By Gregory Crawford--- COO of Kiyokawa Crawford Sports Management--- on twitter @kcsportsmgmt @crawssportsbiz @wchoops
Jordan Spieth---- A little wrap up on one of the most dominating performances in the history of golf, the win by Jordan Spieth at the Masters.
We all know Spieth can putt, but hitting 39 of 56 fairways at Augusta over the four days was pretty terrific. Spieth was the first wire to wire winner of the Masters since Raymond Floyd did it in 1976. When you break it down, 28 birdies over four days is equally special, averaging 7 birdies per round, who does that on any golf course let alone in one of golf's majors.
With the win by Spieth, he moved to number 2 in the world golf rankings, behind Rory and it is the first time ever both 1 and 2 have been under the age of 25.
No one talked about this, but Spieth's win also gave a big shot in the arm to the Masters. Yes, always popular, but not nearly as popular in the past few years with the demise of Tiger, Spieth gave Augusta a huge boost.
CBS---- Interesting to note that this was the first year in memory, that there virtually were no stories about Gary McCord not being on the CBS coverage at the Masters. Of course McCord was banished from the braodcasts at Augusta when he made the some comments that the powers that be did not think were appropriate. Watch for McCord to be back someday, perhaps in the next 3 years.
Under Armour----In January of this year, Under Armour tore up the contract of Jordan Spieth and gave him a new deal which runs until 2025. Wall Street estimates are that UA's golf business in the next 2 years is expected to double from $200 million to $400 million. At present, Under Armour's golf business only exists in the apparel side, unlike other golf companies in the equipment business.
The other golf big name that represents Under Armour is Hunter Mahan. Biggest Under Armour athlete endorser at present is Tom Brady and its biggest college team is Notre Dame.
NBA----Speaking of Under Armour, they were in a minor battle with Nike to win the new deal with the NBA for apparel rights. Nike has won and starting in 2017-18 season, they will take over for Adidas who had an 11 year run of being in the position for the owning the apparel rights..
Nike is a natural fit for the NBA, as they dominate the United State athletic shoe business with a 90 perecent market share and the fact 75 percent of NBA players wear Nike shoes.
NFL---- The battle to put a team or teams in the Los Angeles market is heating up. At present two different proposals have come forward. The Chargers and Raiders want to build a shared $1.7 billion stadium in Carson, if new stadium deals in their respective cities of Oakland and San Diego do not come to fruition.
Stan Kroenke, owner of the St. Louis Rams wants to build an 80,000 seat stadium on a former landfill and move his team to Los Angeles.
While the prospects here are interesting, it is not that easy to relocate a team in the NFL as it might seem. The next time any team can file for relocation is January of 2016 and to relocate, 24 of 32 teams need to approve a move.
The last time the NFL was in Los Angeles was 1994 and obviously the league has done really well over that time period to present, even without a team in the L.A market.
Basketball Courts---The Oregon Ducks started it all in 2010, by creating a basketball court that is not your normal looking court. Now Oakland University is getting into the act with their new asphalt looking court, which is getting rave reviews. Good looking or not, you make the call, but you can't argue with the fact doing something unique with your basketball court does get you plenty of publicity. Most people have never heard of Oakland University, despite the fact they are a D-1 basketball team.
Urban Meyer--- The rewards of winning a national championship are plentiful for a college football coach.
Urban Meyer has a new $6.5 million contract which runs through 2020. His previous deal at Ohio State paid him $4.5 million. The big news here is Meyer's contract gets him into the top 5 of highest paid football coaches, something Gene Smith, Ohio State AD said needed to happen and also more important to many in Ohio, it moves him ahead of Michigan's new coach Jim Harbaugh on the pay scale, as Harbaugh is at $5 million.
All this for a guy who five years past left Florida, hinting he might not coach again and was hinting big time burnout with some health issues.
more of Gregory's blogs--- http://gregcrawfordbasketball.blogspot.com
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