had partnerships in UFC
BY ADAM STERN being announced this week. the Miami Beach Bowl — to head up its partnerships. and college basketball, handles its sports marketing
Precise terms are not being in-house. Michelle Byron, NASCAR’s vice president
“The first couple years, quite honestly as a of partnership marketing, helped strike the renewal.
released, but the Arizona-based company, we were not prepared well internally to
maximize on the opportunity, and that’s one of the “The business is growing leaps and bounds and we
brand now has a spend well into learnings we have,” said Jeff Thiessen, president of want to re-invest in our brand and felt like NASCAR’s
Dansons. He said Padilla has brought added certainly a like-minded company and fits our customer
the seven figures in the sport annually. That perspective. demographics extremely well,” Thiessen said. “With
the arrival of Carlos to our team … it gave us the
includes the NASCAR deal plus new relationships Pit Boss will put a greater focus on experiential confidence to move forward with NASCAR and tap in
activation and tout specific products, including and unlock the potential of these partnerships.”
with track operator Speedway Motorsports, portable grills that it will sell at tracks to campers. Pit

Stewart-Haas Racing and driver Aric Almirola.

Pit Boss is the official grill of both NASCAR and

Speedway Motorsports, and its NASCAR relation-

Getty Images ship will now have markedly expanded assets from

the original deal, which was more focused on IP.

This includes a major focus on at-track activation at

18 NASCAR events this year, both on outside-the-

W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M MARCH 15-21, 2021 | 11

UPFRONT

WHAT I’M BINGEING ON

JESSICA ROBERTSON
BY EDDIE GONZALEZ AND ANDREW LEVIN

“I THINK MY STORY IS PRETTY UNLIKELY.” Ashlyn Harris, Dawn Harper-Nelson, Robertson, TOGETHXR was born. Founded along with basket-
Jessica Robertson has spent her media career Breanna Stewart, Ali Krieger and Nneka Ogwumike. ball legend Sue Bird, Olympic snowboarding gold
following her twin passions of music and sports. Now medalist Chloe Kim, Olympic swimming gold
she’s putting those passions and experience together which led her to jump to sports entirely. She soon medalist Simone Manuel and soccer icon Alex
as chief content officer of TOGETHXR, a sports and joined The Players’ Tribune, becoming head of Morgan, TOGETHXR works to close that gap.
media lifestyle company for women athletes that content and staying for five years. Robertson is the CCO of the startup that has a staff
launched last week. From small town roots — the of eight people and has reportedly received private
But something was still bothering her. In 2018, a equity support from Magnet Companies.
native of Paducah, Ky., report from the United Nations Educational,
didn’t take her first Scientific, and Cultural Organization estimated that “We’re telling stories about these women that
plane ride until flying to while women made up roughly 40% of sports partici- haven’t been told before,” Robertson says. “We’re
New York at 21 — to pants, only 4% of sports media coverage goes to doing it with the ambition to inspire the next
big-city success as the women. Robertson looked to change that, and generation, because there hasn’t been a brand for
head of content at The Players’ Tribune, she has them. We’re going to bring sports and culture
always been able to follow her dreams. together for women in a [new] way.”
“I knew I wanted to be a storyteller,” Robertson
says. “I wanted to tell the stories of the artists that For Robertson, it’s the crescendo it seems her
were creating.” She did just that, first as a writer at journey was always building toward. “It’s sort of the
Rolling Stone and then at places such as AOL, MTV perfect blend of all my interests,” she adds. “We get
and The Fader. Even as she worked in music, sports to dip in and out of prisms, depending on the story
kept calling. In 2014 she saw a piece that Michael we’re telling, which is exciting.”
Carter-Williams did for The Players’ Tribune on the
idea that his Philadelphia 76ers team was tanking, Eddie Gonzalez is a writer and editor at Boardroom
and a co-host with Kevin Durant of the podcast The
ETCs.

PODCASTS STREAMING MINDFULNESS MUSIC

There’s a podcast called “Origins” The last series I really binged on was I go for a run. It’s I’m a music head who listens based
that I gravitate to. It’s really just oral “The Flight Attendant,” starring the one time I can on mood and not necessarily trend.
Kaley Cuoco. Over the holidays, I actively listen to
histories. One really needed something to hold music without But recently I
recent my attention, and it was addictive. interruption. It’s was playing
episode is the one time that I Drake.
with the cast can chew on an idea. I “Wants and
of the movie can just be in my head. Needs” is my
“Almost It is just me and my track. He’s a
Famous.” It’s a breath, and I can go as brilliant marketer. He’s a great
retelling and long or as short as I songwriter. Drake, Beyonce, Taylor
reimagining of that time with need. Swift, they have social currency to
perspective and context and history just drop and disrupt, and every-
from the people that made it. body’s going to pay attention.

BOOKS FASHION FOOD & DRINK DOCS Courtesy of Jessica Robertson; HBO Max; YouTube; Getty Images; Twitter (2)

“Contested Waters,” by Jeff Wiltse, I’ve become a Nike Air Max I’m Southern, so I need a whiskey. For the most part, I lean into un-
is about the integration of public collector. Though I’m not enough of Bourbon, rye, scotches: If it’s scripted. I watched the “Free
pools. For me, this book is important a sneakerhead to talk in detail brown, and it’s in front of me, I’ll Britney” documentary from Hulu on
about it, I went from zero pairs to, drink it. I do a lot of takeout, Thai Britney Spears, and as a storyteller
because it takes a now, I think I have seven in my food, Greek food, Mediterranean. who started my career as a journal-
large cultural conver- closet. I’m obsessed with China- Also, I find at this stage in a startup, I ist, it was fascinating, just the layers
sation and distills it town Market. Another designer I just want carbs. I want it to be easy. I of investigative reporting and
into something so gravitate toward, being a woman want it to fuel me. Just keep it
specific. We talk about that comes from music and culture simple. So, bread, French fries and perspec-
schools and segrega- who wants to express visually a whiskey. tives. It made
tion and desegrega- certain way, is Anine Bing. She’s me think
tion but, really, swimming pools based here in L.A. and does about
were ground zero for it, and there’s rock-inspired ware reimagining
also a whole system that has kept that I’m our heroes,
Black people out of swimming for obsessed especially our female icons who
years. Working in partnership with with. clearly had very public struggles
Simone Manuel now for TOGETHXR, that maybe the media and fans
it’s been an education, for sure, but played a part in exacerbating
also a source of inspiration. because it sold.

This is the second in a monthly series as part of a collaboration between SBJ and Boardroom. For more visit www.theboardroom.tv.

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SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

THE INSIDERS

MARKETING AND SPONSORSHIP

Hiring Jag: Jacksonville adds sales staffers in
hopeful sign for more industry moves this spring

A FTER A YEAR OF QUARANTINES and mandated the [April 29] draft,” Lamping said. “I’m not sure ■ GOOD TIMING: There’s a line as straight as an
face coverings, perhaps we’re just looking
for that elusive first crocus of the year, but yet what other teams are doing, but we’ll all have hour hand from Tissot’s 2016 deal with the NBA

to accelerate.” — it sponsors the clocks that hang above every NBA

when we heard that the Jacksonville Jaguars As for when and if the rest of the industry is basket — and the new digital clocks installed with-

recently hired 15 additional ticket sellers, we con- hiring? There’s a decidedly mixed response to that in each UFC octagon, which helped the MMA circuit

tracted a bit of spring fever. That’s certainly query. recently close a $350 million deal with DraftKings,

preferable to other contemporary airborne afflic- “It’s somewhere between a steady drip and a pour the UFC’s largest sponsorship to date. That line

tions, and it also set us on now,” said Prodigy Search CEO Scott Carmichael. was drawn by Grant Norris-Jones, the UFC’s vice

a mission to determine “I’m encouraged that we’re seeing some of the live president of global partnerships. While with the

whether the Jags’ person- entertainment companies starting to rehire, but NBA from 2013-15, Norris-Jones helped develop that

nel moves are an anoma- the pulse I’m getting is that the big sports hiring league’s first sponsored timing system (also the

ly or the beginning of an rush will be in May or June.” first for a North American sports league). “It was

industry U-turn. There were 21 open executive searches at Turn- my life for around 18 months,” he said, of the Tis-

Like many teams, the keyZRG when we spoke with CEO Len Perna last sot deal, which sold for a reported $200 million. His

Jaguars laid off sales- week; eight were for collegiate positions. “We’ve penchant for good timing never wound down.

people last year, trimming never been busier,” said Perna. “Colleges seem to After joining UFC in 2017, Norris-Jones immedi-

ticketing and suite sales be breaking out, but we don’t see that real rush ately started working on its timing deal, recalling

personnel from 54 people coming across sports until we can get vaccines into when, as a youthful boxer, he panicked after being

BY TERRY LEFTON to 23. More recently, 15 two-thirds of people’s arms and people feel safe unable to read an analog gym clock. A proprietary
sellers have been hired or
going to stadium and arenas.” UFC timing system was developed over several years

rehired, and the sponsor- Michele James, CEO and founder of search firm with hundreds of iterations, before the 75-by-4.75-

ship sales team has added James & Co., said, “We’ve seen inch unit developed

a few positions. Jaguars President Mark Lamping companies use this time to do HR was sold with an LED

said he hopes to have staffing back to pre-COVID-19 realignments, in areas from struc- screen that could be

levels by mid-summer, at the latest. ture to compensation, but whole- used for sponsorship

“The negative implications of being unprepared sale hiring I don’t expect until the inventory.

far outweigh the costs we’re taking on, so we’re summer.” “In all the pitches,

planning for best case,” Lamping said. “Really, we’re New jobs promulgated or elevat- we posed the question,

all going to need to invest soon to get back to normal ed in stature and pay by the pan- ‘When is the last time

soon.” demic, she said, include a variety any brand could say

Before those new hires can spend much time work- of diversity positions (now widely they changed a sport?’”

ing the phones — and even before the team began termed as JEDI, for justice, equity, said Norris-Jones. “In

its season-ticket renewal campaign — the Jaguars diversity and inclusion), along with so many sports, key

had deposits for around 3,500 new season tickets, CMO (chief medical officer) and historical moments are

quite an impressive figure for a franchise coming CSO (chief security officer). The tied to a clock, so I’ve

off a 1-15 season. However, this is a one-win team CSO recently hired by the NBA from UFC has a $350 million deal with DraftKings. always been surprised

that’s hired a local hero as its new coach in Urban the Secret Service, Leon Newsome, there haven’t been

Meyer, who won two national championships at was placed by James & Co., and more of these, and

Florida, and it has the limitless optimism that a heads cybersecurity, ticketing security and office frankly the clocks we developed for the NBA and

top pick in the NFL draft engenders — especially health issues and is responsible for the safety of top here were far more accurate.”

when that top pick could be highly touted former executives and players. The surfeit of new SPACs

Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence. has also created a pressing need for board-of-direc- Terry Lefton can be reached at

“We’re expecting another [sales] bump around tor members at those organizations, James said. [email protected].

UFC

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THE INSIDERS

SPORTS MEDIA

Executives give social media influencers
a fighting chance to drive new revenue

S PORTS MEDIA EXECUTIVES are close- differentiates what’s going on right now trains regularly. Once boxers and MMA
ly monitoring next month’s pay- versus traditional boxing.” athletes see the money that can be made
per-view boxing event headlined from these types of fights, Bidarian envi-
A pay-per-view match last November

by YouTube star Jake Paul to determine between Jake Paul and former NBA play- sions the space growing.

whether the success of creating events er Nate Robinson is the event that start- “As long as there’s a business case for

around social media influencers is a bona ed to convince executives that this trend it, you’re going to see this space flourish,”

fide trend or a flash in the pan. could have staying power. The fight, which Bidarian said.

“If you had told me a year ago that I’d saw Paul knock out Robinson in the second As a case in point, video sharing app

be talking to Sports Business Journal round, was on the undercard of the Mike Triller and Snoop Dogg launched a box-

about a story on Jake Paul headlining a Tyson-Roy Jones Jr. match. Overall, the ing league in December called “The Fight

BY JOHN OURAND major pay-per-view, I would have said event generated around 1.6 million PPV Club.” Bidarian said he’s heard from up

you’re nuts,” said Mark Boccardi, senior buys, generating more than $80 million. to five groups over the past two months

vice president of programming for In De- Tyson obviously drove much of those that are looking to capitalize on this phe-

mand. “It’s amazing how far everything PPV buys, but what opened the eyes of nomenon.

has come. The whole sport of boxing has some executives is what happened in the “There’s going to be a lot of different

been transformed.” aftermath. Video of Paul’s knockout went players that come out the gate over the

Paul is set to take on former UFC fight- viral and talk of his performance domi- next two or three months in this space,”

er Ben Askren in an eight-round boxing nated the conversations around the night. he said. “Just like any other industry, the

match on April 17. Boccardi said it

is too early to predict how well that

fight will sell.

The reason why so many media

executives are optimistic about the

business case around these fights is

that they are miles better than celeb-

rity boxing in terms of quality. Plus

the celebrities have enormous social

followings that, so far, have trans-

lated to PPV buys. Paul, for example,

has 20.3 million YouTube subscrib-

ers. His brother, Logan Paul, has 22.9

million.

DAZN was looking for ways to drive

brand awareness in the United States

back in 2019, according to Joe Mar-

kowski, an executive vice president

with the streaming service. DAZN’s

executives had taken notice of a box-

ing match between British influenc-

er KSI and Logan Paul in the summer

of 2018 that generated more than a

million buys on YouTube. Jake Paul (left) fought Nate Robinson last November prior to the Mike Tyson-Roy Jones Jr. match.

That fight ended up in a draw,

which led DAZN to stage a rematch in No- “When you saw all the attention that the ones who do it well and have more of a

vember 2019 that picked up more than Jake Paul fight got, that’s when you start- strategic long-term approach and take it

300,000 buys at a higher price point — a ed to say that maybe this guy can headline seriously as a boxing product plus an en-

big enough number to convince executives his own boxing card,” said In Demand’s tertainment product will win the day.”

to continue pursuing a PPV strategy Boccardi. “That is when you started to look As for Paul, Bidarian sees more big-name

around these verified fighters. at it as, maybe there’s a real business here. athletes positioning themselves to get a

The business plan is simple. By targeting It’s not just a side show. This could actu- match with him. He referenced the public

social media influencers that not only have ally drive a new business model.” back-and-forth Paul has had with Floyd

a big reach but a history of interacting Next month’s Paul-Askren fight is $49.99 Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao as

with their fans, the process of setting up and In Demand is distributing it across setting a template for the future.

bouts was simpler than expected. all traditional media. It also will be avail- “There’s a reason they’re doing that,”

“There are no boundaries, there are no able on the Fite TV app. Like other pay- he said. “There’s a consumer demand for

promoters, there are no long-term affilia- per-views, the event is a revenue share that product.”

tions,” said Nakisa Bidarian, founder of arrangement.

BAVAFA Sports, who is an adviser to Jake In terms of what’s next, one of the ad- John Ourand can be reached at jourand@ Getty Images

Paul. “It’s all about putting on entertain- vantages of building PPV events around sportsbusinessjournal.com. Follow him on

ing content and events that fans want to Jake Paul is that, unlike most other influ- Twitter @Ourand_SBJ and read his twice-

see. That is the opportunity. And it’s what encers, he actually knows how to box and weekly newsletter.

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SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

LABOR AND AGENTS

Agents say players in Senior Bowl could
see their stock rise in NFL draft
G IVEN THE UNUSUAL FORMAT of this year’s
NFL combine, players who were invited to only exposure to the key decision-
the 2021 Senior Bowl may have an edge over
makers at each team,” Nagy said.

“We spent 12 grand on plexiglass

other NFL draft prospects who were not, agents this year. And they were sitting

said last week. across from these guys and getting

“I think the Senior Bowl guys will definitely ben- a feel for them.”

efit,” said NFL agent Drew Rosenhaus. “It was Players met with team scouts

the only time that teams and executives for 15-minute in-

were able to meet with terviews. The Senior Bowl sched-

them.” uled two nights of interviews

This year 135 players, from 7 to 11 p.m., and then an-

including 16 underclass- other follow-up session on Friday

men who completed of Senior Bowl week for 20-min-

their graduate require- ute interviews of a limited num-

ments early, were invited ber of players.

to the Senior Bowl, The Senior Bowl COVID tested

which was held Jan. 30 all of the players and the NFL per-

in Mobile, Ala. sonnel invited to Senior Bowl

BY LIZ MULLEN “Usually, on a scale of week. It ran 3,635 tests, with only
1 to 10, the Senior Bowl
one positive test — a player who

was an 8,” Rosenhaus Scouts were able to have face-to-face meetings with Senior Bowl players. had been invited and did not par-

said, as far as importance in draft preparation and ticipate. Agents were not part of

getting players in front of teams. “Now, I would say conducted at on-campus pro days this month and the COVID bubble the Senior Bowl created, Nagy said.

the Senior Bowl was an 11, in terms of importance. in early April. And players with the combine invites In normal times, NFL club executives and scouts

It really was huge for the guys who participated.” are giving medical information to teams and doing would grab players for interviews, but it was catch

Another agent who asked not to be identified Zoom calls with team personnel. Agents say those as catch can; they could try to find the players after

agreed with that assessment. “The guys who re- Zoom meetings are not the same as an in-person breakfast or after practice. But the scheduled in-

ally are going to benefit, more than anyone, are the meeting, when it comes to a job interview. terview format this year worked out so well, Nagy

guys who went to the Senior Bowl,” the agent said. At the Senior Bowl, the players were able to meet said, that it will be part of the Senior Bowl going

“Because they got a week with scouts.” face to face, sort of, with NFL team personnel in a forward.

The NFL sent out combine invitations to about new setup the event created specially for this year,

300 players, like it always does, but there is no said Jim Nagy, Reese’s Senior Bowl executive di- Liz Mullen can be reached at

physical combine in Indianapolis because of the rector. [email protected].

pandemic. Instead, all on-field workouts will be “Without the combine, this was going to be their Follow her on Twitter @SBJLizMullen.

Tomoyuki Sugano’s agent says timing wasn’t right for MLB deal

Getty Images (2) WASSERMAN MLB AGENT JOEL WOLFE was and won the Sawamura Award, Japan’s version of far too restrictive on the Japanese players and he
negotiating with multiple teams on multiyear deals the Cy Young, twice. “He is a very, very solid, was a casualty of those restrictions,” Wolfe said.
for Japanese star pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano right intelligent and determined guy and he had a line
up to the deadline of his 30-day posting window, and he wasn’t going to go below it,” Wolfe said. Sugano returned to Japan’s Nippon league but
but none could make an offer the player and agent will be eligible again to come to MLB as a free
believed was fair value. Sugano posted on Dec. 7 and had to have a deal agent before the 2022 season.
completed by Jan. 7 under MLB posting system
“His negotiation literally came down to the last rules. “The timing just wasn’t right,” Wolfe said. Wolfe did post another Japanese player. The
minute where we were dealing with three or four “And timing is everything in free agency.” Texas Rangers signed pitcher Kohei Arihara for
teams and trying to come up with ways for him to two years, $6.2 million, but his situation is differ-
sign here,” said Wolfe, Wasserman executive vice At that time, the pandemic was in full swing with ent. He is younger and that was a good spot for
president and co-managing executive, baseball. COVID-19 cases and deaths rising; clubs did not him, Wolfe said.
“He was offered $40 million and turned it down know if they would play a full season or if there
because he wanted significantly more and was would be fans; and the free-agent market for Additionally, Wolfe negotiated a two-year, $14
worth significantly more.” starting pitchers just million deal for infielder Kike Hernandez with the
wasn’t moving.
Wasserman pioneered the business of bringing Boston Red Sox and negotiated a
star Japanese baseball players to MLB. Wolfe’s The free-agent six-year, $90 million deal for slugger DJ
clients include San Diego Padres pitcher Yu market picked up after LeMahieu to re-sign with the Yankees.
Darvish, Minnesota Twins pitcher Kenta Maeda, Sugano’s 30-day period
and Tampa Bay Rays left fielder Yoshitomo expired. “It really The pandemic and the economic
Tsutsugo, and retired MLB players including exposed that the major uncertainty associated with it made
Hideki Matsui and Hisashi Iwakuma. league posting rule is free agency challenging this year, but
Wolfe is hopeful for the future.
Sugano is a six-time Nippon Professional The pitcher turned down
Baseball All-Star, two-time Central League MVP, a $40 million offer. “Now even California said they will
have fans, and teams are starting
spend like they did pre-COVID,” Wolfe
said. — L.M.

W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M MARCH 15-21, 2021 | 15

PORTFOLIO INSIDE THE G LEAGUE

always seemed to be improving in all areas.”

Abdur-Rahim said the invaluable guidance and

mentorship he received started well before his pro

career commenced. While high-profile names have

shared their wisdom, he also credits lesser-known

influencers — including former media executive

Ed Baker — as figures in Atlanta who helped shape

his path. Former Kings executives Geoff Petrie and

Wayne Cooper provided insight into running an

NBA organization and showed early confidence in

Abdur-Rahim as an executive. NBA Deputy Com-

missioner Mark Tatum offered sage

Colleagues advice and taught him to be an ef-

say that just fective leader.
Abdur-Rahim said he never tried
like his NBA
to emulate any specific executives,
playing days, but rather focused on learning a
Shareef little from everybody — while adding
Abdur-
Rahim

strives to his own personality and flair to his
keep getting collaborative management style.
better.
“One thing I know from a leader-

ship standpoint is that you have to be

authentic,” said Abdur-Rahim, who oversees about

40 employees in the league office. “I just have tried

to take the learnings and experiences that I have and

apply them to what works for me. This [relates] in

terms of the way I manage and conduct myself, and

mainly just keeping a level head, something I’ve bor-

rowed from my father.”

Abdur-Rahim grew up in a close-knit Muslim

household and was pushed at a young age to be

active and competitive. But his parents also instilled

an attitude of humility through every success and

accomplishment. He still holds those childhood

TRUST your instincts and go for it. You have to trust yourself. lessons tight as he climbs the ranks. Some colleagues
YOUR
INSTINCTS That’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned.” think he will one day run an NBA franchise or re-

G League president applies Abdur-Rahim trusted his instincts in 1996 when he turn to the league office in a more prominent role.
basketball lessons to business
declared for the NBA draft following a stellar freshman “He could do whatever he puts his mind to, because
BY ERIC JACKSON
season at the University of California at Berkeley. He that’s just the type of character he is,” said College
S HAREEF ABDUR-RAHIM didn’t have aspirations
to be G League president. But one thing he was the third overall pick and played for four teams, Park Skyhawks head coach Noel Gillespie.
learned during his 12-year NBA career was
to always be prepared for when your name might including his hometown Atlanta Hawks, dur- While Abdur-Rahim
be called. So, when the NBA dangled the opportu-
nity to lead its development league three years ago, ing his pro career. His last stop was in Sacra- SHAREEF ABDUR-RAHIM appreciates the senti-
Abdur-Rahim didn’t hesitate — he took the shot.
mento, where he parlayed his player role into n Age: 44 ment, he remains focused
The former All-Star turned executive is carving out an assistant coaching job with the Kings. n Hometown: College Park, on elevating the NBA’s
another layer of his NBA legacy, and he’s doing it with Ga. (moved to Marietta, Ga., for feeder system. Goals in-
the same swagger he carried during his playing days. The College Park, Ga., native quickly high school) clude getting a G League
transitioned from the bench to the front n Current residence: South affiliate for each of the 30
“Something that was true in my on-court career office and was named the Kings’ assistant
and that’s true in business is that you have to trust
your instincts,” said Abdur-Rahim, who retired as a general manager and later director of play- Orange, N.J. NBA clubs and making it
player in 2008. “You have to do the work, prepare and n College: University of Califor-
be a good teammate. You have to take feedback and er personnel. “If you know Shareef, you nia, Berkeley (undergrad), Univer- a global league — a Mex-
listen — but at the end of the day, you have to trust always know that he makes calculated moves sity of Southern California, Mar- ico City G League team
with his career,” said Jason Terry, a former shall School of Business (MBA) is coming next season, for
Hawks teammate. “He knew he wanted to example. He also wants
be in management and stepped right in. … n Playing career: University to continue building the
of California, Berkeley (1995-96),

Learning the business of basketball only Vancouver Grizzlies (1996-2001), Ignite development pro-

prepared him for his role now.” Atlanta Hawks (2001-04), Port- gram into a truly viable

Abdur-Rahim completed his bachelor’s land Trail Blazers (2004-05), Sac- destination for draft-eli-
degree at Cal in 2012, and later earned his ramento Kings (2005-08) gible players, with not
MBA from the University of Southern Cal- just on-court develop-
ifornia. While he didn’t take formal training n Working career: Kings assis- ment but with more re-
to rise up the ranks, Abdur-Rahim said his tant coach (2009-10), Kings assis- sources in education,
tant general manager (2010-13),
Kings director of player personnel

experiences with the Kings, and later as a (2013-14), general manager of tuition and branding/

vice president in the league office, groomed Reno Bighorns [Stockton Kings] career development.
him to be a business leader in the NBA, which (2013-14), vice president of bas- “We have a lot of work
he describes as a “university of learning.” ketball operations (2016-18), G
League President (2018-current) to do,” he said. “The po-
“One thing about Shareef that I always tential here is so expan-
NBAE / Getty Images
admired was his constant desire to get bet- sive, and we’re not even

ter, which probably goes back to his time as a play- close to scratching the surface of what the G League

er,” said Pete D’Alessandro, former Kings general can be.”

manager. “Whether it was learning the [salary] cap Eric Jackson writes for the Atlanta Business

or working with the development of players, he Chronicle, an affiliated publication.

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SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

Perseverance pays How Amber Nichols reached her goal
for Skyhawks’ Miller
FRESH OUT OF graduate school at the I’m looking to help someone who was in
THINKING BACK to the July 2020 promotion that changed her life, University of Georgia, Amber Nichols was the same position that I was in.”
Tori Miller can’t really put the feeling into words. looking for an opportunity to make
headway on her newfound dream of Nichols, who is a cousin of NBA All-Star
The NBA had just announced her as the general manager of running an NBA front office. John Wall, hasn’t wasted any time getting
the College Park Skyhawks, the Atlanta Hawks’ G League affili- acclimated in her first season at the helm.
ate, making her the first woman to hold a GM title in the league’s Problem was that the opportunities She took up residency at the ESPN Wide
20-year history. were scarce. But like she did many times World of Sports Complex at Disney World,
on the court during her basketball career where 18 G League teams competed this
Her phone rang off the hook. She was overwhelmed by the at the University of Richmond — she season in a bubble format. While the
wave of response — and proud of the work and perseverance improvised. Nichols accepted a position Go-Go wasn’t competing, Nichols joined a
she’d put in to break through in the ubercompetitive world of in the ticket department for the Sacra- handful of the team’s flex-affiliate players
pro sports. mento Kings in 2015. It wasn’t ideal, but it and did some of her own scouting as she
was a start. tries to build the club into one of the
“Just to get the outpouring of support, not only from family league’s best.
and friends, but the players, too,” she said. “My first eight con- “If I had my choice, I wouldn’t have
gratulatory calls and texts were from my players. That meant a chosen ticket sales, but I felt like it was the “We want to find that diamond in the
lot to me, just to see the impact that I had on their lives and their only avenue for me to get into the NBA,” rough. There’s a lot of guys who come out
belief in me going forward.” said Nichols, who played four seasons for of the G League that end up contributing to
the Spiders. “I always felt like once I got to NBA teams, and my goal is to find the next
But the Decatur, Ga., native also received a bevy of messages the NBA, I could get over to the basketball one.” — E.J.
and calls from young women and other ambitious female execu- [operations] part.”
Atlanta Hawks; Capital City Go-Go tives in the industry. It put her hiring into perspective and pro-
vided a realization that her responsibility goes beyond scouting The leap of faith worked out, as she got
reports and developing talent. “It really hit home,” she said. an assist from basketball trailblazer Nancy
Lieberman, who previously was an
The road to becoming a trailblazer came with obstacles. assistant coach for the Kings. She
After graduating from the University of Miami with a degree connected with the Hall of Famer who
in business administration, Miller interned for two years inside later played an instrumental role in her
the Phoenix Suns’ front office but found herself stuck without getting an internship with the Washington
a full-time job after the internship. Undeterred, she started scout- Wizards.
ing G League players — without pay — and sent monthly reports
to NBA teams. Her efforts caught the attention of Malik Rose, It wasn’t easy leaving her full-time sales
the former general manager of the Erie BayHawks (now Sky- position to be an intern, but she remained
hawks). Rose, who now works for the league office, later hired steadfast in her dream of working in a
Miller to be the basketball operations manager of the BayHawks. front office. After a stint with the league
From there, Miller rose through the front office ranks and was office and players association, she
named assistant GM of the club in July 2019. returned to the Wizards full time and
Her latest promotion is the next step toward achieving her ul- never left again as she climbed her way
timate goal of becoming an NBA general manager. But Miller, 30, up in the organization, starting with a
director of basketball operations
has another mission: to be a positive role position with the Wizards’ G
model for young women who aspire to League affiliate, the Capital City
succeed in sports and other male- Go-Go, in 2018.
dominated industries.
“At the end of the day, I want to Nichols, 28, said she remains in
open doors for the next genera- touch with Lieberman today. “Just
tion,” she said. “When the next tapping into her experience and
girl comes up, I want it to be that advice is only going to prepare
much easier for her to get past me more for the responsibility
that initial [job] interview. I that I have right now.”
want to create opportunities
for the future of girls who Nichols has more duties than
want to work in sports. ever after being named general
“I know I have to do manager of the Go-Go last
a great job because a month, making her the second
lot is dependent on it. woman ever to hold the title in G
For women, once we League history behind College
get in these leader- Park Skyhawks GM Tori Miller.
ship roles, we have
to do a great job The messages and calls continue
— because if not, to come in from her supporters — both
it could be a old and new — as well as other young
trickle-down ef- women who aspire to be leaders in
fect on so many the sports industry. Nichols takes
others. It’s big- pride in being a mentor and re-
ger than me.” sponds to each message she gets.

— E.J. “I know that one response can
change someone’s career,” she said.
“So, I take that responsibility whole-
heartedly and I’m hoping to provide an
opportunity for someone like myself.

W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M MARCH 15-21, 2021 | 17

IN-DEPTH XXXX

COMPLETE
MADNESS

To avoid last year’s I T WAS A CRISP, cold January
fate and mitigate morning in Indianapolis when
the financial and the NCAA’s Dan Gavitt notified
Pacers Sports & Entertain-
medical challenges
created by the ment President Rick Fuson that the
pandemic, the
city would host the 2021 NCAA men’s
NCAA has created
one-of-a-kind, one- basketball tournament.

city basketball Indianapolis was already set to wel-
tournaments in
Indianapolis and come college basketball’s Final Four

San Antonio. this year, the three-day, three-game
BY MICHAEL SMITH
spectacle that crowns the national

champion.

But this was different. Indianapolis

was signing on to help the NCAA stage

a never-done-before March Madness

— all of it in one market to guard

against the pandemic. And they had

all of two months to get ready for the

Big Dance, rather than the years of

preparation most cities normally have

just for the Final Four.

That was the challenge on Jan. 4:

68 teams, 67 games, six venues, 19 days.

A month later, the NCAA said the

women’s tournament would be played

under similar circumstances in San

Antonio: 64 teams, 63 games, five ven-

ues, 15 days.

Bring on the Madness.

“We said, ‘Hey, thanks, now we’ve

got to get to work,’” said Fuson, who

chairs the Indiana Sports Corp. in ad-

dition to his duties with the Pacers.

He recalled spending the next several

hours on video conferences and phone

calls, assessing what Indy had and

what it needed. Buses, volunteers,

laundry — everything had to be con-

sidered in a lightning-quick pace so

that the teams could remain safe in

the NCAA’s controlled environment.

The women’s tournament, facing

many of the same deadlines, joined

arms with San Antonio’s local orga-

nizing committee on an even more

compressed timeline.

CITY MAPS PEOPLE TIMELINE
Explore hosts TO KNOW Retracing the narrow
Indianapolis and San Meet those who put planning window;
Antonio and find out the pieces together plus, a round-by-
more about their for this year’s men’s round look at the
sports pedigrees. and women’s events.
tournaments.
Pages 20-21 Page 23
Page 22
INSIDE

Getty Images

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The NCAA didn’t announce its plan to have the

entire women’s championship in and around San

Antonio until Feb. 5, just more than five weeks ago.

Two venues are outside of the city — the Frank Erwin

Center at the University of Texas in Austin and the

University Events Center at Texas State in San Mar-

cos. Like Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, the

Alamodome in San Antonio, site of the Final Four,

will provide two courts inside the stadium through-

out the tournament, with other games at Bill Greehey

Arena and the UTSA Convocation Center.

“It’s been a wild ride, a bit of a roller coaster,”

said Nina King, the NCAA women’s basketball com-

mittee chair and Duke University’s senior deputy

athletic director.

“Me personally, I thought, ‘OK, we’re going to

have a tournament. No, we’re not. Here we are.’ It’s

been a lot of up-and-down emotions, but so many

folks working so hard to try and pull this off. And

ultimately, it looks like we are going to be able to

pull this off in San Antonio.”

COVID-19 testing, protocols inside the bubble,

contact tracing — any of those pandemic-related

elements could derail the tournaments at any point,

despite the historically unique arrangements that NCAA, sponsors us,” Lucey said.
put a new spin on This won’t be a typical March Madness
have been made with venues, schools, conferences activations this year
for the NCAA’s corporate partners and
and hotels. champions either.

There is really no room for postponements, no Many of the sponsors are using their ac-
cess and unique services as a different type
contingencies for a safety breach at one of the of activation in Indianapolis.

venues. Once the 68-team tournament starts mov- Gone are the three-day music festival and
the downtown basketball-themed fan fest,
ing down the tracks, it will be like a momentum- THE NCAA doesn’t need to think about ideas two of the most prominent ways in which
brands put their touch on the Final Four and
fueled locomotive with a schedule to keep. for a new March Madness campaign. It’s al- engage with the throng of fans in town to
get a taste of the Madness.
They won’t be able to just halt the games and ways the same — The Road to [fill in the city
In its place, though, sponsors like Lowe’s
take a two-week pause to figure out where an infec- that’s hosting the Final Four]. and others have uncovered ways to inte-
grate themselves into the event and improve
tion came from like some schools did during the Take this year, for example: the experience for the athletes and teams.

regular season. BY MICHAEL The Road to Indianapolis. Ex- When tournament officials in Indianapolis
for the men’s event and San Antonio for the
“We’re not really planning for post- far left: The JW SMITH cept, of course, all of the women began planning for the entire field
ponements, particularly,” said Gavitt, Marriott in downtown men’s teams will already be to stay in the host city, laundry was one is-
the NCAA’s senior vice president of Indianapolis is the host sue that didn’t seem to have a solution.
in Indianapolis for the full
Lowe’s, an NCAA partner since 2005,
basketball and overseer of the men’s hotel for the men’s tournament (the First Four will be held on heard about the dirty dilemma and created
tournament. “One of the challenges tournament. A bracket mobile units that could haul washers and
with a tournament versus the regular on the exterior will be campus at Purdue University and Indiana dryers to the hotels for an assist.
season, it’s really hard to postpone or updated along the way.
reschedule games because it impacts above: Lucas Oil Stadium University, respectively) during this crazy “The teams don’t really want anybody do-
has hosted the event ing anything to their uniforms, so they want
COVID-19 version of the Big Dance. to do it themselves,” Lucey said.

That unusual situation presented some In another hotel reserved for game offi-
cials, a utility closest was converted into a
other teams in the bracket. So, we’ll twice before, but never opportunities for new messaging around space for stackable units in a laundry room.
deal with unique situations if we have in such a controlled
to, but we don’t have contingencies for environment. the men’s basketball tournament, as well as With the athletes essentially confined to a
limited space when they’re not playing or
the women’s event in San Antonio, said El- practicing, the restaurant-related partners
will provide a welcome change in menu.
a significant postponement of games len Lucey, the NCAA’s director of champion- Wendy’s, Buffalo Wild Wings and Pizza Hut,
all NCAA corporate partners, will be among
that would impact the tournament overall.” ships and alliances, corporate relations, the food choices for the athletes.

All of those demands for a first-of-its-kind March marketing and branding. “it’s important that the athletes feel sup-
ported because when they first get there,
Madness setup left Fuson overwhelmed. He had his “You’ll see us changing things up a bit, they’re going to be isolated,” Lucey said.

own challenges with the Pacers and Bankers Life having some fun with the fact that we’re al- Two elements of the Final Four that won’t
be changing — Buick’s dribble promotion
Fieldhouse, which is hosting 43 basketball games ready in Indy,” Lucey said. “It is going to be across 18 GM dealers in central Indiana and
Reese’s sponsorship of the all-star game.
over a staggering 40-day period. a different Final Four experience, that’s for

“There’s so much to do in a very short period of sure. You’re not going to have bands or

time,” Fuson said. “This wasn’t something you cheerleaders, the stadiums are not going to

celebrate like getting the Super Bowl. There wasn’t be full. So, we want to be sensitive to that as

even enough time to have a cocktail. It was, ‘OK, well, make sure the look and feel is what it

let’s get to work.’” should be.”

The NCAA’s brand campaign on social

BUILDING THE BUBBLE media is being built around #DoYour-

WHEN THE NCAA men convene in Indy and the Dance, which Lucey described as a “cele-
women gather in San Antonio for their champion-
ships this week, these tournaments will culminate bration of everybody who did their part to
two months of hair-on-fire preparations to make
sure the coronavirus doesn’t steal March Madness help us get here.”
like it did in 2020, when the tournaments had to be
canceled for the first time. Through the NCAA and school social

CONTINUED ON PAGE 22 channels, they’ll solicit videos of people

Getty Images doing their dance, whether they work in

healthcare or they are cleaning crews at

the venues.

“It’s definitely a different approach for

W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M MARCH 15-21, 2021 | 19

IN-DEPTH MARCH MADNESS

NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT

INDY’S KEY: Venue Hotel Other
CREDS
INDIANA INDIANAPOLIS HINKLE FIELDHOUSE
With a population MOTOR Indianapolis
of 2.07 million CHICAGO S P E E DTOWLEADYO First and second rounds;
(up 10% since 2010) Indianapolis Sweet 16
the Indianapolis- Home of the
Carmel-Anderson, Indianapolis 500 INDIANA FARMERS
Ind., market is COLISEUM
the 33rd-largest Indianapolis
in the U.S. First and second rounds

FINAL FOUR INDIANAPOLIS
HISTORY PEORIA
This is the eighth INDIANAPOLIS 465
time the city has
hosted the men’s OHIO
Final FouIrL:L1IN9O8I0S (at
Market Square COLUMBUS
Arena); 199S1P,R1IN9G9F7IE,LD
2000 and 2006 DAYTON
(RCA Dome); and
2010, 2015, 2021 CINCINNATI
(Lucas Oil Stadium).
The 2026 men’s 465
Final Four is also
LOUISVILLE
scheSdTu.leLdOtUoItSake
LEXINGTON
place at Lucas Oil
Stadium. The city MACKEY SIMON SKJODT 465
also hosted the ARENA ASSEMBLY
women’s Final Four HALL
in 2005 (RCA West Lafayette
Dome); and 2011 First Four; Bloomington
and 2016 (Bankers first round First Four;
Life Fieldhouse). 69 MILES TO first round
LUCAS OIL 52 MILES TO
SPORTS HISTORY STADIUM LUCAS OIL STADIUM

 Indianapolis Colts 1 2 DOWNTOWN INDIANIANDPIAONLAIPSOLIS
(in town since JW MARRIOTT INDIANAPOLIS
1984) play at Lucas INDIANAPOLIS MARRIOTT 1 23 4
Oil Stadium Indianapolis DOWNTOWN Maryland St.
(opened in 2008) Host hotel* Indianapolis
Host hotel* White River South St.
 Indiana Pacers 3
(1967) play at THE WESTIN 4 Kentucky Ave.
Bankers Life INDIANAPOLIS HYATT
Fieldhouse (1999) Indianapolis REGENCY
Host hotel* INDIANAPOLIS
 Class AAA Indianapolis
Indianapolis Indians Host hotel* INDIANA LUCAS OIL BANKERS
(continuously since CONVENTION STADIUM LIFE
1902) play at VICTORY CENTER FIELDHOUSE
Victory Field (1996) FIELD Indianapolis Indianapolis
Indianapolis Practice venue Elite Eight; Final Indianapolis
 USLC Indy Eleven Home of the Class Four; National First and
(2014) play at AAA Indianapolis Championship second rounds;
IUPUI’s Michael A. Indians Sweet 16
Carroll Stadium
(1982)

 ECHL Indy Fuel
(2014) play at
Indiana Farmers
Coliseum (1939)

 Indianapolis
Motor Speedway
(1909)

Source: SBJ research

* Marriott is an official NCAA corporate partner, and JW Marriott is a silver level sponsor of the Indiana Sports Corp., the event’s organizing commiittee.

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NCAA WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT

KEY: Venue Other ALAMO
CITY’S
TEXAS TPC SAN STRAHAN FRANK CREDS
ANTONIO ARENA AT THE ERWIN
LBUQUER UE UNIVERSITY CENTER With a population
San Antonio EVENTS Austin of 2.55 million
Home of the CENTER First round (up 19% since 2010)
PGA Tour Valero San Marcos 80 MILES TO the San Antonio-
Texas Open First round ALAMODOME New Braunfels,
51 MILES TO Texas, market is
ALAMODOME the 24th-largest
in the U.S.
SAN ANTONIO-SAN MARCOS-AUSTIN
FINAL FOUR
DALLAS HISTORY

AUSTIN AUSTIN The Alamodome
hosted the
HOUSTON women’s Final
Four in 2002 and
SAN ANTONIO 2010, and the
men’s Final Four in
Gulf of 1998, 2004, 2008
Mexico and 2018 and has
been awarded the
10 SAN MARCOS 2025 Final Four.

UTSA CONVOCATION CENTER 35 SPORTS HISTORY
San Antonio 10
First and second rounds  San Antonio
410 Spurs (in town
TOYOTA FIELD since 1973) and
San Antonio SAN ANTONIO the San Antonio
Home of the USLC San Antonio FC Stock Show &
410 Rodeo (1950) call
the AT&T Center
SAN ANTONIO (opened in 2002)
home
AT&T CENTER
 Class AA San
San Antonio Antonio Missions
Home of the San (continuously
Antonio Spurs and since 1968) play at
the San Antonio Nelson W. Wolff
Stock Show & Rodeo Municipal Stadium
(1964)

 USLC San
Antonio FC play at
Toyota Field (2013)

Source: SBJ research

35

DOWNTOWN
SAN ANTONIO

10 THE DREAM COURT EAST SIDE
BOYS & GIRLS CLUBHOUSE
10
BILL GREEHEY San Antonio * Marriott is an official
ARENA HENRY B. GONZÁLEZ Fan fest NCAA corporate partner
CONVENTION CENTER and will house most of
San Antonio San Antonio ALAMODOME the tournament teams in
First and second Practice venue San Antonio downtown San Antonio.
rounds Practice; first and second rounds; Sweet 16; The San Antonio Organizing
Elite 8; Final Four; National Championship Committee declined to
release the names of the
team hotels. Four of the 20
properties that are part of
the organizing committee’s
fan hotel room block are

Marriott brands.

W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M MARCH 15-21, 2021 | 21

IN-DEPTH MARCH MADNESS

MAKING
IT HAPPEN

Key people who were instrumental in planning
the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball
tournaments this year

DAN GAVITT/JOAN SCOTT/
LYNN HOLZMAN
NCAA

Ever since last year’s disappointing
cancellation of March Madness, Gavitt and
Scott on the men’s side, and Holzman, who
heads up the women’s tournament, have been
on a mission to make sure the 2021 version is
played on time and crowns worthy national

champions in a safe environment.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19 vention center, where the fan fest normally would

Both events will play out this time in bubble-style be. Security and volunteers will escort players

controlled environments that will keep the players, through areas where they could potentially come

coaches and officials isolated from everyone who in contact with outsiders, and walkways will be

RICK FUSON/RYAN VAUGHN hasn’t undergone the same rigorous coronavirus marked with signage for distancing.
Indiana Sports Corp.
testing. It’s similar to the bubble concept so many They’ll take on other nontraditional volunteer
Fuson chairs the sports commission while also
serving as president of Pacers Sports & professional leagues have used to protect themselves duties, like sanitizing team spaces and organizing

Entertainment, whose Bankers Life Fieldhouse from the virus. a laundry schedule. Some teams have been in Indy
will host 43 basketball games over 40 days
across high school, college and the NBA. While Indy has an impeccable reputation for host- several days already. So much of what the volunteers
Vaughn, president of the Sports Corp., has
played a key role in the local planning. ing big events, it’s not Disney World, above: Planning to safely often do is taken for granted. Not this
move teams around as
JENNY CARNES which was the site of last year’s NBA they work their way to year.
San Antonio Sports playoffs. Devising a bubble that main- the Final Four at the “There are so many unique logisti-
tains its integrity over almost three Alamodome tested logis-
Carnes, Senior VP/COO, has weeks while busing teams across cen- cal challenges when you start talking
been boots on the ground about moving teams around,” said
in San Antonio, leading
the local organizing efforts tral Indiana requires a caliber of col- tical capabilities. Ryan Vaughn, president of Indiana
to keep the women’s
tournament on pace in a laboration that NCAA and city officials Sports Corp. “But we have the infra-
very compressed window.
said was unparalleled by anything they had ever structure and the experience of a lot of big events.”
MITCH BARNHART/NINA KING
NCAA basketball committee chairs worked on. In addition to Bankers Life Fieldhouse, venues

There’s probably never been a more “We needed everyone to step up,” Gavitt said. “It at Lucas Oil Stadium, Purdue, Indiana, Butler and
challenging time to serve as chairs for the
men’s and women’s basketball committees. took incredible buy-in from many different orga- Indiana Farmers Coliseum will host games, while
Barnhart, Kentucky’s AD, and King, Duke’s
senior deputy AD, have represented their nizations to make this happen. We had to work with the Horizon League, Ball State and Indiana Uni-

committees on issues ranging from bus the Indiana High School Athletic Association to versity-Purdue University Indianapolis will con-
transportation to laundry, while also managing
move their dates back a few weeks so that we could t r i bu t e s t a f f i n g fo r l o cke r ro o m s, p re s s
a difficult selection process because of the
unique regular season. get [the NCAA’s Sweet 16] in Bankers Life. That conferences and scorer’s table chores.

took a lot of cooperation from the Pacers and the Corporate sponsors have played a role as well,

high schools, but it took a matter of days to get that developing solutions for some unforeseen problems,

done, not weeks, and it just shows you the level of such as where 68 teams will do laundry. Lowe’s is

collaboration from different groups.” bringing mobile units with washers and dryers for

With Gavitt working shoulder-to-shoulder with the teams.

managing director JoAn Scott, the NCAA marshaled

all of its resources in and around Indy, where the
governing body of college sports is headquartered. DOGGED DETERMINATION

The Indiana Sports Corp., among its many duties, THE NCAA’S SCOTT has March Madness woven

has organized untold thousands of volunteers, who through her family like a thread that holds a sweat-

will work 4,000 shifts. Once they enter the bubble er together.

after multiple negative tests, they’ll stay in it for all When her late mother was still alive and in an

three weeks, just like the teams that win and advance. assisted living facility, she and the other residents

The volunteers, for example, provide teams with would fill out their brackets and compare their win-

liaisons for managing travel and scheduling team ners and losers during lunch. Getty Images

practices at the downtown convention center, where Scott’s niece is a fifth-grade teacher who incor-

a dozen courts have been installed. All four team porates March Madness into her lesson plans this

hotels have skywalks that connect them to the con- time of year.

2 2 | M A R C H 15-21, 2021 WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

NEWTIMELINE TO A MARCH MADNESS MARKETCAST SPORTS POLL

2020 NCAA MEN’S NCAA WOMEN’S The following are results from the MarketCast
BASKETBALL BASKETBALL Sports Poll taken in February. The poll includes
 MARCH 11 — World Health TOURNAMENT TOURNAMENT more than 2,000 senior-level sports industry
Organization declares the professionals spanning pro and college sports,
coronavirus a pandemic  FIRST FOUR — 4 p.m.  FIRST ROUND — 12 brands and agencies.
start on Thursday, March p.m. start on Sunday,
 MARCH 12 — NCAA cancels 18 March 21, and Monday, The NCAA tournament was canceled last year
men’s and women’s basketball March 22 due to COVID-19. What impact do you expect
tournaments just days before they  FIRST ROUND — 12 it to have on TV viewership for the 2021
were scheduled to begin p.m. start on Friday,  SECOND ROUND — 3 edition, with the tournament set to go ahead?
March 19, and Saturday, p.m. start on Tuesday,
 APRIL 5-6 — The dates when the March 20 March 23, and 1 p.m. 44%
men’s and women’s championship start on Wednesday,
games were supposed to be played  SECOND ROUND March 24 33%
— 12 p.m. start on
2021 Sunday, March 21, and  SWEET 16 — 1 p.m. 21%
Monday, March 22 start on Saturday, March
 JAN. 4 — NCAA awards entire 27, and Sunday, March 2%
men’s basketball tournament to  SWEET 16 — 2 p.m. 28
Indianapolis start on Saturday, March Decrease in Viewership Increase in Not sure /
27, and 1 p.m. start on  ELITE EIGHT — 7 viewership figures to viewership no
 FEB. 5 — NCAA awards entire Sunday, March 28 p.m. start on Monday, from 2019 remain flat from 2019
women’s basketball tournament to March 29, and 7 p.m. response
San Antonio  ELITE EIGHT — 7 p.m. start on Tuesday, March and almost
start on Monday, March 30 the same as
 MARCH 14 — Selection show for 29, and 6 p.m. start on
men’s bracket Tuesday, March 30  FINAL FOUR — 6 p.m. 2019
start on Friday, April 2
 MARCH 15 — Selection show for  FINAL FOUR — 5 p.m. The NCAA’s selection of each of the two bubble
women’s bracket start on Saturday, April 3  NCAA
CHAMPIONSHIP cities for the 2021 tournaments was a …
 APRIL 4 — Women’s national  NCAA GAME — 6 p.m. Sunday,
championship game CHAMPIONSHIP April 4 64% Great choice 44%
GAME — 9 p.m.
 APRIL 5 — Men’s national Monday, April 5 Note: All times ET. OK choice 46%
championship game
29% Poor choice

3% Not sure / 3%
4% no response 7%
INDIANAPOLIS SAN ANTONIO
‘MY BAR IS SET PRETTY HIGH’
For Scott, a former Nike executive, Gavitt and What do you expect the 2021 Men’s NCAA
others at the NCAA, it’s almost as if they took the AS THE START of the tournament approaches this Tournament to be most recognized for?
loss of last year’s tournaments personally. week, the to-do list is significantly shorter than it
was two months ago. Ask Fuson what’s keeping The optics of having unpaid student athletes
The determination not to let it happen again was him up at night, though, and a litany of responses compete in the tournament during a global
evident as far back as last summer when Gavitt spill out. pandemic
pledged that if basketball is being played, there
would be March Madness. Testing. Buses. Hotels. Seating. Ticket sales. The 26%
national anthem.
“I feel a real personal and professional obligation Impressing the world with a successful bubble
to make this tournament happen and for it to be Honoring front-line workers and those in military environment for 68 teams
successful,” said Gavitt, whose late father Dave was service. Those who have died during the pandemic.
a longtime coach and conference commissioner of 24%
the Big East. “For me, it has nothing to do with the The list goes on and on. No wonder the daily calls
money [from TV rights]. It’s about having a suc- with the NCAA routinely last two to three hours. Generating record-setting sports betting handle
cessful event and experience that determines a 20%
national champion. For 80-plus years before, that’s The attention to detail again speaks to the deter-
what happened, so there is a responsibility to get mination to stage one of the most unique sporting Crowning an unlikely champion
back to that.” events in college history, and do it without anyone 14%
getting sick or infected.
That determination had begun to show six months Suspending tournament play due to a
before they knew Indy and San Antonio would host When Gavitt is asked what will be his definition COVID-19 outbreak
and that such a controlled environment would even of success for March Madness, he admits, “My bar
be possible. is set pretty high — 67 games, all on time and a 11%
worthy national champion. I’d like to say zero health
“Last year was really tough for us, and when I concerns. I don’t know if that’s realistic, but the Not sure / No response
say us, I mean family and extended family,” Scott goal is to get everybody home safe and healthy.” 5%
said. “We invited coaches and some directors of
operations to talk to our staff about how they were That definition of success doesn’t change much On a lighter note, with every competing team
doing, where were they when they heard everything from Indy to San Antonio, according to King. traveling to the same city for March Madness,
was canceled, what they were thinking. Just listen- and limited fans in the arenas, do you expect
ing to that and knowing what that experience was “It’s been such a challenge,” said King. “But it’s there to be …
like for the players who didn’t get to experience also going to be so rewarding once we get all 64
‘One Shining Moment,’ well, that’s something that teams to San Antonio and do this. … I’m very con- Fewer upsets Not sure More upsets
has been in the back of everyone’s mind. fident in our ability to get this done, but I also 42% 23% 35%
have learned over the past year to stay nimble and
“Clark Kellogg tells us to embrace the joy of flexible. Source: MarketCast in conjunction with Sports Business
March Madness, and I think we will like no other Journal. MarketCast provides research and analytics to
year.” “Ultimately, we want to crown a national cham- fuel fandom for brands and properties in sports media
pion on April 4. How we get there might be a little and entertainment. Visit www.marketcast.com.
different, a little curvy, but just so long as we get
there.”

W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M MARCH 15-21, 2021 | 23

OPINION

Sales evolution:
The phone room is
wherever you are

H AS THE PHONE ROOM of “Wall Street,” “Boiler Room”
and “Glengarry Glen Ross” outlived its usefulness?
The past year of the pandemic has shown us that

there may be a better way to identify prospects and schedule

appointments. The landline has been replaced by the cell-

phone and the office phone room has been replaced by the

apartment, the home, the condo, the backyard, the porch and

whatever “home office” the caller has cho-

Sutton sen to use. Calls are being made much the
Impact same as they have always been, only re-
motely. But should this same approach be

BY BILL SUTTON the preferred mode of operations in 2021
and beyond?

Let me be clear: In my time with the NBA and the early

days of the TMBO group, I was a huge proponent of the

phone room and our group recommended that every team

have an inside sales staff (phone room) with 10 to 20 entry-

level sellers making 400 to 500 calls per week. We provided

sales trainers to prepare the young sellers as they embarked

upon a hoped-for career and we even created the NBA Job

Fair to help teams recruit talent. That system worked well

for many years, although in recent years, caller ID and block-

ing have affected success, which according to some estimates

range from 1% to 3% of all prospects called actually purchas-

ing the product.

For the past several years, I have advocated an end to the

phone room in the traditional sense — no landlines, and on social media in an attempt to generate abling the employee to use their computer

equipping sellers with cellphones because of their functional- interest and hopefully additional leads. rather than a cellphone.

ity in providing technology to text and share video, photos Another possibility would be to air the I realize that the majority of sales man-

and other forms of interactive media directly to a prospect or video in a spot in the local broadcast so agers were raised in the traditional mode

indirectly through social media. The physical space would that the fans watching at home could see of “smiling and dialing” and might be un-

still be there, but as a result of the pandemic it doesn’t need to what they are missing. A sweepstakes to comfortable abandoning a process that has

be a physical space (more on that later). What follows is my win premium tickets or a night in a suite worked for them for a number of years.

2021 view of contacting prospects and shortening the sales could be promoted in the broadcast to gen- They are also more comfortable because

process. erate leads for follow up. this approach offers metrics that are easy

The Sales Video So the video text/email replaces the ini- to assess effort and results. But pause for a

Ask a salesperson to describe the experience of attending a tial phone call but only in the sales se- minute and think about your OWN phone
game. As they begin quoting the script or rambling, stop and
think about what you just asked. Audio is only one dimen- quence. The phone call follow-up and behavior. Do you have caller ID? Do you
sion. Wouldn’t a video depicting the game experience — with
real people enjoying themselves — be much more effective in appointment setting leading
setting the stage? The video could show various seating loca-
tions and the people in those seats enjoying themselves. It to the actual appointment I realize that the majority of sales
could show coworkers out for an evening or parent-child all remain part of the sales managers were raised in the
combinations sharing quality time, or perhaps a dance team process. This process can traditional mode of “smiling and
performing. Game promotions, food and beverage offerings, take place anywhere and be
fireworks and music could all be part of the video. It would
close with the salesperson showing a few possible seating lo- completed in evening hours dialing” and might be uncomfortable
cations and asking the prospect to think about where they for non-business customers, abandoning [that] process.
might like to sit when they are invited out for a game. The thus eliminating the need to
idea is to give the prospect a vivid idea in 2-3 minutes and a
better understanding of what you’re asking them to pur- be in a room with a landline
chase. The video could be emailed or texted directly to the
lead. Once it has been confirmed that the prospect has re- — and possibly working remotely several employ blocking or screening software?
ceived and opened the video, the seller would contact them
according to the message in the original text/email that stat- days per week. Do you answer calls from numbers you
ed how the follow-up would occur. The next step then would
be the appointment at the venue or coming to a game that Sales Training don’t recognize? I’m suggesting like every-
would capitalize upon the actual experience. thing else that survival and effectiveness

The seller would also have the opportunity to post the video Obviously this sales methodology would implies the ability to adapt and evolve.

require a new approach by sales trainers. Call me Darwin, because I believe in this

Learning how to create and edit a video on type of evolution.

a cellphone, how to determine the best

content, and how to share that content on Bill Sutton (billsuttonandassociates@gmail.

social media. This training would be much com) is director emeritus of the Vinik Gradu-

more important than teaching a new sales- ate Sport Business Program at USF, dean of

person how to make 75 calls per day. Exist- Elevate Academy and principal of Bill Sutton

ing technology such as Ring Central could & Associates. Follow him on Twitter

be employed as part of this process, en- @Sutton_ImpactU.

2 4 | M A R C H 15-21, 2021 WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

Agency evaluation must go beyond the best idea
I T WAS A GREAT QUESTION. The type of question only
a CMO would ask. surface, choosing your favorite idea seems to make sense. that so many client-agency relationships
No, it wasn’t in the RFP. That was filled with the Make no mistake, great ideas are imperative. But the fizzle after one year makes one think the
search is for an agency, not a creative director. The agen- answer to these questions may often not
be a resounding yes.
usual standard questions favored by procurement depart- cy evaluation process needs to go much deeper than
So what keeps client-agency relation-
ments. You know, the kind of boilerplate questions that reaction to an idea developed in a vacuum. Let’s face it, ships lasting long-term? It’s this ability
to collaborate. It’s mutual trust that you’ll
you have to answer but really don’t provide every agency can come up with good ideas get to the right answer together. It’s the
right leaders on both sides. It’s respect
much value or differentiation. What can BY DAVE GRANT and present them well. Some do it repeat- for subject matter experts and a willing-
you tell us about your strategic process? edly, while others are like the blind squirrel. ness to value their input. It’s chemistry.

What are your total revenues? What are your In reality, we explained, an idea shared in In the end, the final program seldom looks
much like that idea everyone got excited
billing rates? No decision about hiring an a pitch rarely makes it to execution in its about in the pitch. So which agency are
you going to trust to collaborate with your
agency has ever been made based on responses to these original form. Take a look at what really happens to the various stakeholders to get to the final an-
swer? It may or may not be the one who
types of questions. But they’re always there. idea when the room empties. had the initial spark. Without the right
team, that idea never sees the light of day.
The CMO got that. She didn’t care much about the First the client has some suggestions, so it gets tweaked.
Oh, and to close the loop: Yes, we won
boilerplate stuff. In fact, we later found out she had never Then the brand specialists or promotion experts or expe- the pitch. Yes, the idea changed a lot from
the original version. And yes, over the
even read the original RFP developed by her team! No, riential people have some comments, and that means more years the chemistry, the collaboration and
the results were great. The CMO has since
her question was more direct — “What is the biggest tweaks. Then the rights holder, then the legal department, moved on, as have I.

mistake clients make in the agency RFP process?” and so on and so on. That’s fine — that’s the way it should Dave Grant is the co-founder of Velocity

We were put on the spot. We hadn’t prepared or re- go. There is going to be a lot of input from lots of con- and Team Epic, and the former president of

hearsed for that one. Think-on-your-feet time — which, stituencies. That’s what makes the original idea better MKTG Sports and Entertainment.

not coincidentally, is a much better way to evaluate an and more likely to get implemented. How an agency

agency, given that so much of this business involves handles this input is critical. Some agencies are OK with

thinking on your feet. the involvement of these various stakeholders, while oth-

The biggest mistake clients make, we proffered, is buy- ers have too much pride of authorship and shudder at

ing the best idea, not necessarily the best agency. Of amendments to their work. It’s during this process when

course when it’s one and the same, things become much a client often finds out if they’ve picked the right agency

easier, but we opined that clients tend to get excited about partner. Are they easy to work with? Is the agency repre-

an idea during a pitch, and then too often choose the senting them well with their internal and external part-

agency that came up with that idea without more broad- ners? Are they open to the thoughts of others and making

ly considering what agency is the overall best fit. On the the program better? Are they collaborating well? The fact

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W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M MARCH 15-21, 2021 | 25

CLOSING SHOT

After the 1996 Final
Four at Continental
Airlines Arena —
which only had
room for fewer than
20,000 people to see
Kentucky’s title game
win over Syracyse
— the NCAA said
that future host
sites would need
to accommodate at
least 30,000 fans.

Garden State Of Mind

Before the Final Four moved to domed stadiums for good, the last one slated for an arena
had New Jersey officials overcoming all obstacles to prove the naysayers wrong.

BY TED KEITH

THE CITY WAS TOO BIG. The arena was busiest city in the country and inside managing ones they couldn’t. NCAA three tubes open solely for the use of Getty Images
too small. The weather was too un- a 19,000-seat arena — the last time it officials balked at the initial plan to tournament transportation.
predictable. And those were just some was not held in a domed stadium. Less set up their headquarters in a suite at
of the problems that could be antici- than a year after the Garden State a brand-new Sheraton in New Jersey. Before the Final Four, Mulcahy
pated with having the 1996 men’s Final gamble paid off, the NCAA announced “Right away it was, ‘Do you have any- hosted a dinner at the famed 21 Club
Four at New Jersey’s Meadowlands, that a minimum capacity of 30,000 thing bigger?’” remembers Kevin Mac- for NCAA leaders including tourna-
situated only 8 miles but a world away would be required to host the event. Connell, an assistant athletic director ment Director Bill Hancock, Executive
from the heart of New York. for host school Rutgers who helped plan Vice President Tom Jernstedt and CBS
The Meadowlands had beaten out the event. They settled for a multisto- broadcasters Packer and Jim Nantz
One national TV college basketball 15 other suitors in July 1989, thanks ry suite at the Marriott Marquis in to make clear that the Final Four was
analyst was so critical, remembers largely to its success in hosting the midtown Manhattan. not to be referred to as being “in the
Joe Quinlan, the director of the Mead- four previous East Regionals, and also shadows of New York.” “I wanted to
owlands Organizing Committee, “The in part to a video pitch that included Knowing how unpredictable early- make sure everybody understood that
only thing he didn’t say was that the testimonials from Basketball Hall of spring weather in the area can be, we’re in New Jersey,” said Mulcahy.
locusts were coming.” Famer and New Jersey Sen. Bill Brad- organizers procured thousands of “It accomplished my objective.”
ley, New York Yankees owner George unused umbrellas and ponchos that
Billy Packer was hardly alone in Steinbrenner, Duke coach Mike had been provided for Pope John Paul So did the event itself, and by the
his opinion. No less an authority than Krzyzewski and — in a move meant II’s visit to the Meadowlands in Oc- time it was over even the skeptics had
Dave Gavitt, the commissioner of the to placate rumored conservatives on tober 1995 and had them on every been converted. On April 2, the day
Big East and the man who brought the selection committee — former shuttle bus seat for people going to after Kentucky won its sixth national
his conference tournament to Madison President Richard Nixon. and from Continental Airlines Arena. championship by defeating Syracuse,
Square Garden with great success, Gavitt and his wife, Julie, were getting
was also sure it wouldn’t work. For the next seven years, a group led To keep those buses running in their car outside the Marquis to head
by Bob Mulcahy, the president and CEO smoothly rather than stuck in fa- home. “As he was leaving, he beeped
A quarter century later, however, of the New Jersey Sports and Exposi- mously disastrous Lincoln Tunnel the horn at me,” remembered Quinlan.
the event’s organizers look back with tion Authority, set about addressing traffic, organizers worked with local “She leaned out the window and said,
pride at having staged college basket- problems they could anticipate — and authorities to keep one of the tunnel’s ‘You guys did a great job.’”
ball’s marquee event outside the

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