In the fifth inning of Wednesday’s Women’s College World Series final, obstruction once again became a topic of conversation. Texas Tech challenged a play and argued the Texas defender obstructed the runner’s path to the base – and the umpires overturned the call.

ESPN announcers Michele Smith and Jessica Mendoza disagreed with the call and called it out after the umpires announced the overturn. Obstruction has been front and center throughout the WCWS, and that was the case once again during Wednesday’s game.

“I don’t know,” Smith said on the broadcast. “I don’t agree with that. I’m just going to say it. My opinion is that is not obstruction. We can’t take opportunities away from the players to be able to make the tag.”

Texas Tech softball P NiJaree Canady was awarded a $1,050,024 NIL deal to transfer this past off-season, and now “softball’s biggest name is taking her new team to the Women’s College World Series championship series for the first time in program history.” For Texas Tech, they “made history not only with their journey to the championship series, but also the investment to make it happen.” Canady’s one-year deal includes $1M in NIL money, $50,000 for “living expenses” and $24 “to represent her collegiate number.” No softball athlete has “ever reached a number this high.” The Red Raiders begin their championship series play tonight against Texas at 8pm EST on ESPN (FORBES, 6/3).

The Red Raiders advanced to the final series “thanks primarily to a risky investment made by a pair of Tech alums who had the money to pay the sport’s most dominant player.” By playing on ESPN in the World Series, this is “the rare instance when return will exceed the investment in an Olympic sport.” When Tech paid Canady $1M, “the offer said there are people who will pay six and seven figures to win the sport of their choice, even a niche one typically played in front of small crowds” (FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 6/4).

The “Lone Star State” WCWS final is “bound to be good for business.” Oklahoma City “can expect new tourists to flood the city” as both the Longhorns and Red Raiders “vie to make history.” There are “many graduates from both schools” who live in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, and “both schools are conveniently within driving distance.” According to Visit Oklahoma City, annual ticket data from the NCAA “shows that 60% or more of original WCWS purchases come from out-of-market.” According to official NCAA ticket seller AXS, as of yesterday afternoon, ticket prices for tonight’s matchup started at “$39 each in the right field bleachers, with the highest price being $1,189 each behind first base.” Meanwhile, “only resale tickets remain available,” as AXS and the NCAA released their allotment to the public early yesterday (CHRON.com, 6/3).

While he was Georgia Tech athletics director, J Batt placed an emphasis on fundraising. That’s also his background from his time at Alabama as deputy athletics director, where he took on a key role in revenue generation.

Now the AD at Michigan State, Batt reiterated the importance of fundraising. But amid uncertainty around revenue-sharing as the House v. NCAA settlement final approval process continues, he cited the need to be ready to shift plans if necessary.

Batt stressed the need to provide coaches with resources to compete at the highest level as he takes over in East Lansing. While the approach to fundraising is sure to shift with rev-sharing set to come to college athletics, he said alignment will be necessary to succeed – and he expects that will be the case.

“We are going to be extremely successful and competitive in that space,” Batt said during his introductory press conference. “We’re going to be intentional about providing all of our coaches the resources to be successful at a championship level.

“I’ll tell you, I believe as we head into the revenue-share – the post-House settlement [era], hopefully – what that requires will change, and how we approach that space will change. But I can tell you we’ll have a great plan. We’ll be united in that plan, we’ll be aligned in that plan from President [Kevin] Guskiewicz to our coaches to our board as we head into that era.”

If the House v. NCAA settlement receives final approval, schools will be able to directly share dollars with athletes. That de facto cap is set at $20.5 million for 2025-26 and will increase by 4% each year of the 10-year agreement.

With those budget increases, concern grew about the future of non-revenue and Olympic sports. A former college men’s soccer player at North Carolina, J Batt understands what they mean to an athletics department. He made it clear those sports will still be important at Michigan State as he looks for success not just in the revenue sports, but in every program.

“I see them as continually incredibly important,” Batt said. “We talk about, if opportunity is the key and the currency in our business, the revenue sports help drive. But at the end of the day, those Olympic sports, the non-revenue sports, they’re just as important.

“Success across the board is an important goal. This is a Top-10 athletic department and we’ll be successful.”