Some pretty blunt assessments from Jim Mora

[Scoe]

"Just get more donors" is like saying "just plant a money tree!!"

I'm sure the university is doing plenty of outreach. We just don't have the same culture in Connecticut as other parts of the country. You can't change the culture of an entire region.

Excuses excuses

 

[Patman]

look, we cant count on mega-businesses to pour money into NIL. That's not how they advertise. At best you can get them to buy a box. NIL comes from uberpocketed fans.

 

[Chin Diesel]

That is not how NIL works. No large public corporation is going to donate to a slush fund to pay athletes. Who are the NIL backers? Generally, rich individuals who may own a company who are fans/alumni of the university. And, Dave Benedict is not out there directly raising money for NIL. Generally, there are collectives that are raising money and directing NIL money to players with some sort of collaboration with the school even though that is not allowed today, but it seems will change soon.

NIL was originally expected to be for mega stars like Paige Bueckers, as she can get promotional deals with Gatorade, Nike, etc to PROMOTE their products. NIL now includes paying players for playing for the school which is kind of mission drift, but it is the reality.

What about UConn NIL collectives? To my knowledge, there are 2:

1) Bleeding Blue for Good: Connects UConn athletes with charities and pays the athletes for their time.

2) D'Amelio Huskies Collective: Provides financial opportunities for athletes.

We probably need a 3rd collective that raises money and basically pays players. I think for a football team like UConn, we need $1.5 million in NIL per year: $100k for a QB, $30k for starters, $10k for back ups, $5k for rest of roster, $300k pool for special players.

#3 is the legalized version of hiring players to "work" at a car dealership or similar. It's either a no-show job or they show up for promotional appearances and get compensated way above market value for their time.

 

[Kolumbo]

There must be a way to parlay all of the college and NBA hoops success into fund raising for football, if it hasn't been considered by now. Texas guys like Voskuhl and Okafor would certainly see the value. Create some type of hoops alumni investment fund to start. They could invest and raise money with promotions and get UConn alumni to invest.

Meanwhile, came across this Student Managed Fund

Home | Student Managed Fund

The Student Managed Fund The Student Managed Fund was established in 2000 to provide University of Connecticut students in business with an opportunity to g ...

smf.business.uconn.edu

 

[JMick]

There must be a way to parlay all of the college and NBA hoops success into fund raising for football, if it hasn't been considered by now. Texas guys like Voskuhl and Okafor would certainly see the value. Create some type of hoops alumni investment fund to start. They could invest and raise money with promotions and get UConn alumni to invest.

Meanwhile, came across this Student Managed Fund

Home | Student Managed Fund

The Student Managed Fund The Student Managed Fund was established in 2000 to provide University of Connecticut students in business with an opportunity to g ...

smf.business.uconn.edu

There's no ROI for people donating towards NIL unless you're a crazy superfan. If you're a company there's no ROI. If you just want to donate your money for something tangible then it seems like the money is just going poof. It's really not an easy sell unless you're obsessed with the team.

 

[ZooCougar]

Exactly. FB is not the most important thing in the world.

It is the most important thing in college sports.

 

[ZooCougar]

There's no ROI for people donating towards NIL unless you're a crazy superfan. If you're a company there's no ROI. If you just want to donate your money for something tangible then it seems like the money is just going poof. It's really not an easy sell unless you're obsessed with the team.

Every month a conservation group that I support charges a modest 15 bucks on one of my credit cards and they go use it to do whatever.

The only ROI I get cones tax time and believing that that I am helping a cause.

For crowdsourcing NIL you are right.

For big donors and businesses the only real payofff is the athlete is marketable and very few are.

Pretty soon alll of these athletes will be employees and there will be revenue sharing. A bunch of athletic departments will go kaput. It’s coming.

 

[Rdkid]

There will be a shift in the ask in donations. Less toward general donations to a specific sport, more towards NIL. All this money is not coming from people with gobs of money. We’re not trying to compete with Alabama, but G5 teams right now. The shift is already happening. Small and medium donors can do this today just like they already do to boost general budgets. People who want to see football succeed can give right now and the money goes to select players. It is not only the super rich folks’ initiative to get this done. All fans of winning programs are asked to give and give - that is what separates them. As stated previously, the collectives are open for business. It may feel dodgy, but it being identified as crucial to football’s survival. And it is not somebody else’s responsibility if you want your chosen sport to thrive.

 

[HCCForever]

There will be a shift in the ask in donations. Less toward general donations to a specific sport, more towards NIL. All this money is not coming from people with gobs of money. We’re not trying to compete with Alabama, but G5 teams right now. The shift is already happening. Small and medium donors can do this today just like they already do to boost general budgets. People who want to see football succeed can give right now and the money goes to select players. It is not only the super rich folks’ initiative to get this done. All fans of winning programs are asked to give and give - that is what separates them. As stated previously, the collectives are open for business. It may feel dodgy, but it being identified as crucial to football’s survival. And it is not somebody else’s responsibility if you want your chosen sport to thrive.

I wish I could argue with you but I can't. This has taken much of the fun out of college sports especially football and UConn football in particular for me. But it is the new reality and time for all to donate.

 

[uconnric]

Excuses excuses

Reality reality.

 

[SuperHuski]

Everyone is talking NIL lately. I can tell you that the high school kids here in TX are definitely caring about NIL. I would go so far as to say it's #1 in their list of reasons as to which school they potentially commit to. Many of these kids aren't going to make it to the pros. College is their only chance to make money.

I sincerely hope and would assume that UConn is working on something. But, for a lot of schools, the energy and initiative is coming from non-university members. That's the thing about NIL, it has to be via outside partnerships.

With Texas, there's was no shortage of loud voices that wanted to spend, spend, spend. In the early days, there was a bit of a fracture until they decided to work together and form Texas One. It's a pretty smart initiative IMO. Lots of huge corporate donors are sponsors of it.

Texas One pays all athletes via non-profit donations. Kids are paid to "promote" and/or "work" with non-profits. The compensation could be anything or any amount. Besides the usual one-off donations, you can pay monthly, you can even pay with stocks!

Anyway, Texas One is just one blueprint. (A blueprint that generates 10s of millions in NIL.) Here's a list of 20 more. Too lazy to read through that article? I got you:

• Oregon has Division St. Major focus on custom merchandise. Things like team branded shoes and apparel, Beats headphones, art, and AirBnB decorations. Sabrina Ionescu is the face of it.
• Florida has Florida Victorious (formerly Gator Collective). Besides merch, they list out all the different all-access packages you can purchase. From $500 to $60,000 per year. For the poor among their fanbase, there's the 96 Club package which has "content" and small stuff for $96 a year. Probably the most impactful thing this collective does is help out the family of the players, like pay off medical bills or buying a new car for the player's mom. They did this for Colts QB, Anthony Richardson.
• Ohio State has The Foundation. Events, merch, experiences. Things like golf with players and/or coaches. Autograph merch is nice.
• Texas Tech has The Matador Club. They pay 100 football player a minimum of 25k.

There's more, but that's more or less the framework. Personally, this is all kinds of weird to me. It kinda, sorta doesn't seem like it's about academics and school anymore...

 

[BlueandOG]

Everyone is talking NIL lately. I can tell you that the high school kids here in TX are definitely caring about NIL. I would go so far as to say it's #1 in their list of reasons as to which school they potentially commit to. Many of these kids aren't going to make it to the pros. College is their only chance to make money.

I sincerely hope and would assume that UConn is working on something. But, for a lot of schools, the energy and initiative is coming from non-university members. That's the thing about NIL, it has to be via outside partnerships.

With Texas, there's was no shortage of loud voices that wanted to spend, spend, spend. In the early days, there was a bit of a fracture until they decided to work together and form Texas One. It's a pretty smart initiative IMO. Lots of huge corporate donors are sponsors of it.

Texas One pays all athletes via non-profit donations. Kids are paid to "promote" and/or "work" with non-profits. The compensation could be anything or any amount. Besides the usual one-off donations, you can pay monthly, you can even pay with stocks!

Anyway, Texas One is just one blueprint. (A blueprint that generates 10s of millions in NIL.) Here's a list of 20 more. Too lazy to read through that article? I got you:

• Oregon has Division St. Major focus on custom merchandise. Things like team branded shoes and apparel, Beats headphones, art, and AirBnB decorations. Sabrina Ionescu is the face of it.
• Florida has Florida Victorious (formerly Gator Collective). Besides merch, they list out all the different all-access packages you can purchase. From $500 to $60,000 per year. For the poor among their fanbase, there's the 96 Club package which has "content" and small stuff for $96 a year. Probably the most impactful thing this collective does is help out the family of the players, like pay off medical bills or buying a new car for the player's mom. They did this for Colts QB, Anthony Richardson.
• Ohio State has The Foundation. Events, merch, experiences. Things like golf with players and/or coaches. Autograph merch is nice.
• Texas Tech has The Matador Club. They pay 100 football player a minimum of 25k.

There's more, but that's more or less the framework. Personally, this is all kinds of weird to me. It kinda, sorta doesn't seem like it's about academics and school anymore...

I totally agree with you. We MUST invest in an effective NIL system to recruit athletes. This will impact hoops too. Conferences, opponents, etc will all pale next to NIL for recruits.

 

[storrsroars]

Everyone is talking NIL lately. I can tell you that the high school kids here in TX are definitely caring about NIL. I would go so far as to say it's #1 in their list of reasons as to which school they potentially commit to. Many of these kids aren't going to make it to the pros. College is their only chance to make money.

I sincerely hope and would assume that UConn is working on something. But, for a lot of schools, the energy and initiative is coming from non-university members. That's the thing about NIL, it has to be via outside partnerships.

With Texas, there's was no shortage of loud voices that wanted to spend, spend, spend. In the early days, there was a bit of a fracture until they decided to work together and form Texas One. It's a pretty smart initiative IMO. Lots of huge corporate donors are sponsors of it.

Texas One pays all athletes via non-profit donations. Kids are paid to "promote" and/or "work" with non-profits. The compensation could be anything or any amount. Besides the usual one-off donations, you can pay monthly, you can even pay with stocks!

JMU appears to have modeled its NIL program after Texas One, although it's not all athletes being paid, just ones selected by their Board based on which sports are earmarked for funding.

I'm left wondering how I'd feel as a player if a guy whom I feel is no more talented than I am gets a better NIL deal than I did.

 

[Rdkid]

JMU appears to have modeled its NIL program after Texas One, although it's not all athletes being paid, just ones selected by their Board based on which sports are earmarked for funding.

I'm left wondering how I'd feel as a player if a guy whom I feel is no more talented than I am gets a better NIL deal than I did.

NIL distribution has to be well-articulated by the head coach to the degree he/she is allowed. Otherwise players/parents have their hand out for more than they deserve. It is cancer in the locker room. Non-revenue sports with partial scholarship coverage have been contending with this forever.

 

[KryHavok]

I'm left wondering how I'd feel as a player if a guy whom I feel is no more talented than I am gets a better NIL deal than I did.

The save as not getting enough salary at work: either you ask for more, or you leave for greener pasture. We're already seeing this.

 

[Kolumbo]

There's no ROI for people donating towards NIL unless you're a crazy superfan. If you're a company there's no ROI. If you just want to donate your money for something tangible then it seems like the money is just going poof. It's really not an easy sell unless you're obsessed with the team.

Of course. No one would give a crap about donating to an NIL unless they were obsessed with the team. That was pretty much a given. Here you get a chance to invest with NBA all-stars and be in the same investment fund. That's the sell.

 

[huskymedic]

-> Last word - Like Jim Mora’s passion, like his honesty and, generally, I feel like he’s done a good job at UConn despite the current record.

But he ventured into territory on his radio show this week that he needs to avoid.

Here’s was Mora told host Mike Crispino: “If you want to attract players that can beat the teams on our schedule, you’re going to have to pay them, and you’re going to have to pay them NIL money, and you have to increase their cost of attendance, and you have to give them better housing and give them better opportunities to earn money, and unfortunately right now we don’t have much of that. And I’m fearful for this program if that doesn’t happen, because the teams we’re tasked with trying to beat have those things and they can go attract players with money. We have great facilities, we have a lot of people around here that care, but without the money. … I look at those schedules in the future and I realize if we don’t get some money pouring into this program, some dark days are ahead.”

Here’s my take: There is truth in all of this, but this a terrible look. Mora said many of the same things last year, when the program was having a taste of success. Yes, UConn is going to need power conference resources to compete with those teams, and the day is bound to come when the university will have a much harder time competing even in basketball without such resources. No one should be angry the Huskies lost to NC State or Duke. It’s the losses to Florida International, in a game they were favored, and Utah State, in a game they led 17-0, that have sabotaged this season. UConn should have the resources to win games like that. And though no one knew exactly where NIL was headed two years ago, AD David Benedict, as was emphasized at the time, spent several days with Mora making certain he knew exactly what he was getting into at UConn.

When you’re predicting “dark days” for your own program, your recruiting is only going to become more difficult … unless, of course, you’re a coach looking for an exit ramp. <-

 

[storrsroars]

The save as not getting enough salary at work: either you ask for more, or you leave for greener pasture. We're already seeing this.

But you can leave your job at any time and start your new job tomorrow.

 

[husky8273]

That is not how NIL works. No large public corporation is going to donate to a slush fund to pay athletes. Who are the NIL backers? Generally, rich individuals who may own a company who are fans/alumni of the university. And, Dave Benedict is not out there directly raising money for NIL. Generally, there are collectives that are raising money and directing NIL money to players with some sort of collaboration with the school even though that is not allowed today, but it seems will change soon.

NIL was originally expected to be for mega stars like Paige Bueckers, as she can get promotional deals with Gatorade, Nike, etc to PROMOTE their products. NIL now includes paying players for playing for the school which is kind of mission drift, but it is the reality.

What about UConn NIL collectives? To my knowledge, there are 2:

1) Bleeding Blue for Good: Connects UConn athletes with charities and pays the athletes for their time.

2) D'Amelio Huskies Collective: Provides financial opportunities for athletes.

We probably need a 3rd collective that raises money and basically pays players. I think for a football team like UConn, we need $1.5 million in NIL per year: $100k for a QB, $30k for starters, $10k for back ups, $5k for rest of roster, $300k pool for special players.

how successful have 1 & 2 been?

 

[husky8273]

from today- How Rich Donors and Loose Rules Are Transforming College Sports - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

 

[huskymedic]

how successful have 1 & 2 been?

Seems to be working for MBB/WBB. Appears to have worked keeping key football players on the team during the post-season.

In this college environment, whatever the balance in the account is - it isn’t going to be enough for $uccessful across all sports.

 

[JMick]

-> Last word - Like Jim Mora’s passion, like his honesty and, generally, I feel like he’s done a good job at UConn despite the current record.

But he ventured into territory on his radio show this week that he needs to avoid.

Here’s was Mora told host Mike Crispino: “If you want to attract players that can beat the teams on our schedule, you’re going to have to pay them, and you’re going to have to pay them NIL money, and you have to increase their cost of attendance, and you have to give them better housing and give them better opportunities to earn money, and unfortunately right now we don’t have much of that. And I’m fearful for this program if that doesn’t happen, because the teams we’re tasked with trying to beat have those things and they can go attract players with money. We have great facilities, we have a lot of people around here that care, but without the money. … I look at those schedules in the future and I realize if we don’t get some money pouring into this program, some dark days are ahead.”

Here’s my take: There is truth in all of this, but this a terrible look. Mora said many of the same things last year, when the program was having a taste of success. Yes, UConn is going to need power conference resources to compete with those teams, and the day is bound to come when the university will have a much harder time competing even in basketball without such resources. No one should be angry the Huskies lost to NC State or Duke. It’s the losses to Florida International, in a game they were favored, and Utah State, in a game they led 17-0, that have sabotaged this season. UConn should have the resources to win games like that. And though no one knew exactly where NIL was headed two years ago, AD David Benedict, as was emphasized at the time, spent several days with Mora making certain he knew exactly what he was getting into at UConn.

When you’re predicting “dark days” for your own program, your recruiting is only going to become more difficult … unless, of course, you’re a coach looking for an exit ramp. <-

Yeah it's a bad look and quite honestly he should probably just quit if he's going to act like this. We know what the situation is, it's not changing, so get someone who thinks they can work with what we have.

 

[huskymedic]

Yeah it's a bad look and quite honestly he should probably just quit if he's going to act like this. We know what the situation is, it's not changing, so get someone who thinks they can work with what we have.

Mora is probably the most football media savvy coach we’ve had - my gut sez something happened over the bye week that provoked the timing of that sudden off script NIL/$ diversion. Haven’t figured out what yet.

Guess time will tell.

 

[JMick]

Mora is probably the most football media savvy coach we’ve had - my gut sez something happened over the bye week that provoked the timing of that sudden off script NIL/$ diversion. Haven’t figured out what yet.

Guess time will tell.

It could be a million things. Maybe we lost a recruit because someone made a bigger offer. Maybe he had a bad performance review. Maybe he has a bruised ego. Who knows.