Matt Brown

Matt Brown

@mattbrown.bsky.social

I write Extra Points, a newsletter about off-the-field stories in college sports. I also (badly) make computer games, woodworking projects, and jokes. Chicago.

22.1K followers1K following10.9K posts

OKAY! HERE IS A THREAD ABOUT THE MONEY IN D-III COLEGE SPORTS. How it works, why it's VERY different from D-I/D-II, where FloSports fits in, the threat this lawsuit poses, the works. My Adderall hasn't totally hit the bloodstream yet but maybe some skeets will make writing my #blog easier later

Matt Brown@mattbrown.bsky.social

I'm actually writing a newsletter on the DIII lawsuit for tomorrow, but if you guys want, I'll drop a THIS IS HOW MONEY WORKS IN DIII thread once I get home from taking the girls to school? Gimme an hour

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Are there ways to help D-III athletic programs become slightly more financially sustainable? I think so. I talk with schools about this often. I have some ideas. But I'm also sympathetic to DIII schools that say "we dont WANT to sell Coke ads or jersey patches. That's not why we exist!"

OKAY! HERE IS A THREAD ABOUT THE MONEY IN D-III COLEGE SPORTS. How it works, why it's VERY different from D-I/D-II, where FloSports fits in, the threat this lawsuit poses, the works. My Adderall hasn't totally hit the bloodstream yet but maybe some skeets will make writing my #blog easier later

Matt Brown@mattbrown.bsky.social

I'm actually writing a newsletter on the DIII lawsuit for tomorrow, but if you guys want, I'll drop a THIS IS HOW MONEY WORKS IN DIII thread once I get home from taking the girls to school? Gimme an hour

View full thread

And if you're a rich kid D-III school, parents might bitch about having to pay to stream your games, but they can probably afford it. If you're NOT a rich kid school, then that conversation can be more difficult. The streaming audiences for D-III games are gonna be tiny no matter what, USUALLY.

Any lawsuit or law change that requires D-III schools to potentially offer some athletic scholarships could be an existential threat not only to D-III athletics, but it could legit force a few schools to CLOSE. The economics do not support scholarships + the number of sports currently sponsored

OKAY! HERE IS A THREAD ABOUT THE MONEY IN D-III COLEGE SPORTS. How it works, why it's VERY different from D-I/D-II, where FloSports fits in, the threat this lawsuit poses, the works. My Adderall hasn't totally hit the bloodstream yet but maybe some skeets will make writing my #blog easier later

Matt Brown@mattbrown.bsky.social

I'm actually writing a newsletter on the DIII lawsuit for tomorrow, but if you guys want, I'll drop a THIS IS HOW MONEY WORKS IN DIII thread once I get home from taking the girls to school? Gimme an hour

View full thread

Here's where FloSports comes in. There are some costs in running a college athletic department that are fixed, whether you're a tiny school or huge school. Broadcasting and streaming games are one of those costs. Somebody has to buy the cameras, train the students, wire the WiFi, etc

Many (if not most) D-III schools are small, and don't offer like, TV production majors or have on-campus studios. So they have to hire out (or rent) those services. This has become more expensive, and the broadcasts often suck. FloSports is a way for schools to offset their own production costs

OKAY! HERE IS A THREAD ABOUT THE MONEY IN D-III COLEGE SPORTS. How it works, why it's VERY different from D-I/D-II, where FloSports fits in, the threat this lawsuit poses, the works. My Adderall hasn't totally hit the bloodstream yet but maybe some skeets will make writing my #blog easier later

Matt Brown@mattbrown.bsky.social

I'm actually writing a newsletter on the DIII lawsuit for tomorrow, but if you guys want, I'll drop a THIS IS HOW MONEY WORKS IN DIII thread once I get home from taking the girls to school? Gimme an hour

View full thread

It comes from student tuition! Without scholarships, every kid on the football or lacrosse or track team is paying tuition. Athletes are more likely to remain enrolled, and often more likely to pay a higher tuition rate. So if you're worried about enrollment, DIII sports can mean big bucks

Just like with D-I, there are "haves" and "have nots" in D-III Plenty of D-III programs have strong enrollments and healthy endowments.. Case Western, Wash U, Tufts? They don't care about enrollment management via sports. They're fine. But half of D-III is like, struggling to stay OPEN.

OKAY! HERE IS A THREAD ABOUT THE MONEY IN D-III COLEGE SPORTS. How it works, why it's VERY different from D-I/D-II, where FloSports fits in, the threat this lawsuit poses, the works. My Adderall hasn't totally hit the bloodstream yet but maybe some skeets will make writing my #blog easier later

Matt Brown@mattbrown.bsky.social

I'm actually writing a newsletter on the DIII lawsuit for tomorrow, but if you guys want, I'll drop a THIS IS HOW MONEY WORKS IN DIII thread once I get home from taking the girls to school? Gimme an hour

View full thread

So we can't do the same apples to apples comparisons. Also, unlike D-I and D-II, the overwhelming majority of D-III schools (outside of Wisconsin, New England and a few other exceptions) are PRIVATE, not public. So they don't need to publish financial reports or respond to FOIAs like state schools

That's fine, bc most of the key revenue streams in D-I and D-II don't exist across most of D-III. It isn't uncommon for D-III schools to not ticket at ALL (or only ticket for football and basketball). There are virtually no linear TV contracts. Almost no MMR. So where does the $ come from?

OKAY! HERE IS A THREAD ABOUT THE MONEY IN D-III COLEGE SPORTS. How it works, why it's VERY different from D-I/D-II, where FloSports fits in, the threat this lawsuit poses, the works. My Adderall hasn't totally hit the bloodstream yet but maybe some skeets will make writing my #blog easier later

Matt Brown@mattbrown.bsky.social

I'm actually writing a newsletter on the DIII lawsuit for tomorrow, but if you guys want, I'll drop a THIS IS HOW MONEY WORKS IN DIII thread once I get home from taking the girls to school? Gimme an hour

SO! The financial document that I (and many other reporters/researchers) use to discuss athletic department finances is the NCAA MFRS report...an (imperfect) but standardized form showing expenses and revenues, broken down by sports. D-I and D-II schools have to file this. D-III schools do NOT

I'm actually writing a newsletter on the DIII lawsuit for tomorrow, but if you guys want, I'll drop a THIS IS HOW MONEY WORKS IN DIII thread once I get home from taking the girls to school? Gimme an hour

Marc Normandin@marcnormandin.bsky.social

I'd need @mattbrown.bsky.social to break this all down for me, but I wonder what kind of revenue DIII sports pull in. Bowdoin basketball games are free, for instance, USM tickets are similar to what I pay to go to high school games, Flo can't be raking in that much on these games.

Well, she IS an expert on stuff that doesn't get votes....

Acyn@acyn.bsky.social

Kamala Harris: I think that going in the direction of impeachment is not a good idea. I was in the Senate for the last go-round, and the votes aren’t there. I think after the election, we all have to just also agree that our attitude has to be to get stuff done…

I hope the next sane American government deports his ass back to Brazil.

Phil Lewis@phillewis.bsky.social

WASHINGTON (AP) — State Department says it will give US visas to defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro and his family.

Pharmacy is out of adderall. I can’t get more until Friday. I’m going to need a level of caffeine to get through this week that might kill a cow

Samantha Brennan@samanthabrennan.bsky.social

A new survey of 1,000 American adults found that the strongest supporters of transgender sports bans are not the people who admire women most: they are the people who hold the most hostile views about women. www.helenwebberley.com/news/transge...

Matt Brown reposted

It will never cease to amaze me that USC asked for this. They asked to routinely make cross-country trips to the Great Lakes in late fall/early winter, to face teams that pride themselves on one thing only, that being bone-shattering defense And they thought his would go well for them

I feel like they're going to beat Ohio State next week too and turn my brain into pudding

Bryan Fischer@bryandfischer.bsky.social

Must win game for USC and they have -4 yards rushing, trail by two scores, can't call a timeout properly and have 58 yard field goals come up 15 yards short. Perfect, no notes Lincoln Riley.

Not only that, but they've given up at least 40 points in seven of those eight losses. They've given up at least 50 points in FIVE of them!

Jason Kirk@jasonkirk.fyi

Eastern New Mexico is now 0-8 under new head coach Art Briles

oh, we're acting all surprised that things got weird at the end of the most storied rivalry in all of college football? KOLOB VS SPACE?!?

Oregon still has games left against a very good Northwestern team, Ohio State, Michigan and Washington. How hard are they gonna try in those, given that their season is functionally over? Can you get people to care about making a Citrus Bowl?