On the latest Sporticast episode, hosts Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams discuss some of the biggest sports business stories of the week, including the ongoing saga of Aaron Rodgers‘ helmet.
The NFL and NFLPA banned seven helmets this season for failing to meet their new safety standards. One of them was the Schutt that Rodgers has worn for the past few years. The 41-year-old quarterback is none too happy about it, having spoken multiple times about the inconvenience and his struggles to find a new helmet that meets his preferences.
The hosts talk about the business implications, which involve the manufacturers themselves and their ability to sell to a much wider market of youth players. They also talk about player safety. The league is often criticized—rightfully so—for the sport’s concussion/CTE challenges. What’s way less discussed is the role that players sometimes play in impeding that progress.
The hosts start the episode by discussing the roughly $30 million penalty handed down to Michigan by the NCAA for the school’s multiyear sign-stealing operation. That’s roughly 11% of the Wolverine’s budget, and a little more than half of what the program makes in ticket sales in a given year. In all, a relatively light penalty for a Wolverines team that won the national title in the year where some of the infractions took place.
That hosts also touch on a few other stories. LA28 is adding a new revenue stream, one that’s never existed in any previous Olympics. Also, Grand Slam Track continues to struggle financially, with commissioner and co-founder Michael Johnson publicly addressing the upstart league’s failure to pay its athletes.
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