SBJ Unpacks: NCAA Seeks Third Party To Manage NIL Needs

Breaking news tonight in SBJ Unpacks: The NCAA is seeking third parties to manage its name, image and likeness needs. Michael Smith has the story.

Also:

• Johanna Faries takes over Overwatch League
• Grizzlies minority owner buys stake in MLS club
• Golden Knights join new TikTok-like platform
• AJ Hinch, Alex Cora have shot at Tigers' opening
• New ATP strategic plan focuses on unity

NCAA SEEKS THIRD PARTY TO MANAGE NIL NEEDS

• The NCAA is seeking one or more third parties to manage its name, image and likeness needs, SBJ’s Michael Smith reports. An RFP from the NCAA requires bids be submitted by today at 5pm. The RFP asks for companies to make their proposals for three areas:
  
  
  • DISCLOSURE: The third-party company would manage an NIL database that would collect and monitor endorsement deals, appearances, camps, any commercial activity that results in income for the college athlete. The plan is for athletes and/or their marketing reps to input the commercial event to the school and then for the school to report to the national NIL database, which also has been described as an NCAA registry.
    
    
  • ENFORCEMENT: The RFP asks for companies to submit how they would monitor and enforce NIL rules if, for example, an athlete made an appearance for $20,000 when fair-market value indicates that it should have been $2,000.
    
    
  • EDUCATION: A third party would take on the responsibility of educating college athletes on lessons like money management, tax implications, brand building and several other aspects of NIL.
    
    

• Companies can bid on all three categories or just one of them. A group of finalists will be selected by Oct. 23 and presentations will begin in early November. A winner or winners are expected to be named by Nov. 20. As many as 12 to 15 different companies are expected to partake in the bidding process, industry insiders say.

JOHANNA FARIES TO RUN BOTH CALL OF DUTY AND OVERWATCH LEAGUES

• Call of Duty League Commissioner Johanna Faries has been appointed to the newly created position Head of Leagues -- taking effect on Oct. 12 -- and will now lead both the CDL and Overwatch Leagues, per The Esports Observer's Kevin Hitt.
  
  

• According to sources close to the league, owners "received details regarding the change in responsibilities while thanking the now-former Overwatch League Commissioner Pete Vlastelica for his time in the leadership role." Additionally, Brandon Snow will now be adding marketing and analytics for the league to his areas of responsibilities. As head of both leagues, Fairies "will oversee team and broadcast operations as well as being the league administrator."
  
  

• As commissioner of the CDL, Faries has seen the league "thrive despite challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic." While live events needed to be canceled, the CDL championship was the most-watched stream the league produced and "saw solid viewership numbers with an AMA of just over 206K."

GRIZZLIES MINORITY OWNER JED KAPLAN BUYS STAKE IN ORLANDO CITY SC

• Jed Kaplan, minority owner of the Grizzlies and second-tier English soccer club Swansea City, is now part owner of Orlando City SC, per SBJ’s Mark J. Burns. 
  
  
• Kaplan, who won’t be involved in the day-to-day operations, purchased the LP stake from a former minority owner, the club tells SBJ. The deal was “finalized recently” and includes a “very, very small” share of Orlando City. 
  
  
• It is unclear if the deal involves other assets within the Orlando Sports Holdings LLC portfolio. A source with knowledge of the situation recently told SBJ that “a couple smaller LP transactions (in MLS) at pre-COVID valuations” were completed over the summer months. Those deals extend beyond Kevin Durant’s 5% stake in the Philadelphia Union along with LAFC’s two new part-owners, this person said. 

GOLDEN KNIGHTS JOIN NEW TIKTOK-LIKE SOCIAL PLATFORM

• The Golden Knights are believed to be the first sports team to join Triller, a social media platform similar to TikTok that also features music overlays. Golden Knights CMO Brian Killingsworth told SBJ's Mark J. Burns that the club did six weeks of due diligence in researching the company, led by Senior Manager of Communications & Content Alyssa Girardi.
  
  

• “With everything going on with TikTok, Triller is gaining audience share,” Killingsworth said of the Gen Z-centric platform that is also interested in entering sports. “We were the first NHL team that was on Weibo, the first NHL team on Twitch. We’d had this first-mover perspective.”
  
  

• Killingsworth added that Triller’s younger demographics, “short, bite-sized content” and “quick, clean, edit process” made it even more appealing for Vegas to join the emerging platform. Girardi will spearhead content efforts on Triller, he said. To date, the Golden Knights have three videos on the platform and about 1,800 followers. The L.A.-based company launched in 2015 and has more than 120 million downloads as well as an estimated 65 million monthly active users. 

TIGERS GM SAYS TEAM WILL CONSIDER HINCH, CORA

• Tigers Exec VP & GM Al Avila on Friday said AJ Hinch and Alex Cora, both of whom were fired from their respective positions in the wake of the Astros' sign-stealing scandal, are "among the candidates for the team's managerial vacancy," per ESPN. Avila said Hinch and Cora are "just two of the names on what he expects to be a lengthy list of initial candidates."
  
  
• The Detroit Free Press' Evan Petzold notes Avila "initially tip-toed around the subject without stating if Hinch and Cora are options to lead the Tigers" through their rebuild. Avila: "Obviously, the cheating scandal is not a good thing. They're serving their suspensions. And once their suspensions are over, they'll be free to pursue their careers. We have not eliminated anybody from our list at this point."
  
  
• Avila said the Tigers "hope to make a managerial decision by October or November."

NEW ATP STRATEGIC PLAN FOCUSES ON UNITY

• An internal ATP strategic plan shared with stakeholders in early September unveils a vision to more closely align the interests of all tournaments and players through four pillars, including a more stable prize-money formula and aggregated tournament media and data rights under the tour’s direct control. 
  
  
• The ATP’s dissemination of the 92-page document came shortly after the Professional Tennis Players Association -- a players-focused group led by Novak Djokovic that threatens to upend the tour’s 30-year-old structure -- announced its formation.
  
  
• The need for unity and greater alignment of interests within the sport is addressed 22 times in the first 68 pages (containing the actual plan) of the ATP document, which Sports Business Journal has reviewed. 
  
  
• To read the full story, which appears in Monday's print edition of SBJ from Bret McCormick, click here.

SPEED READS

• The Broncos’ charitable arm raised over $130,000 from the sale of cardboard fan cutouts, far exceeding officials’ expectations and recouping most of the team charity’s losses from the pandemic, per SBJ's Ben Fischer. All told, 10 NFL teams have raised just over $1 million via the cutouts, a league spokesperson said, under a new policy that allowed them if they benefitted nonprofits. The Broncos have displayed about 3,000 cutouts in all, including 1,800 that depicted characters from “South Park” last week as part of a charitable contribution from Comedy Central and South Park Studios.”
  
  
• The game between the Steelers and Titans, which was "postponed from Sunday after an outbreak of positive coronavirus tests within the Titans organization, has been rescheduled for Week 7 on Oct. 25" at 1:00pm ET. The Steelers-Ravens game will "move from Oct. 25 to Nov. 1" at 1:00pm. 
  
  
• EA Sports is releasing a new version of "NHL '94" with the "same graphics and game play as the 1994 game, but with updated, current rosters." The game, titled "NHL Rewind '94," will be part of a package for anyone who pre-orders "EA Sports NHL 21." ESPN's Jeremy Willis: "The electronic music. The 16-bit hockey action. It's all back."
  
  

• MLB's postseason marketing campaign "celebrates what might be the biggest departure from tradition yet: a 16-team playoff field," according to Adweek. Channeling its "best impression of college basketball’s March Madness, the league’s spot 'October: The Remix' highlights that 'we’ve never done October like this before.'" MLB Senior VP/Marketing Barbara McHugh said that MLB is "prioritizing bringing the game to fans with unique content across its social media accounts, new interactive fan engagement products and additional content for players to share through MLB’s Player Social program."
  
  

SBJ UNPACKS -- THE ROAD AHEAD

• Check out the most recent editions of our SBJ Unpacks podcasts:
  
  
  • Sports betting consultant Sara Slane on Caesars Entertainment’s $3.73 billion acquisition of William Hill and other developing stories around the gaming industry. 
    
    
  • Will Cavanaugh of SportsAtlas shares insights from the make-good-economy that has emerged during the pandemic across sports sponsorship.
    
    
  • Honeywell Senior Sales Manager Tom Sumner joins Andrew Levin to discuss helping the NFL Panthers welcome fans.
    
    
  • SBJ's Michael Smith joins Bill King to discuss the college landscape now that all major conferences have plans set for a fall football season.

Something related to coronavirus and sports business catch your eye? Tell us about it. Reach out to Austin Karp (akarp@sportsbusinessjournal.com) and we'll share the best of it.