SBJ College: Bob Iger Leaves Strong Media Legacy

When I coached youth baseball a while back, I had this skinny kid with goggles whose arm turned into a whip when he stepped on the mound. Over the weekend, he earned his first win as a college pitcher. That was pretty cool.

Here's what's cooking on campus.

IGER LEAVES DISNEY IN POSITION OF MEDIA STRENGTH

• Bob Iger stunned the media world just hours ago, announcing that he’s stepping down as Disney CEO. Right away, I began thinking about his influence at ESPN and the direction he provided for the network to own a big chunk of the college sports space, especially the SEC and ACC. Not only did he sign off on ESPN-owned networks for both conferences, he was the driving force behind its direct-to-consumer strategy, which has provided a streaming outlet for thousands of college events from conferences like the Big 12, Sun Belt and Ivy League.
  
  
• It’s far too soon to tell what the future will hold under new CEO Bob Chapek, but his experience coming from the park side of Disney’s business generated a lot of questions in our office. Is it good that Kevin Mayer, the long-rumored heir apparent to Iger, will be able to keep his focus on the streaming business (where he’s been a difference-maker)? Or is it worrisome that the new CEO lacks that kind of media background? We’ll see. Iger will move into an executive chairman role until the end of 2021 when his contract runs out.
  
  
• CNBC's Alex Sherman wrote with Disney leaning into streaming over the last few years, the choice of Chapek is "surprising and confusing." Sherman: "Disney’s future is supposed to be streaming -- not theme parks. Media industry insiders almost unanimously expected Kevin Mayer to be Iger’s heir." CNN's Brian Stelter tweeted: "There are a lot of confused media execs burning up the phones right now. Why is Bob Iger exiting as CEO so suddenly? What does it mean for Disney+? Insiders are in shock -- but heartened by the fact that he will remain executive chairman and direct Disney's creative endeavors."

Iger and ESPN's Stephanie Druley took in the "College GameDay" set at Texas in September

NCAA PROPOSALS ON NIL RIGHTS COMING SOON

• The NCAA working group on name/image/likeness rights will begin floating possible concepts and solutions in the next week or two, according to MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher. Appearing this morning on Cleveland-based 92.3 The Fan, the veteran commissioner prefaced his comments by saying that he’s getting ready to break some news, and then said NIL proposals are “coming down the path."
  
  
• The proposals will not include any employee-employer models, he said, but will include scenarios where college athletes can get paid by third parties. “I still don’t see how you prevent bidding wars for recruits and transfers,” Steinbrecher said. But this clearly is the beginning of a path toward athlete compensation.

CHECK-UP FOR COLLEGE HOOPS ATTENDANCE

• Two of last year’s Final Four basketball schools -- Texas Tech and Auburn -- have capitalized on the strong finish to generate big upticks in attendance. Another, Michigan State, already sells out Breslin Center. A review of attendance with two weeks left in the regular season shows the bluebloods holding up well. Syracuse will lead the nation again, while North Carolina’s average crowd size has actually grown by 200 a game in the midst of an epic losing season for the Tar Heels.
  
  

Download the Attendance To Date For Final Four Teams

• The big winners in the attendance race are Creighton and Memphis. The Blue Jays, just a game out of first in the Big East, have jumped from 15,980 in 2018-19 to 17,205 this season, ranking them fifth nationally. Memphis, which is still riding the momentum of Penny Hardaway’s hiring two seasons ago, is averaging 16,270 at FedExForum, ranking ninth this season, up from 17th a year ago. Two seasons ago, the Tigers were averaging just 6,225 fans per game.
  
  

Download the Top Teams In NCAA Hoops Attendance To Date

• The 2019-20 season has been marked by surprise teams, like Dayton and San Diego State, and both have parlayed that into jumps at the gate. The Flyers’ average home crowd of 13,358 (23rd nationally) is up from 12,957 last year. The Aztecs are averaging 11,614, up from 10,885.
  
  
• I expected some other schools to report attendance increases this season based on their surprise success, but the numbers from Rutgers and Penn State haven't delivered. Rutgers is up slightly from 6,240 to 6,696, while the Nittany Lions actually are down from 9,046 to 8,964. For two schools with enormous fanbases hungry for basketball success, those numbers were underwhelming.
  
  
• Los Angeles is on the verge of becoming a college basketball wasteland. UCLA’s hiring of Mick Cronin has not stirred the Bruins, who are averaging 6,187 fans, down from 8,269 and the lowest figure since Pauley Pavilion opened for the 1965-66 season. Just three seasons ago, UCLA averaged 11,183 fans. Across town, USC's average crowd this season is 3,787 -- and that’s up year-over-year for a Trojans team that’s pretty good.
  
  
• Most underrated home crowd: Nebraska’s fans always show up, regardless of the Cornhuskers' record. New coach Fred Hoiberg has won just two Big Ten games, yet they average 15,587, just outside the top 10.
  
  
• Hard to figure out: Florida State has been ranked in the top 10 all season, yet the Seminoles’ attendance is down a tick at 8,824. In defense of their fans, that average is weighed down by an unattractive non-conference schedule, and the ‘Noles have averaged more than 10,000 in ACC play.

STRONG MAN COMPETITION

• Alabama’s football program lost its second-most marketable personality yesterday when strength & conditioning coach Scott Cochran left the Crimson Tide to join Georgia’s staff as special teams coach. Cochran, who signed two low-six figure endorsement deals as a member of Bama’s staff, was that rare assistant coach who was able to develop his own brand in the shadow of Nick Saban.
  
  
• It’s virtually unheard of for a strength coach to create an identity because most of the work is done behind the scenes, either in the weight room or outside of game day. But Cochran, who had been with the Tide since 2007, became a fan favorite because of his gravelly voice and high-energy style with the players, which was captured in an ESPN documentary on the Alabama program. He starred in a Regions Bank commercial last year called “Greatness in the Grind” that featured him employing his trademark motivational techniques with bank customers. Saban made a brief appearance at the end of the 30-second spot.
  
  
• Previously, Cochran was the centerpiece of a campaign called “Dig Deep” for Thompson Caterpillar, the statewide Cat dealer. Anytime an Alabama opponent lined up to go for it on fourth down, Cochran appeared on the video board in each corner of Bryant-Denny Stadium screaming, “Dig Deep,” followed by an animated Caterpillar that rolled across the screen to get fans fired up.
  
  
• In both cases, the brand had a sponsorship with Alabama athletics through the school’s rights holder, Learfield IMG College. But Regions and Thompson Cat were able to go directly to Cochran to do the personal-services deals. Learfield IMG College doesn’t own the rights to the football coaches at Alabama. Some schools include coaches’ marketing rights in their multimedia deals and others don’t. It probably wasn’t even contemplated for strength coaches.

Cochran (l) starred in a Regions Bank commercial last year called “Greatness in the Grind”

SPEED READS 

• AD Mike Bohn kept an important USC streak alive by replacing a September 2021 football date against UC-Davis with San Jose State. The San Jose Mercury News' Jon Wilner wrote Bohn's "seemingly small move" came after he "heard the howls" over the Trojans wading into FCS waters for the first time in program history. Wilner: "The big news is that the USC athletic director listened to his constituents and worked to rectify a source of frustration."

• No. 3 Kansas' win over No. 1 Baylor in ESPN's Saturday noon window led all college hoops last weekend with 1.89 million viewers, but would the game have been better served in a later time slot? Yahoo Sports' Dan Wetzel: "It seems kind of apropos ... that the most anticipated game of the year goes off at noon. ... It wasn’t an ideal time." Duke's 24-point victory over Virginia Tech held down ESPN's primetime slot on Saturday. Wetzel: "(ESPN) has the league contracts, and if the league isn’t working out -- like the ACC isn’t this year -- then the whole sport just gets knocked off kilter."

• Oregon senior Sabrina Ionescu had a day to remember yesterday. After delivering a seven-minute speech at Kobe Bryant's public memorial at Staples Center, Ionescu "became the first player in college basketball history to record career numbers of 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists" in a Pac-12 regular season-clinching win over Stanford. Ionescu was asked by Kobe’s widow, Vanessa, if she would be among the speakers after she worked with their daughter Gianna over the summer.

SPORTS BUSINESS MENTORS -- CHAMPION THE NEXT GEN

SBJ and our title partner CAA are strongly encouraging the industry to step up their mentoring efforts and champion the next generation of execs. If you are attending, or considering attending, World Congress and would like to bring an associate to learn, network and experience the event with you, we will offer a reduced rate on their registration. For more information or to register, contact Lorianne Lamonica at llamonica@sportsbusinessjournal.com or 704-973-1523.
*Offer applies only to those not already registered for the conference.

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Something on the College beat catch your eye? Tell us about it. Reach out to either me (msmith@sportsbusinessjournal.com) or Austin Karp (akarp@sportsbusinessjournal.com) and we'll share the best of it. Also contributing to this newsletter is Thomas Leary (tleary@sportsbusinessdaily.com).