Notre Dame Flexing NIL Muscles 💰

PLUS NFL Christmas Gameday, Best Bets On Christmas, NBA On Christmas Day

December 24, 2024

Welcome to Office Chair Sports! Your home for everything Sports & Biz! Today, we’re covering top news about:

  • NFL Christmas Gameday

  • Best Bets On Christmas

  • Notre Dame Flexing NIL Muscles 💰

  • Tennessee Holds No. 1 Spot

  • NBA On Christmas Day

Conquer Winter in Style: Best Men’s Sneakers from Nike Air Max.

Winter is here, and it’s time to elevate your look while staying warm and comfortable. The Nike Air Max collection is perfect for the modern man ready to tackle the season. From the edgy Air Max Plus to the versatile AM1, these sneakers combine style with features designed to keep your feet happy all winter long.

Whether you're tackling holiday shopping or celebrating with friends, these kicks are your perfect companion. Find your ideal pair and effortlessly elevate your winter wardrobe this season.

Treat yourself or a loved one to a stylish pair from the collection this holiday season.

NFL Christmas Gameday

Looks like it’s going to be an NFL on Netflix Christmas this year.

Netflix is jumping in with two NFL games this Christmas and they're not messing around, booking both Beyoncé and Mariah Carey for the shows.

After pulling in 108 million viewers for the Paul-Tyson fight, plus grabbing WWE for $5 billion and the Women's World Cup rights, they clearly see sports are worth betting on.

For the NFL, this is their first worldwide game package, which is perfect timing as they're planning to play more games internationally next year. Netflix, with their massive global audience of 283 million subscribers, could be the perfect partner.

Sure, there were some tech hiccups during the Paul-Tyson fight, but Netflix is bringing in CBS to handle the game production and pulling talent from every major network. If it works out, don't be shocked if Netflix makes a bigger play for NFL games when the rights open up in 2029.

Best Bets On Christmas

FanDuel Research’s Jim Sannes just released a short podcast previewing the NFL’s two-game slate on Christmas day. 

Jim goes over his favorite bets including player prop bets. Check it out!

Notre Dame Flexing NIL Muscles 💰

Notre Dame's NIL collective just flexed some serious financial muscle, pulling in $20.5 million last year - nearly double what Texas' collective made.

The FUND Foundation, co-founded by former Irish QB Brady Quinn, paid out $5.12 million to Notre Dame athletes in 2023. They finished the year with $14.88 million in net revenue and $21.1 million in assets, but here's a plot twist: they're shutting down this month.

Why close up shop when the numbers look so good? They're transitioning to RALLY, a new for-profit collective launched in September. The move comes as regulatory agencies are taking a harder look at tax-deductible organizations paying NIL money to athletes.

Tennessee Holds No. 1 Spot

The college basketball rankings stayed pretty steady this week with minimal upsets. Tennessee keeps the top spot with 20 first-place votes, while Auburn stays at No. 2 with the other 11 votes. Iowa State rounds out an unchanged top three.

Kentucky took the week's biggest hit, dropping six spots to No. 10 after losing to Ohio State. The rest of last week's top 10 each moved up one spot, with Duke and Florida now at No. 4 and 5.

Some notable movement elsewhere:

  • Oklahoma jumps four spots to No. 11

  • Mississippi State climbs six spots to No. 19 after beating Memphis

  • Illinois, Baylor and St. John's return to the rankings

  • Michigan, Memphis and Dayton drop out

Purdue barely hangs on at No. 25 after sliding eight spots.

NBA On Christmas Day

Football isn’t the only sport you get to tune into on Christmas. After unwrapping all your presents, there’s a 5-game slate in the NBA for you to enjoy.

San Antonio Spurs at New York Knicks (12 p.m. ET)

Minnesota Timberwolves at Dallas Mavericks (2:30 p.m. ET)

Philadelphia 76ers at Boston Celtics (5 p.m. ET)

Los Angeles Lakers at Golden State Warriors (8 p.m. ET)

Denver Nuggets at Phoenix Suns (10:30 p.m. ET)

Internships 🙋

1. Intern, Corporate Partnership (St. Louis Blues) - The St. Louis Blues Corporate Partnership Intern will work closely with the Partnership team and gain hands-on experience through various tasks and projects.

2. 2025 Communications Internship - Columbus Crew is seeking a Communications Intern to support the Communications Department with daily media relations duties.

3. Baseball Reseach and Development, Intern (2025 Season-Baseball Operations), (Washington Nationals) - The Washington Nationals are seeking an intern to join our Baseball Research & Development team for the 2025 season. As an intern, you’ll work on developing and applying your data science skills to baseball, performing research on baseball questions under the close mentorship of a team member of Baseball R&D.

4. 2025 Summer Intern - Partnership Marketing - Located at the League Office Headquarters in New York City, the Summer Intern Program is a 10-week program that runs from June 3rd-August 5th. Interns will be a part of an inclusive culture that encourages teamwork and collaboration, values diversity and promotes creativity.

5. Marketing Intern (Indianapolis Colts) - The Indianapolis Colts are seeking a full-time Marketing Intern to help us run our marketing operations during peak times: May 2025 through end of the football season.

Job Board 💰

1. Partnership Activation Associate (Pittsburgh Steelers) - We are looking for a highly motivated individual with strong time management and organizational skills and the ability to produce high quality work to join the Steelers Corporate Partnerships team.

2. Consultant, Sales and Service (Florida Gulf Coast University Sports Properties) - Consultants serve as the primary liaison between current and prospective fans and donors and the Athletics Department, are responsible for renewing and growing all season ticket accounts, mini plan holders, group ticket relationships, and generating new business through upselling, cross selling, and referrals.

3. Junior Graphic Designer (Jacksonville Jaguars) - This role reports through the Marketing department to conceptualize, design, and produce visual communications that meet specific brand and goals of the organization.

4. Indiana Fever Athletic Performance Season Associate - Under the mentorship of the Head Athletic Performance Coach, the Athletic Performance Season Associate will support the administration of strength & conditioning programs for players.

5. Director of Athletic Marketing - The Director of Athletic Marketing reports directly to the Senior Associate AD for External and is responsible for the development, coordination, and implementation of the EKU athletics marketing objectives through comprehensive marketing plans.

Thanks for reading - see you soon!