On the latest Sporticast episode, hosts Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams discuss some of the biggest sports business stories of the week, including a recent Sportico story about an initiative, pitched by a Department of Defense contractor, suggesting that the U.S. military fund tens of thousands of athletic scholarships in exchange for mandatory service when the athletes are done with school.
The idea, the brainchild of Houston-based Orchestra Macrosystems, suggests that the government offer to pay all of the scholarships currently funded by schools in sports outside of football and basketball. The goal would be to improve the military’s recruiting efforts, which currently include billions spent on recruits who fail basic training, and to help schools fund smaller sports like tennis and wrestling.
The discussion happens amid rapid changes in college sports, upheaval that claimed a high-profile job this week. NCAA president Mark Emmert agreed to step down from his post by July 2023, a few years before his contract was set to expire. The NCAA is currently examining its role in college sports, and this move will allow it to do so with fresh leadership.
The hosts also talk about Elon Musk’s $44 billion Twitter takeover, and a slew of pricey real estate purchases by members of the Super Bowl-champion Los Angeles Rams.
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