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Learfield Launches Business To Include Team Branding In NIL Deals

“The company has added a litany of its partners to the program including, Duke University, Florida State University, and the University of Florida.”

Russ Heltman

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Learfield announced a new program to make it easier for student-athletes to associate school logos with NIL deals. Learfield Allied is aimed at bringing NIL deals and university intellectual property together.

The company has added a litany of its partners to the program including, Duke University, Florida State University, University of Florida, University of Kansas, University of Louisville, St. John’s University, Syracuse University, University of Utah, and the University of Wisconsin.

“From the very first stages of NIL, our job has been simple – to listen, learn, and help schools, brand partners, and student-athletes maximize opportunities,” Learfield president and CEO Cole Gahagan said in a press release. “By building a nationwide, consistent framework, we’re ensuring that the invaluable IP of our school partners remains under the highest level of commercial safeguard, while at the same time, significantly widening the opportunities for student-athletes, universities, and corporate brands alike. Learfield Allied is truly a solution that benefits all stakeholders in NIL.”

The entire program is aimed to be a national solution towards combatting the blockades in current NIL deals. The Supreme Court allowed the practice to start this past July. In many cases, athletes have been unable to associate their NIL deals with their school’s mascots and logos at places like the University of Wisconsin.

“Learfield Allied is a win for all parties involved, and I am especially happy that this will expand NIL opportunities for our student-athletes,” said Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh. “Our athletic department is deeply committed to helping our student-athletes and corporate partners maximize opportunities in this space. This new initiative will greatly help and I am pleased to have Wisconsin Athletics at the forefront.”

Learfield Allied is the next step in the company’s NIL game plan. They also launched Compass this year, which helps educate student-athletes on the ins and outs of NIL deals.

“As a leader in intercollegiate athletics, we have a responsibility to listen to the market and lead with solutions. Our brand partners are interested in utilizing student-athletes in their marketing campaigns but there hasn’t been a secure and turnkey way to facilitate those opportunities using school IP, until now,” said Learfield CRO John Brody. “The unveiling of Learfield Allied is a gamechanger for those brands who are leaning in on student-athlete NIL, and we are proud to be at the center of the industry’s evolution and development.”

Sports Online

Dan Le Batard: ‘Does Sports Media Care if Interviews Are Done Well?’

“An exclusive interview with Ja Morant, who hasn’t talked to anybody after his controversy, is going to get eyeballs, so it doesn’t matter how good it actually is.”

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Mike Greenberg had praise for Jalen Rose this week. He said that no one but his ESPN colleague could have handled the interview with Ja Morant that has been airing on the network. Dan Le Batard has the exact opposite opinion of what he saw.

“What I saw was soft and didn’t seem to serve anybody except ESPN,” Le Batard said on his Thursday show. “This seems to be a lot of people around the economy of basketball and Ja Morant orchestrating an interview so Ja Morant can move onto the next stage of his branding.”

Whereas Greenberg thought the shared experience of an NBA career made Rose more likely to get answers from Morant, Le Batard said it created a problem. He accused Rose of letting Morant get away with using “talking points” in lieu of answering any actual questions about the string of erratic behavior and disturbing incidents the Memphis Grizzlies star has been involved with.

It wasn’t the only interview that Dan Le Batard pointed to. He noted that Pat McAfee’s interview with Aaron Rodgers may have drawn an audience of nearly half a million, but very little substance was offered.

“Does anybody in the audience, in sports fandom, or even, at this point, in sports media companies, care in a real and legitimate way whether the interview is done well or not?”

He added that the standard has changed for these interviews because the goal has changed. They are no longer about journalism as much as they are about branding, particularly in the case of ESPN’s exclusive interview with Ja Morant.

“An exclusive interview with Ja Morant, who hasn’t talked to anybody after his controversy, is going to get eyeballs, so it doesn’t matter how good it actually is,” Le Batard concluded. “All you need, if you’re the media partner, is please get me the famous guy to sit down.”

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Sports Online

Jomboy, Aaron Boone Partner For Weekly Podcast Appearance

“I thought it was a really interesting opportunity, and a cool idea. These guys have been innovators in this business and they’ve built a massive, young following.”

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It isn’t unusual for a professional sports team to partner with a local radio station for weekly interviews with team personnel. Even though Jomboy Media is a digital outlet, it didn’t stop the company from inking a deal to have Yankees manager Aaron Boone on one of its signature podcasts.

In a move announced Thursday, Jomboy Media has signed a deal for Boone to appear on its popular Talkin’ Yanks podcast — hosted by founder Jimmy O’Brien and Jake Storiale — once a week throughout the baseball season.

“I thought it was a really interesting opportunity, and a cool idea. These guys have been innovators in this business and they’ve built a massive, young following,” Boone told The New York Post. “I think Jimmy and Jake are both really good guys. And they’re passionate about what they do, and they love the Yankees. And, sometimes they’re a little misguided and it’s my chance to set the record straight every now and then.”

Previously, Boone had a weekly spot on 98.7 ESPN New York’s The Michael Kay Show, which reportedly paid him six figures.

“It’s going to be really fun and it kind of goes with the changing landscape of media,” O’Brien said. “The fact that two fans can create a show and in five years get to the point where they get to ask questions to the manager of the Yankees and bring whatever insight we can get out of that to our audience — it is pretty wild, a little surreal.”

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Sports Online

Sports Media Reacts to Aaron Rodgers Telling Adam Schefter ‘Lose My Number’

“Here are some of the best responses from Schefter’s sports media colleagues to the tweet.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Quarterback Aaron Rodgers appeared on The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday and revealed that if he gets his way, his time with the Green Bay Packers is done. He intends to play for the New York Jets in 2023.

Rodgers told McAfee that the hang-up lies with Green Bay, which is trying to determine the appropriate compensation for trading for a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Rodgers also revealed that he had an interaction with ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter. Schefter, who was obviously digging as much as he could to get the scoop on what was going on with Rodgers’ future, texted Rodgers trying to confirm the information he had.

“I didn’t respond to Dianna Russini I think her name is,” Rodgers said. “But I would say the same thing that I told Schefty. Lose my number. Nice try.”

Upon hearing Rodgers’ account, Schefter followed up with a screenshot of Rodgers responding exactly how he said, and that sent social media into a whirlwind.

Here are some of the best responses from Schefter’s sports media colleagues to the tweet:

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