If you had five minutes with Washington Athletic Director Jen Cohen, and you had ideas that you had been thinking about for a long time on how the Huskies could pounce on the revenue opportunities based on the forward momentum generated by football and basketball...what would you say? What would your blockbuster ideas be?
One person that has plenty of ideas to share, and also has the ear of Cohen from time to time is former UW alum AJ Maestas, Founder and CEO of Navigate Research, a trusted advisor to leading brands and organizations in sports and entertainment. Navigate provides clients with data-driven guidance on strategies, deals, and major decisions to help drive revenue and achieve success.
Maestas is passionate about Husky Football, and Navigate has worked with the UW AD in the past on different business deals, but he's equally passionate about the college football marketplace as a whole. He's been on all sides of big negotiations, from consulting with conferences, media entities and consumer brands. So there was no one better to talk to than AJ when trying to figure out where the Pac-12 stands as they venture into their next big media rights deal in the coming years, as well as looking at the marketplace from all sides.
We talk about where the consumer side is heading for college sports. Is streaming the main way to go? If he could dust off his crystal ball, what is the future of the Pac-12 Networks, and will the league still try and retain full ownership despite looking for private equity investment in the meantime? And what about the expansion into markets outside the United States?
And finally, what about Washington? In Maestas's dream scenario, what things would he love to see the Huskies do to maximize revenue now that they have a new apparel partner and huge momentum driving them via football and basketball? AJ has some great thoughts on this that you'll want to hear.
All those things are discussed in this wide-ranging, 56-minute podcast. It felt like a great time to talk to AJ right before the start of fall camp to get fans revved up about all the possibilities that lay before UW and the Pac-12 ahead of the 2019 football season.
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