Bipartisan Bill in Congress Seeks Overhaul of NCAA Infractions Process; Congress Virtual Summit Livestream on Web TODAY (Mar 30)

A recent report in Sports Illustrated demonstrates the frustration of members of Congress with the NCAA.  However, one wonders the actual reality of these efforts to become law in an election year.  NCAA reform efforts have stalled the last three years in Congress.

US Senators Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.) and Cory Booker (D., N.J.) will introduce a bipartisan bill, the NCAA Accountability Act of 2021, that establishes strict requirements of the long-maligned NCAA infractions process, overhauling the operation by involving the Department of Justice and the U.S. attorney general.

The NCAA Accountability Act of 2021 touches on an oft-criticized process: the NCAA’s enforcement of violations through sometimes years-long investigations. The bill creates a set of deadlines to facilitate quicker investigations, shortens the statute of limitations on violations and establishes a new appeals process.

to read more, link here. 

VIRTUAL SUMMIT IN CONGRESS TODAY (MAR 30) AT 12:15. LIVESTREAM. 

LIVESTREAM ON THE WEB: The event will begin livestreaming on Twitter and Facebook at 12:15pm ET.

And, there will be a virtual summit today  at 12:15pm, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03) and Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) will host Madness, Inc., a live virtual summit featuring three panels with current and former college athletes and advocates to discuss the gross inequities in college sports and how we fix them.

Trahan and Murphy wrote the College Athlete Economic Freedom Act, which grants unrestricted rights to college athletes over the use of their name, image, and likeness. They also partnered with Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to introduce the College Athlete Right to Organize Act, legislation to provide collective bargaining rights for college athletes. Blumenthal and Booker authored the College Athletes Bill of Rights to guarantee fair and equitable compensation, enforceable health and safety standards, and improved educational opportunities for all college athletes.

12:25pm: Empowering Athletes, Moderated by Senator Murphy

·  U.S. Representative Jamaal Bowman, Co-sponsor of the College Athlete Right to Organize Act

·  Bart Sheard, Legislative Representative with the AFL-CIO

·  Kassidy Woods, Member of University of Northern Colorado Football Team

1:00pm: Achieving Gender Equity, Moderated by Congresswoman Trahan

·  Sedona Prince, University of Oregon Women’s Basketball Player 

·  Sydney Moore, Voice in Sport Representative and Member of Cornell Volleyball Team

·  Katie Lever, Chief Communications Officer of the Drake Group and former Western Kentucky University Track and Cross Country Runner

1:55pm: Protecting Athlete Wellbeing, Moderated by Senators Blumenthal and Booker

·  Ramogi Huma, Executive Director of the National College Players Association and Former UCLA Football Player

·  Tim Nevius, Nevius Legal and Former University of Dayton Baseball Player

·  Brittany Collens, Professional Tennis Player and Former UMass-Amherst College Athlete

 

-SRH-

Summer Paid Internships: One Nation Baseball tournament work in Ohio

From: Bobby Del Torto, a third-year sport management major at The Ohio State University. 

I recently have accepted a position working for a company called One Nation Baseball. We have expanded into Ohio and are primarily based in the Northeast Ohio area now. We currently are looking for 3-4 full time paid interns to work tournament sites at our events all summer long. I’ve attached our flyer for what is expected and required for some of our workers. 

If you have any students that would be interested in a position like this working in baseball, please feel free to share the flyer or give them my number 330-977-7677 or reach out to my boss wilsonstrikeforcebaseball@gmail.com . I’m also attaching the link to our main registration website https://onenationbaseball.com/ along with a link to the website that has all our events listed with dates and locations https://www.ohiobaseball.com/ Thank you and hope to hear from you or some of the students in your program. 

Sincerely,

Bobby Del Torto

 -SRH-

PANDEMIC RECOVERY MONEY FINDS WAY TO BENEFIT SUPERDOME

A COVID-sports related item was reported today on D1ticker.com, a news clipping outlet that shares information in college sports.   Bottom line is how municipal downtown development authorities (DDAs) are using their share of COVID-19 relief money from the American Rescue Plan to improve athletics facilities.  Think about this, and the rationale:  should taxpayer money be used to enhance stadiums?  Was that the intent of the COVID relief law, and if so, how do stadium renovations help communities with COVID relief?

Sportico reports on this, and I have a summary below from D1ticker.com.  There was a lot of pandemic relief money from the government, and figuring out how to spend it all may not be the best type of policy decision:

"The Caesars Superdome in New Orleans - site of this weekend’s MBB Final Four - is using $27M of American Rescue Plan funding for renovations according to Sportico’s Coffey, who reports the Superdome is one of several sporting venues utilizing the federal aid to the same end. “Among the uses disclosed so far: $11.6M to build an addition to Dutchess Stadium, the home field of the Hudson Valley Renegades. … [And] in Ohio, Franklin County, which owns the Columbus Clippers, the AAA affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, gave itself $3M to ‘offset negative impacts of the pandemic’ on the team’s stadium, which it also owns." Holy Cross economist Matheson: “It’s really squinting at things to make any sort of argument that fixing up the roof of the Superdome is a pandemic-related thing. … We had about a 50% drop in employment in the spectator sports industry between February and April [in 2020]. The industries were crushed… so that was all probably pretty reasonable. Now we have a bunch of leftover pandemic money that they’re figuring out how to try and spend, and we’re getting much faster and looser with the rules.”

altafiber Named as Exclusive Wi-Fi Provider for the Cincinnati Bengals and Paul Brown Stadium

All you sport management Bengals fans, stadium connectivity is the key to success, and not the future.  The future is now.  And, if you fail to have enough high-speed wifi or access points, you will fail to add value to your stadium, and your sporting events.

Ask the Super Bowl runner-ups, the Cincinnati Bengals, and look what they are doing!  Need to remain cutting edge:

"The Cincinnati Bengals and altafiber today announced a partnership that will deliver a state-of-the-art, fiber-enabled Wi-Fi network at Paul Brown Stadium.
altafiber and its IT Services subsidiary, CBTS, will engineer and build the Wi-Fi network that will more than double the number of access points at Paul Brown Stadium." ....
 
The Wi-Fi 6 network will greatly enhance the ability to provide fast Internet service to devices connected to the 1,600 access points strategically located throughout the stadium. Wi-Fi 6 uses MU-MIMO technology, which allows for eight times the number of concurrent connections when compared to previous generations of Wi-Fi, and also produces greater throughput and higher speeds. To support the new access points, Paul Brown Stadium is deploying a 40GbE network core that will deliver the fastest Internet speeds possible for fans."... READ MORE

-SRH-

Chicago Bears Internships

The Chicago Bears have a variety of new seasonal positions available including:

Human Resources, Building Operations, Brand Creative

Learn more and apply at www.chicagobears.com/jobs. #jobalert #sportsbiz #chicagobears #linkedinsports #hiring #internships

Internship Openings for Summer 2022

My name is Tyler Eaton, Director of Internships at College Coaches Skills Camp.

We are currently in the process of searching for candidates for our 2022 Summer Internship Program.
This opportunity is for students who are needing an internship for-credit for Summer 2022 and/or beyond.

There will be a small stipend is available to those selected for the internship program.   At the bottom of this email is the Job Description. I can provide a PDF copy if needed.

Let me know if you have any questions.
Students can send their resumes/email of interest to me at tyler@ccscathletics.com.

Tyler Eaton

Director of New Sport Development
Director of Internships
College Coaches Skills Camp
tyler@ccscathletics.com
(703) 479-5832

 

'Set me up for life’: Female college athletes stash NIL cash

This is a fascinating look at some case studies relating to females in college sports, and their NIL deals so far.  You can read about athletes in a variety of sports at different institutions, with different sponsors, and different ways to make money from their publicity. 

https://www.oregonlive.com/sports/2022/03/set-me-up-for-life-female-college-athletes-stash-nil-cash.html

Names, Images, and Likenesses is an organic area right now - it is growing and changing daily, it seems.  Athletes should be able to monetize their social media at all levels of sport, endorse products, and otherwise be creating in selling their NIL.  The question remains: to what impact does this new focus on NIL have on their education?   Is it a distraction as much as it is an enhancement to athletes' lives?  What are they learning from the NIL experience?  

-SRH-

McKenzie Cooper named DC Sport Management Student of the Month for February 2022

(March 2, 2022) -- Defiance College student McKenzie Cooper is the college's  "Sport Management Student of the Month" for February 2022.  Cooper is a sophomore from Greentown, Indiana.  She is a guard for the Jackets women's basketball team, and has played in 28 games, logging 18 minutes and averaging 6.6 points per game. Cooper also was a leader in helping market the HCAC Conference Track & Field Championships for her MKT 350 class in Spring 2022.  Her future is to work in sports marketing. (NOTE to employers: hire her!)

Congratulations, McKenzie!