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Time of India
19-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
College football's chaotic calendar debate heats up as Pat Chun and Ross Bjork push for post-house overhaul
Credit: Getty Images College football's leaders are in a race against time. With the House settlement set to activate on July 1, administrators must finalize a new football calendar to accommodate athlete revenue sharing. The current system, built for the amateur era, no longer suits the evolving professionalized environment. Washington athletic director Pat Chun emphasized the urgency of acting now, stating that programs will begin planning for 2026 starting next month. Transfer portal timing divides SEC and Big Ten coaches The most divisive question is when to open the one permitted transfer portal window. SEC coaches, including Georgia's Kirby Smart and LSU's Brian Kelly, are pushing for a January window. They want rosters set before spring practices begin, arguing that a spring window would lead to losing up to a third of their roster after months of development. Ross Bjork Interview | Ohio State AD on NIL changes, future of college sports Spring and summer football practices could be reshaped The battle over portal timing also threatens to upend spring football as we know it. Administrators are considering a shift in practice scheduling, allowing teams to spread out their spring drills into the summer. This would give coaches more flexibility and reduce the disruption of late-spring transfers. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Indian Truck Driver Now Earns ₹2.9 Crore Monthly (See how) prestigetrophy Learn More Undo New signing day date tied to financial logistics Another major change under discussion is a revamp of National Signing Day. The December and February dates no longer fit with financial planning under a salary cap model. With official visits now taking place earlier in the year, administrators want signing to occur in August or even June, immediately following high school seniors' campus visits. Also Read: Former college footballer Kirk Herbstreit responds with class after fan questions his love for dogs As Pat Chun emphasized, the goal is to design a calendar that rewards students for maintaining continuity and academic success. In the coming weeks, the working group of athletic directors and football administrators must present their vision. The countdown to July 1 has begun, and with it, the future of college football hangs in the balance. Game On Season 1 kicks off with Sakshi Malik's inspiring story. Watch Episode 1 here
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
College football's calendar needs an overhaul. Would a single transfer portal in January or April make the most sense?
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Can you imagine a summer signing day in college football? What about a single transfer portal? How about spring practices shifted to June? Those are the questions expected to be answered by members of a new committee of power conference administrators exploring ways to overhaul a 365-day college football calendar that was originally built for an amateurism system. College executives are reinventing a dated calendar to marry with the House settlement-related athlete-revenue sharing model set to begin July 1. Advertisement And they are on the clock to do it. 'It is imperative to our industry that we make this decision on the calendar by July 1,' Washington athletic director Pat Chun told Yahoo Sports from Orlando last week at a gathering of athletic administrators. 'Once July 1 hits, teams will start tracking for 2026. We need to know the calendar.' Here in Asheville, North Carolina this week, the 32 Division I conference commissioners gather for their annual summer meeting, where a host of items are on the agenda: the future of NCAA governance (will a separate division be created for the power leagues?); the College Football Playoff format (will adjustments to the selection criteria appease the Big Ten and SEC?); the NCAA tournament (is expansion happening or not?); and the many unsettled concepts tethered to the industry's landmark move to share revenue directly with athletes. Of all the decisions that administrators must make in the wake of the settlement's approval, the football calendar is, perhaps, the most pressing of them. Making matters more difficult is that they don't agree on the most critical piece: the timing of the transfer portal. Advertisement Should it be in January or April? While the majority of coaches want a 10-day portal period in early January, many administrators, as well as coaches in the Big Ten, are supporting an April portal date as a way to more align the portal with the academic calendar (ending in May) and a school's new revenue share cap year (ending in June). The portal's date not only impacts decisions on spring practice but it may determine if a second portal window will continue to exist. For instance, SEC coaches, hell bent on a January portal date, agreed last month that they'd prefer keeping two portal windows over a single window in April. College football's leaders are torn on how to handle the transfer portal moving forward, but they're on the clock after the House settlement decision. () (Paras Griffin via Getty Images) A brewing fight is playing out over the issue between college sports' two perennial conferences — the SEC and Big Ten — as well as the industry's administrative leadership versus many of its high-profile head coaches. SEC coaches want a January portal in an effort to secure next season's team, develop that team during spring practice and avoid one-third of their players transferring after spring. Advertisement Big Ten coaches want a spring portal to more align with their academic calendar (the quarter system) and the revenue-share cap year. 'April (portal) doesn't make any sense,' LSU coach Brian Kelly told Yahoo Sports two weeks ago from SEC meetings. 'You are going to put a business together and 33% of your revenue share (paid players) could be gone in three months? That's stupid. It just doesn't make any sense. (Big Ten coaches) are trying to set it to their academic calendar and they're saying they can't get guys in in January. Come on. We are firm on January and if we have to do a second (portal), we would. But we are firm on January.' A January portal reeks of one-track mind thinking, says Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork. 'With January, we are only worried about one thing and that's the football team,' he told Yahoo Sports from Orlando last week.''Oh! We got to have everybody there for a second semester because I have to get them in spring ball!' Advertisement 'If we want to worry about the financial component and the academic component, the best window is spring,' he said. 'They're only worrying about one thing — the football roster — and I think that mindset is in the past.' Bjork, along with Chun, are members of the House Implementation Committee, a group that studied the calendar at length over the last month and made a recommendation to power conference commissioners to form this new group of conference football administrators. The new group is expected to recommend a new calendar to commissioners in the coming weeks. At the crux of the issue is the new, annual quasi-salary cap imposed on schools — a max of $20.5 million to be shared with athletes in Year 1. A school's cap resets every July 1, signaling the beginning of a new cap year. In an ideal world, says Chun, athlete revenue-share agreements would begin in July and run through the following June — a reason a spring portal makes more sense. But the portal isn't the only thing changing. Advertisement The current signing day model — windows in December and then February — 'doesn't work' in a salary cap environment, says Chun, formerly a member of the NCAA transformation committee who has studied this issue more than most. Institutions can't wait on athletes to choose where to play that deep into the fall or winter. Cap calculations are being made for the next year's revenue-share pool much earlier. 'The days of kids picking one of five hats in December or January are over,' he said. 'If a kid surprises a school with an announcement … that school better have that cap space if that kid picks that hat. And what if he doesn't? Do you then have dead cap space?' The pool revenue that a school doesn't spend does not carry over to the next cap year. Advertisement One thing is clear: Signing day will move up significantly. In a 36-page document released by the NCAA and power conferences last week, a new 'offer' date was established. Schools can formally offer revenue-share contracts to high school prospects Aug. 1 of their senior year. Chun expects that date, or perhaps another date in August or September, will become the new signing date. Could it move to June or July? Maybe, says Bjork. 'Pretty much 95% of our prospects are visiting in the month of June,' Bjork says. 'If they are ready to make a commitment, why not let them sign? Sign immediately. They can see their rev-share and see it all. We've moved up official visits so there's no reason they couldn't sign.' Advertisement The portal is much more of a fight. 'I want to develop my team in whatever date in January," Georgia coach Kirby Smart said last month. "Then you work those guys out, you train those guys, you lift, you prepare, you do meetings. You do all this preparation and then that's your team.' A spring portal would mean players spending December-March on 'your campus getting tampered with' and then '33%' of them leaving, Smart said. 'I'm not for that.' NC State coach Dave Doeren says 'you don't want to spend three months training guys who are leaving' while holding spring practice. But what if spring practice were significantly altered? A proposal from the American Football Coaches Association would alter spring drills and provide flexibility for coaches to push some practices to May or June in OTA-style events. Advertisement According to the proposal, coaches can hold six additional padless practices in the summer, with the flexibility to move a portion of the 15 spring practices to summer. 'If you have an April signing day, your spring practice is going to look a lot different than if you have one in January,' said Arizona athletic director Desiree Reid-Francois, a member of the House Implementation Committee. 'It'll impact spring and what you do during the summer.' An April portal would pave the way for college sports to design more of an NFL-like calendar, where free agency follows the competitive season and then summer workouts unfold to develop a new team. 'Everybody has to look at it like this: college football has changed,' Chun says. 'We should not have transfer movement until we crown a national champion. The new calendar needs to prioritize academic progress and retention. To be eligible for the revenue share, those are the two academic criteria. All the studies show, the more you transfer, the more problematic it is for progress to degree.' Advertisement The new group working on the issue is expected to meet soon and include football administrators from the power leagues, as well conference compliance officers and athletic directors. 'There are no easy answers,' Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin sums up the issue. Said Chun: 'We have to give football a chance for sustainability again. We've all said the last environment is unsustainable. Here's our opportunity for sustainability. We have to have an environment that awards the football players that choose to stay, that has sustainability.'
South China Morning Post
24-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong eyes pharmaceutical plant tours for ‘industrial brand' tourism
Hong Kong is in talks with pharmaceutical firms to allow tourists to explore their manufacturing facilities as part of its 'industrial brand' tourism drive to attract visitors with in-depth travel experiences. Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk Wing-hing revealed the plan on Saturday as authorities sought to attract more visitors through a series of 'hotspot projects' to offer travel experiences that go beyond the usual shopping and sightseeing. The push is being led by the government's Working Group on Developing Tourist Hotspots and comprises nine projects across the city, with a focus on offering visitors unique insights into the city's culture, heritage and natural beauty. As part of the plan, the city is also set to launch its 'Hong Kong industrial brand tourism' project in the third quarter of 2025, which will feature sauce makers Lee Kum Kee and Pat Chun, bread and pastry producer Kee Wah and Japanese fermented drink maker Yakult. With the help of travel agents, tourists will get the chance to tour the companies' factories, experience how their products are made and even take home some souvenirs. 'These firms are all the success stories of Hong Kong's entrepreneurial spirit, which is very inspiring,' said Cheuk, who chairs the working group. 'The firms that we've been in touch with are not limited to these four. Actually we've also approached pharmaceutical companies, who are currently considering their participation.'
Time Out
22-05-2025
- Business
- Time Out
Nine Hong Kong locations have been chosen to become new tourist hotspots
The Hong Kong government announced earlier this week that nine locations across the territories have been chosen to be developed into hotspots for tourism. This project will cater to new tourist behaviours, especially seen in mainland Chinese travellers who come to enjoy Hong Kong in a more economical manner and are spending less. These new tourism projects include setting up regular themed bazaars in Victoria Park, conducting detailed tours of Kowloon City, and opening up the old Yau Ma Tei police station for visits. Ubiquitous Hong Kong sauce makers Lee Kum Kee and Pat Chun, the Kee Wah bakery, and the yoghurt drink brand Yakult will each hold tours of their facilities. There will also be a focus on eco-tourism centred around the nature that can be found in Hong Kong, with offerings on our 'Four Peaks' – The Peak, Lantau Peak, Sai Kung Hoi, and Tai Mo Shan. This new tourism drive is expected to cost between $20 million to $30 million, and will launch gradually from this year. For example, the tours of local brands are slated to start in the third quarter of 2025, the Victoria Park bazaars to begin in the fourth quarter, while the 'Four Peaks' activations are targeting a launch for late next year. By the end of 2025, seven out of nine tourism projects should be implemented. Which of these locations are you most excited to see become the new tourist hotspot?
South China Morning Post
20-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong unveils 9 projects featuring local brands, 4 peaks to draw tourists
Hong Kong authorities have identified nine projects involving big local industrial brands, the four most beautiful peaks and old town travels to attract more tourists seeking in-depth tours in the city. Advertisement Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration Cheuk Wing-hing, who chairs the Working Group on Developing Tourist Hotspots, unveiled the list of projects on Tuesday after six months of preparation, saying the destinations were filled with Hong Kong characteristics, or featured new experiences. 'All these projects have something in common. They have Hong Kong characteristics, they are novel, feature new experiences and are easy for selfies,' Chuek said. The top official added that the projects had incorporated the different tastes of tourists and would be easy to integrate into different travel routes, which would not only allow tourists to have more fun, but also bring about greater economic benefits to the city. At least four industrial brands, including food seasoning company Lee Kam-kee, bakery giant Kee Wah, vinegar maker Pat Chun and probiotic drink company Yakult, confirmed that they would organise tours with travel agencies starting from the third quarter of this year. Advertisement Authorities also said that they hoped to develop 'Four Peaks' tourism, which comprises The Peak, the Lantau Peak, Sai Kung Hoi and Tai Mo Shan that feature unique landscapes and cultures. The selection leveraged the popularity of the documentary Four Trails, which documented the Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge in 2021. The director, Robin Lee, has won the Best New Director category in this year's Hong Kong Film Awards.
