SBJ Unpacks: NASCAR considering rewarding drivers for more promotional work

Tonight in Unpacks: NASCAR may not employ its drivers, but it recognizes that it needs them to better promote the sport. Sources tell SBJ’s Adam Stern that the sanctioning body is in discussions to give drivers a good reason to do more media appearances and in-person events -- more money.

Other headlines:

• Dodgers launch venture to bring more events to Dodger Stadium
• San Diego State's J.D. Wicker: Vision of success
• The state of new college ADs by the numbers
• Overtime ready to debut boxing series, working with BreakAway Data for hoops
• Op-ed: How sports betting is shaping up in North Carolina
• Prime energy drink sees big exposure at Spence-Crawford fight
• Bluestone Equity Partners invests in PMY Group

In this morning's Buzzcast, SBJ’s Abe Madkour wraps up July with thoughts on:

• A big crowd for El Clásico puts Arlington, Texas, in a good light
• Steve Cohen shifts his strategy with the Mets after building up record payroll
• The crowds come out in Baltimore for Yankees-Orioles series
• Commanders fans show love for new ownership with big practice crowds
• Buffalo fans continue getting behind the Bills, and Kim Pegula returns to practice
• Large crowds for Lions training camp, with fan support big for coach Dan Campbell
• LIV Golf holds "upfront" looking to get brands interested in the circuit
• Warriors, Raptors, Cavs among NBA team business award winners

NASCAR is in discussions about investing millions of dollars into a new driver incentive program that would start in 2025 and reward the sport’s leading spokespeople for promoting it more, .

Drivers are not NASCAR employees because -- unlike franchised stick and ball leagues -- NASCAR teams do not own the league. But this program is a recognition by NASCAR, privately owned by the France family, that the sport needs to be marketed better and that its most prominent and influential spokespeople should be at the forefront of that effort.

Dodgers launch venture to bring more events to Dodger Stadium

The Dodgers launched a new events business aimed at better activating the team's ballpark outside of baseball games called Dodgers 365 and headed by Chris Koening, the team's executive director/business enterprises, reports SBJ's Bret McCormick. 

Dodger Stadium hosts a handful of concerts annually, and it has a tour business, though that will be ramped up and improved, Koenig said. The goal is to use areas improved by the 2021 renovations to create more private events at the under-utilized historic stadium. Koenig said there will also be, at some point, a vehicle for opportunities and events outside of Dodger Stadium -- for example, when Koenig was with the Giants, the team had access to a yacht on which it held a hundred Giants-related events per year. 

J.D. Wicker: Vision of success

In the span of J.D. Wicker’s first 100 days as AD at San Diego State, the NFL’s Chargers announced they were leaving town; the Aztecs’ Hall of Fame basketball coach, Steve Fisher, retired; and the university president who hired him took another job. If the Aztecs were ever unsure about the AD they had just hired, the doubts were erased during those stressful first 100 days in 2016, when Wicker exhibited his innate ability to stay calm and poised, even when chaos was erupting all around him.

Six years later, the Aztecs opened the snazzy $350 million Snapdragon Stadium for the 2022 college football season as the home for SDSU football, as well as NWSL soccer, MLS, Major League Rugby and a bevy of other sports and entertainment events that helped the athletic department triple its football-related revenue in 2022-23. 

In this week's cover story, SBJ's Michael Smith profiles Wicker and how his combination of competitive and business accomplishments over the past year made him our Athletic Director of the Year, including how working on the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta led to a love of working in sports and his accomplishments in the kitchen. 

The state of new college ADs by the numbers

Power Five schools made up seven of the 43 Division I ADs who began -- or are about to begin -- their current position since July 1, 2022, including two interim appointments. That figure includes Notre Dame’s announcement that NBC Sports Group’s Chairman Pete Bevacqua will succeed current AD Jack Swarbrick when the latter retires early next year. It is a far more stable time than it was a year ago at this point, when the P5 made up 18% of the changes over the previous 12 months.

As part of the coverage on San Diego State's J.D. Wicker in this week's edition of the magazine, SBJ's Michael Smith reports on some interesting numbers about the state of the AD position. 

Overtime ready to debut boxing series, working with BreakAway Data for hoops

Overtime Boxing’s goal for its inaugural summer boxing series is to not only air fights around up-and-coming fighters but also shoot narrative storytelling and digital content around the athletes to get their awareness up among fans and the broader combat sports industry, reports SBJ’s Adam Stern. It airs every Friday in August on DAZN at 7:30 p.m. ET from OTE Arena in Atlanta, with C4 Energy as the sponsor.

On the basketball side, Overtime is collaborating with BreakAway Data on use of its Shooting Labs, a 3D motion-capture system that collects biomechanics data on how a player runs, cuts, jumps, shoots and more, reports SBJ’s Joe Lemire. Overtime’s teenage draft prospects will also have access to BreakAway’s app, where they can collate all their personal performance data and receive their biomechanics reports gleaned from sessions that mimic game situations. This comes less than a week after BreakAway launched a data partnership with the NWSL.

Op-ed: How sports betting is shaping up in North Carolina

Tonight's op-ed is from attorneys Andrew Dana and Trey Ellis of Parker Poe's sports & entertainment industry team on what companies can do to stand out as sports betting grows in the Tar Heel State.

"The parameters for North Carolina’s licenses give a major advantage to companies who partner with the teams and businesses behind the state’s professional stadiums, arenas, racetracks and golf courses. While the license applications were not yet available as of this writing, the text of the sports wagering law itself lays out the key factors for teams and companies to consider as they look to maximize new opportunities in North Carolina."

• Logan Paul’s energy drink Prime was among the leading brands getting exposure as sponsors during Saturday’s Errol Spence Jr.-Terence Crawford fight at a sold-out T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, reports SBJ’s Adam Stern.

• Retired tennis prodigy CiCi Bellis launched a VC firm, Cartan Capital, that will focus on investments in sports and health tech, notes SBJ’s Joe Lemire.