Remy Blaire: It's that time of year again. That cool crisp in the air, the fall foliage and the sound of screaming fans at any major sports venue across the country.
Playoffs now underway in baseball, NASCAR and the WNBA.
Meanwhile, the football season is in full swing in both college and the pros, and the first puck drop of the NHL season took place this Tuesday.
And NBA hoops are less than three weeks away.
Well, joining us on this Friday morning with a look at the hottest stories across the sports world is Rick Horrow, FINTECH.TV Sports Business Analyst and CEO of Horrow Sports Ventures.
Well, Rick, the Senate did pass the bipartisan Protect College Sports Act, which regulates NCAA sports, and the House is on recess until after the midterms.
Can the bill pass in a lame-duck session? And what are the implications here?
Rick Horrow: Well, 77 senators voted for it, so, you know, it's near consensus. That's almost automatically unanimous when you look at politics.
But the LSU supporter, Speaker of the House Johnson, said we're not coming back until after the midterms for a lot of reasons unrelated to college football, let me tell you.
So the bill's on hold a little bit.
$50 million limit, one-year transfer, one shot at transfer, five-year eligibility dynamic and 20-team superconference limitation. All of that is set to become law at the end of the day.
Television, not that exciting. An 11% decrease in ratings. That's because the matchups aren't until the end of the year, and maybe the playoff is diluted a little bit.
At the end of the day, it's going to pass, most probably, but we've got to wait until the end of this session.
More uncertainty in college football, but there is certainty ahead. A lot of opposition, but a lot more consensus than opposition.
Remy Blaire: Yeah. And speaking of which, I do want to hone in on college football TV ratings, down 11% compared to the first four weeks of the season last year.
And there are serious talks of expanding the playoff from 12 teams to 24 teams if a TV deal can be reached.
So will expansion ruin the regular season, or will this ultimately benefit the sport?
Rick Horrow: Depending on who you talk to.
So, you know, Vanderbilt and a couple of other teams, they love it because they got excluded last year.
But at the end of the day, Ohio State-Texas proved if you have great matchups, you feel like people are going to watch.
It's just there are a lot more this year because of the schedule at the end of the season.
A 24-team playoff, not ready.
But they're saying, well, the regular season may not matter because we're going to get into the playoffs anyway.
So there are a lot of reasons to explain the decrease.
One of them is not the death of college football. We're not going to hold a bake sale for the revenues in college football.
Remy Blaire: And with the MLB playoffs in full swing, and with Week 4 of the NFL season underway, what storylines are you paying attention to here?
And we can't mention baseball without talking strikes. So tell us about the looming labor situation.
Rick Horrow: The dreaded S-word, or labor discussion.
December 1st is when the end of this agreement happens.
So we'll see. $12 billion in revenue a year, so they've got a lot to lose, and a $400 million disparity from the Dodgers at the top of the payroll chain all the way down to the bottom.
By the way, money is great. We all love money. Can't buy happiness automatically.
Atlanta, San Diego, Dodgers, Yankees, the four teams in the top 10 that made it.
Cubs, Boston, Philly, Houston, they made it to the Wild Card, but not any further.
And San Francisco and the Mets, by the way, they didn't make it anywhere.
So just because you have a lot of dough doesn't mean you're ready to go to the World Series.
Remy Blaire: And finally, Rick, before I let you go, WNBA playoffs have tipped off.
Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson won't be punished by the league for approaching a fan who pointed at her in Game 2 against the Indiana Fever.
But take us through the drama as well as your outlook. And what did you make of her mom being at the game?
Rick Horrow: Her mom is wonderful. We like moms at games.
Bottom line is, 36 points for A'ja Wilson. The Aces beat the Fever in Game 3.
If she was suspended, that wouldn't happen.
But look, the WNBA, like it or not, is a big business promoting their superstars.
The average franchise, by the way, Remy, $460 million. Eleven-year media deal, $280 million annually, the 17% increase in regular-season viewership, and so the revenue sharing with the players, great.
We could talk about making an example of somebody and kicking her out, but look at what's at stake.
Remy Blaire: Well, Rick, appreciate your time today, and thank you so much for joining us ahead of a busy season as well as ahead of the weekend.
Rick Horrow: Can't wait for next week. We've got a whole lot more to discuss.
