How Kevin Ollie’s new gig at Overtime Elite may change NCAA basketball (Paul Doyle)

[huskymedic]

Background thread:Ollie lands a new job




Alternate access reading link here <-

 

[Chin Diesel]

Can't ever be wrong with "may happen" hot takes.

 

[UCDaveD]

 

[McLovin]

Looks like the league is well funded but still don’t know how this league makes money.

 

[Fishy]

Looks like the league is well funded but still don’t know how this league makes money.

It doesn’t.

 

[huskymedic]

Looks like the league is well funded but still don’t know how this league makes money.

The league is just a piece in a bigger strategy... WSJ News Exclusive | Overtime Raises $80 Million From Jeff Bezos, Drake, NBA Stars and Others

(Google article name if you can’t access through the link)

 

[BuckleyNerd]

The only time I watch Overtime content is when their short little highlight videos pop up on my FB timeline, I watch them for like 1-2 minutes tops and then move on since they're usually pretty corny and I don't know 95% of the kids. Sometimes the videos are for 16 year old white kids who I google and they end up being no-star prospects who I'm sure have rich dads that paid for the content. It's a stupid, cynical product and there is no demand for any league or long-form content. The vast majority of people watch amateur sports because they are alumni/related to alumni/are geographically close, very few people are just watching teenage athletes for the sheer joy of watching budding prospects lol.

 

[superjohn]

The league is just a piece in a bigger strategy... WSJ News Exclusive | Overtime Raises $80 Million From Jeff Bezos, Drake, NBA Stars and Others

(Google article name if you can’t access through the link)

A lot of huge names attached but I don't understand why? I don't see how they will have any fans actually watching this. We already have the G league which nobody watches.

 

[BGesus4]

It sounds like I’m in the minority here but I do think this is a big piece in vastly changing the college landscape if not more.

we all know the NCAA is not an efficient marketplace. Players need to get shady deals behind closed doors and take legal and reputational risk to even get compensated close to what they are worth economically. I think we all realize the current model is not sustainable.

The is no such thing as a multi billion dollar business with amateur athletes as the product. These kids are already all professionals, just most have horrible “contracts”.

Im not sure how successful Overtime will be. The argument that the money college basketball brings in is heavily tied to the schools brand names is obviously legit, but the current system is inevitably going to be blown up and I think this will be an accelerating factor.

 

[McLovin]

The league is just a piece in a bigger strategy... WSJ News Exclusive | Overtime Raises $80 Million From Jeff Bezos, Drake, NBA Stars and Others

(Google article name if you can’t access through the link)

Thanks, that is interesting. It looks like this league is just a small part of the Overtime strategy to become a media company for the younger generation of sports fans, like Barstool. I guess if you have famous alums come out of the basketball league it will help the brand over time (pun).

But the recent funding puts the value of the company at $250 million, which is a little more than half of what Barstool sold for last year

However, IMO, attaching the brand to teenagers limits a lot of future potential revenue streams for a sports media company, specifically anything related to sports betting.

 

[Palatine]

It might be following the Red Bull formula. Put together young athletes, pay them, build events around them. Use the events to develop content for a media company. Brand the ever living cr*p out of everything and everyone.

Why Red Bull Media House is the 'King of Content' - SportsPro

When it comes to the business of creating and distributing eye-catching content, few do it better than Red Bull Media House. The energy drinks giant’s sprawling multimedia arm sits comfortably at the intersection of sports, music, culture, lifestyle and entertainment, providing a blueprint for...

www.sportspromedia.com

 

[Storrs South]

This feels like Quibi 2.0

 

[UCTitleTown]

Is Vince McMahon involved? ?

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

“The very best players” don’t care about making $100k to play for the laziest coach in America when they can go be gods for a year on college campuses and then go make millions in the NBA.

 

[BGesus4]

“The very best players” don’t care about making $100k to play for the laziest coach in America when they can go be gods for a year on college campuses and then go make millions in the NBA.

Disagree. Maybe if they continue to get 6 figures to play in college, but if that is no longer on the table for whatever reason, you’ll see plenty of kids take the money rather than be dead broke and for some have their families struggle financially on a college campus until they can get drafted, if it even ever happens.

not to mention you can start getting paid at 16.

 

[Woof 101]

“The very best players” don’t care about making $100k to play for the laziest coach in America when they can go be gods for a year on college campuses and then go make millions in the NBA.

I agree to an extent but there are many that would forgo actual classrooms for any amount. That and at the age of 16 see 100k as a ton of money. ( I do agree with you about the coach )
The players — ages 16 to 18 — will be paid $100,000, according to league officials. The league will provide academic support and will fund college tuition for players who don’t pursue a professional career. This from the article.

One has to hope these kids will have legal representation with all the possible false promises. What is the actual academic support and taught by who? What are the school options for the players that don't pursue a pro career? Are they going to get 35 to 50K for four years of tuition to a good school? Or will their so called academic support not be enough to allow them to be accepted at a school their prep school and upper tier D1 school would have.

This entire concept is taking the low road to get to the high road and starting out with a bad driver.

 

[Fishy]

A lot of huge names attached but I don't understand why? I don't see how they will have any fans actually watching this. We already have the G league which nobody watches.

VC money.

It will run out, they’ll raise more, that will run out, then they’ll pivot to another idea, raise a little more money at a reduced valuation and then the landlord will change the locks.

 

[aburks41]

This feels like Quibi 2.0

Yup, and I cannot believe how many smart investors thought pouring billions into that was a good idea. Youtube and tiktok are free and already exist to cover the short form videos market. Why would anyone want to pay another monthly subscription fee for that lmao. I could have told you from day 1 that it was going to be a giant bust. They clearly didn’t do their research with the under 30 crowd (or they lied to their investors)

 

[Ts5034]

Just looking at this from the KO perspective, I think the ultimate goal for him is to get back into coaching at the college or NBA level. This is probably going to generate a lot of positive publicity for him, and I would be surprised if KO is not on the sidelines again in some capacity within 2-3 years.

 

[BlueDogs]

“The very best players” don’t care about making $100k to play for the laziest coach in America when they can go be gods for a year on college campuses and then go make millions in the NBA.

This is what athletes who think they should get paid fail to appreciate. Association with the college brands are what elevate them to notoriety. The NBA’s ratings have shrunk to an all time low for many reasons. Cutting off college feeders with built-in follow along audiences is the height of hubris. There are other reasons but we are not allowed to speak about them without being banned.

 

[navery12]

This idea seems destined to fail, but I think all these comments are missing one big factor. If NBA teams find that this league is preparing kids for the NBA better than college, it'll be in their best interest to help it succeed.

 

[prankster]

This idea seems destined to fail, but I think all these comments are missing one big factor. If NBA teams find that this league is preparing kids for the NBA better than college, it'll be in their best interest to help it succeed.

You mean like a minor league? Like in baseball?

 

[Tenspro2002]

I agree to an extent but there are many that would forgo actual classrooms for any amount. That and at the age of 16 see 100k as a ton of money. ( I do agree with you about the coach )
The players — ages 16 to 18 — will be paid $100,000, according to league officials. The league will provide academic support and will fund college tuition for players who don’t pursue a professional career. This from the article.

One has to hope these kids will have legal representation with all the possible false promises. What is the actual academic support and taught by who? What are the school options for the players that don't pursue a pro career? Are they going to get 35 to 50K for four years of tuition to a good school? Or will their so called academic support not be enough to allow them to be accepted at a school their prep school and upper tier D1 school would have.

This entire concept is taking the low road to get to the high road and starting out with a bad driver.

If this were for age 18-21 I could support it, but there's something very unseemly about luring kids out of school at age 16 to pursue a basketball career.

They should at least get a high school diploma. Yes, I heard the "academic support" line. No, I don't buy it.

 

[superjohn]

If this were for age 18-21 I could support it, but there's something very unseemly about luring kids out of school at age 16 to pursue a basketball career.

They should at least get a high school diploma. Yes, I heard the "academic support" line. No, I don't buy it.

I was just about to post the same thing... It's interesting that the people who decry the college system for taking advantage of kids support a start up league where kids put all their eggs in one basket, don't get a high school diploma and don't get any college education. The majority of these kids won't make the NBA so now they're choosing to be a vagabond who hopefully gets a GED and maybe some contracts in some random European/Latin America/Asian cities? At least they'll have the financial literacy they were taught. This all feels unseemly to me.

 

[aburks41]

This idea seems destined to fail, but I think all these comments are missing one big factor. If NBA teams find that this league is preparing kids for the NBA better than college, it'll be in their best interest to help it succeed.

With KO as the head coach I don't think we'll need to worry about that...