A new blog called BusinessofCollegeSports.com does a good job of filling a void in the world of college sports financial analysis.
So much college athletics financial analysis these days is agenda-based, with writers too often seeking to marginalize or even demonize those who have different perspectives.
However, Kristi Dosh, who bills herself as the SportsBizMiss, approaches her subject matter in an open, analytical and reasonable manner. Take today’s missive on the Bowl Championship Series, for example:
“Is the BCS fair?” she asks. “I think there’s an argument to be made on both sides, but honestly I don’t really care. I enjoy reading and listening to debate on both sides of the BCS argument, but I mentally shut down when I hear the words ‘fair’ or ‘unfair’. Didn’t your mother tell you life isn’t fair?”
From there, she makes a nifty parallel between her own nonpaid role as a sports blogger for Forbes.com and the circumstances surrounding BCS non-AQ schools.
Dosh covers the rest of the college sports waterfront, writing about everything from student activity fees to how much nonrevenue sports actually cost. As a practicing attorney, Dosh knows her way around resources and is skilled at accumulating and displaying information that generally informs rather than inflames. All the while, she keeps the reading experience eclectic and enjoyable.
Dosh has been writing on sports issues for Forbes.com for a while now, but the BusinessofCollegeSports.com blog has been around only a month. I recently exchanged emails with her about why she chose to blog exclusively about college sports, and here’s what she said:
“As a sports fan, I’m most passionate about baseball. Accordingly, I assumed that was the sport I wrote about most frequently as a contributor to SportsMoney on Forbes.com. Imagine my surprise when I tallied up how many posts I’d written about each sport over the past year and found college sports outnumbered baseball 3:1! It was then the idea for BusinessofCollegeSports.com was born.
“I started BusinessofCollegeSports.com just one short month ago. Between my passion for analyzing the business of college sports and the incredible number of hits, tweets and emails my college pieces had been receiving on SportsMoney, I knew there was a market for this kind of coverage and no one out there providing it. There are several sports business analysts who do a great job covering college sports when there is something newsworthy, but I couldn’t find anyone whose sole focus was the business of college sports.
“The response to the website from fans and other members of the sports media has confirmed my belief that there was a high level of interest in these topics, and that I was embarking on territory untouched by others.
“I post something new on BusinessofCollegeSports.com every weekday, and I have zero concern that I will ever run out of material. I wake up every morning excited to write about something in the world of college sports.
“For me, the business of college sports is more fascinating than any other area of the sports world because college athletics are run like a business, but the athletes are not employees and hold no bargaining power. This creates a number of circumstances unique in athletic competition. Add in the fact that college sports exist within the academic arena and a whole new set of issues and debates appear. I can’t imagine finding more material anywhere else in the world of sports!”
I doubt if the NCAA and Dosh will be foursquare on every issue, but that’s OK. The objective should be better understanding through reasonable debate. As far as I’m concerned, BusinessofCollegeSports.com contributes to that end.
