"College sports is the new frontier for private equity -- the reality is that schools need to pay the players. Stadiums need to be refurbished. Who's going to pay for that now?" --RedBird partner on PE in college sports onstage at Front Office Sports Huddle in the Hamptons

At the Big Ten's football media days in Las Vegas, every player, coach, and media member had to walk through a casino on the way to the day's sessions. After years of giving Sin City the cold shoulder, college sports is now embracing Vegas. Story by Amanda Christovich ⬇️

Forcing an Israeli civilian hostage to dig his own grave on camera is psychological terrorism. Full stop.

Inbox: Athletes.org held a “5 hour meeting” with 24 power conference GMs to talk about the potential for a collective bargaining model.

Former Tennessee head coach Derek Dooley is running in the Republican primary for Georgia’s Senate seat. The Nick Saban disciple is the latest college football coach to turn his attention to politics.

NCAA Basketball SVP Dan Gavitt says March Madness will not expand in 2026. "However, the committees will continue conversations on whether to recommend expanding to 72 or 76 teams in advance of the 2027 championships.”

The NCAA has voted not to expand men's and women's March Madness beyond 68 teams for the 2025-2026 season. The committees will continue conversations on whether to recommend expanding to 72 or 76 teams for the 2026-27 season.

Private-equity firms want to deploy capital into college sports, but the floodgates haven’t opened yet. "The dam will break at some point," Ben Fund of Carlyle Group said at an FOS event. Ben Horney recaps the conversation ⬇️

The NCAA has decided it will keep 68 teams next March Madness. However, the Division I men's and women's basketball committees will continue conversations on whether to recommend expanding to 72 or 76 teams in advance of the following season.

Ohio State’s roster is getting about $30M-$35M this season, a cofounder of THE Foundation confirmed. So we know what the high end of CFB teams commanded before the more restrictive rules kicked in. wsj.com/sports/footbal…

The New York City medical examiner’s office will examine Manhattan shooter Shane Tamura’s brain for CTE. Tamura killed four people while targeting the NFL's headquarters, blaming the league for concealing the dangers of head trauma in football "to maximize profits."

The NCAA is considering a proposal to add three more units, or prize money payouts, to each of the men’s and women’s tournament prize pools. Each team would earn a unit for making the title game and the winner would earn another. Total distributions: $191M.

DI board eliminates several DI committees, increases student-athlete representation. ncaa.org/news/2025/8/5/…

The Trump Administration has updated its visa guidelines to bar transgender women athletes from competing in women’s sports. The new policy does not include the word “transgender,” but rather refers to “male aliens seeking immigration benefits” to compete in women’s sports.

Time is a flat circle -- the SEC rights are the most undervalued property in sports again. They are on a 10-year deal with ESPN worth about $3 billion (about $300 million a year).

MLB has promoted Jen Pawol, who is set to become the first woman ever to umpire a regular season game in league history. A minor league ump since 2016, she is scheduled to make her MLB debut in this weekend's Marlins-Braves series in Atlanta.

A College Football-driven RedZone could be a gold mine for ESPN. But the 4 letters would also have to overcome big logistical and media rights hurdles, sources tell Front Office Sports. My colleague Amanda Christovich + I explain why. 👇 frontofficesports.com/college-footba…

A college football RedZone would be a "gold mine" for ESPN—but could it actually work? Previous college whiparound shows have failed, and while ESPN would have the RedZone name, whiparound coverage isn't exclusive to ESPN. Michael McCarthy and Amanda Christovich explore the idea ⬇️

NEW: The blockbuster ESPN-NFL deal could bring one of the league’s most popular products to college--RedZone. But the logistics, esp licensing, could be challenging given ESPN doesn't own any rights to the Big Ten. On how it could work w/ Michael McCarthy: frontofficesports.com/college-footba…

Amid all the news about NFL banning team personnel from giving players smelling salts, you might wonder what the rule is at the college level.... Smelling salts are not currently on the NCAA's banned substance list.