Welcome back to The Varsity. I’m John Ourand, writing today from
Washington, D.C., the sports capital of America 250, where the UFC’s White House event will take place in a couple of weeks, and IndyCar arrives in August. Alas, D.C. didn’t get any World Cup games, but FIFA and Freedom 250 will set up “fan zones” on the National Mall where tourists can watch the matches. If you attend, keep an eye out for Marchand and his vuvuzela.
In tonight’s issue, I take stock of the rivalry between college sports’ two biggest conferences, the SEC
and Big Ten, and the two men who run them, Greg Sankey and Tony Petitti. While the spring has seen a spicy—or what counts for spicy in sports business circles, anyway—back-and-forth over College Football Playoff expansion, it’s clear that the two need to be aligned more often than not as college athletics navigates this historically turbulent period. As usual, Thursday’s private email is available exclusively to Inner Circle members, so upgrade
here.
Before we begin, a quick shout-out to Matt Volk, the person most responsible for putting my mug on TV twice a week. Volk is leaving NESN after three years to run the NBA’s local media business—a big job considering all the headwinds facing R.S.N.s these days. When he officially starts on June 22, I expect him to begin pressuring Amazon, ESPN, and NBC to find a
good timeslot for a sports business vodcast.
Pod alert: I’m previewing the World Cup this weekend with Dan Helfrich, the C.O.O. of U.S. Soccer, who will stop by The Varsity to reveal how soccer can take advantage of all the interest surrounding the tournament this summer. Also, make sure to listen to yesterday’s podcast, where Wolfe Research’s
Peter Supino explained Wall Street’s view of the sports rights marketplace.
Also mentioned in this issue: Pat McAfee, Eric Shanks, Adam Silver, Cathy Engelbert, Don Garber, Don Rea, Gary Bettman, Bruce Meyer,
Jimmy Pitaro, A-Rod, Dana White, Greg Olsen, Ernie Johnson, Mike Tirico, Josh Krulewitz, Rob Manfred, Sean Diffley, and more.
