The NCAA News - News & Features

Executive Committee OKs stronger marketing program

At its August 7-8 meeting in Jackson, Wyoming, the Executive Committee approved a program that will develop opportunities to integrate the corporate-partner and licensing programs with the marks of the Association, institutions and conferences.

Concurrent with the implementation of the program, the Executive Committee also authorized an independent study to determine the value of NCAA marks, both individually and when integrated with those of member institutions and conferences. The proposed cross-licensing element of the program will not proceed until the study is complete.

The new program also will provide for in-house administration of the corporate-partner program, although sales will continue to be handled by an outside agency.

The program is based on the recommendations of the Special Committee to Study NCAA Marketing, Licensing and Promotional Activities. Activity will begin immediately with the hiring of necessary staff and with the development of corporate-partner promotional concepts. The timetable calls for administration of the corporate-partner program to move from Host Communications, Inc., the current administrator, to the NCAA in June 1997.

The Executive Committee also endorsed two other recommendations from the special committee.

First, while affirming that the Association should assume a greater role in the promotion of college football, it accepted the special committee's recommendation not to modify football playing rules to permit placement of a football promotional logo on helmets or playing fields. The special committee, along with the NCAA Budget Subcommittee, believed that the collegiate market is already overburdened or fragmented with different brands and that authorizing such a change could lead to a proliferation of requests from other associations that would further dilute and confuse the market.

However, the Executive Committee also noted the need for the NCAA to assist the membership in the promotion of college football and to do so in a collaborative effort with other groups, such as coaches associations. In that spirit, the committee approved the concept of allocating money to assist with the promotion of college football at all levels and also voted to involve all appropriate groups in future discussions about the promotion of college football.

Second, the Executive Committee agreed with a special committee recommendation for the NCAA to administer fan festivals at the finals of the Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Championships.

The staff and representatives of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee will meet with the National Association of Basketball Coaches to discuss the feasibility of the NCAA administering the existing fan festival at the men's Final Four, with the understanding that the activity would be self-supporting. If discussions with the NABC are not successful, the Association may proceed with its own fan festival at the men's Final Four. A similar event also will be conducted for the Women's Final Four.

Other business

The main order of business was approval of the 1996-97 NCAA budget. A budget based on $239.4 million in operating revenue was approved and includes $135.7 million in direct distributions to the membership. The budget for championships expenses was set at $41.8 million. A complete report will appear in the September 2 issue of The NCAA News.

The Executive Committee also approved a revised NCAA Outreach Program that was proposed by the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee (see story on page 7). The program is designed to provide information and enhance academic preparation for potential college students, especially those who live in "empowerment zones." It also will enhance community awareness, address access issues and support the NCAA's efforts to improve graduation rates and the quality of the student-athlete experience.

The program will feature four pilot academic camps, which will be held in conjunction with the National Youth Sports Program. They will be established in 1996-97 at a cost of $220,000. The Executive Committee also approved $30,000 for activities related to community awareness and National Student-Athlete Day.

The Executive Committee also approved expenditures related to an ongoing examination of the sports agent issue. It set aside $50,000 for the first in a series of video productions and $13,400 for a poster series, and approved a staff position that will be dedicated to dealing with agent- and gambling-related issues.

In response to concerns expressed about the safety of nonwood baseball bats, the Executive Committee approved $28,362 to fund a research project that will examine factors that affect bat velocity and another $22,823 to fund another research project to assist the NCAA Baseball Rules Committee in establishing a testing methodology and performance standards. The Executive Committee also agreed to include women's softball bats and balls in the tests.

Proposed legislation

The Executive Committee also reviewed and took positions on legislation that has been proposed by the membership for the 1997 NCAA Convention.

* Proposal No. 1-4 (as numbered in the Initial Publication of Proposed Legislation): Would revise Division I revenue guarantees to provide greater flexibility for uniform increases in certain funds. The Executive Committee voted to support a similar proposal by the NCAA Presidents Commission and will ask the sponsors of No. 1-4 to withdraw their proposal.

* No. 1-5: Voted to support this proposal, which would reaffirm that only one national championship shall be conducted in Division I in all men's and women's sports except football.

* No. 1-80: Noted that this proposal to establish a National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship would be ruled out of order because the sport is not sponsored by enough member institutions.

* No. 1-81: Will oppose this proposal, which would create a protected status to continue all men's and women's NCAA championships in Olympic sports regardless of the number of sponsoring institutions.

* No. 1-86: Agreed, with conditions, to support the proposal, which would include in Bylaw 31 an appeals procedure for denial of automatic qualification for NCAA championships and the requirement that play-in systems be established for all applicable team championships. The Executive Committee's support is contingent on the sponsors amending it to apply only to Division I, to exclude football and any sport in which no automatic qualification is offered, and to maintain the current play-in systems in terms of the number of at-large berths.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

NCAA Executive Committee
August 7-8/Jackson, Wyoming

* Approved revisions in investment guidelines for the $5 million investment reserve that was approved by the Executive Committee from the 1994-95 surplus. The NCAA also will retain an investment consulting firm to assist in analyzing the Association's current investment strategies and to monitor the performance of money managers.

* Approved $147,000 for development and maintenance of the NCAA's site on the World-Wide Web and expanded use of the Internet for communication with the NCAA membership. The Executive Committee expressed special interest in development of an electronic communication system by which the membership could receive information online on a variety of topics.

* Agreed on how to distribute the additional $7 million in special assistance funds that were approved in December 1995. Seventy percent of the amount will be distributed based on the number of Pell Grant-eligible student-athletes, 15 percent based on grants-in-aid and 15 percent on sports sponsorship. A total of $3 million was distributed in late July based on the number of Pell-eligible student-athletes.

* Approved Orlando, Florida, as the site of the 2001 NCAA Convention. The host hotel will be the Walt Disney World Dolphin. The Walt Disney World Swan and the Walt Disney World Yacht Club also will be used for the event.