SBJ College: Outfront Media Sports Drawing Buyer Interest

This is the year that college athletes found their voice. The Pac-12 players’ threat to boycott the season is further evidence of that. I’m curious to see what players in other conferences do

Here is what's cookin' on campus.

SINCLAIR COULD MAKE FORAY INTO COLLEGE MULTIMEDIA BUSINESS

• Outfront Media Sports, the company that owns the marketing and media rights to LSU, Maryland and Virginia, among others, has been on the sales block for more than a year, industry sources say. It now appears that a deal is near. A group that includes Sinclair Broadcast Group has emerged as a leading candidate to acquire Outfront’s college business. Negotiations between Outfront and the Sinclair group are believed to be in advanced stages, though sources said a sale is not final.
  
  
• Outfront wanted around $35 million for what amounts to the multimedia rights to a portfolio of 11 schools, but that was before the coronavirus pandemic threw sports into upheaval. Since the pandemic in March, company values generally have dropped because they typically are not hitting their revenue goals, which brings the price down, sources said.
  
  
• An Outfront acquisition would mark the entry to collegiate multimedia rights for Sinclair. Outfront's portfolio also includes Old Dominion, Denver, Troy, New Mexico and St. Bonaventure.

RUSSELL EMBODIES GROUNDBREAKING HIRING RULE

• The West Coast Conference introduced the “Russell Rule” as a diversity hiring initiative that’s similar to the Rooney Rule in the NFL. The conference’s schools agreed that a diversity candidate must be among the finalists in searches for ADs, senior administrators, head coaches and assistant coaches, making the WCC the first D-I conference to create such a measure. 
  
  
• WCC Commissioner Gloria Nevarez told me the story about how the Russell Rule got its name -- Univ. of San Francisco legend Bill Russell was the NBA’s first Black head coach. Naming the rule after a trail blazing graduate of a WCC school seems like a no-brainer, but it took the conference’s staff a few meetings to get there.
  
  
• They contemplated several different, especially lengthy names, most of which contained the words “diversity hiring commitment.” None of them rolled off the tongue with any grace. Finally, Zach Smith, a young Cal law school grad who’s in his second year at the conference HQ as assistant director of governance & operations, blurted out “The Russell Rule.” Nevarez: “It just clicked. He represents everything that this rule is intended to be. There’s not a more iconic WCC alum.”

Bill Russell led the Univ. of San Francisco, a WCC school, to the 1955 NCAA hoops title

SPEED READS

• The Redbox Bowl became college football's first postseason to announce a hiatus for 2020, but the move likely has more to do with bowl ownership than COVID-19. Currently, the 18-year-old event is without an owner/operator. The 49ers had been running the game in previous years while it was at Levi's Stadium, but the San Jose Mercury News noted the team ended that deal. A spokesperson tells SBJ that a new management entity and venue "will be announced in the coming months." The hiatus also means Fox Sports now has just one postseason game on its schedule -- the Holiday Bowl. 
  
  
• N.C. State AD Boo Corrigan appeared on ACC Network’s “Packer & Durham” this morning and said of the wait-and-see approach for fall sports: “It’s really been a case of being as patient as you can be. Being steady. Being calm. … One of the first emails I sent to coaches was that we all want to be proactive in everything that’s going on here, but we’re probably going to be reactive.” Corrigan also talked about student-athletes being empowered recently to speak out on social issues: “Our interests should be their interests. … We need to allow them to find their voice. We need to allow them to find the opportunity to be part communication on a bigger social way.”
  
  
• ESPN+ was a bright spot for Disney during a rough Q3 for the company, which noted in its quarterly earnings call this afternoon that divisions like parks and film continue to take hits amid the pandemic. ESPN+, which has dedicated areas for conferences like the Big 12 and Ivy League, is now sitting at 8.5 million subscribers. Last November, the streaming platform was at 3.5 million subscribers.
  
  
• Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott sent a letter to the group of football players threatening to boycott the 2020 season, saying that he is "open to holding dialogue," per SI.com's Ross Dellenger. Scott also said that Pac-12 officials are "reviewing #WeAreUnited’s list of demands and documents."
  
  
• Renovations to Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans could be an issue for the bowl games planned for the venue if the college football schedule extends past January. “We can be flexible with the date,” Sugar Bowl CEO Jeff Hundley told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “Within certain parameters. We’re good through January, other than possible dates for the Saints’ playoff games. Beyond that, we could run into some issues with the Superdome renovations." Hundley also said Sugar Bowl president Ralph Capitelli has an apt term for the uncertainty: “We’re riding the ‘corona coaster.'"
  
  
• Texas A&M and Colorado are already adjusting their plans to meet on the gridiron in 2021. With both the Pac-12 and SEC going in-conference for this season's games, the 2020 matchup in College Station was scrapped. But instead of just completing the home-and-home arrangement in Boulder next season, the schools agreed to a neutral site game at the Broncos' venue in Denver. "We have an obligation to play a Power 5 non-conference game and so we need that game. There’s no other available opportunities out there,” A&M AD Ross Bjork explained. “Colorado has approached us about playing ... in Denver so that is where we are headed right now."

Enjoying this newsletter? We've got more! Check out SBJ Media with John Ourand and SBJ Esports with Adam Stern and Trent Murray. Also check out the SBJ Unpacks newsletter every Monday-Friday night, as we look at how the sports industry is being impacted by COVID-19.

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).