6A

1) Four opportunities

Economic Trends:

1. Online Gaming/E-Gaming
1. My fiance currently is an online gamer attempting to obtain some form of sponsorship to allow him to travel more and compete.
2. This opportunity exists due to the sponsors realizing there is a profiting opportunity by allowing these e-gamers to advertise for them while traveling.
3. The e-gamers would be the one to obtain this opportunity, most likely between the ages of 14- to mid twenties, possibly even older. This opportunity would be better suited for those in the middle or lower class, due to the upper class not needing these types of sponsorships to travel.
4. I believe the system can be monopolized if not regulated correctly, but due to the gaming culture and audience, I don’t believe it could be exploited easily.

I saw the online gaming community as an opportunity investment due to the rise of online gaming. When the game Fortnight came out, most people didn’t think much of it until a child won a tournament and became a millionaire overnight. After that, people started participating in online gaming events in hopes of earning extra income. 

2. “Smart” everything. Houses, phones, lights, etc.
1. Currently advertisements to upgrade to smart items are everywhere. Stores, social media platforms, and by word of mouth.
2. The opportunity to sell more smart items exists due to the increase of technology throughout the world and ability to manipulate and recreate these items for a reasonable price.
3. The customer targets would be middle and upper class, and people between the ages of 24 to roughly mid 40s. Most people past these ages aren’t particularly interested in the advancement of technology and believe in the conspiracy theories regarding too much technology in a home.
4. I do believe the systems can be exploited. Items can be made with cheaper manufacturing fees, thus lowering the quality of the items being sold. With the quality being reduced, there are advantages to those who are wanting to hack or manipulate these electronic programs in an illegal manner.

I notice with the increase of local advertisement for all “smart” homes and devices that there could be a great investment option in either technology, coding, malware, protection, social media platform partnerships and marketing. In all reality, with the rise of these options, there are plenty of opportunities with these devices alone.

Regulatory Changes:

1. Name and Likeness with the NCAA
1. Currently, the NCAA name and likeness information has been the highlight of any collegiate program. I was introduced to this in my first year of coaching Division I. 
2. The opportunity exists due to the athletes stepping forward and making accusations of income opportunities that are taken away by NCAA regulations.
3. The customer with the most opportunity would first be the athletes between the ages 18-22, possibly even into their late 20s. Next would be the athletic departments with the most recognizable programs such as University of Florida, Auburn, Alabama, etc. with high revenue sports.
4. Unfortunately, the system will be very easy to exploit. Currently, there are multiple conversations regarding the regulation of income to certain athletes for name and likeness, but seem to be struggling with the “fairness” between competitions. The extra income could be seen as a recruiting advantage to bigger colleges, and could be the main point of exploitation.

I think the investment option would be more primarily on giving back to the athletes. They are investing their entire college career into the sports the NCAA makes profit off of, so in turn we could also partner with said athletes to make both parties happy. By doing this we could even create more charity events and begin to push these athletes to make guest appearances to help promote in exchange for their time. 

(3) Why? This opportunity was brought forward by a gymnast from California when proving that due to the regulations in place by the NCAA, even though she went viral on social media platforms, she is unable to earn any revenue from her performances. Multiple athletes are stepping forward to explain how the NCAA is exploiting and using athletes to continuously fund their multi-billion dollar industry. The opportunity to create a new system for these athletes ultimately performing for the public would allow those who dedicate their time to their passions an opportunity to focus simply on the sport and school, instead of attempting to balance work, school and rigorous practices.

2. Professional Opportunities with the Expansion of the International Swimming League vs FINA’s operations
1. I discovered this opportunity while watching the ISL US tournament and off swimswam.com that showed that younger athletes would have to choose between going to college and swimming for the ISL.
2. An opportunity exist for younger athletes who are wanting to use the ISL funds to help pay their expenses for school
3. I think the customers are going to strictly be those between the ages of 14-18, or those still in high school.
4. Unfortunately, it isn’t very easy to exploit this time due to FINA’s regulations that rival the NCAA’s here in the US to defer athletes from being paid before going to college.

I see the investment in ensuring younger athletes are able to compete at a professional level as an opportunity for Team USA and olympic hopefuls. By promoting the option to compete at this level, you’ll have thousands of athletes pushing themselves even more so than before, which will ultimately turn into profit for club teams, high school sports programs and private sports organizations. This is something I work with on a daily basis, so this is almost constantly in the back of my head.