This week we had the honor to interview again Dr. Ron Dick, associate professor of sports marketing at Duquesne University in the school of business. Ron also worked for 20 years in sports, including 15 years in the NBA with the Sixers and the Nets, and then four years in the NCAA.

?Show Notes: Through this interview, we touched on Tom Brady’s 10 years max contract with Fox, US soccer now giving equal pay to its men and women soccer team, NIL/NCAA, the NBA playoffs, the crash of the crypto market, Sidney Crosby’s NHL Playoff situation, and his predictions for the World Series (MLB) this year.

?Best Quotes: Here’s some of the key discussion points and best quotes from our conversation with Ron:

  • On US soccer now giving equal pay to its men and women soccer team:
    • “I think it’s a wonderful thing. For the United States to be the first country out of roughly 198 countries in the world to do it is something we should be proud of. The women are coming off back to back world cups. We can even go back to 2015, where we saw the women create $50.8M in revenue. And the men were slightly under that at $49.9M”.
    • “Will this carry over to other sports? My gut feeling is no. And the reason for that is that the women seem to be a lot more successful than the men have been, as you just pointed out (..) The US women soccer team did a wonderful job, making this a public issue, filing the proper lawsuits to get it done. So I say kudos to them and it’s well well-earned”.

    On Nick Saban calling out the Aggies for “buying” their top-ranked class via NIL:

    • “It seems like Nick Saban is not happy that he’s number two in recruitment. He wanted to be number one (..) So many of the student athletes think they’re going to play professionally at the next level and less than 1%-2% really do, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t making money for their universities, especially in the SEC and the Power five conferences and they should be compensated for that”.

    On Tom Brady’s $375M 10 year contract with Fox as TV analyst:

    • “I actually watched a documentary last night on the tuck roll, where Tom Brady got together at his beautiful house with this former teammate. And they went over that actual play where he pulled the ball back in they called it an incomplete pass and they ended up beating the Oakland Raiders in Foxboro last game ever played at Gillette stadium”.
    • “Tom Brady was really good. He’s very good at speaking like that, he makes people feel comfortable and I think he’s going to be really good. Is he $375 million good? I don’t know about that”.
    • “I think Tom’s going to be fabulous. Is he that good? I don’t know. Only time will tell. Fox wanted to lock him up. They didn’t want CBS to get him or anybody else. So, you know, the money’s there, you know what. The rich get richer. So God bless him. I’m happy for him if that’s what he wants to do”.

    On his NBA playoffs predictions:

    • “ If you break each team down real quick, it does seem like the Warriors have been there before. They seem to be healthier today, more than ever. Dallas hasn’t been there since 2011 or so I’m not sure which one’s going to win the Warriors or Dallas, but I believe the winner of the NBA championship will be whoever wins the Celtics – Miami Heat series”.
    • “I think they’re just so physical and their defense. They really ratchet up their defense. And I think it will be the Celtics or the Heat. And I’ll take the Celtics. I think the Celtics are gonna win it this year. That would be a big deal because they haven’t won an NBA title since 2008”.

    On the crash of the crypto market and the impact on the world of elite sports:

    • “Well, I think the first thing we have to accept is that Bitcoin was always a place where some people were cleaning their money where they were going to put out Bitcoin and they were getting US dollars in return. It does seem very naïve right now that some people went so far as to say, Bitcoin will replace the U S dollar. Just because you put your name in sports on a building, it certainly does not guarantee that you will be profitable. What it does is gives you exposure and accessibility and some kind of affirmation”.
    • “One day, if the cryptocurrency/bitcoin name came off of the formerly staples center, it wouldn’t shock me. Just like it did with Enron, just like it did with the university of Phoenix. That’s why I did not put any of my money in crypto/bitcoin”.
    • “The only team that I know that accepted receiving payment for tickets in bitcoin was the San Jose sharks (NHL) and they recently laid off some people. So you wonder if the layoffs were affected by the crash of bitcoin”.

    On Sidney Crosby (Penguins/NHL) allegedly being cleared for game six against the NY Rangers, but being held out as a precaution dictated by the front office:

    • “I think it’s possible. Ron Hextall is the general manager of the Penguins. He is a former flier, great goaltender and former GM of the flyers. And they may have gotten another opinion from a doctor or I’m sure Crosby wanted to play”.
    • “But in terms of long-term effects I think Crosby plans to play another 2, 3, 4, 5 years, possibly, maybe one of these situations where he plays into his very early forties. He was born in 1987. That’s why he wears the number 87. Maybe it was too much of a risk in the long-term to do this. He has been concussed before with multiple concussions, so I’m sure the same thing will be hold true there”.

    On his early prediction on who will win the World Series this year:

    • It’s the middle of May, so I’m not really sure. I certainly have to always count the Dodgers in there. A big money team. All of a sudden the Angels are playing well. And I’m happy to see that because already Marino spent a lot of money as the owner for years and years and years, and he really didn’t get much out of it. So let’s say the angels Dodgers are going to be in the world series together”.
    • “But let’s not discount the Yankees. All of a sudden they think they figured things out and they’re doing. The NY Mets were really dominating the national league east, but Scherzer who has been nothing but phenomenal for them. And to my knowledge, he’s now injured for at least six weeks”.