Big Red Business: Jordy Bahl Inc. is all business
Jordy Bahl can do it all on the softball field – pitch, hit, run, and field her position. Off the field, she has the potential to be just as much of a juggernaut but with blue-chip value.
She’s been called a “generational force” for Husker softball. Fans are already talking about the “Bahl Effect” on the Cornhuskers’ good but not great softball program.
RELATED – Pitcher Jordy Bahl a “generational force” for state of Nebraska and the Huskers
Others refer to her as the Caitlan Clark of women’s softball, a reference to the Iowa Hawkeye basketball player who captured the attention of basketball fans nationwide with her shooting touch during Iowa’s recent NCAA title run.
How about this new tag: Jordy Bahl Inc.
The Papilian native and 2023 Most Outstanding Player in the Women’s College World Series, is among the top five college softball players regarding her $62,000 in earnings power, according to On3’s Name Image and Likeness valuation. Among all women college athletes, she’s ranked 44th in NIL.
She has about 85,000 social media followers and partnerships and completed deals with regional and national brands.
In the days since Bahl officially transferred her multiple softball skills to the Cornhuskers from Oklahoma – where she played a leading role in helping the Sooners win two national championships in her two years there – inquiries for Nebraska softball season tickets have soared to over 3,000. So much interest that athletic director Trev Alberts has talked about expanding the capacity at Bowlin Stadium, which seats about 2,500 fans but has ample space for expansion. There are only 750 reserved chairback seats, with the rest being general admission burm seating.
In addition, retailers that sell Husker gear are designing and ordering new lines of softball apparel and just about anything else that you can slap a softball sticker on.
The Nebraska native has started making the rounds at meet-and-greet appearances. She signed autographs at the College World Series, and is scheduled to mingle with Omaha Storm Chasers fans on Monday in a holiday fireworks event sponsored by Hy-Vee.
NIL Potential
The real opportunity for Bahl to cash in her talent should come once she transfers her name, image, and likeness status from the Sooners Crimson and Cream collective to presumably Nebraska’s 1890 collective, That’s partly because retailers can’t slap her name on a jersey, for example, until she is qualified under Nebraska’s licensing collective.
To say the least, “we think she might turn out to be a popular NIL person,” said Mike Osborne, owner of Best of Big Red, the Lincoln-based Husker merchandise store.
Osborne said that the retailer’s two most popular NIL jersey sales for all sports are basketball player Keisei Tominaga and women’s volleyball star Lexi Rodriguez. “No one else is even close to those two,” Osborne said.
But that could quickly change “once we know (Bahl’s) status with NIL,” added Joey Rupp, general manager of Best of Big Red. Matt Davison of the 1890 Initiative could not be reached for comment.
For perspective, at Oklahoma, Bahl and two of her teammates reported NIL valuations ranging from $46,000 to $62,000
Bahl had partnerships with about a dozen companies, including Nebraska Furniture Mart, Scooters Coffee, H&R Block, Academy Sports, and Love’s Travel Stops. Some of these companies, especially those with Nebraska ties, would presumably move their partnerships with Bahl from Oklahoma to Nebraska.
While Bahl stands to be a money generator for her own bank account, she’ll also add visibility to Nebraska’s women’s softball program and to the sport in general throughout the state.
Bahl has said one of her reasons for returning to her home state was to be a role model for encouraging young girls to play softball and other sports. A dollar value can’t be placed on what that means.
Red hot revenue
Some would say Nebraska football used to be the hottest ticket in town. Now it’s women’s volleyball. Can softball rise to the top?
Consider that since Bahl’s announcement that she’ll spend the next two years in Lincoln, the athletic department has received requests for over 3,000 season tickets.
Last season, there were 365 seats sold as season tickets, said athletic department spokesman Keith Mann. (Those 365 tickets are not included in the wait list number.)
Average attendance at Bowlin Stadium in the just completed 2023 season was 1,000 per game, the second time in school history that attendance has hit that mark. Nebraska ranked 23rd nationally in average softball attendance, Mann said. Only five schools averaged at least 2,000 fans per game in 2023.
Mann said season ticket prices for 2024 have yet to be determined, but undoubtedly, Bahl’s arrival should generate a substantial boost in revenue for the athletic department.
Will Bowlin be expanded? “There’s already been discussions about how we can accommodate as many fans as possible,” with temporary bleachers, or more berm seating among the possibilities, Mann said.
“With the excitement around the program, we are certainly looking at ways to accommodate as many fans as possible next season at Bowlin Stadium,” Mann said.
On the racks
Shortly after Bahl’s transfer to Lincoln became official, Best of Big Red’s Rupp scoured the internet looking for fresh merchandising ideas to boost business in women’s softball apparel.
Rupp said one new softball design is already in the works – a softball tee shirt featuring a yellow softball. Rupp said she placed an initial order of 72 pieces expected to hit the shelves soon. (Keep in mind, softball is a spring sport.)
Other apparel lines are planned, including youth shirts, Rupp said. Nebraska softball car decals are expected to be popular too, along with “about anything else we can put a sticker on,” Rupp said. The same with hats, and softball flags.
Asked whether she carries any Bahl Oklahoma Sooners apparel, Rupp said jokingly, no, “but I bet I could sell it if I had any.”
Football, of course, generates about 70 percent of Best of Big Red’s annual revenue, Rupp said, while softball is not a high revenue line for the company.
“It’s not a sport in high demand,” for jerseys and other merchandise, Rupp said, “but we’re about to find out if that’s changed.”
Refresh, refresh
Randy Farwell, the co-owner of Cornborn, said Bahl’s move to Nebraska serves as a “catalyst to refresh” the online retailer’s softball offerings.
“It’s pretty high on our to-do list,” Farwell said.
Refreshing means new artwork and designs beyond the two or three softball items in its current line-up, he said. “It highlights the fact that there’s something going on here” with women’s softball, he added.
The analytics count
If you want to know how one player can impact the image and interest in a sport, look at Iowa and star basketball player Caitlin Clark, the National and Big Ten Player of the Year
Clark led the Hawkeyes to the national championship finals – quite a run that ended with the loss to LSU. But along the way, television ratings soared, the same with social media followings.
Iowa’s athletic department released to Husker Online a draft of a report that highlighted the Hawkeye record-breaking analytics measures for social media, the program’s website, and television viewership during the season and the March Madness run.
For example:
*Iowa was one of three women’s basketball programs to host ESPN’s College Basketball Gameday.
*Iowa’s game against conference rival Indiana in February was the most watched women’s basketball game in Big Ten Network history.
**Iowa’s national semifinal game against South Carolina attracted 5.5 million viewers – third-best all-time. The championship attracted 9.9 million, a new record.
*The national title game was the most-watched women’s basketball game of all time.
*Iowa was second nationally in total attendance this past season.
In addition, the report said the social media numbers on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for Iowa’s women’s program increased the entire season and set records during the NCAA tourney. The website broke engagement records for time spent on the site.
Clark’s contribution to those records can’t be overstated, as the numbers show the impact one star player can have on earnings power for the school and the athletes’ coffers.
Clark is ranked No. 42 nationally among all college female athletes, with a valuation of $796,000, along with 969,000 social media followers. She’s back for another season, by the way.
The softball season is a long ways away, and anything can happen to dampen the hype surrounding Bahl. But for now, her earnings impact seems ready to follow the trajectory of a high-tech growth stock.
Steve Rosen writes about the business of sports for HuskerOnline. Reach him with questions comments, and story ideas at sbrosen1030@gmail.com.
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