Put (A Little) Money Where Your Mouth Is

[uconndogs]

It's very generous of Mr. D'Amelio to make this offer and for those who choose to participate. My sense is that NIL will drive consideration paid to players at top programs well into the millions per team. Competing at the highest levels will be based largely on access to funding for these NIL programs. As a broken record, this is unfettered professional athletics with just about unrestricted free agency. It's probably worse than that, because as best I can tell there are little if any regulations that can be enforced - so the wild west analogy seems about right.

That all said, it's not for me. I don't begrudge the kids making some money, but NIL as it's presently structured is going to put some real money in kids hands (and probably none at all in others). In my opinion, the millions should be shelled out by the NFL and NBA. In the realm of the ridiculous - it used to be that a coach or booster could get a program in trouble for buying a kid a steak. Now here we are.....

Total and complete lack of leadership and vision by the schools, athletic departments, coaches and NCAA. They all lined their pockets and now they've lost control.

 

[Palatine]

Here's the problem.

On X it says go to click for the Demilio site to donate, and then click the one time donation link. I did that.

There is no "one time donation" link on the Demilio site. There is a "one time investment" link.

I clicked the "investment" link. That lead to a site with dollar amount boxes. I clicked on one of those.

But once I did there is no football specific fund nor is there is a football specific matching fund.

So basically I have no idea if I would be donating to football or having that donation matched. It's a blind hole.

 

[Palatine]

You are saying the NBA guys haven't and won't contribute, correct?

Jim Calhoun had the attitude that the NBA guys had already contributed enough by playing at UConn, so he never reached out to them to become donors. True.

 

[Bongo Fury]

I typically don’t tell people how to spend their money. It seems like former players still have pride in UConn especially BB. Wouldn’t be surprised if some are contributing.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Have previously donated most years to www.foundation.uconn.edu/fund/football/ and will continue to, but the times they are a changing.

Sent some to the NIL site, but am also interested in learning about other UConn NIL sites also supporting current and potential future Huskies' football, hoops, soccer and hockey athletes.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[AllHusky]

Jim Calhoun had the attitude that the NBA guys had already contributed enough by playing at UConn, so he never reached out to them to become donors. True.

Thats a shame. Assuming they invested wisely, 100k/year should be easy for those that played a few years.

 

[J187Money]

Have previously donated most years to www.foundation.uconn.edu/fund/football/ and will continue to, but the times they are a changing.

Sent some to the NIL site, but am also interested in learning about other UConn NIL sites also supporting current and potential future Huskies' football, hoops, soccer and hockey athletes.

So let me understand the options...

Bleeding Blue for Good - is a 501c3 because money will go to the players for services they perform for charities
D'Amelio collective - is NOT a 501c3 because they are just going to give money to players.

So as a fan - where do I get the most bang for my buck? What moves the needle in terms of making the football team better? Clearly the tax deduction angle on Bleeding Blue means I can put more $ in the hands of athletes for the same OOP cost - but what is actually going to be able to change the game? I imagine that D'Amelio's collective might have more weight over time?

I think like many here I want to help - but not sure what the best option is? Especially since I'm primarily concerned about football - doesn't feel like there is need to worry about hoops at this point.

 

[J187Money]

On another note - what is the expectation for the guys that quit to go in the portal earlier in the year - what are they expecting in NIL money elsewhere? $5K? $10K? $20K? Do we know? How far behind are we? None of those guys are elite players so they aren't getting big deals.

Understanding that the price of a 5* QB is something that UCONN isn't in the market for - but what do we need in order to be competitive for the type of player that UCONN would/should have been able to recruit with a good coach pre-NIL?

 

[LBird33]

Great question

 

[ZooCougar]

Here's the problem.

On X it says go to click for the Demilio site to donate, and then click the one time donation link. I did that.

There is no "one time donation" link on the Demilio site. There is a "one time investment" link.

I clicked the "investment" link. That lead to a site with dollar amount boxes. I clicked on one of those.

But once I did there is no football specific fund nor is there is a football specific matching fund.

So basically I have no idea if I would be donating to football or having that donation matched. It's a blind hole.

Someone just needs to get them this feedback.

But we really just need a Football only collective.

 

[LBird33]

On another note - what is the expectation for the guys that quit to go in the portal earlier in the year - what are they expecting in NIL money elsewhere? $5K? $10K? $20K? Do we know? How far behind are we? None of those guys are elite players so they aren't getting big deals.

Understanding that the price of a 5* QB is something that UCONN isn't in the market for - but what do we need in order to be competitive for the type of player that UCONN would/should have been able to recruit with a good coach pre-NIL?

 

[ynm99]

So let me understand the options...

Bleeding Blue for Good - is a 501c3 because money will go to the players for services they perform for charities
D'Amelio collective - is NOT a 501c3 because they are just going to give money to players.

So as a fan - where do I get the most bang for my buck? What moves the needle in terms of making the football team better? Clearly the tax deduction angle on Bleeding Blue means I can put more $ in the hands of athletes for the same OOP cost - but what is actually going to be able to change the game? I imagine that D'Amelio's collective might have more weight over time?

I think like many here I want to help - but not sure what the best option is? Especially since I'm primarily concerned about football - doesn't feel like there is need to worry about hoops at this point.

I would like to understand how money gets to a recruit? For example, a transfer wants 10k to come play for us. Does Moras then reach out to the collective to get them involved?

 

[temery]

Interesting site. Does show how much some players are make, but not necessarily the source.

Sort by position or sport.

College Basketball NIL Rankings

A ranking of College Basketball recruits. These rankings are based on the potential influence they have as an individual.

www.on3.com

 

[UConnJim]

So let me understand the options...

Bleeding Blue for Good - is a 501c3 because money will go to the players for services they perform for charities
D'Amelio collective - is NOT a 501c3 because they are just going to give money to players.

So as a fan - where do I get the most bang for my buck? What moves the needle in terms of making the football team better? Clearly the tax deduction angle on Bleeding Blue means I can put more $ in the hands of athletes for the same OOP cost - but what is actually going to be able to change the game? I imagine that D'Amelio's collective might have more weight over time?

I think like many here I want to help - but not sure what the best option is? Especially since I'm primarily concerned about football - doesn't feel like there is need to worry about hoops at this point.

I agree with you. I have struggled with both collectives (donated to both) and I'm not sure either is the best for UConn football. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that both collectives were formed and I support them, but I think we need a collective on a larger scale. I think a UConn booster club needs to be formed that fundraises for both the athletic department as well as NIL

 

[J187Money]

So if the average G5 NIL budget should be ~$1.75M based on the bell curve above, and there are ~105 players on UCONN's roster - so we are talking an AVERAGE of $17K/player. Obviously some would get nothing or next to nothing and others would deserve more, but it doesn't seem like that's an insurmountable amount of money for UCONN to be "in the game" with our competitive set.

 

[UConnJim]

So if the average G5 NIL budget should be ~$1.75M based on the bell curve above, and there are ~105 players on UCONN's roster - so we are talking an AVERAGE of $17K/player. Obviously some would get nothing or next to nothing and others would deserve more, but it doesn't seem like that's an insurmountable amount of money for UCONN to be "in the game" with our competitive set.

I wrote this back in September. Back then, I estimated UConn needed $1.5 million of NIL:

Just ball parking based on the Front Office Sports article, it seems UConn boosters should be targeting ~$1.5 million of NIL for football: 24 starters (21 O and D plus punter, kicker, LS) at $25k each comes to $600k, $250k for starting QB, $100k for back up QB, $300k extra for top performers, $250k for the rest of the roster.

 

[J187Money]

I wrote this back in September. Back then, I estimated UConn needed $1.5 million of NIL:

Just ball parking based on the Front Office Sports article, it seems UConn boosters should be targeting ~$1.5 million of NIL for football: 24 starters (21 O and D plus punter, kicker, LS) at $25k each comes to $600k, $250k for starting QB, $100k for back up QB, $300k extra for top performers, $250k for the rest of the roster.

That sounds about right. Would be great to understand where we are and what the gap is.

I know everyone wants to raise as much money as possible - but given the amount of money thrown around by the big schools - you don't want people to just give up because they think it wouldn't matter anyway. But if we knew that big donors / corporations were kicking in $1M a year as an example, and that the "fanbase" only needed to come up with $500K/year it might give us hope.

I hope one of the UCONN writers digs into this so we can see what we are looking at.

 

[LBird33]

That sounds about right. Would be great to understand where we are and what the gap is.

I know everyone wants to raise as much money as possible - but given the amount of money thrown around by the big schools - you don't want people to just give up because they think it wouldn't matter anyway. But if we knew that big donors / corporations were kicking in $1M a year as an example, and that the "fanbase" only needed to come up with $500K/year it might give us hope.

I hope one of the UCONN writers digs into this so we can see what we are looking at.

Not making fun of you but our UConn writers barely write about current events. More likely a UConn on campus student publication

 

[UConnJim]

That sounds about right. Would be great to understand where we are and what the gap is.

I know everyone wants to raise as much money as possible - but given the amount of money thrown around by the big schools - you don't want people to just give up because they think it wouldn't matter anyway. But if we knew that big donors / corporations were kicking in $1M a year as an example, and that the "fanbase" only needed to come up with $500K/year it might give us hope.

I hope one of the UCONN writers digs into this so we can see what we are looking at.

I think you identified the problem. What group/person leads NIL efforts at UConn and can communicate what we are doing and what needs to be done?

 

[husky8273]

Jim Calhoun had the attitude that the NBA guys had already contributed enough by playing at UConn, so he never reached out to them to become donors. True.

Agree with Pal's perspective. I believe Donyell once donated $100,000 publicly but cannot remember any others. Some may have done so without releasing the info.

 

[husky8273]

I think you identified the problem. What group/person leads NIL efforts at UConn and can communicate what we are doing and what needs to be done?

Jason Butikofer serves as Chief Operating Officer after arriving at UConn during in the summer of 2022. In this role, Butikofer provides day to day leadership of external relations, inclusive of development, National C Club, ticket operations/sales, marketing, creative/social media, strategic communications, and video services. In addition, Butikofer provides oversight of human resources, strategic initiatives, and the relationship with Nike, Learfield {corporate sponsorships}, and Taymar {ticket sales}; in addition to leading all department strategy related to NIL while at the same time providing sport oversight of the men’s basketball program and supervision of the staff responsible for the sport oversight football, women’s basketball, field hockey, women’s hockey & women’s tennis.

Jason Butikofer - Deputy Director of Athletics/Chief Operating Officer - Staff Directory - University of Connecticut Athletics

Jason Butikofer serves as Chief Operating Officer after arriving at UConn during in the summer of 2022. In this role, Butikofer provides day to day leadership

uconnhuskies.com

 

[huskymedic]

 

[UConnJim]

Jason Butikofer serves as Chief Operating Officer after arriving at UConn during in the summer of 2022. In this role, Butikofer provides day to day leadership of external relations, inclusive of development, National C Club, ticket operations/sales, marketing, creative/social media, strategic communications, and video services. In addition, Butikofer provides oversight of human resources, strategic initiatives, and the relationship with Nike, Learfield {corporate sponsorships}, and Taymar {ticket sales}; in addition to leading all department strategy related to NIL while at the same time providing sport oversight of the men’s basketball program and supervision of the staff responsible for the sport oversight football, women’s basketball, field hockey, women’s hockey & women’s tennis.

Jason Butikofer - Deputy Director of Athletics/Chief Operating Officer - Staff Directory - University of Connecticut Athletics

Jason Butikofer serves as Chief Operating Officer after arriving at UConn during in the summer of 2022. In this role, Butikofer provides day to day leadership

uconnhuskies.com

The university can have an oversight strategy for NIL, but they can not raise money for NIL or provide direct NIL support to athletes. Bleeding Blue for Good was set up to provide NIL to athletes for charitable opportunities, but the collective is not managed by UConn. I think Bleeding Blue for Good is a great idea, but I think the collective has limited scope and UConn needs something bigger. UConn needs a booster group unaffiliated to the university that raises funds for both the athletic department and for NIL. And, the booster club needs a high profile hard charging leader who can promote UConn athletics, rally the fan base, and raise money. Mora, Hurley, Geno, ... have enough on their plate, but they can be guest speakers at events, etc.

 

[J187Money]

Not making fun of you but our UConn writers barely write about current events. More likely a UConn on campus student publication

Well they like to write about what's wrong with the program - maybe they could help come up with a solution

(yes I'm dreaming lol)