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The Athletic on A&M's recruiting spending spree
Posted on 4/27/22 at 10:47 am
Posted on 4/27/22 at 10:47 am
The Athletic
TLDR: NIL matters. Millions were spent. The $30,000,000 figure was bullshite. A&M big money donors worried about falling behind other schools in NIL.
quote:
The 12th Man Foundation, Texas A&M athletics’ fundraising arm, had put together this weekend celebration to launch a new capital campaign, and that seemed as good a time as any to answer a question: In the age of name, image and likeness (NIL) deals, when college football players can essentially be paid for any reason (except, oddly, for being football players), will donors still give to the athletic department for facilities and other expenses?
The weekend certainly answered that question as far as the Aggies are concerned.
The “quiet phase” of the $120 million Centennial Campaign* — which will fund a 140-yard indoor football practice facility, a new academic and nutrition center for all athletes and a new indoor track — netted $88 million in pledges to be paid over several years. As of Friday night, the 12th Man Foundation already had $27 million of that in hand. Shovels can go into the ground immediately on a group of projects estimated to cost $235 million by the time they’re completed.
quote:
But at the same time, some of the donors to the capital campaign met among themselves inside and away from the official program to discuss their roles as investors in what they, with tongues planted firmly in cheek, call “The Fund.” This is the marketing company — set up as a for-profit limited liability corporation — that manages NIL deals for Texas A&M athletes. In accordance with Texas law, it is not officially affiliated with the school or the athletic department. It is run by some of Texas A&M’s biggest donors, and as of Friday night, some of them were worried that they were falling behind the NIL collectives working on behalf of the rest of the big-money schools in the SEC.
quote:
Several investors in The Fund told The Athletic that while several members of the 2022 class did secure deals, the total numbers on the deals are in the low single-digit millions. Asked why they’d bother to correct an assumption that almost certainly would lead more recruits to consider Texas A&M, the answers were similar. They don’t want current players to feel shortchanged, and they don’t want future recruits to be disappointed when they learn the actual numbers. But make no mistake, they’re working to make those actual numbers larger.
TLDR: NIL matters. Millions were spent. The $30,000,000 figure was bullshite. A&M big money donors worried about falling behind other schools in NIL.
This post was edited on 4/27/22 at 10:49 am
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Posted on 4/27/22 at 10:50 am to Hugh McElroy
quote:
In accordance with Texas law, it is not officially affiliated with the school or the athletic department. It is run by some of Texas A&M’s biggest donors,
According to the NCAA, those people are officially affiliated with the school.
Posted on 4/27/22 at 10:52 am to 3down10
quote:
quote:
In accordance with Texas law, it is not officially affiliated with the school or the athletic department. It is run by some of Texas A&M’s biggest donors,
According to the NCAA, those people are officially affiliated with the school.
Oh, wow. Great point. You should call this in to the NCAA hotline.
Posted on 4/27/22 at 10:55 am to Hugh McElroy
quote:
A&M big money donors worried about falling behind other schools
Well, considering 1939 and all, clearly aTm has already fallen behind other schools big time.
Posted on 4/27/22 at 10:56 am to Hugh McElroy
quote:
Great point. You should call this in to the NCAA hotline.
Posted on 4/27/22 at 10:59 am to 1BIGTigerFan
Oh, and Florida aint messing around:
quote:
A day before the gathering in College Station, a group working adjacent to Florida announced that donor Hugh Hathcock was leading the charge to fund an NIL collective. This group, called the Gator Guard, would be a select group of high-dollar donors supplementing the work of the Gator Collective, which had been working to land and fund NIL deals for Florida players. Hathcock also helped answer the question of whether big donors would choose giving to the athletic department or to the NIL collectives. His answer is a resounding “both.” Earlier this month, Florida’s athletic department announced that Hathcock had pledged the single largest donation ($12.6 million) in the history of Florida’s athletic department. Darren Heitner, a Florida graduate and attorney who advises the Gator Collective and Gator Guard, told The Athletic’s G. Allan Taylor last week that the Gator Guard group had raised $5 million in less than a week.
Posted on 4/27/22 at 11:03 am to Hugh McElroy
quote:
The $30,000,000 figure was bullshite.
Always seemed too high.
Posted on 4/27/22 at 11:04 am to 3down10
Yes. It's explicitly against NCAA rules to use NIL to recruit, which is why the NCAA has already opened several investigations on schools.
Posted on 4/27/22 at 11:08 am to secuniversity
quote:
t's explicitly against NCAA rules to use NIL to recruit, which is why the NCAA has already opened several investigations on schools.
Wow! A&M and Florida and Texas and Ohio State and Alabama and UT and Texas Tech and LSU and lots of schools who have started these NIL funds are gonna be in some big trouble!
Posted on 4/27/22 at 11:12 am to Hugh McElroy
quote:
Oh, wow. Great point. You should call this in to the NCAA hotline.
They are already investigating you.
Posted on 4/27/22 at 11:13 am to Hugh McElroy
quote:
Wow! A&M and Florida and Texas and Ohio State and Alabama and UT and Texas Tech and LSU and lots of schools who have started these NIL funds are gonna be in some big trouble!
The everyone is doing it defense worked out really well for Ole Miss and LSU.
Smart move.
Posted on 4/27/22 at 11:14 am to 3down10
quote:
They are already investigating you.
Not what I heard. I heard Saban is getting ready to be hit with a show-cause for publicly using Bryce Young's million dollar NIL deal as a recruiting incentive for other quarterbacks.
quote:
"Our quarterback has approached ungodly numbers, and he hasn't even played yet," Saban said at the Texas High School Coaches Association convention, according to 247Sports. "If I told you what it is ... it's almost seven figures."
This post was edited on 4/27/22 at 11:16 am
Posted on 4/27/22 at 11:15 am to Hugh McElroy
quote:
Not what I heard. I heard Saban is getting ready to be hit with a show-cause for publicly using Bryce Young's million dollar NIL deal as a recruiting incentive for other quarterbacks.
Posted on 4/27/22 at 11:17 am to 3down10
You think Saban doesn't have to play by the rules? It's against the rules to use NIL deals as a recruiting incentive. Clearly, that midget bitch is getting ready to go down.
Posted on 4/27/22 at 11:18 am to Hugh McElroy
quote:
You think Saban doesn't have to play by the rules? It's against the rules to use NIL deals as a recruiting incentive. Clearly, that midget bitch is getting ready to go down.
Who are you trying to convince here?
Posted on 4/27/22 at 11:19 am to 3down10
quote:
Who are you trying to convince here?
That's what I was gonna ask you.
Posted on 4/27/22 at 11:23 am to 3down10
quote:
They are already investigating you.
shite, are we on double secret probation?
Posted on 4/27/22 at 11:24 am to Hugh McElroy
quote:
That's what I was gonna ask you.
I commented on the article in the OP.
You're butt hurt because you know I'm right.
Posted on 4/27/22 at 11:25 am to 3down10
quote:
They are already investigating you.
Link?
Posted on 4/27/22 at 11:26 am to Texaggie96
quote:
shite, are we on double secret probation?
You guys sound just like Ole Miss and LSU fans before they got popped.
Only you guys can't make up your mind if you want to troll for "being rich" or pretend like you aren't doing anything wrong.
This post was edited on 4/27/22 at 11:26 am
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