Welcome to the Sunday 7…
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms!
The college basketball transfer portal is closed. The spending numbers are in. And they're staggering. I helped build two rosters from scratch this cycle for Louisville and Villanova, and the market went up 30-50% from last year. There are 20-25 schools paying over $15 million for basketball alone. All on a cap of $20.5 million. Do the math.
Meanwhile, the NCAA just expanded the tournament to 76 teams. The extra revenue? $130 million over six years. The new sponsorship categories? Beer, wine, and hard seltzer. More games, more betting, more alcohol.
And while all of this money floods into football and basketball, the non-revenue sports are starting to disappear. Arkansas, Illinois State, Gardner-Webb, North Dakota, and Saint Louis have all cut tennis. Wichita State just killed golf. This isn't the end. It's the beginning.
This week's Sunday 7:
The exploding cost of college basketball rosters
NCAA tournament expansion to 76 teams and what it really means
Which non-revenue sports are most at risk
Top tennis players are threatening to boycott the French Open
Why European soccer proves what happens without a salary cap
Tweet of the Week
Quote that I Wish I Said
Settle in.
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