Ben Fischer

1 week ago | sportsbusinessjournal.com | Ben Fischer

The NFL and Nike’s push to formalize girls flag football as an official high school varsity sport has hit an inflection point, with 34 of the 50 states now sanctioning the sport or working toward that step. That includes 23 of the 25 most-populous states, meaning a large majority of American high school girls now can can join or start a team that can compete for an official state football championship (just four years ago, that was only true in six states).

1 week ago | sportsbusinessjournal.com | Ben Fischer

Coming off a second season that saw both in-stadium and TV audiences decline, leaders of the UFL will evaluate “everything” about the league’s operations and strategy in the coming offseason, said CEO and President Russ Brandon. That includes when the season starts. This year, the league kicked off on March 28 -- earlier than the predecessor USFL’s April start, but later than the predecessor league XFL’s tactic of launching immediately after the Super Bowl in mid-February.

1 week ago | sportsbusinessjournal.com | Ben Fischer

In December, I wrote about a change to NFL revenue-sharing policies that removed a perverse incentive for teams to keep certain general admission ticket prices below market value. There’s another “visiting team share” policy change coming, this time about discounted tickets.

1 week ago | sportsbusinessjournal.com | Ben Fischer

Football took over the American cultural landscape over the past half-century despite organized participation in the sport being limited to boys and men. Now imagine what might happen if girls and women get a chance, too. That’s the basic calculation behind the NFL’s nationwide push to build a youth-to-pros-to-Olympics pipeline of flag football.

1 week ago | sportsbusinessjournal.com | Ben Fischer

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will distribute departed Chief Media & Business Officer Brian Rolapp’s portfolio to other senior execs and not replace him with a single person, sources said. Rolapp, who left to become CEO of the PGA Tour after 22 years with the league, oversaw the NFL’s media rights licensing, owned-and-operated media, NFL Films, the 32 Equity investment fund and sponsorship/consumer products. Divisions under Rolapp generated roughly $13B annually.