March Madness is 'greatest postseason' in sports
College basketball insider Jon Rothstein joins Ross Tucker to look at how Princeton's men's squad has dealt with transfers before explaining what makes March Madness so special.
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New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
Power conference commissioners voice confidence in House settlement: ‘Our schools want rules'
The leaders of college sports' most powerful conferences voiced their confidence in the recently approved House settlement Monday, shepherding in a new era of college athletics in which schools can begin directly paying college athletes on July 1. 'The decision (to approve the settlement) on Friday is a significant step forward toward building long-term stability for college sports while protecting the system from bad actors seeking to exploit confusion and uncertainty,' SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said. Advertisement The newly formed College Sports Commission (CSC) held a news conference Monday morning featuring commissioners of the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC. Established in the wake of Friday's approval of the House settlement, the CSC will oversee the implementation and enforcement of settlement terms, shifting much of the responsibility away from the NCAA. Bryan Seeley, the former head of investigations for Major League Baseball, has been announced as CEO and will report to a board comprised of the power conference commissioners. Those commissioners addressed a settlement that intends to reshape the college sports industry and install guardrails on name, image and likeness (NIL) payments that have become unregulated and sparked repeated legal challenges in recent years. 'Ultimately, it is incumbent upon everyone involved in college sports … to make the terms of this settlement work. We must be committed and embrace both the realities and opportunities ahead,' said Sankey, who acknowledged that there will be 'challenges and growing pains.' 'While this settlement does not solve every issue, it establishes a solid foundation for stability and a sustainable future,' Sankey said. The CSC has been tasked with oversight of the settlement's new revenue-sharing pool, which will be capped at roughly $20.5 million per school in the first year, as well as third-party NIL deals via the new NIL Go clearinghouse. NIL Go, which will evaluate any third-party NIL payments worth at least $600, is expected to be up and running this week and will determine whether those deals represent a valid business purpose and fall within an approved range of compensation. Those that don't fit the criteria will be flagged and forced to be adjusted or taken to arbitration. The aim is to stamp out the unchecked 'pay-for-play' deals popularized by NIL collectives. Advertisement The power conference commissioners did not offer specifics Monday on what the enforcement and penalties might look like under the CSC, but ACC commissioner Jim Phillips stated that Seeley will have a lot of input on those areas moving forward. Even prior to Friday's approval, there has been no shortage of questions or doubts from those inside and outside college sports about the viability of the settlement terms and the CSC's ability to enforce these new rules. 'It all sounds great in theory, but how will it actually work?' one power conference athletic director recently posited to The Athletic. The commissioners made clear in no uncertain terms Monday that they expect strict adherence and buy-in from their member schools. 'It's progress over perfection,' Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said. 'Our schools want rules and we're providing rules and we will be governed by those rules. And if you break those rules, the ramifications will be punitive.' Part of that process includes 'participation agreements' in which the schools agree to comply with the terms of the settlement and not seek legal action, regardless of any differences and discrepancies with state laws. Yormark, who said that the agreement 'codifies the rules of settlement,' described it as a 'work in progress' within the Big 12 but one that has received no pushback and that he plans to execute in short order. Sankey stated at the SEC spring meetings last month that all 16 conference members approved of the agreement. 'We want oversight, we want guardrails, we want structure. (Administrators and coaches) don't have the luxury to just say that in meeting rooms. They don't have the luxury to just be anonymous sources,' Sankey said. 'They have a responsibility to make what they've sought, what they've asked for, to make it work.' Advertisement Buy-in from schools and conferences won't necessarily prevent continued legal battles from outside parties — part of the potential challenges that were referenced. There could be future lawsuits or complaints on the basis of Title IX or antitrust violations. (The commissioners did state that decisions on how the revenue sharing pool will be distributed will be made on a school-by-school basis.) To that end, the NCAA and power conferences, as part of the College Sports Commission, will continue to lobby Congress for things like antitrust exemptions and federal legislation that preempts state laws and addresses athlete employment status. Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti said he hopes the settlement will provide a foundation that encourages Congress to take action, and Sankey acknowledged that he and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua played golf with President Donald Trump on Sunday to discuss some of these same issues. There is no timetable for if or when Congress will take action, but lobbying efforts will continue in Washington, D.C.'I don't know if there is an exact timeline, but there is a sense of urgency, for sure,' said Yormark. 'I don't think we have to sell them on the topic, we just have to land in the right place that works for both parties on the Hill, and I think we're getting closer.'
CNBC
5 hours ago
- CNBC
Warner Bros. Discovery split throws the future of TNT Sports into question
Earlier this year, Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Executive Officer David Zaslav ended his company's long relationship with the National Basketball Association. Now, he may be setting the stage to end his relationship with U.S. sports, altogether. WBD announced Monday it's splitting itself into two companies — a concept CNBC first reported had picked up steam in April. One company, temporarily called Streaming and Studios, will consist of Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, DC Studios, HBO and HBO Max. The other, currently dubbed Global Networks, will be the rest of the company's assets: legacy cable networks, TNT Sports, digital products and free-to-air channels in Europe. Zaslav will be the CEO of Streaming and Studios. Gunnar Wiedenfels, the current Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Financial Officer, will become the CEO of Global Networks. The divorce raises the question of where live sports right held by TNT will land without Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming portfolio as part of the same company. During a conference call Monday, Zaslav said it will be up to Wiedenfels and his team to decide where they'd like to license TNT Sports programming to the Streaming and Studios business — or anyone else —in the future. Currently, all of TNT Sports appear on HBO Max, Warner Bros. Discovery's flagship streaming service. Zaslav said U.S. sports haven't been a major driver of HBO Max signups, suggesting that it may make sense for TNT Sports to consciously uncouple with the streaming service down the road. "Inside the U.S., sports have been less critical," Zaslav said on a call with investors Monday. "It's viewed, but it hasn't been a real driver for us. So it will continue to be on HBO Max, but the Global Networks business will evaluate over time where the best place for that is." HBO Max will continue to license sports for existing deals. Still, Wiedenfels will have options on how to monetize TNT's future streaming and digital sports rights. He could strike a licensing deal with a different media company for the live sports that appear on the Turner networks (TNT, TBS and TruTV), such as the NCAA's March Madness, the French Open, NASCAR, Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League. "The U.S. sports rights will reside at the Global Networks, and its management team will determine how best to monetize the streaming and digital rights over time," said Wiedenfels. "Internationally, sports will largely coexist, both on linear and streaming, as they do today." Or, he could decide to merge TNT Sports with another entity, such as the forthcoming Comcast spinout, Versant. Mark Lazarus, Versant's CEO, told CNBC Sport last month he was interested in bidding on sports rights to gain distribution heft with pay-TV operators. Acquiring TNT Sports could be a major step in that direction. If Wiedenfels opts for consolidation, he will have to weigh the tax effects of selling off assets after the separation takes place. While Warner Bros. Discovery noted the split is tax-free, Wiedenfels emphasized on Monday's call that transactions could begin as soon as the separation occurs, which is expected by mid-2026. "On the tax side, I said this earlier, I want to be absolutely clear: Once this deal closes, both companies are going to be free and clear," Wiedenfels said. "There is no minimum time." A spokesperson for Versant did not immediately return request for comment.
New York Times
10 hours ago
- New York Times
Bryan Seeley is charged with enforcing college sports' new rules. What's his plan?
The closest Bryan Seeley has been to working in college sports was spending 40 hours a week covering them for the Daily Princetonian during his days as an undergraduate at the Ivy League school. Now, the longtime head of investigations for Major League Baseball is about to step into a brand-new role, leading a brand-new organization, which could make him one of the most powerful people in college sports. Advertisement On Friday night, Seeley, 46, was named the chief executive officer of the College Sports Commission, the enforcement agency launched by the wealthiest and most powerful conferences to oversee and implement the system that will allow direct payments from NCAA schools to athletes for the first time. The formal announcement of the CSC and Seeley's hiring came about two hours after a federal judge approved the $2.8 billion settlement of a trio of antitrust lawsuits facing the NCAA and major college conferences. A self-described lifelong college sports fan, Seeley brings more than a decade of experience in compliance, enforcement, investigations and policy-making at MLB, along with eight years with the U.S. Department of Justice and a law degree from Harvard. He said he was drawn to the job by the opportunity to shepherd college sports through a period of transition and into a new era. 'I view this as an area where I can really add value,' Seeley told The Athletic on Sunday in his first interview since a press release announced his hiring. College sports has a long history of inconsistent enforcement and skirting rules to gain a competitive advantage. The NCAA will still oversee rules related to academics and eligibility, but systems installed to regulate the revenue-sharing cap schools must adhere to, evaluate fair-market value of name, image and likeness deals between athletes and third parties and monitor roster limits will be under the purview of Seeley and the CSC. He will report to a board made up of the power conference commissioners. 'I think this is a good, new starting point. So whatever existed beforehand does not need to be what exists going forward,' Seeley said. 'Culture doesn't change overnight. I don't expect that to happen overnight, but I do think that the schools that have signed on to the settlement want rules and want rules to be enforced. Otherwise they wouldn't have signed on to the settlement. I think student-athletes want a different system. So I think there is a desire for rules enforcement. There's a desire for transparency.' Advertisement Seeley doesn't have an official start date, but there is no time to waste. Universities can begin directly sharing revenue with college athletes starting July 1. The clearinghouse for evaluating third-party NIL deals for athletes worth at least $600, run by accounting firm Deloitte, goes live Wednesday. Schools in power conferences are expected to sign formal agreements to abide by rulings made by Seeley and outside arbitrators. 'I haven't been given assurances of anything, but I do know from my read on this, there is buy-in from the institutions,' Seeley said. Seeley built the investigations unit at MLB, staffed with lawyers and former law enforcement officers. 'During his time at MLB, Bryan demonstrated unparalleled integrity, a commitment to fairness, and the ability to navigate complex challenges with precision and care,' Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. 'I have no doubt he will bring the same level of excellence to the College Sports Commission. College sports will greatly benefit from Bryan's expertise and vision.' Seeley's first task at CSC is to again build a staff. 'These are going to be more private-sector investigations, right?' Seeley said. 'We don't have subpoena power. We don't have search-warrant power. I've operated in that system for over a decade, so I'm well-suited to continue to do that with college sports.' He added, 'I think I'm one of the few people in the country who's probably led investigations into salary-cap circumvention, and so in terms of the subject matter, at least for part of this, I have a lot of experience.' MLB teams do not operate under a hard salary cap, but there is one for the league's international amateur talent acquisition system. One of the most prominent cases Seeley investigated came in 2017, when the Atlanta Braves were found to have circumvented international amateur signing rules over a three-year period. Braves general manager John Coppolella received a five-year ban for his role in the violations. In a separate investigation, Seeley's group found the Boston Red Sox had also cheated in the international amateur market. Punishment in that case was handed down in 2016. Advertisement While the highest levels of college sports are becoming more similar to professional sports, Seeley pushed back on the notion that the power conferences are trying to create another pro league. 'College sports is its own unique thing, and what makes college sports great needs to remain,' Seeley said. 'Some of the system we're going to bring for enforcement is a system that has been used in the pro sports world, but it's been used in other worlds, too. … But I don't view this as the professionalization of college sports. Working with schools and working with student-athletes is going to be quite different than working with professional sports teams and professional athletes.'
