EIEIO... To Be or Not To Be? The Future of College Sports
Live from 2026 ASU+GSV Summit: Examining the Changing Landscape of College Athletics
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During the ASU GSV Summit, I moderated a panel with Chris Howard (EVP & COO, Arizona State University, former Air Force football player and Campbell Trophy Winner), James Carlos McFall (Senior Partner, Foley & Lardner LLP and former Stanford football player), and Joe Nocera (Senior Editor, The Free Press) for a conversation about the state of college sports — and whether the system is even salvageable.
I opened by sharing my own experience watching a star quarterback at Minnesota who couldn’t afford a winter coat or a plane ticket home for his grandmother’s funeral — all while generating millions for the program. That tension between the billion-dollar business of college sports and the reality for the athletes living it drove the whole conversation. We got into the NCAA’s long fall from grace, the Reggie Bush Heisman saga, NIL, the transfer portal, and what collective bargaining could actually look like for college athletes. I pushed the panel on whether the student athlete concept is dead, whether we need a full control-alt-delete on the system, and what the future looks like financially for schools that have gone from economic contributors to loss leaders. Chris broke down the hybrid model taking shape, James brought the view from inside the negotiating room, and Joe didn’t mince words on why the NCAA never earned the antitrust exemption it’s now chasing from Congress. Worth the watch.
🎥 Watch the session here:
Connecting the Dots & EIEIO…
Old MacDonald had a farm, EIEIO. New MacDonald has a Startup…EIEIO: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Education, Impact and Opportunity. Accordingly, we focus on these key areas of the future.
One of the core goals of GSV is to connect the dots around EIEIO and provide perspective on where things are going and why. If you like this, please forward to your friends. Onward!
Make Your Dash Count!
-MM