Shows
The Athlete & the NARPSuper senior syndrome: athletes take NCAA to court over eligibility rulesCollege athletes that elect to use their allotted eligibility to the fullest, so-called “fifth-year seniors”, have always been part of the NCAA system. The COVID-19 pandemic and the opening of the NIL floodgates have made it possible for teams to have sixth, seventh and even eighth-year seniors on their rosters, their ages testing the boundaries of how old a typical college athlete should be. A handful of recent lawsuits from current college athletes have prompted the NCAA to seriously consider implementing a “five-in-five” rule that would give athletes five years to participate in five seasons of their sport(s), no excep...2025-02-1153 minThe Athlete & the NARPFrom cable to clicks: how streaming is changing sports consumptionThe rapid rise of sports streaming services has allowed fans to access almost any sporting event with just a few clicks — and, usually, a few hundred dollars. Every major streaming service, from Netflix to Amazon Prime to Hulu, has managed to grab a slice of the pie. The diversification allows leagues to reach new audiences and reap the benefits of hefty media rights deals, but it also means that tuning into all the events for some major leagues can require subscriptions to multiple platforms. Whether sports executives are simply selling to the highest bidder or curating a strategy that wi...2025-01-2450 minThe Athlete & the NARPSportswashing gives states a clean slateSports and politics are deeply intertwined, but not always in ways that are obvious, or intentional. Sportswashing, the practice of using sports to redirect public attention away from unethical conduct, is purposeful, calculated and often weaponized on a global scale. We’ve seen it with the Olympics - think China in 2022 - occupying a solid chunk of the F1 calendar - think the Abu Dhabi, Azerbaijan, Bahrain and Qatar Grands Prix - and in the NBA’s new forays into creating partnerships with Middle Eastern stakeholders. The hope is that sportswashing acts as a positive public relations rehabilitation for the...2024-11-2257 minThe Athlete & the NARPThe over, under & everything in between: betting culture in American sportsWith sports betting, the odds, at least in the long term, are never in your favor. Sports betting companies and casinos lure sports fans in by touting how easy it is to get involved. According to the bookies, as long as you understand the concept of the over-under, you’re on your way to the easiest money you’ll ever make. In reality, the increased accessibility of online sports books after sports betting became legal in 2018 has put many Americans on the fast-track to a costly addiction — and can you blame them? Sports organizations have sold their souls to grab a...2024-10-0750 minThe Athlete & the NARPLegal lasso: reigning in the NIL “Wild West”The free-for-all NIL market that college athletes have gotten used to for the past four years is likely ending. The NCAA recently agreed to settle for nearly $3 billion in an antitrust lawsuit, the payout of which will go to current and former collegiate athletes. The NCAA’s framework involves establishing a clearinghouse to review NIL deals for legitimacy, eliminating scholarship limits in favor of team roster limits and forcing Power Five schools to cough up tens of millions of dollars each year. How the stipulations will play out in practice given that just a handful of athletic departments turn a...2024-09-2157 minThe Athlete & the NARPGold medals and gray areas: controversies surrounding the OlympicsThe Olympics are a show-and-tell for the cities that win the honor of hosting them. Sure, audiences tune in to witness the world’s greatest athletes competing for a coveted gold medal, but host cities can take advantage of the increased media coverage to promote their culture, lure potential tourists and prove that they are capable of hosting global events — at least, that’s the idea. The myriad problems that plagued the 2024 Paris Olympics, ranging from the inconvenient (AC-less living quarters) to the downright hazardous (fecal matter in the Seine), may have done more harm than good to Paris’ reputati...2024-09-061h 05The Athlete & the NARPNCAA navigating uncharted territory with NILWhat do Nike, Bose, State Farm, Chipotle, AT&T, CVS, American Eagle, SKIMS, Ulta Beauty and Kellogg’s all have in common? They are brands that have partnered with college athletes since the floodgates of NIL opened in July 2021. Taking on sponsorships has become the new normal for student-athletes. The new market is especially beneficial for elevating women’s sports and allows athletes to reap the financial compensation of which they were robbed in years past. At the same time, the lack of regulation has led to abuse of the transfer portal, what coaches have called “transactional” recruitment processes and ineq...2024-04-1553 minThe Athlete & the NARPBuy in to athlete activism“Shut up and dribble.” Laura Ingraham’s self-righteous criticism of Kevin Durant and LeBron James’s decision to publicly express their political views in 2018 embodies the distaste that surfaces when sports and politics collide. Some sports fans view athletes as monoliths whose comments on personal issues and social justice advocacy disrupt their entertainment. For some athletes, the fact that they command the attention of millions imbues them with a responsibility to use their platform to combat racial injustice, gender inequality, injustices against the LGBT community and more. Brands face a difficult choice when their athletes are embroiled in the inevitab...2024-03-2256 minThe Athlete & the NARPSin City or Sports City? Even Vegas can't decideSin City is quickly becoming a sports city, and shows no sign of slowing down. Since the Golden Knights became Las Vegas’s first major professional sports team in 2017, Vegas has gained two additional major teams, 10 minor professional teams, a Formula 1 Grand Prix, a Super Bowl and are on track to receive two more major teams in the near future. On one hand, Vegas is a city with spectacle and extravagance built into its DNA, making it uniquely equipped to accommodate large-scale sporting events. However, that is also its weakness: Vegas is everything for everybody all the time, making it...2024-03-0152 minThe Athlete & the NARPIntegrity an afterthought in sports when it comes to punishing assaultPlace a bet on your own team and face a two-year suspension. Assault someone, however, and you can be back on the field six games later. These specific policies belong to the NFL, but the league is by no means an outlier. Sports organizations have displayed a concerning level of antipathy toward domestic violence and sexual abuse for decades. Sweeping allegations and evidence under the rug has become second nature to teams seeking to avoid a public relations nightmare when one of their players is in the hot seat. As a result, abuse has become a part of sports...2024-02-201h 02The Athlete & the NARPDefense extends beyond opponents: teams must prioritize player safetyIt’s no secret that sports are a business. Governing bodies and team executives seek to maximize their financial gains, and for a good reason: the sports industry can be lucrative, but it’s also expensive. Part of that expense involves taking care of the athletes that make it all possible, prioritizing their physical health and putting regulations in place that ensure their safety — even when it isn’t financially beneficial to do so. In recent years, athletes have been forced to play in hostile sociopolitical situations, temperatures exceeding 140º and equipment that increases their risk of injury despite their objection...2024-01-2641 minThe Athlete & the NARPSpecial Edition: Reflecting on our role modelsFrom an early age, girls learn that women’s sports are viewed as inherently inferior. Relegated to second-rate TV channels and promoted far less often than their male counterparts, female athletes have constantly struggled to command respect and appreciation for their work. When female athletes dominate their sports and are strong advocates for themselves, they command people’s attention, and that is where role models are made. Representation in athletics is vital for increasing young girls’ confidence in themselves and showing them that there are no limits on what they can achieve in sports. In this episode, we discuss the fe...2023-11-2446 minThe Athlete & the NARPFemale athlete entrepreneurship dismissed as little more than "Sex Sells"Put on some makeup before competing and you’re too feminine. Add some muscle during preseason and you’re too masculine. No matter how female athletes present themselves, they can never meet the ever-changing standards of what an “ideal” woman in sports should look like. When women like LSU’s Livvy Dunne or UMiami’s Haley and Hanna Cavinder try to take back control — and make an honest living — off their image, they are slandered and demeaned, as if flaunting their femininity somehow makes them less of an athlete. Recent media coverage has done little to celebrate, or even recognize, their...2023-11-1143 minThe Athlete & the NARPThere's no place like home: politics of league expansionsAmerica is saturated with professional sports teams. If you don’t live in a city that has one — or a handful — chances are there’s one not too far from home that you can pledge allegiance to. Teams can weave themselves into the fabric of a city’s culture, as with the New York Yankees or the Dallas Cowboys, or bring a new fanbase to life, as with the Vegas Golden Knights or Angel City FC. The demand for American professional sports is insatiable: existing leagues are expanding and new ones are forming, leaving teams’ ownerships to grapple with selecting the perfect...2023-10-1644 minThe Athlete & the NARPDynasties vs. disadvantaged: nepotism in sportsSports are, quite literally, on a level playing field — or are they? The prominence of nepotism, both at the league-wide and individual levels, taints sports’ reputation as a meritocracy. Athletes like Bronny James have made millions cashing in on their family name en route to a professional career in the NBA, a league where many players come from nothing. Meanwhile, the million-dollar entry fee required to make it in a racing league like Formula 1 necessarily excludes everyone but the extremely wealthy. Who you know gives you access to coaching positions, roster spots and a foot in the door in the...2023-09-2947 minThe Athlete & the NARPInvesting in the future: the rise of women's sports and female fandom“Dye it pink, throw on some glitter and shrink it down” is typically the misguided approach the sports industry has taken when marketing to women. Brands are clueless about how to engage a female fanbase, a rapidly growing market that simply wants to enjoy the game without receiving belittlement. At the same time, engagement with women’s sports — at the professional and collegiate level — is consistently breaking records, proving that women deserve as much of a right to the sports landscape as their male counterparts. We live in a world where the University of Nebraska’s women’s volleyball team can play in fr...2023-09-1647 minThe Athlete & the NARPDrawing up a new game plan: athletes’ mental health matters, tooThe Pac-12 Conference was always a mixed bag. Big name sports brands were, until recently, locked into a television contract with other less profitable west-coast schools. When UCLA and USC saw their chance to hop conferences to the Big 10 last year, they took it, and the rest of the Pac-12 crumbled in the months that followed. The Pac-12 implosion may have secured most of the former members spots in conferences with more lucrative membership contracts, but the physical, emotional and mental toll the realignment will certainly have on their athletes has clearly been an afterthought. In this episode, we discuss...2023-09-0146 min