Considering there were probably 40,000 empty seats for every home game, I'm sure there were no problems for UCLA to meet their ticket obligations to UA. During the last half of the season when it was clear UCLA football was indeed mediocre, UCLA Athletics was sending last minute ticket offers to their subscribers, offering lower level 50 yard line seats at ridiculously low prices. I thought seriously about going since I hadn't been to a UCLA football game in awhile, but common sense prevailed, when I decided it was more pragmatic to stay home and watch the Bruins lose on TV from the comfort of my Lazy Boy chair.
You are not wrong, my friend. No way is it about marketing benefits. If UA were worried about football tix UCLA should give them about 65,000 free ones for the New. Mexico State game.
Before you read any further, there are some things about the author of this article you should know...
Mark Devore was an outstanding goaltender for the U.C.L.A. Men's Hockey club team in the late 80's - and I hope he will join me in lobbying AD Jarmond to elevate U.C.L.A. Hockey to D-1 status and bring in an equivalent Women's D-1 Hockey program (more on that at a later date)
Mark is also the excellent color voice of U.C.L.A. Men's Hockey on their YouTube live streams. Look forward to the team and the commentary hopefully returning next season.
Most importantly, Mark Devore lived in the notorious Room 666 of Sproul Hall during his junior year. Unlike his somewhat of an idiotic roommate that year, he remained above reproach and avoided the perils of loud heavy metal, crazy cheerleaders, and excess alcohol that sometimes frequented that room.
Really great article, Mark. Because it seems pretty obvious this is UA's grand strategy (and they're also threatening to jilt Cal and Navy as of today), let's plan ahead...UA is scrambling now to avoid insolvency in the future, and with covid in the air for an indefinite time, who knows how low and how long their misfortunes go. What is best for us? Let UA off the hook and get the best settlement for letting them end our contract right now (and what $$ would that be?), or do we lawyer up on our side and fight to maintain the contract with the legit risk of UA declaring bankruptcy and leaving U.C.L.A. with a potentially much smaller payment in the end?
Either way, it looks like we'll soon be crawling back to Nike or Adidas with zero leverage and will have to settle for crumbs of an apparel deal. Sigh. At least with Nike we'll be in play for a lot more recruits going forward, so that may be the best long term investment we can make.
Yes, and now that’s Dr.Greg. I agree with everything he said about me although he probably didn’t know about any excess drinking because that was done at my fraternity house not in the dorms.
I was never comfortable with UCLA's deal with Under Armour. I never could get my arms around the fact that UCLA signed the most lucrative deal in college sports with a company operating marginally above breakeven. We're talking about a company whose success was largely buoyed by the immense popularity of one basketball player, but after that they had nothing. Steph Curry signature shoes certainly was not going to pay for the UCLA deal, let alone all the other universities who inked deals with UA.
Did Doughnut Dan ever bother to look at UA's financial statements or was it as it appears to be, nothing more than a straight money grab? Seriously, how do sign a deal with a company whose EPS was -0.11 in the previous year? WTF.
Perhaps Jarmond has to think outside the box and do something different with the athletic wear and equipment contracts. Maybe call up Kanye, Lillemon, Oakley, Puma, Asics, etc. instead of doing the same ole, same ole. You think maybe the kids will flock to some Yeezy UCLA wear?
I like your thinking outside the box beyond the same old Adidas or Nike. I haven’t seen or heard of a kid that wants Adidas gear since maybe me in 1976 when Dwight Stones set the high jump record at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.
I saw the new Will Ferrell Eurovision movie on Netflix the other night. Made me think how the USC football program had all these celebrities on the sideline. Obviously Snoop Dogg’s kid didn’t work out (nor did Shaq’s) We started to get a little of that Hollywood/entertainment buzz with the Lonzo Ball team (which of course lost in the Sweet 16) but as an outsider to LA I feel Martin Jarmond should look to that community and alums within it to generate enthusiasm for our programs. If it’s not Nike then an outside the box choice like Kanye may be the way to go. Lastly, Nike directs a lot of its AAU players to Nike schools albeit “indirectly” . Show me a kid who signed with UCLA because he wanted to wear UA. I didn’t think so. Last advice. Free court side seats for the Kardashians and various rappers. I know we long for Coach Wooden but spending a practice teaching kids how to properly put on socks (important as Bill Walton will tell you (and tell you) won’t get you to the Final Four these days.
Excellent article Mark! Agree with your points that it’s incredibly unlikely that UCLA failed to perform its contractual obligations and more likely this is a wounded company attempting to get out of a contract they can’t afford.
Excellent analysis. Great to have a longtime attorney weigh in on this complicated story in readable language. Thanks!
Thanks for the props. I see on LinkedIn you went to Syracuse 85-88. Great times for Bruin and Orange[men] football.
Absolutely! Hoop was always king at SU in our years but football had major revival under Dick MacPherson and Don McPherson.
Considering there were probably 40,000 empty seats for every home game, I'm sure there were no problems for UCLA to meet their ticket obligations to UA. During the last half of the season when it was clear UCLA football was indeed mediocre, UCLA Athletics was sending last minute ticket offers to their subscribers, offering lower level 50 yard line seats at ridiculously low prices. I thought seriously about going since I hadn't been to a UCLA football game in awhile, but common sense prevailed, when I decided it was more pragmatic to stay home and watch the Bruins lose on TV from the comfort of my Lazy Boy chair.
You are not wrong, my friend. No way is it about marketing benefits. If UA were worried about football tix UCLA should give them about 65,000 free ones for the New. Mexico State game.
Before you read any further, there are some things about the author of this article you should know...
Mark Devore was an outstanding goaltender for the U.C.L.A. Men's Hockey club team in the late 80's - and I hope he will join me in lobbying AD Jarmond to elevate U.C.L.A. Hockey to D-1 status and bring in an equivalent Women's D-1 Hockey program (more on that at a later date)
Mark is also the excellent color voice of U.C.L.A. Men's Hockey on their YouTube live streams. Look forward to the team and the commentary hopefully returning next season.
Most importantly, Mark Devore lived in the notorious Room 666 of Sproul Hall during his junior year. Unlike his somewhat of an idiotic roommate that year, he remained above reproach and avoided the perils of loud heavy metal, crazy cheerleaders, and excess alcohol that sometimes frequented that room.
Really great article, Mark. Because it seems pretty obvious this is UA's grand strategy (and they're also threatening to jilt Cal and Navy as of today), let's plan ahead...UA is scrambling now to avoid insolvency in the future, and with covid in the air for an indefinite time, who knows how low and how long their misfortunes go. What is best for us? Let UA off the hook and get the best settlement for letting them end our contract right now (and what $$ would that be?), or do we lawyer up on our side and fight to maintain the contract with the legit risk of UA declaring bankruptcy and leaving U.C.L.A. with a potentially much smaller payment in the end?
Either way, it looks like we'll soon be crawling back to Nike or Adidas with zero leverage and will have to settle for crumbs of an apparel deal. Sigh. At least with Nike we'll be in play for a lot more recruits going forward, so that may be the best long term investment we can make.
Greg you can tell us if you were the roommate. This is a safe place.
Yes, and now that’s Dr.Greg. I agree with everything he said about me although he probably didn’t know about any excess drinking because that was done at my fraternity house not in the dorms.
Thanks for a very well written article, Mark. Hope you stick around and crank out more pieces for TMB.
I second that, counsellor.
And let me note I had a long-term college girlfriend so the avoidance of crazy cheerleaders I’m the dorm room was not totally a free choice
Yes. I assumed "idiotic" would give it away.
Thinking about this a little more...
I was never comfortable with UCLA's deal with Under Armour. I never could get my arms around the fact that UCLA signed the most lucrative deal in college sports with a company operating marginally above breakeven. We're talking about a company whose success was largely buoyed by the immense popularity of one basketball player, but after that they had nothing. Steph Curry signature shoes certainly was not going to pay for the UCLA deal, let alone all the other universities who inked deals with UA.
Did Doughnut Dan ever bother to look at UA's financial statements or was it as it appears to be, nothing more than a straight money grab? Seriously, how do sign a deal with a company whose EPS was -0.11 in the previous year? WTF.
Perhaps Jarmond has to think outside the box and do something different with the athletic wear and equipment contracts. Maybe call up Kanye, Lillemon, Oakley, Puma, Asics, etc. instead of doing the same ole, same ole. You think maybe the kids will flock to some Yeezy UCLA wear?
I like your thinking outside the box beyond the same old Adidas or Nike. I haven’t seen or heard of a kid that wants Adidas gear since maybe me in 1976 when Dwight Stones set the high jump record at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.
I saw the new Will Ferrell Eurovision movie on Netflix the other night. Made me think how the USC football program had all these celebrities on the sideline. Obviously Snoop Dogg’s kid didn’t work out (nor did Shaq’s) We started to get a little of that Hollywood/entertainment buzz with the Lonzo Ball team (which of course lost in the Sweet 16) but as an outsider to LA I feel Martin Jarmond should look to that community and alums within it to generate enthusiasm for our programs. If it’s not Nike then an outside the box choice like Kanye may be the way to go. Lastly, Nike directs a lot of its AAU players to Nike schools albeit “indirectly” . Show me a kid who signed with UCLA because he wanted to wear UA. I didn’t think so. Last advice. Free court side seats for the Kardashians and various rappers. I know we long for Coach Wooden but spending a practice teaching kids how to properly put on socks (important as Bill Walton will tell you (and tell you) won’t get you to the Final Four these days.
Excellent article Mark! Agree with your points that it’s incredibly unlikely that UCLA failed to perform its contractual obligations and more likely this is a wounded company attempting to get out of a contract they can’t afford.