History Of The Turkey Leg 🍗

PLUS The Gap In NIL Earnings, The Man Behind Bryce Underwood’s Flip, Sports Illustrated NFL Power Rankings

November 27, 2024

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

  • History Of The Turkey Leg

  • Another Big Move In E-Sports

  • The Gap In NIL Earnings

  • The Man Behind Bryce Underwood’s Flip

  • Sports Illustrated NFL Power Rankings

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History Of The Turkey Leg

There is no Thanksgiving football without the turkey leg trophy.

How did this tradition start?

They should get a turkey leg.

Eagles linebacker Reggie White became the first recipient after leading a 27-0 shutout of Dallas.

The tradition evolved in 1990 when Madden wished he could give legs to Cowboys star Emmitt Smith and his entire offensive line. Texas barbecue pit owner Joe Pat Fieseler rose to the challenge, creating a legendary six-legged turkey (using some creative woodwork, not radiation from a nearby nuclear plant).

Fun fact: This tradition sparked another Madden innovation – the turducken (a chicken inside a duck inside a turkey), which he famously introduced during a 1997 Bears-Lions broadcast after discovering it through the Saints' PR team.

But the turkey leg remains the prize for NBC's Thanksgiving game MVPs.

Another Big Move In E-Sports

STAN is a Web3 platform connecting gaming creators with fans through digital collectibles and exclusive communities, and powers up Nazara's growing portfolio. STAN's already impressive with 12 million users and $1.8 million in turnover as of March 2024.

Founded in 2022, STAN caught attention with a $2.7 million funding round in January from Aptos Labs and Maelstrom Fund. The platform's CEO Parth Chadha sees Nazara's investment as a "major boost" to reshape gaming communities.

The Gap In NIL Earnings

All we see in headlines are future star athletes collecting gigantic NIL checks. But it’s not the same story for the majority of college athletes.

Here's a breakdown of the NCAA's latest NIL data, showing a significant gap between the stars and average athletes.

The average NIL deal across all sports is worth $2,072 with the median as only $87 – showing how top earners (mainly football and men's basketball players) skew the numbers. In fact, over half of all NIL deals are under $100, and nearly 80% are under $1,000.

Swimming's numbers tell an interesting story:

Median deal: $75
Average deal: $376
Median total earnings: $191
Average total earnings: $1,176

Like other sports, swimming has its outliers (think Leon Marchand and Gretchen Walsh) pushing averages higher. But over 95% of swimmer deals are under $1,000, though some top athletes land five-figure social media deals and $5-10K appearance fees.

For perspective, the median football player earns $843 and basketball player $4,875 in NIL money – significantly more than swimmers' $191 median earnings.

The Man Behind Bryce Underwood’s Flip

Here’s the story. Portnoy got on a conference call with billionaire Larry Ellison's wife Jolin, and decided they were tired of seeing Michigan lose. They needed to do something drastic.

Champions Circle chairman Nate Forbes publicly thanked the Ellisons for their "invaluable guidance and financial resources" in keeping the Michigan native home. The timing couldn't be better as Michigan prepares for their showdown with No. 2 Ohio State, looking to extend their winning streak over the Buckeyes.

The move helps soften the blow of losing 2025 recruit Carter Smith to Wisconsin and shows how Michigan is using its NIL muscle to compete at the highest level.

Oh and Underwood already has a Black Friday merchandise collaboration with Barstool in the works.

Sports Illustrated NFL Power Rankings

Just in time for Thanksgiving, Sports Illustrated released their current NFL power rankings.

The number one spot might surprise many. The Detroit Lions, who have been comically horrible for so long, are now ranked #1 in SI’s power rankings.

The Lions are taking on the Bears tomorrow in their annual Thanksgiving Day game. They have the early slot at 12:30 PM ET.

Enjoy the game while you’re enjoying your turkey.

Internships 🙋

1. Creative Content Intern - Graphic Design-Temporary - The Creative Content Intern responsibilities and opportunities may include, but are not limited to: supporting TCU Athletics marketing, communications and the creative content department with graphic design materials. This position will help develop and maintain the TCU Athletics brand. This is a one-year internship with a start and end date.

2. Sports Administration & Event Management Internship Summer 2025 - To provide amateur sports opportunities to Minnesota residents and to generate out-of-state economic impact through amateur sports events and programs

3. Spring 2024 Intern - Dividend Sports - Dividend Sports is seeking a highly motivated, organized, and enthusiastic individual interested in learning more about the talent representation business. This internship offers students the opportunity to gain firsthand experience in various areas within Dividend Management, focusing on talent representation in sports.

4. Sports Consulting Intern - Playfly Sports is looking for a Sports Consulting intern to join our team in New York, NY and work collaboratively across our Property Consulting, Brand Consulting, Valuation and Experiential verticals.

5. Intern, Social Media, (Arizona Diamondbacks) - The Intern, Social Media role supports the coverage and engagement of the D-backs’ social media accounts in increasing brand awareness, growing fan engagement, improving marketing efforts, and creating engaging content.

Job Board 💰

1. Basketball Scout - Score Spotter, A worldwide leading sports data supplier is looking for passionate individuals to be the driving force behind the accuracy and speed of sports data at the college level. Their goal is to fill every college basketball venue this upcoming season with Scouts to capture scores and real-time game information.

2. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL STRATEGY - The Associate Director of Digital Strategy will assist in the ideation and execution of creative content for web, social media, mobile app and other digital and online projects towards the goal of generating incremental revenue and enhancing fan engagement and brand affinity. Oversee ICA’s digital and multi-media libraries.

3. Assistant Director of Marketing and Fan Engagement - The Assistant Director of Marketing and Fan Engagement is responsible for developing and implementing marketing strategies to promote attendance and overall brand growth for Lion Athletics.

4. Coordinator, Trading Cards, Memorabilia & Hardlines Partnerships - The Coordinator of Trading Cards, Memorabilia, and Hardlines will play a key role within the Consumer Products Licensing team. This role will support the successful development of officially licensed trading cards, memorabilia and hardlines products on behalf of OneTeam’s roster of licensed properties.

5. Sport Sponsorships & Event Consulting - Sponsorship Marketing and Sales Coordinator will be assigned to work on selling 3-4 clients. Coordinator will work with the SSEC Management to create a sales plan for each client and then execute that sales plan.

Thanks for reading - see you soon!