INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

CAA delegates hold meeting with international federation

An NCAA delegation conducted the first official meeting with members of the International Federation of American Football recently. The NCAA delegation included Dennis Poppe, managing director of football and baseball. IFAF representatives included the organization's executive committee and IFAF President Frederic Paquet.

The two organizations had shared limited contacts in the past but had never met formally.

The NCAA presented its policy on eligibility for college athletes, which dictates a true amateur status. To enable talented players from within the IFAF to participate in NCAA sports, the IFAF announced its support for an NCAA initiative to establish an "amateurism clearinghouse" for screening procedures related to athlete eligibility. The clearinghouse, to be directed by the NCAA's Bill Saum, would provide certification on amateurism issues for both domestic and international prospects.

The two delegations agreed to continue the dialogue between both organizations.

Staff contact: Bill Saum (bsaum@ncaa.org)

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

Changes to be implemented for NCAA Online classified ads

The NCAA News will introduce a number of changes to its online classified advertising function that should enable most customers to include more information about vacant positions at less cost.

Effective June 13, advertisers will pay a flat fee for online advertising based on the term of the ad. An ad for one week will cost $135. Two weeks will cost $170, and four weeks will cost $270. To receive the discount of a multiweek insertion, advertisers will be required to purchase multiple weeks in advance. They may not, for example, purchase an ad for one week at $135 and subsequently continue it for another week by paying another $35.

Most advertisers will save money as a result of this change. For institutions and conferences that often run large ads for multiple weeks, the savings will be considerable. The smallest advertisers will pay slightly more for a one-week insertion, but they now will be able to describe vacant positions in detail without incurring the additional costs that resulted from the previous charge-by-the-word system.

The site also will be redesigned so that viewers will see a synopsis of each ad when they choose a category (previously, the full text of each ad was visible as users scrolled through the category). The full text will be brought up on any ad by clicking on the link at the end of the synopsis.

The new approach also will make it easier to purchase ads using credit cards and to post ads in the printed version of The NCAA News (the pricing for print ads will not change). In addition, new features -- such as spell checking -- have been added.

Staff contact: Nancy Ettinger (nettinger@ncaa.org)

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