Rixon Sports Report - Tue. May 20, 2025

NCAA Power Four Developing Enforcement Rules

Maryland has a new AD

49ers extend Brock Purdy

Mark Cuban joins sports investment fund

Are the Bears moving to the suburbs?

Transcript

Welcome to the Rixon Sports Report, the fastest three minutes in sports business for Tuesday, May 20th, 2025.

Starting off with college again today, Ross Dellenger from Yahoo! Sports reporting that officials from the Power 4 conferences are developing an unprecedented document that would bind their member institutions together under a common set of enforcement rules.  The consequences of not signing it?  Severe.  You can be kicked out of your conference and can’t compete against other power-league programs.  This comes with some serious legal problems which the leagues are now working to refine, such as clauses that exempts the new enforcement entity, College Sports Commission, from lawsuits over enforcement decisions - which would not allow the schools to seek arbitration.  The issue, according to sports legal expert Gabe Feldman, who we’ve cited before here, is that many of these rules are not enforceable and actually go against many state laws that these schools are tasked with following.  We could spend all three minutes just talking about the details around this, the full read at Yahoo! Sports.

University of Maryland has officially hired Atlanta Braves executive Jim Smith to serve as the school’s new athletic director.  Pete Thamel from ESPN reporting that most of the candidates were from outside mainstream college sports, Smith did spend some time at Ohio State with time at the Atlanta Falcons and Columbus Crew.  Obviously part of a shift of schools looking to outside the college space to find those with experience in revenue generation.  Smith replaces Damon Evans who left Maryland for SMU after serving in that role for nearly 7 years.

Another day, another story from the 49ers.  This time for signing quarterback Brock Purdy to a five year, $265 million contract.  $181 million of that is guaranteed and has a full no-trade clause.  Deal also features a $176 million injury guarantee.  Purdy’s agent Kyle Stronglin, who also represents Trevor Lawrence, expected these negotiations to go into the summer but Niners GM Jon Lynch wasn’t having any of that.  More at NFL.com.

Mark Cuban has a new gig, the former Dallas Mavericks owner becoming a general partner for Harbinger Sports Partners Fund,  Alongside venture investor Rashaun Williams and former AMB Sports and Entertainment CEO Steve Cannon, the sports-focused private equity fund is targeting minority stakes in NBA, MLB and NFL teams. They are looking to raise $750 million by 2027.   They’ll need approval by the league to take those positions, but they expect for that to happen.  The NFL allows a single fund to own up to six franches, NBA allows 5 and the Major league baseball has no limits.  Harbinger looking to acquire up to 5% per team.  Sportico with the scoop.

And lastly, Front Office Sports with a breakdown of the chaos around the Bears plans for a new stadium, with the team seemingly abandoning their plans for the $4.7 billion downtown stadium project as a result of the lack of public funding.  The Chicago Mayor’s office even admitting as much, with the team confirming they have made significant progress with the leaders in Arlington Heights.  Arlington Heights, a suburb of Chicago, is home to the Arlington Park racecourse, a now closed horse racing track the Bears bought in 2023.  This thing is far from over.  

Thanks again for listening to the Rixon Sports Report.  As always you can find links to these stories at RixonSports dot com.