When news broke Thursday morning that Duke would have three outstanding games on Amazon, it felt important, but it took a while for the implications to truly sink in.
First, in an era of flux, it helps to lock in Duke’s blue blood status. Why? Well, first of all, and most importantly, money. You saw the ads this spring featuring the Boozer brothers. Those, we’re sure, paid quite well.
The games Duke will have on Prime could pay a lot more. First, there’s the contract itself. The traditional gate (meaning
ticket sales) for a game with teams like UConn, Gonzaga, or Michigan, would be in the hundreds of thousands. Once you toss in the broadcast, NIL, and retail revenue, it could be extremely lucrative.
The obvious benefit is the money, much of which will go to the players. Big men this spring were asking upwards of $5 million. The Prime deal will help Duke remain competitive in those bidding wars.
Unlike the Boozer ads we saw during March Madness, which were designed for domestic consumption, the ads for Duke’s Prime games will be international.
Do you remember when Khaman Maluach said that he would stay up late to watch Zion Williamson videos on his phone?
Duke Basketball has been a global presence for some time, but not necessarily with a specific plan. Well, it has that now. And while Maluach was in a refugee camp when he watched Williamson on his phone, young players across North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, will see Cameron Williams, Cayden Boozer, Deron Rippey, and Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje on big screens.
And they’ll see those guys in ads during those games, too. Duke players will presumably pitch for Amazon, and perhaps for, say, Apple, Starlink, and other businesses – and they’ll be paid handsomely for doing it, too. And young players around the world will be keenly aware that Duke is on a different level than just about anyone else. You have to assume that, when Duke recruited Boumtje Boumtje, that they explained the financial benefits to him.
This is already creating a certain amount of envy. You may remember that we linked to a Dan Dakich video recently, where he laughed at Kentucky’s current woes. He pointed out that some time ago, he predicted that when everyone could pay for players, Kentucky would lose its edge.
Time will prove him either right or wrong on that (so far, he looks pretty prophetic), but Matt Jones, from Kentucky Sports Report, tweeted this out Thursday:
It’s hard to argue with his logic. Money is behind everything in college sports now, more than ever before, and with the Prime deal, Duke really has lapped the field.
On the downside, though, it’s going to get increasingly difficult to see the games you most want to see. Duke will be on Prime, but they won’t be the last, and we should point out that we don’t know if that package will be included with standard Prime video, or if Amazon will charge extra.
Apple may follow soon. We’re a bit surprised that with CEO Tim Cook and VP of Services Eddie Cue, both Fuqua grads, that Cupertino didn’t make a bigger push for Duke. Netflix may rush in soon, and Paramount seems like a sure bet.
As everyone understands, we’re in a new era now, and we’ve seen a lot of change already. Clearly, Mike Krzyzewski knew what he was doing when he pushed for Jon Scheyer to take over for him. And just as clearly, Scheyer has made brilliant and innovative decisions, including hiring GM Rachel Baker.
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