The advent of legal NIL has helped enrich top college football players, especially those at top programs like Ohio State. A new lawsuit alleges that a pair of media members on the Buckeyes beat tried to cash in as well.
A pair of longtime Ohio State beat writers, Austin Ward and Jeremy Birmingham—both of whom currently write for Rivals' Buckeyes vertical Dotting The Eyes—were fired by startup THE Media last week. The pair were among the hosts of THE Podcast, a daily Ohio State show, which posted its last episode on April 1.
According to a lawsuit obtained by The Rooster, a newsletter covering the state of Ohio, THE Media accuses Ward and Birmingham of obtaining and keeping money from unauthorized sponsorships for the podcast. In one case, they skimmed money from an approved sponsor that was supposed to go to Buckeye players to appear on the show, something both reporters have admitted, per the lawsuit.
"Despite public statements to the contrary, Defendants have conceded to THE Media, in writing, that Defendants accepted advertising and/or sponsorships that included compensation that was not remitted to THE Media," the filing reads. "Ward has also conceded that Defendants retained advertising and/or sponsorship funds that were exclusively intended as athlete compensation.
"In another contradiction to Ward’s public statements and claims and in contravention of their promises to THE Media, Birmingham acknowledged in writing that Defendants have, in fact, retained advertising funds or sponsorship funds that were positioned to the Company as exclusively intended for compensation for athletes appearing on THE Media. Specifically, Birmingham conceded in writing that certain 'advertisers paid Austin Ward, who—after paying players that appear on those shows with us—paid 1/3 of the remaining amounts to himself, [unnamed third-party name], and me.'”
THE Media accuses both reporters of breach of contract, civil theft and unjust enrichment. Ward is accused of defamation for posting to Rivals that, "It has been clear for quite some time that the ownership did not want to continue funding the project," and that the company planned to paint he and Birmingham as "villains" despite breaching its contract with them.
Birmingham is also accused of computer trespass and computer invasion of privacy for accessing his company email after his firing.
In a statement posted to X on April 4, days after he was fired but before The Rooster published the lawsuit, Ward denied the allegations of theft.
— Austin Ward (@AWardSports) April 4, 2025
Responding to a reply to the statement, Ward said, "Nobody pocketed anything. The sponsorship money was paid to The Podcast in its entirety."
Technically it was paid to the ownership of THE Podcast, which is THE Media. No NIL payments were involved, and the entire amount that was agreed on by the company was dispersed to THE Media in its entirety. https://t.co/wTF5tXP8sY
— Austin Ward (@AWardSports) April 4, 2025
Birmingham hasn't put out a full statement of his own, but replied to a now-deleted post on X that was about the allegations, per Awful Announcing, in which he called them "patently false and libelous."
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Ohio State Writers Admitted to Skimming Funds Intended for Players, Lawsuit Says.
