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There is no wasted experience, and you never know where a specific role can lead you.

There is no wasted experience, and you never know where a specific role can lead you.

Vol. 26

Conner Schenk
August 11, 2023

There is no wasted experience, and you never know where a specific role can lead you.

CONSTANT SPORTS WEEK IN REVIEW

Recent Interview: Michael Barno

Finance & Economic Impact - NCAA Men's Final Four Host Committee

NCAA Men's 2024 Men's Final Four Host Committee

Michael Barno, part of the Finance and Economic Impact department for the NCAA Men's Final Four 2024 Host Committee, stopped by the podcast to discuss what it takes to put on a large-scale event. He talked about his role with the Final Four, and the importance of analytics, and then touched on what he believes to be the future of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

As part of both the Finance and Economic Impact departments for the 2024 host committee, Michael has many different tasks and every day is different. When it comes to finance, he is tasked with budgeting for all departments related to the event. This allows him to converse with many different teams and ensure that budgeting goals from all aspects of the 2024 Final Four are achieved. More importantly, he plays a big role in the economic impact department, with the goal of showing how hosting a massive event positively impacts the Phoenix economy and why it's worth it to host events such as the Final Four and Super Bowl. This includes gathering tracking data, hotel data, consumer spending data, and much more as a way to showcase economic impact when it comes to bidding on these events in the future as well as making projections for events years later.

The discussion on economic impact relayed into the topic of data analytics in the sports industry. Michael is a numbers person that loves using analytics to display impact in sports, whether it's on the field or off. He enjoys using his communication background to assist in the process of data visualization, a way of understanding and then communicating what certain data means.

Finally, as an avid basketball fan, Michael discussed what he believes to be the future of the NBA. Similarly to other major sports, Michael believes the NBA will continue to expand with regular season games in global markets, resulting in a broader reach for the league as a whole. Michael's most significant piece of advice for those trying to get into the industry is "There is no wasted experience", and you never know where a specific role can lead you.

Upcoming Interview: Cydney Crasa Sports Manager - Raymond Representation

The Constant Sports Podcast is excited to host Cydney Crasa, a Sports Manager at Raymond Representation, for next week's episode. Cydney was a Division I Gymnast at The George Washington University University before going back to The George Washington University School of Business to receive her Master's in Sport Management. She has spent time on the NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, worked as a Sports Manager at Hawker Family Sports & Entertainment, and recently transitioned into her new role with Raymond Representation. Raymond Representation is one of the leaders in the NIL agency industry, and we had the opportunity to discuss all things athlete marketing.

Make sure to tune in to hear professional insight from Cydney on the future of NIL and athlete marketing as a whole.

EMERGING TOPICS IN THE SPORTS INDUSTRY

Pac 12 Conference Implodes

Last Friday morning, we released our newsletter with a section talking about the proposed streaming deal from George Kliavkoff, and how it left member institutions wanting more. Just a few hours later, the Pac-12 Conference officially collapsed. The University of Oregon and the University of Washington announced that they were heading to the Big Ten starting in the 2024-25 season, and this snowballed into University of Utah, University of Arizona, and Arizona State University State joining University of Colorado Boulder in the Big 12 Conference. While some schools were eager to revive the Pac-12 Conference, the lack of a secure media deal resulted in jumping ship. It's now time for the conference to figure out what's next. With only Cal, Stanford, Washington State, and Oregon State remaining, it appears likely that after the 2024 athletics season, the conference will be no longer. Cal and Stanford University have recently received interest from the ACC, while it seems Oregon State and Washington State may reach for the Big 12 or head to the Mountain West. The financial implications within college athletics have grown tremendously over the past decade, and the demise of the Pac-12 is a clear example of the importance of media rights and revenue security.

ESPN Signs Sportsbook Deal with Penn

PENN Entertainment, Inc and ESPN have agreed to rebrand the Penn Sportsbook as ESPN BET. Penn will pay ESPN $1.5 Billion in cash over the next ten years and also supply the company with 31.8 million common shares in the company. With sports gambling continuing to increase in popularity across the United States, ESPN will have its first association with an official sportsbook. The broadcast network has multiple shows related to sports gambling such as The Daily Wager, and this is a step in the right direction towards capitalizing on the sports gambling market. ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro stated, "Our primary focus is always to serve sports fans and we know they want both betting content and the ability to place bets with less friction from within our products."