The Upside Newsletter
The Upside Newsletter
šŸ”„Upside Chat: Dr Ron Dick, Duquesne University, Ex NBA/NCAA Exec on March Madness, Angel Reese, Michael Jordan, the NFL, the MLB Season, the New NBA / NBPA Agreement, MbappĆ© and More.
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šŸ”„Upside Chat: Dr Ron Dick, Duquesne University, Ex NBA/NCAA Exec on March Madness, Angel Reese, Michael Jordan, the NFL, the MLB Season, the New NBA / NBPA Agreement, MbappĆ© and More.

This week we had the honor to interview again Dr. Ron Dick, associate professor of sports marketing at Duquesne University in the school of business. Ron also worked for 20 years in sports, including 15 years in the NBA with the Sixers and the Nets, and then five years in the NCAA.

šŸ“Show Notes:Ā Through this interview, we touched on the March Madness, Michael Jordanā€™s potential sales of the Charlotte Hornets, the NFL being open to private equity investments We also discussed the LSU star Angel Reese, the MLB Season, the new NBA / NBPA Agreement, Manchester Unitedā€™s potential sales and Kylian MbappĆ© who recently became the new captain of the French national soccer team.

šŸš€Best Quotes:Ā Hereā€™s some of the key discussion points and best quotes from our conversation with Ron:

  • On Michael Jordanā€™s potential sale of the Charlotte Hornets:

    • ā€œ I think it's been 13 mediocre years for Michael Jordan as the owner of the Hornets. And It seems to be rooted in the sad demise of his friendship with Charles Barkley over the way that he managed the teamā€.

    • ā€œHe appears to have hired a lot of his buddies and friends, and yes men that never questioned anything he said. And when Charles brought that up, he was very insulted by that. And yeah the Truth hurts. So just cause you're a great basketball player doesn't mean you're going to be a successful owner. But Michael has the mightiest touch. Everything he touches turns to mufflers or gold and this is no differentā€.

  • On 2 LSU stars Angel Reese and Olivia Dunne who are leading in terms of NIL deals:

    • ā€œYou mentioned she was making a little over $300k in NIL deals, but the number one NIL athlete to my knowledge, is a TikTok Sensation Gymnastics borderline definitely Olympian type level. Her name is Olivia Dunne and she also is from LSU, and she is very popular amongst the younger college guys and they're taking billboards and pretending they're having dinner with her, sitting at the tableā€.

    • ā€œThe chanting and the cheering at the gymnastics stuff has really gotten to the point where it's a lot about her. But she's got a millions of followers and that's where the sponsors want to be, right. I think that's all great, and I think it's great that the women are getting as much, in some cases, more than the men in the NIL deals, which I think some people did not anticipate that happeningā€.

  • On the new 7 years NBA-NBAPA agreement:

    • ā€œThe one thing I think that's remaining is that you cannot go from high school right to the NBA. You can't do what Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garett and Lebron James did before that. And the older players in the NBA then get an extra contract year or salary, and the NBA likes that. The owners like it too because they get the free marketing of the players from their first year in college. So it works out for both sidesā€.

    • ā€œThe agreement is 53% of the gross revenues, and they argue what percent that's going to be. And I'm talking about like one 10th and 1% they argue over what must be spent on player's salary. And we call that the BRI. That's basketball related incomeā€.

    • ā€œSo we have some new items that could be in the basketball related income that might not have been in the last negotiation, such as eSports. Every single NBA team has at least one eSports team and that revenue stream, will that be part of the BRI? That's something I have to look closer intoā€.

  • On his predictions for the MLB season:

    • ā€œI'm going to go with the NY Yankees and Angels for the American League Championship series. And then on the other side in the National League, I think, and I really hope, that the Phillies are up to a winless start. I really hope the Phillies would play the Padres in the NLCS, but it might be the Dodgers playing the Padres in the NLCS. And let's go with the Angels versus the Phillies. And this time the Phillies will win the World Seriesā€.

  • On the fact that some NFL owners are open to private equity investments:

    • ā€œIt's happened before. The Green Bay Packers are structured like that, where a lot of people, and they all have a very, very small piece of the team and it's a minority ownership and it's a great way for the teams to just fundraise, right?ā€.

    • ā€œIt's a great way to get liquid cash right away, and you pay out at very, very little downside. So again, it's just another profit center for the NFL owners. So I'm not surprised that that would happen. And you get a sheet of paper that says you have part ownership and it's a nice talking point when you have people come over to your house for dinner or barbecue and say, I have a piece of the Packers or any other teams. But it's certainly not decision making. You are not going to make any decisionsā€.

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