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TOP STORY
1. Alston v. NCAA
by Michael McCann, Sportico
Today at 10 a.m. ET, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in one of the most important cases to involve the sports industry. Two petitioners, the NCAA and the Big Ten Conference, will argue their consolidated side in the class action led by former West Virginia running back Shawne Alston over how schools compensate athletes. The Justice Department will also participate on behalf of Alston. The hearing will occur by telephone conference in light of pandemic safety measures.
1) In a nutshell, what is NCAA v. Alston about?
This is an antitrust case about the legality of colleges, through the NCAA, agreeing to limit compensation to student-athletes. Federal antitrust law prohibits competing businesses from unreasonably restraining how they compete. The basic rationale is that when competitors work together, some element of the economy might experience higher prices, fewer choices or less innovation.
2) If Alston wins, would that mark the end of amateurism?
No. “Amateurism” is a label used to define a set of NCAA rules that govern college sports and that, by prohibiting certain types of commercial opportunities, attempt to distinguish college athletes from professional ones. These rules have changed over the years—including through reforms sparked by Ed O’Bannon’s litigation—and will continue to evolve, regardless of the Court’s forthcoming ruling.
3) What kinds of changes could we expect if Alston wins?
If the Supreme Court affirms the Ninth Circuit and upholds the prescribed remedy, the NCAA must then rewrite rules to allow schools to offer reimbursements for expenses pertaining to computers, science equipment, musical instruments and other tangible, academic-related items not included in the cost of attendance calculation. In addition, the NCAA could no longer limit internships for college athletes after their eligibility expires, though could cap cash graduation and academic awards to $5,600 (a dollar figure that would change by academic year).
4) Some have conflated the Alston case with name, image and likeness reform. Are they the same?
No. The Alston case, as explained above, is a federal antitrust dispute. NIL falls under a different area of law, intellectual property, and to date only under state law (Congress is considering federal NIL bills but none has advanced past committee).
The Alston case is also about how schools compensate their student-athletes. NIL reform, in contrast, concerns how college athletes can earn money from third parties—be they apparel companies, sneaker manufacturers, summer camps, video game publishers and businesses that leverage social media influencing—not the schools themselves.
5) How long will Wednesday’s hearing last, who will go first and who will be arguing?
The hearing, like all Supreme Court oral arguments, will last about an hour. As the petitioner, the NCAA (and Big Ten) will have 30 minutes to present. Alston’s side will then have 20 minutes to respond to the petitioner’s presentation. The last 10 minutes will be awarded to Acting Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, a former clerk to Justice Elena Kagan, the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland while he was an appellate court judge.
6) Will I be able to watch or listen to the arguments?
Sorry, you won’t be able to watch. The Supreme Court Building is closed to the public due to the pandemic and the telephone conference isn’t televised. The Court has never televised proceedings, though has made audio recordings and transcripts of oral arguments available. But you can listen. C-SPAN has streamed oral arguments.
7) When will the justices vote?
The nine justices usually meet to discuss a Wednesday oral argument on Friday. They’ll vote and determine which justice will write the opinion, or in the case of divided vote, which justices will write the majority and dissenting opinions (and concurring opinions if a justice agrees with the ultimate outcome but rejects the reasoning).
8) When will we find out who won?
Most likely in June or July.
9) What are the potential outcomes?
The Court could reverse the Ninth Circuit’s ruling (good news for NCAA), affirm it (bad news for NCAA), vacate the ruling whereby the Ninth Circuit’s ruling is rendered void and the case is remanded to Judge Claudia Wilken with new instructions, or issue some combination or variation therein (e.g., affirm and reverse in part, possibly with a remand).
"NCAA president Mark Emmert has long passed the point where the failures of his tenure register as shocking news. Emmert has been so ineffective and so unpopular for so long that leaders within college athletics have long given up hope that he could evolve into a functional leader.
The fresh indignation came with the declaration of support for Emmert from Georgetown president Jack DeGioia, who is the chair of the NCAA Board of Governors.
How mad are the leaders around college athletics? There have been open conversations — nothing formal, just general — about the NCAA’s failure of leadership and president-run governance structure being a wedge that could contribute to major conferences eventually breaking away from the NCAA. “How does it not?” said a Power Five athletic director. “This is failed leadership.”
>> Situational Awareness: "No one is saying DeGioia’s comments will lead directly to major conferences breaking away from the NCAA. But if the major football school/leagues do break away, the inability of the NCAA to find effective leadership and a nimble governance structure, which this moment epitomizes, would be remembered as a pivot point."
>> By The Numbers: "Yahoo Sports spoke to multiple commissioners who estimated that there’s at least an 85% disapproval of the job Emmert is doing among college commissioners. Among Division I athletic directors, his support is about the same. And those estimates are considered conservative."
>> What They're Saying: “For the leadership of the NCAA to be the tipping point for a Power Five exodus, it would be such an epic failure on the part of the NCAA to not read the room or even listen to its membership on campus or in conferences whose frustration has been brewing for years,” a conference commissioner outside of the Power Five said.
>> Hello: Washington & Jefferson, Saint John's, Adrian >> Goodbye: Johns Hopkins, Wooster, Denison
>> Games to Watch: #16 Whitewater vs La Crosse (Wed/Fri); #2 Washington U. vs #5 Aurora (Fri); #10 Marietta vs John Carroll (Fri/Sat); #22 Saint John's vs Gustavus Adolphus (Fri/Sat); #13 Shenandoah vs Roanoke (Sat); #18 Rowan vs #25 Kean (Sat)
If you have a business and would like to reach an affluent audience that works in higher education and college sports ... drop us a line at D3Playbook@gmail.com.
"Many are convinced that next week, when Ivy League and other competitive colleges theoretically tell applicants if they were admitted, they actually won't -- for thousands of students. Those students will be placed on waiting lists. And while colleges are quick to say that any student placed on a waiting list could succeed at the college, many students find waiting lists particularly frustrating -- arguably more frustrating than rejection.
This year, waiting lists are expected to be the worst ever (meaning the longest ever). The pandemic has led to a surge in applications at the most competitive colleges -- public and private. The new applications include minority and low-income applicants who in the past felt unwelcome or who are attracted by the fact that many of these colleges were test optional for the first time. (Colleges that cater to these students struggled for applications.) Many of the top colleges also admitted large early-decision/early-action classes. The result of all of these changes is that predicting yield -- the percentage of admitted applicants who enroll -- is likely to be more difficult this year. And when colleges are worried about yield, they tend to rely more on waiting lists than they do normally.
While some expect waiting lists to be "obnoxiously long," others aren't so sure. They note that colleges have lots of ways to guess whether particular groups of students will enroll if offered admission.
One important fact to remember is that many college waiting lists have been "obnoxiously long" for years."
>> Quotable: "Colleges have to be prepared for the possibility of not yielding their class and having a larger group of students request a gap year," said Claudia Marroquin, director of admissions at Bowdoin College. "Colleges use data and yield models as best as we can, but at the end of the day the final decision is in the hands of students across the country and the world."
>> Quotable II: "Colleges have an even lower confidence this year in their predictive analytics, which is likely to lead colleges with the capacity to build larger wait lists to do so as a hedge to protect their ability to stick the landing with their class", commented Ken Anselment, vice president for enrollment and communications at Lawrence University."
>> The Final Word: "Whether you are an admissions dean, a student, a school counselor, or a parent, we can all agree on this: The Waitlist Sucks. It’s like the brain freeze of admissions land; it’s the seventh layer of admission purgatory; it’s our collective Newman! Why? Why! Why?!" - Rick Clark, director of undergraduate admission at the Georgia Institute of Technology
The best and most reliable end-to-end live video streaming provider in college athletics is BlueFrame Technology. Join #BlueFrameNation and Stream Like a Pro with special pricing for D3Playbook subscribers! Learn more today!
FINANCES
3. Becker College to Close
by Scott O'Connell, Worcester Telegram & Gazette
"Becker College, with origins in the region dating to the late 1700s, will close at the end of the academic year.
The school last month made it clear that its future was in doubt, owing to financial struggles caused in large part by the pandemic.
In a post on the Becker College website, Christine L. Cassidy, chairwoman of the Board of Trustees wrote: "It is with deep regret that I share the news that on March 28, the Board of Trustees voted to permanently close Becker College at the end of the current academic year. The College will provide academic, support and transitional services to students through August 31, 2021. Following an orderly transition, classes will not resume in the Fall."
Meantime, other schools in the region, notably Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Clark University, are reaching out to displaced Becker students.
WPI announced through its president, Laurie Leshin, it will accept Becker's Interactive Media students into its own Interactive Media & Game Development degree program. Clark, located just a few miles from Becker, announced Monday it’s establishing the Becker School of Design & Technology, which will house the college’s Interactive Media Design and associated programs, and continue to employ the administrators and faculty who run them currently."
>> What They're Saying: “We saw it coming a little bit — I wasn’t too surprised,” Becker College senior Anthony Papetti said Monday after hearing the news. “There’ve been rumors for years about the closing.”
11-15: Ursinus, Gettysburg, Stevenson, St. John Fisher, Union 16-20: Wesleyan, Franklin & Marshall, Stevens, Ithaca, Cortland
>> Climbing: Tufts (+2), Lynchburg (+2), St. Lawrence (+2) >> Falling: St. John Fisher (-3), Gettysburg (-2), Union (-2),
>> Games to Watch: #1 RIT vs. #19 Ithaca (Wed); #2 Salisbury vs. #5 CNU (Sat); #6 York vs. #18 Stevens (Sat); #15 Union vs. #19 Ithaca (Sat)
IWLCA Women
Franklin & Marshall (21), 1-0
Tufts (3), 0-0
Washington and Lee, 6-0
Salisbury (1), 7-0
Gettysburg, 2-0
Wesleyan, Conn., 0-0
York, Pa., 5-0
Catholic, 1-0
St. John Fisher, 5-0
Ithaca, 4-0
11-15: TCNJ, Colby, Denison, William Smith, Geneseo 16-20: Brockport, Trinity, Mary Washington, Messiah, St. Mary's 21-25: Colorado College, Cortland, Christopher Newport, Lynchburg, Meredith
>> Moving On Up: Messiah (+2), Christopher Newport (+2) >> Sliding Down: Brockport (-3), Colorado College (-2) >> Hello: Meredith
>> Games to Watch: #9 St. John Fisher vs. #22 Cortland (Wed); #20 St. Mary's vs. #23 Christopher Newport (Wed); #10 Ithaca vs. #14 William Smith (Fri/Sat); #4 Salisbury vs. #23 CNU (Sat); #6 Wesleyan vs. #17 Trinity (Sat/Sun).
A new era of sports fandom is upon us, in which fans increasingly come for snacks (highlights) instead of meals (live games), Axios Sports editor Kendall Baker writes from a Variety survey.
Why it matters: The sports ecosystem is built on live sports rights. If fans aren't regularly tuning into games, it could threaten the entire model.
The leagues' challenge: How to better monetize highlights.
If you have a business and would like to reach an affluent audience that works in higher education and college sports ... drop us a line at D3Playbook@gmail.com.
by Julia Piper and Brian O'Leary, Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle‘s executive-compensation package includes the latest data on more than 1,700 chief executives at more than 600 private colleges from 2008-18 and nearly 290 public universities and systems from 2010-19. Updated March 25, 2021, with 2018 private-college data.
These data show the total compensation received by chief executives in two sectors: (1) public college and university systems, from the 2010-11 through the 2016-17 fiscal years, and in the 2018 and 2019 calendar years; and (2) private colleges, from 2008 through 2017.
Because we all LOVE brackets ... here is the very first Division III fight song bracket.
We scoured the internet and YouTube for video versions of institutional fight songs. We preferred band performances of the song as well as original arrangements vs. modifications from other schools (i.e. Down The Field or On Wisconsin). Yes, we may have missed a few good songs ... let's consider those omissions as conference title game upsets.
Vote for your favorite on our twitter page @D3Playbook. Polls are open until 10 p.m. EDT tonight.
If you have a business and would like to reach an affluent audience that works in higher education and college sports ... drop us a line at D3Playbook@gmail.com.
(W) Hannah Jugarled top-ranked Redlands to the team championship at its Bulldog Classic. She posted 70-73-143 to hold off UC Santa Cruz's Gillian Mendoza by a single shot.
(M) DePauw came from 13 shots off the pace to win the team title at the Great Lakes Intercollegiate. The Tigers fired a final round 304 to overtake Franklin and Rose-Hulman.
The Ever Given is over 1,300 feet long. So you see the problem. Graphic: AP
"If the tugboats, dredgers and pumps cannot get the job done," the N.Y. Times reports from Egypt, "they could be joined by a head-spinning array of specialized vessels and machines requiring perhaps hundreds of workers":
Small tankers "to siphon off the ship’s fuel; the tallest cranes in the world to unload some of its containers one by one; and, if no cranes are tall enough or near enough, heavy-duty helicopters that can pick up containers of up to 20 tons — though no one has said where the cargo would go. (A full 40-foot container can weigh up to 40 tons.)"