business of college sports

This episode I'm joined by industry veteran Steve Hank, currently an Executive Vice President at Affinaquest, to talk about how athletic departments can leverage the data they already have to increase fan engagement and revenue for the department. 

We discuss:

• The main revenue struggles he sees over and over again in college athletics
• How pro teams have done a better job creating a personal connection with fans
• Overcoming silos in athletics and higher education
• How to collaborate better with the university
• The opportunities and challenges conference realignment brings for engaging with fans
• Engaging fans who might consider staying home or out at the tailgate instead of going to the game
• Leveraging data to give fans a better experience while also making more money
• How NIL might play a role in the future of fan engagement

Hank also shared about his career journey in college athletics. In his current position, Hank oversees the collegiate athletics market at Affinaquest and strategies for clients with a focus on business intelligence, fan engagement, revenue outcomes.

Prior to joining Affinaquest, Hank worked as the Chief Revenue Officer at the University of Texas at Austin where he led the sales, marketing, and revenue operations of the nation’s largest collegiate athletic department.  

Prior to Texas, Hank was with at Arizona State University for twelve years, where he led the revenue generating areas of Sun Devil Athletics, including marketing, ticket sales and operations, branding, licensing, contract negotiation, and sponsorship relations. He also led the rebranding of Sun Devil Athletics culminating with the launch of the Pitchfork logo in April 2012.

You can follow Affinaquest on social media: YouTube | Twitter | LinkedIn

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

Need data and real-world experts to help you make decisions in your athletic department? Check out College Sports Solutions and connect with Jeff on LinkedIn.

It's been seven months since Tim Russell, CEO of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, joined the podcast to talk about why tennis was being cut more than any other sport during the pandemic. It was my most-listened to episode of 2020, so I asked Tim if we could revisit the subject now that we've seen several more tennis programs eliminated.

The ITA is the governing body of college tennis, overseeing men's and women's varsity tennis at all levels -- NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and Junior/Community College. In addition to providing resources to its members to help support programs, the ITA also put together opportunities while competition was halted in collegiate tennis.

Listen in to hear more about why tennis may be taking the brunt of the cuts, Tim's opposing argument and also great advice for coaches in any sport to be more proactive in demonstrating value to their administrations.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Health Index (a useful tool for coaches in any sport)
• Tim's response to AthleticDirectorU the role of Olympic sports on college campuses

You can follow the ITA on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

Need data and real-world experts to help you make decisions in your athletic department? Check out College Sports Solutions and connect with Jeff on LinkedIn.

In this episode, I'm joined by Samantha Arsenault Livingstone, an Olympic Gold Medalist,  high-performance consultant, speaker, educator and mental health advocate. 

Samantha was a member of the U.S. Swimming National Team, 1999 U.S. Pan Pacific Team and 2000 U.S. Olympic Team. As an 18-year-old, she stood atop the Olympic podium in Sydney, Australia after swimming the lead-off leg of the record-setting 4 x 200 Freestyle Relay. Post- Olympics, Samantha battled an eating disorder, depression and shoulder surgery. 

With the help of an amazing mentor, she rose from the rubble stronger, happier and healthier, ending her career as a 7 x NCAA All-American. To close out her career, Samantha led her teammates to the 2005 National Championship title as the co-captain of the Georgia Bulldogs.

At home in the classroom, Samantha spent six years teaching high school science and coaching swimming. She is the founder of Livingstone High Performance and the Whole Athlete Initiative (the WAI) providing pillars of support to athletes, coaches, parents and organizations to elevate mental health and improve performance. In addition to private and group coaching, Samantha consults with teams and organizations on athlete wellness initiatives, leadership, strategic planning, rising skills and developing high-performance cultures.

She is a certified instructor of Mindful Sport Performance Enhancement (MSPE) and a certified instructor of Mental Health First Aid. Samantha holds a master's degree in secondary science education from the University of Georgia. She lives in New England with her husband, Rob, and four daughters. 

In this episode, we discussed:

• How coaches and administrators can spot issues student athletes might have coming into their program from home or previous sports experience
• How administrators can set the tone for compliance for everything from practice limits to sexual abuse and communicate to student athletes that it matters
• Samantha's message for student athletes who fear coming forward about violations will lead to retaliation
• How coaches can create a culture where student athletes feel comfortable talking to them about issues
• The lack of mental health resources and education in intercollegiate athletics
• As a parent, how Samantha talks to her kids about what is and isn't appropriate behavior from their coaches

Samantha's website: www.samanthalivingstone.com
Follow Samantha on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

Need data and real-world experts to help you make decisions in your athletic department? Check out College Sports Solutions and connect with Jeff on LinkedIn.

In this episode, I'm joined by Melissa Korn, a Wall Street Journal reporter who co-authored the newly released book Unacceptable: Privilege, Deceit & the Making of the College Admissions Scandal with her WSJ colleague Jennifer Levitz.

One morning in March 2019, many of America's rich and powerful woke to three hundred FBI agents at their doors. Among them were actress Felicity Huffman, designer Mossimo Giannulli, business executives and storied college coaches, with one thing in common: They'd all worked with Rick Singer. Sought after by wealthy parents as a college whisperer, Singer helped children nationwide secure spots at the schools of their dreams--for some, by any means necessary. When his scheme crumbled, more than 50 people would be criminally charged. 

In Unacceptable, veteran Wall Street Journal reporters Korn and Levitz trace the rise and ruin of the largest scam of its kind ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice, dubbed Operation Varsity Blues. With unparalleled access to primary players in the case, they reveal how Singer cashed in on the ultimate status symbol: an acceptance letter at Stanford, Yale, Georgetown, or USC. They detail how the scheme exploited existing loopholes, with bribes and lies giving already privileged families an irresistible edge.

In this episode, Melissa and I talked about how this story unfolded and what college athletic administrators should be on the lookout for in the future to prevent this from happening again.

You can follow Melissa on Twitter @MelissaKorn. 

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

Need data and real-world experts to help you make decisions in your athletic department? Check out College Sports Solutions and connect with Jeff on LinkedIn.

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

Need data and real-world experts to help you make decisions in your athletic department? Check out College Sports Solutions and connect with Jeff on LinkedIn.

Tajh Boyd, a former quarterback at Clemson, joined me to discuss name, image and likeness legislation. What would recruiting have been like if NIL had existed when he was choosing a school? Could NIL impact the atmosphere in the locker room? What does he think the impact might be on a school like Clemson? And how does he really feel about the potential to profit off your name, image and likeness as a student athlete?

We dive into all that and more!

Check out his podcast The Tajh Boyd Podcast for more of our conversation where we talk about the business of college sports.

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com, on Forbes and Entrepreneur. 

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

Need data and real-world experts to help you make decisions in your athletic department? Check out College Sports Solutions and connect with Jeff on LinkedIn.

Nate Appleman, the director of HOK’s global Sports + Recreation + Entertainment practice, joins me to discuss the latest trends in college athletic facility design. We talk about how unique design features like Clemson's slide are dreamed up and how architects and designers ensure the unique qualities of each program are reflected in the completed facility. We also chatted about some upcoming projects and the trends we all should watch out for in 2020 and beyond.

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com, on Forbes and Entrepreneur. 

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

Need data and real-world experts to help you make decisions in your athletic department? Check out College Sports Solutions and connect with Jeff on LinkedIn.

Introducing The Business of College Sports Podcast! Join me, Kristi Dosh (aka, The SportsBizMiss), on this journey as we examine the hottest topics around the business of sports and talk to experts about what's coming next and how to prepare for it.

In this first episode, I share with you my vision for the podcast, who it's for and where we're going from here!

You can visit my website at BusinessofCollegeSports.com.

And please follow me on Twitter and Instagram for the latest news and analysis around the business of college sports!

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

Need data and real-world experts to help you make decisions in your athletic department? Check out College Sports Solutions and connect with Jeff on LinkedIn.