Private Equity Enters College Sports, Boras at Winter Meetings & Philip Rivers ReturnsOn 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