By Last Updated on October 21, 2011
How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard. ~Carol Sobieski and Thomas Meehan, Annie
When I created this site, I told no one about my idea. I kept it to myself, because I thought it might be a ridiculous idea. Just because I enjoyed writing about the finances of college athletics and had received decent hits on my pieces over on Forbes didn’t mean an entire website could be built around the business of college athletics.
Or could it? As it turns out, not only is there infinite material to cover regarding the business of college athletics, but there’s an audience. An audience of passionate fans that fuel my enthusiasm for the subject. Without all of you – well, there is no BusinessofCollegeSports.com.
And certainly, without you I wouldn’t have news to share. This will be my last post on BusinessofCollegeSports.com. No, you haven’t caused me to pack up my keyboard and shut the site down with your accusatory emails and tweets. You’ve given me the desire and motivation to make the business of sports my career.
This is my last post, because I am beginning a new job, and essentially a new career path. I am now ESPN’s sports business reporter!
According to my mother, I’ve wanted to be an attorney since I could speak. I’ve always loved sports, but my attempts to make sports part of my practice never panned out. Until I started writing about legal issues in sports. Then with each passing day, I began to devote more and more of myself to studying and analyzing the business of college sports. For the last eighteen months, I’ve awoken every morning with a burning desire to run to the computer and research or write about an issue in sports business. And that’s why it’s time for me to make a change.
Joining ESPN will allow me to devote myself to researching and reporting on sports business full time. It will also give me an unparalleled platform online, in ESPN The Magazine, on television and radio. There are so many possibilities for topics that I’ve had to start a notebook filled with ideas. I’ve never been so ready to get started!
The move is bittersweet only in that I must leave this website behind. Luckily, you all can follow me over to my new blog on ESPN.com, and even continue to frequent this site, which I’ve entrusted to the very capable Alicia Jessop, along with some superb guest writers.
I can’t begin to thank you enough – for visiting this site, for bookmarking it, adding it to Google Reader and subscribing to receive posts by email. Thank you for following me on Twitter and for emailing me both with praise, criticism, challenges and ideas. Every single time I sit down to write, I think of you – my audience. What do you want to know about your team? What don’t you know about the business side of college sports? I hope I’ve delivered some of that for you.
Please don’t be strangers. My email and Twitter remain the same. You can always find links to all my work at KristiDosh.com, and you can check out my new blog over at ESPN!
THANK YOU!!
Common Sense
October 21, 2011Great job on this site, and looking forward to following your blogs and articles for ESPN!
Jeffery Roy
October 21, 2011This has happened to me before. You meet an interesting woman, share common interests (particularly sports), then she leaves to take a job in another city. You appreciate the difficulties of a long distance relationship, and realize life must go on.
Being invited to join the Worldwide Leader In Sports represents the ultimate recognition of your talents and previous achievements. It may come at a price: ESPN has an incestuous relationship with the sports and personalities it covers. Covering the business of sports may insulated you somewhat from the personality aspect, but getting truly independent reporting in the world of business-business was evident in the meltdown of 2008. Those of us who relied on your ability to provide information unencumbered by advertising and other contractual considerations hope your objectivity persists in your new position. In other words, feel free to bite the hand that feeds you every so often.
Good luck, you will be missed. Will your distribution list be updated with the URL for your new blog?
KC Turner
October 21, 2011Thank you for the information you’ve given to this subject! I have been a fan of both high school and college athletics since I was six years old. I am too old to have been involved in organized sports for females. (I was a soph in college when Title IX was passed) The best I could hope for was the semi-organized community leagues which always took a backseat to the boys’ programs. As I have looked on in amazement at all that is available to girls’ sports these days, I have a sting in my heart that is both jealousy and disappointment that I couldn’t find an outlet for the athletic skills I possessed.
Back then I tried to come up with ideas for incorporating myself into the sports world by being a student of the games and by being a reporter for a small newspaper(which has now been bought out by the larger corporate newspapers). I was not making a living on those ambitions and had to come to the conclusion that sports would be my avocation and not a “real” job. I say all of the above just to say “Congratulations!” for seizing the opportunity to move up in the world of sports reporting and research. I will follow you closely, I promise!
By being a part of ESPN I just hope that your voice isn’t muzzled by the corporate higher ups. To me there seems to be an agenda by ESPN to highlight only the old timer college sports programs. There just seems to be information that is thrown out without any attention to facts. I hope you won’t be expected to change your story in order to satisfy someone else’s agenda. Too much integrity has been lost in the sports reporting world and ESPN seems to be the leader in that effort.
However, congratulations again! Good luck in your future endeavors!
Stone Fort
October 21, 2011Loved your site. Good luck with the new one. You say you won’t but you will. Once somebody is writing you a regular check your point of view changes. ESPN knows this. You’ve totally compromised yourself. Your just in denial.
Warren Bruhn
October 21, 2011Congratulations!
Incredulous...but happily Optimistic for you
October 21, 2011Wow. ESPN is the real deal and the industry leader and generally doesn’t half step initiatives. Given the lack of rigour and bounty of inaccurate analysis you’ve put out over time, shocked you landed this gig (but expect like everyone else in this space, people generally don’t pay deep attention to college sports reporting, so the efficacy hasn’t been stress tested).
Sure you’ll be fine if you shelve the SEC-homer gig and put in the hard – and unbiased – work needed. You can do it – 100%. Good luck, but know this is the Big Show now; shelve the tweets re: your workouts and dinners (amateurish), be a stickler(!) re: your data and analytics, etc. Go get ’em and here’s hoping the ESPN run is super successful (and unbiased and accurate in your analysis!).
frug
October 25, 2011Congratulations Kristi. Good luck!
gatorhippy
October 25, 2011Very cool…I have been referencing you piece on the most profitable sports programs for months now in online discussion…and was looking forward to an updated list this coming spring…hope those that follow you here will keep up the good work…
Great site…good move…hope you still put a little piece out here once and awhile…
Chip (@user7145)
October 29, 2011Congrats on your new position! Best of luck!
Nathaniel Kennedy (@2LEAGUE)
November 5, 2011Congrats!
Aukse
May 23, 2012Johnny 2 words, Eat More . I love following you guys on line. When is Conviction Crossfit comnig to Pueblo. Can’t warm up in the hot box for ever down here.