SBJ College: ESPN's New Dean Of Admissions
Forty years ago, these were Herb Brooks’ chilling words to Team USA going into the third period of the Gold Medal hockey game against Finland: “If you lose this game, you will take it to your graves.”
Here's what's cooking on campus.
ILAN BEN-HANAN TAKING OVER DURANT'S OLD ROLE
- ESPN veteran Ilan Ben-Hanan has been promoted to Rosalyn Durant’s former position in charge of the company’s college networks -- ACC Network, SEC Network and Longhorn Network. The move will make Ben-Hanan the Senior VP/Programming & Acquisitions. Ben-Hanan is well-versed in ESPN’s college business, having been in charge of college football and basketball scheduling at times during his 18 years there.
- ESPN Exec VP Burke Magnus made the announcement to staff today, citing Ben-Hanan’s relationships with conference commissioners, college presidents and ADs as assets he brings to the job. He’ll stay in Los Angeles, but will travel frequently to ESPN offices in Bristol and Charlotte, as well as Austin to visit the Longhorns. “Ilan has never been satisfied with the status quo, and that’s helped us on numerous occasions improve and evolve our programming strategy,” Magnus wrote in the company email.
- There’s also a strong feel-good component to Ben-Hanan’s promotion. He is a two-time cancer survivor who shared his story with my colleague John Ourand in 2017 when he was a member of SBJ’s "Forty Under 40" class. During his time as ESPN’s chief college basketball programmer around 2007, Ben-Hanan came up with the concept of Jimmy V Week, a series of college basketball games tied to the Jimmy V Classic in December that has raised millions for cancer research.
- Two heads of programming, VP Stacie McCollum (ACC, Longhorn) and VP Chris Turner (SEC), will now report to Ben-Hanan.
VANDY MASTER PLAN DOESN'T ADDRESS OUTDATED STADIUM
- Vanderbilt finally released its much-anticipated strategic plan. The reaction: crickets. The only tangible facility item listed in the report was new locker rooms for football, which will come in at just under $5 million. The rest of the plan was especially vague, with no mention of any plans for a new football stadium or a renovation. And if the school is paying millions for new locker rooms, it stands to reason that the university won’t be tearing down Vanderbilt Stadium, which originally opened in 1922 and was reconstructed in 1981.
- The only reason to release a strategic plan without any facility details is so that the school can’t be second-guessed in the future by its critics. The Commodores worked with Deloitte on the strategic initiative and has brought in Perkins+Will to craft a facility master plan. But until the Commodores come up with a plan for their outdated football stadium, everything else rings hollow.
MARCUS LATTIMORE LEAVES AN IMPRESSION
- I was standing just behind the Charlotte football players yesterday when Marcus Lattimore, the former South Carolina great, shared his story of coping with two catastrophic knee injuries. Their eyes never left Lattimore, now 28, who missed out on the Heisman Trophy and a likely first-round pick after getting hurt in back-to-back seasons. His message about overcoming adversity resonated. “You’re going to keep going through stuff,” Lattimore told them. “Life is going to be full of suffering. … Learn how to struggle well in life and suffering is just part of the process. You won’t run from it; you’ll run to it.”
- I was one of a handful of guests at the 49ers’ spring practice and I was in awe at how the players approached me after the workout. Nearly all of them stopped by, firmly shook hands and looked me in the eye as they introduced themselves and thanked me for coming to practice. Some asked what I do and what’s the hardest part of writing a story. After 30+ years in this business, I’ve attended lots of football practices, and I’ve never seen that before. I’ve heard about other teams that do it, but that was unique among my personal experiences.
SPEED READS
- The Zion Williamson tide lifted all boats for college basketball viewership last season. But heading into the home stretch in 2019-20, figures are coming back down, according to SBJ's Austin Karp. Games on ESPN are averaging 952,000 viewers after 102 contests on the flagship network, down 21% from the same period last season. ESPN was up 15% in 2018-19. CBS is averaging 1.26 million after 24 games, down 15%. Fox is down 4% through 21 games (879,000 viewers). On FS1, all games are up 8% (182,000 viewers).
- USC AD Mike Bohn may have struck a nerve at Pac-12 HQ last week when he told a 247Sports podcast that "everything is on the table" with regard to the Trojans' future conference affiliation. Bohn today told CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd that "there's no talk" of leaving. He added: "That being said, if the unexpected happened and NBC said, 'Hey we want to partner you guys with Notre Dame' … then that's different.'"
- The Wall Street Journal's Louise Radnofsky looks at how female athletes could be beneficiaries of changes to the NCAA's name, image and likeness rules. Utah gymnast Mykayla Skinner: "“People want to have me do photo shoots or be sponsored by leos or different companies, and it’s been really hard to be like, ‘I’m so sorry, I can’t do it, NCAA rules.'"
- MLB is rolling out a new effort aimed at strengthening connections to HBCUs. The league will be at Florida A&M on Saturday for the first stop in the “HBCU Play Ball Series.” Former MLBer and A&M alum Vince Coleman will be on hand as an ambassador (the guy stole over 100 bases three times). Subsequent events will be at Stillman College in (March 30) and Claflin Univ. (May 3).
THROWBACK THURSDAY
- It was this week in 2012 that Nike founder Phil Knight was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame, sparking a debate about whether the HOF should be reserved for coaches and players -- or if other significant contributors to the game, like Knight, belong there as well.
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.
Enjoying this newsletter? We've got more! Check out SBJ Media with John Ourand on Mondays and Wednesdays for insights into all the latest news around the world of sports media. Also check out SBJ Football from Ben Fischer on Friday afternoons.
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).
