Highlight: Preparing for Private Capital in College Sports

How are teams and leagues approaching partnerships with prediction markets?   Jeff and Charles are having frequent conversations with property clients around how to handle this emerging category. For most, the priorities are to monetize the category while respecting existing sports better partners.   Listen to the full episode here: https://nvgt.com/podcast?ppplayer=1e977ebc536a4f7840f232ca6e253547&ppepisode=88ebc0133d153220edab58c5877f6f83   For more insights, visit our LinkedIn page or learn more about Navigate at https://nvgt.com/.

What is the most common mistake athletic departments are going to make as private capital enters college sports?   AJ and Charles give their thoughts:   1) How are you spending the money? 2) Are you maintaining optionality for the future? 3) Are incentives properly aligned?   Private equity is looking for a return on investment, so schools are going to need to optimize their revenues, and not use the funds to cover up short-term gaps.   Listen to the full episode here: https://nvgt.com/podcast?ppplayer=1e977ebc536a4f7840f232ca6e253547&ppepisode=0274a79bbace9aa1eff963137011a31e   For more insights, visit our LinkedIn page or learn more about Navigate at https://nvgt.com/.

Katie Bynum Aznavorian - Chief Strategy and Growth Officer at the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee - dives into the metrics behind a very successful Milan Cortina games, and how she's able to pivot quickly to planning for LA28.   The USOPC has a funding model that's different from how all other peer nations pay for the athletes to participate in the Olympic Games. Receiving no money at all from federal sources, they rely on sponsorship, media, and philanthropic donations. They are forced to operate as an intelligent, profitable business, and Katie and her team continue to prove that the model works.   Timestamps: 1:10 - The success of Milan Cortina 7:30 - Katie's time at the games 9:50 - The funding model for USOPC 18:30 - Venue naming rights in LA28 20:25 - If you were to create the Olympic brand from scratch 24:35 - Making Team USA 28:20 - Do NCAA changes threaten the Olympic pipeline? 31:10 - Rapid Fire Questions   For more insights, visit our LinkedIn page or learn more about Navigate at https://nvgt.com/.

David Dunn – Founder of Athletes First – worked with Leigh Steinberg before separating to start his own agency. He shares the story of the legal battle that followed.   Dunn and Athletes First ultimately won on appeal, but he still faced an 18-month NFLPA suspension from negotiating contracts.   Listen to the full episode here: https://nvgt.com/podcast?ppplayer=1e977ebc536a4f7840f232ca6e253547&ppepisode=706ad15465bd624d2f547436740fa742   For more insights, visit our LinkedIn page or learn more about Navigate at https://nvgt.com/.

If your sponsorship budget was about to be cut, what data would you cite to defend it?   AJ & Charles share insights & ROI data from Navigate's 20+ years of sponsorship consulting to explore why sponsorship works, how it compares to other marketing channels, and how to spend strategically to see true ROI.   Will you be at NSF in St. Louis? Make sure to say hi to Charles while you're in town. Get in touch at [email protected]   Timestamps: 3:40 - Do sponsorships work? 7:00 - Brands that should steer clear of sponsorships 11:25 - Sponsorship is not purely a marketing investment 17:25 - Trends & growth 21:00 - Using sponsorship to reach a fragmented, global audience 22:30 - Predictions for the next 12-24 months   Revisit our podcast with T-Mobile's Amy Azzi: https://nvgt.com/podcast?ppplayer=1e977ebc536a4f840f232ca6e253547&ppepisode=c2641669c5f08ef945885ff03fea24f1   For more insights, visit our LinkedIn page or learn more about Navigate at https://nvgt.com/.

AJ and Charles share sympathy for athletic directors and administrators who are trying to plan for the future while being pulled in a dozen different directions by forces largely beyond their control.   They discuss this "two timeline" issue of having to tackle the short-term problems while also battling increasing uncertainty about the future. This was part of a larger conversation about the path forward for college sports amid talks of super leagues, athlete employment, and other major shakeups.   Listen to the full episode here: https://nvgt.com/podcast?ppplayer=1e977ebc536a4f7840f232ca6e253547&ppepisode=03ae512e3bd76f81902c00ae647b4017   For more insights, visit our LinkedIn page or learn more about Navigate at https://nvgt.com/ .

There's a 100% chance we're talking about prediction markets this week.   Jeff Nelson and Charles Rolston offer advice to sports marketers on the property side wondering how aggressively to pursue prediction market partnerships, if sports betting partners maintain exclusivity, and how changing regulation will complicate the signing of these deals.   Many leagues and clubs have already established partnerships with Polymarket, Kalshi, and other players in the prediction market space.   Timestamps: 3:40 - Are prediction markets the new crypto? 9:00 - Has the money dried up from traditional sports betting platforms? 12:45 - Deals that have already been signed 19:35 - What % of teams will have a prediction market partner in the next 12 months? 26:14 - Placing trades on the Swift-Kelce wedding For more insights, visit our LinkedIn page or learn more about Navigate at https://nvgt.com/.

Dan Porter – CEO of Overtime – explains why Overtime Elite teams aren't tied to local markets, saying "we are playing for the internet, not cities."   Regional affiliations don't necessarily lead to loyalty for new sports franchises, so their goal is to optimize the virality of their content to build passionate fanbases from all around the world.   Listen to the full episode here: https://nvgt.com/podcast?ppplayer=1e977ebc536a4f7840f232ca6e253547&ppepisode=246a404d135fa7e04b1e6ce67a45706a   For more insights, visit our LinkedIn page or learn more about Navigate at https://nvgt.com/.

Our hosts explain the main factors schools should be considering when deciding if a private capital investment makes sense for their athletic department, and if so how they should prepare for it.   For schools that decide to steer clear of such deals, they will still need to prepare for how massive influxes of cash will change their conference and college athletics as a whole.   Private equity or private capital firms are looking for reliable, and predictable revenue streams such as media rights, sponsorships, especially at schools with big brands which have been under commercialized.   Areas for fast and sustainable ROI include: Increasing headcount for revenue generation staff (sales and fundraising) Modernizing ticketing and CRM technology Changing incentive structures within the athletic department   Larger projects like mixed-use real estate development take more time and capital to institute, but have the potential for massive gains of their own.   In preparing for this episode, AJ and Charles spoke with private capital firms as well as conferences and athletic departments to uncover which themes and topics are top-of-mind at the moment.   Timestamps: 0:55 - What type of athletic department is attractive to investors? 3:15 - What does it mean to be PE-ready? 10:00 - Does winning solve all problems? 12:45 - Hypothetical: Where would you deploy capital? 18:00 - Why college has lagged behind pro sports 19:25 - FOMO for the schools that don't get on board  23:45 - Changing your financial trajectory in a single season 27:05 - Commons mistakes for athletic departments   For more insights, visit our LinkedIn page or learn more about Navigate at https://nvgt.com/.

What's the real ROI of firing your coach and paying an expensive buyout?   AJ Maestas and Charles Rolston break down the numbers behind the high-profile coaching buyouts we're seeing in college football, and the potential economic justifications for taking big risks.   Listen to the full episode here: https://nvgt.com/podcast?ppplayer=1e977ebc536a4f7840f232ca6e253547&ppepisode=b8c86e42a9f3d7b6f2194bb9a89877e8   For more insights, visit our LinkedIn page or learn more about Navigate at https://nvgt.com/.