How worth it is storrs central?

[ZooCougar]

Questions about where the money goes and what is sustainable are totally legit.

I broke down and subscribed today. Was pleasantly surprised at the amount of content there.

Some of us might remember the totally AWFUL Rivals and Scout News sites. Rivals was decent for a brief period with Adam Gorney.

But SC is basically what you wanted Rivals and Scout to be. Only the money is going to UConn NIL instead of people that basically hated us like Mike Farrell.

This should be better and probably much better. Coaches are incentivized to provide info because it will help generate NIL and help their recruiting. Players should participate since they are “on the payroll” and helps them be more competitive on the field.

The Collective needs a crowdsourcing vehicle to translate access into value to give it that additional revenue stream. And they have access in heaps so this really should be kind of elementary.

If you look at Tennessee’s collective you have to pay $25 a month and you basically get vapor in return. I just don’t think that will fly.

 

[BBFGExecDir]

I don't understand how the money makes sense.

You have to pay the guy who comes on here (who's been at UConn all of half a year) imploring us to donate to UConn as a moral obligation, and then you need to pay the staff writers at least on a per article basis, then just the maintenance of the site in general. The money has to come from somewhere.

I am paid by BBFG and take $0 from Storrs Central. Sorry if I made it seem like a moral obligation--I'm just trying to be a cheerleader because I'm just trying to win. I convinced two of our BBFG donors to make additional investments of seed capital for Storrs Central to cover the expenses for the year.

 

[BBFGExecDir]

I subscribe for SC. My biggest question revolves around subscription numbers. It’s been voiced loudly that SC needs 5000 subscriptions long term (currently at 500-600) to keep UConn NIL competitive. My simple question is why? What difference is 5000 10$ subscriptions versus 5000 donations of 10 dollars or more. Besides that fact that subscriptions renew, if chosen to. I’d just like to know what makes SC imperative to UConn NIL versus the holistic approach to NIL

There is a chance that the IRS takes away 501(c)(3) status for non-profit NIL collectives, which would require a for-profit alternative. We needed to find the best "product" to sell. We have access, so we try to monetize access. Having this model allows us to engage with corporate sponsors, which I intend to make our primary revenue stream for NIL as soon as possible (you may have saw that FedEx is giving like $5m to Memphis' NIL effort). That's where we need to move. Companies will be able to advertise on the site (need subscribers for that to be worthwhile), in our email newsletters, at our fundraising events, at our charity events, and with UConn athletes, whereby I will be acting as a pseudo-agent on behalf of the athletes to get them money/endorsement deals with Connecticut companies.

Finally - with the total dollar amounts trending the way they are, and BBFG answering directly to the IRS, there is a limit on what we can pay per event and a worry that we can't hit the total dollar amount. For-profit collectives don't have those restraints and have infinitely more flexibility.

 

[BBFGExecDir]

Anything to support NIL is well worth it, but Storrs Central swung and missed big time by not partnering with the BY. Monthly subscription numbers would probably be double had they done that.

Never say never. We had the discussion with Tom. We decided to hold off out of the gate as the launch timeline was expedited to get it up in time for March. We're friends with Tom. Neither side ever permanently ruled it out.

 

[Gburyhusky]

In addition to the excellent insider-type scoops, some other examples of really good content right now on Storrs Central: well written long-form piece on Geno's early life and his beginnings in coaching; lengthy interview posted today with new football offensive coordinator; in depth film analysis of new basketball recruits. Definitely worth it!

 

[BBFGExecDir]

How much do you think that's realistically worth to an advertiser - to sponsor content on a site with 700 subscribers?

To me, the school really should have organized all efforts under one banner, as opposed to Storrs Central, D'Amelio's group, and Bleeding Blue for Good. Cut down on a lot of admin costs and actually get the most money towards the NIL for the athletes.

700 subscribers in one month of operation.

BBFG and Storrs Central can't legally be the same company as one is a non-profit and one is a for-profit. D'Amelio is D’Amelio. He's doing a different thing, he's a big name, and recruits love when he retweets them.

 

[BBFGExecDir]

You won't find a better site with direct access to each UConn team.

Thank you so much for this, Tom. Remain a huge fan of yours.

 

[BBFGExecDir]

I'd also add these two things:

1) I say every piece of inside information I'm allowed to say (plus some additional in the form of breadcrumbs)
2) RE: Other content... We did a Q&A with Cam Spencer on there where he answered questions from subscribers. Cam will be writing a Players' Tribune style article about his entire tournament run that will come out soon. We'll eventually start rolling out podcasts and videos with coaches, etc.

Doing our best. Sorry again if my approach came off as too pushy. Go Huskies.

 

[bigknight3]

Do you blame other fundraiser organizations for trying to convince you to "do your part"? Maybe you do, maybe you don't, but either way someone has to do that work. Funds do not raise themselves. If they hired Ray Allen to post a video saying the same exact things that Jared Thomas has said and you never even learned who Jared Thomas was, would you be as opposed to contributing?

I assume the site is not profitable yet, but sitting back and waiting for other people to make it profitable is also not helping the situation. If you can afford $100 a year and want to help NIL, subscribing to Storrs Central seems to be a good start. If you can afford more than that and want to help NIL, donating to Bleeding Blue for Good also seems to be a good way to help in a tax deductible way.

If anyone can't or doesn't want to spend the $100, no one is going to blame them for continuing to spend their time on the Boneyard and getting their information that way when it inevitably leaks out.

Eh, I'd have issue if fundraiser organizations come to another org that is already operating in that space, delivering similar services for free and then tried to explain to me why my paid subscriptions (plus 4,999 others) for those same services is so imperative...

 

[PlayItLeo]

FYI Jared from Storrs Central/BBfG tweeted on April 11th that they will start to take orders for 2024 autograph balls with the Back-2-Back logos on May 5th. There will be 300 available. Haven't seen anything else posted about it since, but I kept the screenshot in my phone as a reminder since I also want one.

FYI for anyone keeping tabs: