Tonight in SBJ Unpacks: Former NC State AD Debbie Yow on what Jim Phillips brings to the ACC.
- A-B InBev's Nick Kelly leaves brewer for MLS' Charlotte FC
- Oregon replaces Washington in Pac-12 title game
- Roger Goodell says no capacity number yet for Super Bowl LV
- MLB execs prepare for delay to start of Spring Training
- Adidas begins review to decide on potential Reebok sale
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Debbie Yow On Why ACC Went With Jim Phillips
The ACC today officially named Northwestern AD Jim Phillips as the conference's next commissioner, a move former N.C. State AD Debbie Yow called a "really good and solid hire for the ACC."
Yow told SBJ's Bret McCormick: "Jim is a lifer in athletics, which the athletic directors will appreciate. They’ll know that he understands the stresses that they are going through.” Yow stressed that Phillips' track record of raising funds for significant facility upgrades, including the $110 million renovation of Northwestern's Welsh-Ryan Arena and the construction of the $270 million Ryan Fieldhouse and Walter Athletics Center, is "exactly what a creative, forward-thinking athletic director would do, which is find a way to make it happen.”
Yow concluded, "He’s respected by the NCAA, he’s respected by the athletic director community, as the group of practitioners he’s going to work most closely with, and I think he is well appreciated by faculty athletics representatives and by presidents."
SBJ's Michael Smith writes Phillips rose to the top of the list of candidates because of the job he has done elevating athletics at a small private institution in the Big Ten against the likes of major state universities. That was of particular interest to the ACC, where six of the 15 member institutions are private. Sources say it was Phillips' surprisingly deep connections with several ACC leaders that helped position him to be the next commissioner.
ACC Network’s Mark Packer said Phillips is “well regarded in the circles of college athletics" and the conference has "hit a home run." Packer: “He’s been on every committee known to man (and) a very progressive thinker." ACC Net's Wes Durham added, “He is incredibly well-versed across the landscape of college athletics, whether it relates to the Division I council which he’s been on, the men’s basketball committee which he served as chair of, but he is also an open-minded forward thinker."
Phillips was also named SBJ's AD of the Year in 2018.
Nick Kelly Leaving A-B InBev To Become President Of Charlotte FC
A-B InBev sports marketing chief Nick Kelly is leaving the brewer to become president of MLS expansion franchise Charlotte FC, which will begin play in 2022, reports SBJ's Terry Lefton. Kelly, whose title at A-B InBev is VP/Partnerships, Beer Culture & Community, will start at Charlotte FC in February, and report to Tepper Sports & Entertainment President Tom Glick.
Industry sources said A-B InBev has not named a replacement for Kelly, but that there are a handful of internal candidates. A two-time Sports Business Journal Forty Under 40 honoree, Kelly has been with A-B InBev's domestic sports marketing department since 2014 and previously worked in Charlotte as NASCAR Manager of Integrated Marketing Communications from 2011-14.
While at A-B InBev the past few years, Kelly helped lead a radical sponsorship initiative, under which properties sponsored by the brewer were rewarded with incremental payments if they met specific objectives, both on field and off.
Oregon Replaces Washington In Pac-12 Title Game
Oregon "will replace Washington as the Pac-12 North representative" in Friday's conference championship football game after it was "determined the Huskies would be unable to field the 53 scholarship players needed to play because of positive cases for COVID-19 and the related contact-tracing protocols," per ESPN. Washington was also "below the required number for a specific position group."
UW coach Jimmy Lake said, "There is no path forward to practice or play this week. Our focus now is getting everyone healthy so we can resume football activities and prepare for a possible bowl game. We are crushed that we cannot bring home the Pac-12 trophy for our fans, staff and players."
Goodell Says No Capacity Number Yet For Super Bowl LV
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell today said that there is "not yet a definitive fan capacity number" for Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium on Feb. 7, per NFL.com's Judy Battista.
Goodell said that league "will do whatever it can to minimize risk for teams in Tampa." That includes teams "coming in later in the week than the usual Monday arrival." Goodell also said that the league is "not planning on any NFL personnel being vaccinated prior to SB." He noted that NFL personnel "does not fall into any of the categories of those who have been prioritized for vaccines."
Some MLB Execs Anticipate Possible Delay Of Start To Spring Training
Many MLB execs now believe Spring Training "will be pushed back by at least a month in the hope of having fans allowed in ballparks for the regular season," according to the Boston Globe. The MLBPA is "sure to push back on any delay." It also remains "uncertain if fans will be allowed into spring training games."
Meanwhile, with baseball "closing in on the midpoint between" the end of the World Series and the scheduled opening of spring training camps, there has been "almost no movement in the top tiers of the free agent market," per the Washington Post. It can "only be seen as a bad sign for the sport" and "especially the players, who were already frustrated by the slow free agent markets of the previous two years."
USA Today's Mike Freeman writes the Indians deciding to change their team name "isn't a total shock," but it is "still stunning because of what it represents." The end of the Indians nickname "symbolizes how sports franchises that used these names finally began listening." Click here for SBJ Daily's full story on the name change.
Adidas Begins Review To Decide On Potential Reebok Sale
Adidas has "begun a review of whether to sell its underperforming Reebok brand," part of the development of the German sportswear maker’s "new five-year strategy," per Bloomberg News. Adidas "will announce a decision on March 10, when it presents its new plan." Reebok has "long fascinated industry players," both as a "cautionary tale and for the tantalizing potential of recapturing some of its old success." It is "likely to attract interest from rival sporting goods companies, especially in Asia, as well as private equity suitors."
Reebok has "underperformed compared with the Adidas brand during the pandemic, which hurt overall sales as governments shut down stores around the world to combat a surge in the new virus," per the Wall Street Journal. In Q3, Reebok sales fell 12.3% while Adidas sales fell 6.7%.
Speed Reads
- The NCAA plans to "stage the entire women's basketball tournament in one geographic area, and San Antonio is the likely host site," per the AP. The move was "made to help mitigate the risks of COVID-19 and matches that of the men's tournament, which the NCAA said last month will be played in a single area -- most likely Indianapolis." The women's Final Four in 2021 was already set for San Antonio, and the NCAA has "begun preliminary talks with the Texas city to hold the entire 64-team tournament in the area."
- The NBA will tip off its 2020-21 season with a plethora of new in-arena advertising inventory as teams look to replace lost ticketing and sponsorship dollars. To drive new revenue, NBA teams will follow the NFL and MLB with tarps bearing sponsor logos across lower bowl seating areas, which for most teams will presumably be empty for some time. John Lombardo & Terry Lefton have the full story in today's print issue of SBJ.
- ESPN and MLB are "closing in on a TV deal that would provide the network exclusive rights to the first round of the playoffs," per the N.Y. Post. Now all that is needed is a "first round of the playoffs." That needs to be negotiated between MLB and the MLBPA, which is to say that, "while an ESPN-MLB deal is close, they are still far from knowing when -- and even if -- there will be playoffs expanded from 10 to likely 14 teams to include a best-of-three first round."
- SI's Pat Forde reports the list of options to replace Gus Malzahn at Auburn is "full of candidates" with Nick Saban on their resume. That includes Oregon's Mario Cristobal, Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin and current Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian. Forde: "The two most reliable connections when hiring in the SEC are CAA clients and men who worked under Saban."
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