Josh Delander

Sports Strategy & Growth Consultant @ Invaluable Sports Group | Ex: Teamworks & Opendorse | Be a good person and bet on yourself

[Josh Delander @Josh_Delander]

The enrollment cliff. NIL. The portal.

It’s all colliding — and the stress at the mid-major level and below has never been greater.

Sports will be cut. DI schools will continue to drop levels.

ADs are battling with Presidents, Chancellors, and Legislators.

Coaches are taking subpar talent just to field a team.

Frustration is everywhere.

There’s plenty of blame to go around…
But the NCAA and four commissioners are holding up meaningful change. They might be right that congressional help is the only path forward for every level — but they better get it because the frustration is real, and it’s mounting.

So many talented, well-intentioned people in college athletics are feeling burn out.

Kind of a depressing post, but these topics keep coming up again and again in conversations the past few months.

[Josh Delander @Josh_Delander]

If this video makes sense to you, then you’re probably already working with Dropback.

If this went over your head…well…that’s probably why you should connect with Luke and team.

[Luke Bogus @lukebogus]

College Sports' Front Offices want to build data systems "in-house"… but they're hitting a wall: data chaos and disconnected platforms.

We've spent two years building towards this moment.

Introducing the most advanced sports database ever built 👇

[KC Smurthwaite @KcSmurthwaite]

“You identify these athletes, invest in them, and in many cases they leave.”

FCS, G6 and even P4 leagues are facing business problems. How do you solve them?

The answers might just be with Private Equity.

https://t.co/mwT4wbw69e

[Josh Delander @Josh_Delander]

@MattBrownEP At least we got the Decoldest Crawford commercial. If NIL was ever alive, this was inevitable.

[Josh Delander @Josh_Delander]

Hot take: The next arms race isn’t “real NIL” or “true NIL”

Hot take #2: In-house NIL agencies are about to become money pits.

[Josh Delander @Josh_Delander]

@WinterSportsLaw Spot on. Being the first conference to do this actually puts you at a competitive disadvantage.

[Josh Delander @Josh_Delander]

“𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬.” What a powerful line.

I count ~18 A4 athletic departments flirting with irrelevancy.

Another 10-ish A4 basketball programs flirting with irrelevancy — which is why the tournament is expanding.

[Brian Rauf @brauf33]

College basketball rosters keep getting more expensive. Donors keep giving, knowing they won’t see a direct financial return.

Why?

I talked to donors and coaches about NIL motivation, ROI, & what programs are really selling.

New for @basket_review: https://t.co/1ATWcUHuTs

[Josh Delander @Josh_Delander]

Nine additions? Six assistant coaches?

Completely unnecessary in this new landscape. Put the money into the roster.

[HoopDirt.com @HoopDirt]

Cremins announces nine additions to Georgia State Basketball Staff
https://t.co/MRTA1PLteX

[Josh Delander @Josh_Delander]

@DraftKing25 It’s definitely happening more. The industry is maturing.

[Josh Delander @Josh_Delander]

Virginia Tech is hiring a Director of Front Office Analytics and Strategy.

“This role will lead the integration of data science and artificial intelligence…providing actionable insights that directly impact financial strategy and competitive advantage.”

[Josh Delander @Josh_Delander]

I’ve been telling anyone who will listen that AI is coming to college athletics.

The ROI is real. So many potential use-cases.

@vibr_ai_tion is leading that charge for athletic departments.

[Josh Delander @Josh_Delander]

@WorldWideWob One and done for Adelman. He’s so overmatched.

[Josh Delander @Josh_Delander]

@TaliaGoodmanWBB @On3 Green Bay might not lose a single game in conference next season

[Josh Delander @Josh_Delander]

@GoodmanHoops @TheFieldOf68 Huge pickup. @CoachJorgeSanz continues to do amazing work with international recruiting.

[Josh Delander @Josh_Delander]

Received a newsletter this morning titled “You can just do things” and it hit home.

13 years ago: coaching college basketball
10 years ago: signed my first client as a coaching agent
2 weeks ago: that same client landed her 3rd DI head coaching job (back at her alma mater)

7 years ago: joined one of the only companies preparing for NIL
2.5 years ago: went out on my own
Today: working with schools + companies navigating the chaos of college athletics

Plenty of mistakes along the way. Even more great people.

You can just do things.
Put yourself out there. Add value.
Skate to where the puck is going.

[Josh Delander @Josh_Delander]

As the high-major assistant stated, above the cap $ is more about “cleaning the money”, not actually finding money above the cap.

The CSC can crack down on collectives and MMRs, but there will always be another workaround.

[Mit Winter @WinterSportsLaw]

A look at the men’s college 🏀 labor market (and yes, this is definitely a labor market).

The House settlement has done little to suppress player pay.

Not too surprising since the settlement’s compensation restrictions have no legal protection & likely violate antitrust law.

[Josh Delander @Josh_Delander]

@TonyLiebert Bold of you to assume the market is going to correct itself

[Josh Delander @Josh_Delander]

@TonyLiebert Jeremiah Carter deserves a ton of credit. He’s doing a really good job leading NIL / rev share.

[Josh Delander @Josh_Delander]

@seahawksmba No point being made. Just sharing info.

[Josh Delander @Josh_Delander]

LSU football roster budget: $40 million
LSU basketball budget: $12 million

Revenue sharing cap: $21.3 million

$30.7 million needs to be approved as legitimate NIL through NIL Go.

For comparison, Patrick Mahomes reportedly brings in $25 million in legitimate NIL deals per year

[Josh Delander @Josh_Delander]

@truths_sport123 Idk…well see what happens in the arbitration case

[Josh Delander @Josh_Delander]

@PeterBurnsESPN The original article that did the math didn’t include NIL roster commitments.

$200 million was just on coaching contracts. So if football and basketball have $52M committed yearly, the horizon needs to extended.

But either way, you can justify the spending.