On this extended edition of Deals & Deadlines, Matt Chernoff and sports agent/lawyer Hadley Engelhardt connect the biggest sports business stories across college football, baseball, and the NFL — all through the lens of money, leverage, media rights, and power. The show opens with a deep dive into the College Football Playoff business model, including the $4 million payout per team and how conferences like the SEC and Big Ten are stacking massive revenue advantages. The conversation expands into playoff expansion, Notre Dame’s exclusion, Group of Five access, TV windows competing with the NFL, and whether the current system actually delivers the best teams — or just the most profitable ones. From there, Matt and Hadley examine the future of bowl games, opt-outs, ESPN’s potential revenue losses, legal exposure, and why the postseason exhibition model may be nearing its breaking point. The discussion then turns to a landmark moment in college athletics: private equity officially entering the space, highlighted by Utah’s reported equity partnership that could reach $500 million. What does shared ownership mean for control, branding, NIL, Olympic sports, and the long-term soul of college athletics? On the baseball side, the show covers MLB Winter Meetings, where Scott Boras has become a full-scale celebrity power broker, securing over $1.2 billion in contracts while reshaping how agents create leverage. The episode also explores how a looming MLB CBA expiration is shortening contracts and pushing teams toward less risk, plus ESPN’s shift away from Sunday Night Baseball toward a fractured, streaming-first model. Finally, the show wraps with the NFL and global sports media: – Philip Rivers potentially returning at age 44 and what that conversation looks like from an agent’s perspective – The sudden drop in Taylor Swift’s NFL TV exposure and whether it’s a branding reset – And World Cup format changes, hydration breaks, and why “player safety” may really mean more ad inventory Smart, candid, and brutally honest — this is Deals & Deadlines at its most comprehensive. #DealsAndDeadlines #SportsBusiness #CollegeFootballPlayoff #CFPExpansion #MediaRights #BusinessOfSports #PrivateEquity #NIL #CollegeAthletics #MLBWinterMeetings #ScottBoras #MLBContracts #NFLBusiness #PhilipRivers #TaylorSwift #SportsMedia #StreamingSports #WorldCup2026 #FIFA #SportsLaw #ESPN #TVRatings #FootballBusiness #BaseballBusiness #sportseconomics

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Lane Kiffin is off to LSU on a $91 million guaranteed deal — and the business side is absolutely wild. On this episode of Deals and Deadlines, Matt Chernoff and super agent Hadley Engelhardt break down how Jimmy Sexton pulled it off, what LSU actually bought, and why this contract is unlike almost anything we’ve seen in college football.

We also dive into:

• Why Lane’s buyout tops Brian Kelly’s and what it says about LSU’s strategy

• How the state of Louisiana structures coaching contracts at public universities

• Why LSU is paying Lane Kiffin bonuses based on Ole Miss’ playoff run

• The $140M wave of SEC buyouts and the “Kirby Smart effect” on the coaching carousel

• Penn State’s messy search: agents, leverage, and how they ended up behind everyone

• The monster NIL/QB flip: Jared Curtis from Georgia to Vanderbilt

• Whether TV networks and media partners are “corrupt” or just doing smart business

• Why ESPN is at Georgia–Alabama instead of Big Ten title sites — and why that’s just reality

• NBC “leasing” the Big Ten title game & what a $70M rights fee really buys you

• Michael Jordan’s legendary “Love of the Game” clause and why no one will ever get it again

• Christian Ponder’s new mission to help athletes transition after their playing days

• Tiger Woods’ push to shorten and reshape the PGA Tour schedule post–Super Bowl

🔔 New sports business episodes drop every Friday on the 680 The Fan YouTube channel and wherever you get your podcasts.

👤 Hosts:
Matt Chernoff & Hadley Engelhardt
🎧 Show: Deals and Deadlines – your weekly look at contracts, buyouts, NIL, media rights, and the money behind the games.

⏱ Chapters:
0:00 Intro – What is Deals and Deadlines?
0:36 Lane Kiffin to LSU: The chase, the ego, the fit
3:12 Inside the $91M contract & buyout structure
7:01 Lane’s Ole Miss playoff bonuses… paid by LSU
10:19 SEC coaching firings & $140M in buyouts
12:51 Penn State’s coaching search mess
15:25 Jared Curtis flips from Georgia to Vanderbilt
17:07 Are TV networks “corrupt” or just doing business?
21:13 NBC leasing the Big Ten title game
22:52 Michael Jordan’s “Love of the Game” clause
24:30 Christian Ponder & life after sports
29:05 Tiger Woods, PGA schedule changes & golf’s TV problem

👍 Like, comment, and subscribe if you want more deep dives on the business of sports — from college football contracts and NIL to media rights, endorsements, and beyond.

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In this episode of Deals & Deadlines, Hadley Engelhardt and Matt Chernoff break down the biggest sports-business stories of the week — from MLB Winter Meetings fallout and the Braves cashing in on Drake Baldwin’s Rookie of the Year win to looming CBA concerns, betting scandals, and massive college football coaching drama. They also dive into NFL broadcast wars, Arthur Blank’s $350M investment in women’s soccer, the Stephen A./Mina Kimes endorsement mess, and why the WNBA All-Star Game is struggling to find a host. New episodes drop every Friday — subscribe for all things sports business, contracts, agents, media, and money. #DealsAndDeadlines #SportsBusiness #MLB #WinterMeetings #Braves #DrakeBaldwin #RookieOfTheYear #MLBCBA #SportsBetting #PropBets #AJBrown #NFL #CollegeFootball #BrianKelly #Buyouts #NIL #TransferPortal #ArthurBlank #WNBA #WNBANews #StephenASmith #MinaKimes #GoldmanSachs #CaitlinClark #SportsMedia

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