So University of Texas fans recently announced a new foundation called the Carter Field Initiative I think.
I think they've got a $10MM amount already raised. And the plan is to pay out NIL deals to Texas athletes. What I had originally thought about NIL deals being a washing machine for donors to spend money directly on athletes has come to full fruition. It is not surprising that this has happened at UT which chronically overpays for under performance on the field.
What I don't know if this is an endowment with 10M in the bank and is meant to exist perpetually or if 10M is their annual expected donations. I think if annually that is incredibly hefty and would have to come out of the budget of UT's athletic department. And honestly if on the field results are the desired outcome it is probably money well spent.
Imagine if some donors came together and made a society which was a non-profit charitable organization. The spokespeople employed by the organization would deliver speeches at local K-12 schools and small youth athletic leagues aimed at youth who are at-risk etc. So the donations to said organization might even be tax deductible. The spokespeople regularly would attend events with donors. That level of access to these spokespeople and the inner workings of their unrelated activities outside of the society would be more entertaining than other competing organizations which give members a feeling of special attachment and knowledge of their spokespeople.
It would seem that going forward athletics at the official level will be funded by television contracts, student fees, and ticket sales. Official booster organizations will die on the vine. And organizations like the Carter Field Initiative will be the only option. This will be like the NFL without salary caps. In defense of NIL, I can say that it is dumb that we pay coaches $10M per year. If we are going to cap the athletes then we should also cap coaching salaries.
I also have thoughts about NIL deals and the headline numbers. Take Quinn Ewers for example. He supposedly got $1M to go to Ohio State for a year and is now in the transfer portal. If he was paid out $1M already then that was money wasted. However, I don't for a minute believe he was paid $1M. I believe that a lot of these dollar amounts we are seeing are total payments over many years and aren't guaranteed money. Perhaps some of these payments are based on a contract that extends 10 years and would last beyond the standard 4-5 year education period of an athlete. It's been a pretty common theme that Alabama QB's from the last 30 years show up at shopping malls to sign autographs etc. Like yeah bro you were a game manager QB for the team that won a national championship in 1992 and you got cut as an UDFA in the first week of training camp. But people still line up around the block at the Sand Mountain shopping center to shake your hand. So if we just formalize that agreement and extend it out for a long time we can make a jaw dropping headline number of $1M.
A smart NIL organization would do something similar to this and also make the contract payouts based on bonuses that can be forfeited. That is very much how it works in technology jobs. You are offered a large amount of money in the form of RSU's. The catch is that they don't vest until you reach so many years of employment. Since the NIL market is the free market, there's nothing to prevent this and would be incredibly wise for an organization. Employees would be protected because if they are released from employment at one of these NIL organizations while still increasing their brand awareness within a specific region, the word would get out and that organization would lose mindshare amongst potential future employees. That's a big no-no. But if an employee were to stop developing brand awareness within a specific region and were terminated, then prospective future employees would get the message that if you don't perform you will be terminated in an at will employment agreement.
I think they've got a $10MM amount already raised. And the plan is to pay out NIL deals to Texas athletes. What I had originally thought about NIL deals being a washing machine for donors to spend money directly on athletes has come to full fruition. It is not surprising that this has happened at UT which chronically overpays for under performance on the field.
What I don't know if this is an endowment with 10M in the bank and is meant to exist perpetually or if 10M is their annual expected donations. I think if annually that is incredibly hefty and would have to come out of the budget of UT's athletic department. And honestly if on the field results are the desired outcome it is probably money well spent.
Imagine if some donors came together and made a society which was a non-profit charitable organization. The spokespeople employed by the organization would deliver speeches at local K-12 schools and small youth athletic leagues aimed at youth who are at-risk etc. So the donations to said organization might even be tax deductible. The spokespeople regularly would attend events with donors. That level of access to these spokespeople and the inner workings of their unrelated activities outside of the society would be more entertaining than other competing organizations which give members a feeling of special attachment and knowledge of their spokespeople.
It would seem that going forward athletics at the official level will be funded by television contracts, student fees, and ticket sales. Official booster organizations will die on the vine. And organizations like the Carter Field Initiative will be the only option. This will be like the NFL without salary caps. In defense of NIL, I can say that it is dumb that we pay coaches $10M per year. If we are going to cap the athletes then we should also cap coaching salaries.
I also have thoughts about NIL deals and the headline numbers. Take Quinn Ewers for example. He supposedly got $1M to go to Ohio State for a year and is now in the transfer portal. If he was paid out $1M already then that was money wasted. However, I don't for a minute believe he was paid $1M. I believe that a lot of these dollar amounts we are seeing are total payments over many years and aren't guaranteed money. Perhaps some of these payments are based on a contract that extends 10 years and would last beyond the standard 4-5 year education period of an athlete. It's been a pretty common theme that Alabama QB's from the last 30 years show up at shopping malls to sign autographs etc. Like yeah bro you were a game manager QB for the team that won a national championship in 1992 and you got cut as an UDFA in the first week of training camp. But people still line up around the block at the Sand Mountain shopping center to shake your hand. So if we just formalize that agreement and extend it out for a long time we can make a jaw dropping headline number of $1M.
A smart NIL organization would do something similar to this and also make the contract payouts based on bonuses that can be forfeited. That is very much how it works in technology jobs. You are offered a large amount of money in the form of RSU's. The catch is that they don't vest until you reach so many years of employment. Since the NIL market is the free market, there's nothing to prevent this and would be incredibly wise for an organization. Employees would be protected because if they are released from employment at one of these NIL organizations while still increasing their brand awareness within a specific region, the word would get out and that organization would lose mindshare amongst potential future employees. That's a big no-no. But if an employee were to stop developing brand awareness within a specific region and were terminated, then prospective future employees would get the message that if you don't perform you will be terminated in an at will employment agreement.
