WeAreSC On3 8/10/22: USC's New Collective, Big Ten Television Rights, and Blackmon Learns the Fight Song
WeAreSC On3 is a daily three-point briefing recapping news and notes surrounding USC Athletics. Today, we take a look at USC’s new NIL collective, the Big Ten coming close to finalizing its new television rights deal, and a USC legend teaching Mekhi Blackmon the fight song.
USC’s New Collective
Yesterday, Ryan Kartje of the Los Angeles Times reported that a group of boosters is set to form a new NIL collective for USC Football, entitled “Student Body Right”.
The collective plans to provide every USC player with a “base salary” in endorsement deals. One of the founders of Student Body Right is Brian Kennedy, for whom one USC’s practice fields is named after.
An extremely significant aspect of this is that the collective is being founded against USC’s wishes. Earlier this summer, USC launched its own NIL initiative, BLVD LLC, with the goal of avoiding booster-driven collectives.
When reached for comment by Kartje on the news, USC Athletic Director Mike Bohn refused to acknowledge the existence of Student Body Right.
Big Ten Television Rights
The Big Ten’s new television rights deal is getting closer to being finalized. The latest scoop? ESPN is reportedly out.
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With Fox already set to carry the conference’s top game each week, ESPN reportedly placed a nearly $400 million bid to carry the conference’s second or third-best game on a weekly basis. However, the Big Ten rejected the deal. This suggests that CBS and NBC will now have a leg up in the bidding process.
If ESPN is indeed out, it will mark the first time in four decades that Big Ten football and basketball games will not air on the network. With no Big Ten games on their Saturday slate, the Worldwide Leader will now have more space to dedicate to the SEC and ACC, as well as potentially the Big 12 and Pac 12 once they finalize their new tv deals.
Blackmon Learns the Fight Song
One of the first rites of passage for any new USC student is learning the fight song. Earlier this week, cornerback Mekhi Blackmon—a transfer from Colorado—went through that ritual.
Teaching him the song? None other than legendary USC defensive lineman Shaun Cody.
I’m willing to bet that after just a few games in the Cardinal and Gold, Blackmon will know it like the back of his hand.
