The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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THE BUSINESS OF MICHIGAN ATHLETICS Woodson Gets A Nod On Jumpman Deal Michigan created a stir in mid- August, when Michael Jordan an- nounced the Wolverines as the first college football entity to bear his Jumpman logo. Now, a former Wol- verine gets a little credit. U-M Interim Director of Athletics Jim Hackett swung the $169-million deal with Nike but wasn't all that familiar with Jumpman, the Jordan Brand uniform. A U-M Heisman Tro- phy winner filled him in. Charles Woodson, who spear- headed Michigan's drive to the 1997 national championship and has en- joyed an 18-year NFL career, pointed Hackett in that direction, the AD ac- knowledged. "Whatever you've read in the writ- ings, Charles Woodson gave me the idea about Jordan," Hackett told The Wolverine. "I'm publicly thanking him. He knows because I've talked to him 10 times about it. "At first I said, 'You mean for bas- ketball?' He goes, 'No, for football.' I said, 'Really,' and he responded, 'Oh, yeah.' I called him back two days later and said, 'Really? I'm about to go to Nike. I want to understand. I'm going to talk to their CEO about this.' "He was spot on. Now that I'm in it, it was brilliant. Jim [Harbaugh] is geeked about it, the players are geeked about it." Woodson and fellow former Michi- gan standout LaMarr Woodley both wear Jordan Brand Nike gear in the National Football League. Hackett, TOP 10-RATED REGULAR-SEASON TELEVISED COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAMES OF 2014 Rating, Viewers (millions) Game 7.9, 13.25 Notre Dame-Florida St. 7.4, 13.53 Auburn-Alabama 6.4, 10.27 Mississippi St.-Alabama 5.4, 8.74 Florida State-Miami 5.3, 9.11 Alabama-LSU 5.1, 7.95 Florida-Alabama 4.9, 8.23 Michigan-Ohio State 4.5, 7.34 Clemson-Florida State 4.4, 7.21 Texas A&M-Auburn 4.1, 6.77 Georgia-South Carolina 4.1, 6.54 USC-Stanford Source – sportsmediawatch.com EYES ON THE SOFTBALL Softball has proven a ratings winner for ESPN with the 2015 Women's College World Series — featuring Michigan and Florida — topping the men's baseball Col- lege World Series by 31 percent in viewership. The three games between the Wolverines and the Gators drew an average audience of 1.4 mil- lion, including 1.665 million for the final contest. Additionally, the opener in the championship se- ries produced the most-watched WCWS Championship Finals Game 1 ever, according to tvby- thenumbers.zap2it.com. The second contest provided college softball's highest over- night rating in eight years.