Safe to say that the most common expression used to describe the current state of Name-Image-Likeness and college sports is “it’s the Wild West.” Which, in reality, may actually do a disservice to the wild west. There’s no way that period could be as nuts as this one…

Clearly NIL has completely upended college sports. In doing so, it’s produced a fabulously dynamic environment for new businesses that claim to have solutions for this burgeoning marketplace. In that sense, it really is a lot like the wild west and its accompanying Gold Rush.

But what sometimes gets lost in the frenzy to capitalize on NIL is that this entire market is being built on the back of very young adults, the vast majority of whom are away from home for the first time in their lives, and who lack a support network to make sure their interests are protected and their approach to NIL is sound.

Enter Stephen Bienko and 42U. A former college athlete himself, Bienko took a look at what was happening with NIL and recognized the vulnerability of these young athletes. So he launched 42U, which has a goal of giving athletes the tools and support they need to build their brands, recognize their authentic selves, and prepare themselves for life after their playing careers.

In our conversation, Bienko dives into both his athletic background and his entrepreneurial journey. We discuss the launch of 42U, their partnership with the Big 10, and what he believes is missing in the current NIL environment.

The former New Jersey State Trooper will also reveal his most memorable traffic stop.

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

The Sports Business Conversations podcast is a production of ADC Partners, a sports marketing agency that specializes in creating, managing, and evaluating effective partnerships between brands and sports. All rights reserved.

YOUR HOST

Dave Almy brings over 30 years of sports marketing and sports business experience to his role as host of the "1-on-1: Sports Business Conversations" podcast. Dave is the co-Founder of ADC Partners.

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Mentioned in this episode:

ADC Partners: Your trusted college sports business partner

ADC Partners

It used to be that sports sponsorships were a "nice to have". They were a way to use up the last part of a marketing budget after all the ad buys were completed. Find out what the CEO’s favorite sport is, buy some signage, get some tickets and call it a day.

Not any more. Sports are one of the last places that capture our extremely fragmented attention, so sponsorships have become far more important to marketers. Rights holders know this, so the cost of partnering with sports has exploded. Take F1: the cost to sponsor a team has doubled in just the last 5 years.

So as the costs have gone up, so has the pressure on marketers. In this data driven world, responding to questions about measuring effectiveness just can’t be met with “well, it’s hard…” Marketers need to have an answer.

And more often than not, that answer can be found with Jay Prasad, the CEO of Relo Metrics.

Relo Metrics is a leader in measuring and evaluating the effectiveness of sports sponsorships. An early adopter of artificial intelligence, Relo has been providing marketers with essential insights into how their sports investments are performing for over a decade.

Jay has been around data analytics and online video since, well, there has been online video. That depth of experience has he and Relo ready to continue their hockey stick growth in the coming years. In our conversation, we talk about his arrival at Relo, what he’s hearing from marketers about sponsorship measurement, his advice on using their data to improve performance, and (perhaps most importantly), what the future holds as generative AI produces an overwhelming new set of capabilities.

The question on every stadium owner’s mind is what to with the thing when no games are scheduled. Think about it. An NFL team has about 8 regular season games, and 3 pre-season games. Other than that, a few concerts? Monster trucks? There’s a lot of days on at calendar where nothing’s happening.

That’s why a mixed use stadium district that pulls people in year round is at the top of every franchise owner’s wish list. And that’s also why David Carlock’s phone is always ringing.

David is the founder and Managing Partner of Machete Group, a leader in developing sports and entertainment districts. His career began at Disney, where he saw first hand how an obsession over the customer experience helped build a lifelong connection. After applying those lessons to his work with the Houston Rockets, Carlock launched Machete Group.

In our conversation, we dive into his thoughts on the next generation of stadium and arena development, what he sees as the essential parts of these new districts, and where the biggest development missteps lie. We cover how he still applies lessons from his days at Disney, what it’s like to build arenas in China, and how Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks reacted when a pipe burst over her dressing room right before a show.

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

The Sports Business Conversations podcast is a production of ADC Partners, a sports marketing agency that specializes in creating, managing, and evaluating effective partnerships between brands and sports. All rights reserved.

YOUR HOST

Dave Almy brings over 30 years of sports marketing and sports business experience to his role as host of the "1-on-1: Sports Business Conversations" podcast. Dave is the co-Founder of ADC Partners.

FOLLOW US

Here's where you can find us:

• LinkedIn: adc-partners
• Instagram: adc_partners_podcast
• Threads: adc_partners_podcast
• Youtube: @adcpartners
• Homepage: adcpartners.com/podcast