The “We Will” Collective

[Nycclone]

What Universities are actually profiting from athletics? Are there really ADs that have a positive bank account? It seems to me all of the money is put back into the facilities for the athletes, scholarships and facilities for the programs that don't make money. I will continue to put money into the University to continue to build up what will actually improve our team's ability to train, I won't pay a player to play. Every athlete should be able to teach others and get paid for that. They should get royalties on jersey's sold with their number. They should get money from any entity that wants to sell products on their name, image, and likeness. They should not get money from me to play for Iowa State.

They are non profit organizations. You can’t make a profit otherwise you lose your 501c3 status. Even if they had nothing to spend it on, they would find something to spend it on not to jeopardize the status.

To be clear, I’m more than happy to contribute to the collective. I throw away ten dollars a month on the iowa state rivals page and I don’t even visit it. I can give the same amount or more to our athletes. Especially considering I’m out of state and can’t really go the games unless they are in the area or I can make a vacation out of it, I’m more than willing and happy to give them something for their efforts.

 

[Cyclonepride]

Its almost like there is the potential for corruption in this whole system.

Maybe they could put the AAU in charge to keep it clean. I don't think the IOC or UN would be available to help.

There's that potential in any system, but rating services (so far as they are actually used to determine staff targets, which I'm not sure is very much) will still need to be good at their jobs. Even fans will start to dismiss their ratings if they become consistently inaccurate.

 

[cycloneML]

I’ll need to see who the organizers and leaders of this organization are.

Let us know your donation level after you vet them.

 

[clonechemist]

Here's an abbreviated version (snippets) of something I posted a few days ago after working with somebody involved in the process. Big disclaimer that these were his early projections with not a lot of precedent to go off of and could end up wildly different.
...

• Small Tier Donors = 1,000 donors at average of $200 per year
• Mid Tier Donors = 25 donors at average of $5,000 per year
• High Tier Donors = 5-8 donors at average of $25,000 per year
• Max Donors = 2 donors at $100,000 per year

Total collective amount = 500K to 600K per year
Direct NIL donations = 200K to 500K per year
...
Based on people he’s talked to at Michigan State, Minnesota, Illinois, Kansas State, Kansas, Northwestern, and Iowa, our projected collective amount (plus high dollar one offs) would be less than half of just the minimum collective projections of any of those competitors (many haven't found the need yet for a collective based on high-roller donors being more than enough). Then, each of those schools has high-roller donors that would cumulatively donate directly at roughly $1.5 to $5 million annually. (Iowa being on the low end of that group)
...
For context, he’s seeing NIL figures ranging from 50-200K for a mid 3-star recruit to 750K for a mid 4-star recruit, and over 1-1.5mil for a 5-star recruit in the transfer portal. Football is heating up to the point that anybody in the Top 150-350 is demanding 75K to 125K or more, with Top 100 to 150 now reaching 500K right out of HS.
...

With these numbers for recruits, are those like a one-time signing bonus or an annual guarantee while at the school?

 

[clonechemist]

I think because it is a fundamental shift in what people have been supporting for years. Amateur athletics. How many times after a bad game where a player is being ripped on does someone bring up an argument about how these kids are student athletes and not professionals. Now they are professionals. Maybe some requirement of them is going to class or whatever, but these are now paid players who will make more than some nfl players.

Maybe college athletics has been a sham for a long time, but this has pulled back the curtain. I agree that players should be able to sell tshirts and have jobs, but this is directly pay to play, where the people who lose are the fans. The ncaa makes billions and the fans are the ones who have to pay the players. Whole thing just is off putting. The disconnect between the school and the player grows even further. Athletes already get free food, clothes, special housing (at some schools), schooling, free tutoring, special workout centers. Allowed to cheat in classes, even fake classes altogether at some schools like unc , and now they get 100s of thousands of dollars on top of all that to be "amateur" student athletes. All so schools can make more money. They are school employees who can't be paid by the school so fans are asked to shell out.

Might as well just pay to have a pro team throw our logo on their jersey as their corporate sponsor and skip all the student athlete ********.

I never understood this idea that people who are professional athletes deserve to be targets of abuse.

If a ‘fan’ suddenly feels entitled to spend their energy criticizing a Cyclone simply because that player is getting paid, that ‘fan’ is a d***. Regardless of NIL.

 

[Yellow Snow]

In my opinion, we should quit recruiting high school kids. Just mine the transfer portal and use our NIL money to go after those guys. There are several real advantages to that...

1. We, in truth, are really not even in the conversation for the truly elite high school players. Why give a 5 star guy 500k or whatever with no guarantee he sticks around after a year or two at most. Whether he transfers or goes pro. Money down the drain.

2. High school guys still have their "one time transfer" option. A portal guy does not have that luxury. Money spent to get a guy from the portal seems like a longer term investment on both sides,

3. Anybody in the transfer portal has played against better competition than any high school kid on the AAU circuit. Coaches have MUCH more film and scouting on them. I mean, MAC, MVC, AAC, A10 players all have film against better competition than ANY high school recruit. Way less of a guessing game. Make our NIL money more efficient.

Use our NIL money to poach players in the portal who then can't re-transfer without sitting out.

 

[Beyerball]

Haven't read many of the posts on here but I have read some..

NiL is reality now...yes it sucks.. If you cannot afford $10 a month or so as an ISU fan or student to help keep ISU sports relative then stop following ISU sports.

 

[CQISU]

Yeah, they don’t really try to get people to donate. I can think of zero examples of anyone asking me to contribute to athletics. If they did, I probably would have. Hope this opinion helps provide perspective.

I’ve long wondered why they aren’t posted up at every home basketball and football game getting people to sign up for donations..

So many options. Sign up for $100 get a shirt. Sign up for $1000 donation get a tour of Hilton.

 

[Cycl1]

I never understood this idea that people who are professional athletes deserve to be targets of abuse.

If a ‘fan’ suddenly feels entitled to spend their energy criticizing a Cyclone simply because that player is getting paid, that ‘fan’ is a d***. Regardless of NIL.

I dont mean tweeting mean things at players, that shouldn't happen regardless. I mean discussing games and performance. People would talk in game threads about how P. Nixon a few years back needed to stop chucking it and how he was a terrible shooter. People would come to his defense on how he is just a kid representing our school. That he wasn't a professional so it wasnt fair for people to critique them. If nixon was being paid 500k, he would be eviscerated.


You remember the whole "im a man, im 40!" speech, that was about not criticizing the osu qb? If that qb is getting paid professional level money, they wont be considered kids. The fans are literally paying them to be there and preform. Right are wrong, they will be treated as professionals.

 

[Cycl1]

Haven't read many of the posts on here but I have read some..

NiL is reality now...yes it sucks.. If you cannot afford $10 a month or so as an ISU fan or student to help keep ISU sports relative then stop following ISU sports.

Lol. Subscription based sports fandom.... What a load of entitled elitist bull ****.

The only way to be a fan of our team is if you plebs can contribute $10 per month so our coaches can continue to make millions and the amateur players who have literally every expense covered can make more money in 1 year than you will make in 10. Only then will we allow you the honor of watching 20 minutes of football spread out over 4 hours of commercials 12 times per year.

It isnt even college sports anymore. Its 300 semi pro teams with a built in fan base because they carry the same name as where we went to school.

 

[ISU22CY]

Haven't read many of the posts on here but I have read some..

NiL is reality now...yes it sucks.. If you cannot afford $10 a month or so as an ISU fan or student to help keep ISU sports relative then stop following ISU sports.

Well that's a hot load of garbage kind of take if I ever read one

 

[isufbcurt]

They are non profit organizations. You can’t make a profit otherwise you lose your 501c3 status. Even if they had nothing to spend it on, they would find something to spend it on not to jeopardize the status.

To be clear, I’m more than happy to contribute to the collective. I throw away ten dollars a month on the iowa state rivals page and I don’t even visit it. I can give the same amount or more to our athletes. Especially considering I’m out of state and can’t really go the games unless they are in the area or I can make a vacation out of it, I’m more than willing and happy to give them something for their efforts.

The bold is not true at all. Not-for-profits can make a profit. Making a profit is how they build up their reserve funds.

What can cause them to lose 501c3 status is earning to much money from unrelated activities. For example say the ARL decides it's going to start selling auto parts not as a fundraising activity but as a business activity then they could lose it.

 

[Kinch]

LOL less, once some kid is getting paid $50,000 to play FB or BB at XYZ Academy, he isn't worried about a principal, if the school doesn't kiss his butt he'll just transfer to the next one.

Or, a consortium of a couple of SEC schools will form their own NIL academy. Every kid's a winner!

 

[MugNight]

People naysaying this Collective and whining about ISU’s future in an NIL world are like people who complain about the government and don’t vote. It’s your right to do what you want, but don’t cry when things don’t change.

 

[Gunnerclone]

People naysaying this Collective and whining about ISU’s future in an NIL world are like people who complain about the government and don’t vote. It’s your right to do what you want, but don’t cry when things don’t change.

wut

 

[mynameisjonas]

wut

What is it that you don’t understand?

 

[Gunnerclone]

What is it that you don’t understand?

I just don’t see how not exercising a free and “god-given” right like voting is akin to not contributing your personally earned or gotten money to a pay for play college basketball scheme.

 

[madguy30]

Does watching the teams online or on TV count for 'support' since it contributes to ratings?

 

[Nycclone]

I just don’t see how not exercising a free and “god-given” right like voting is akin to not contributing your personally earned or gotten money to a pay for play college basketball scheme.

Will you be crying like a spoiled brat when iowa state isn’t as competitive in sports in the same way people cry and complain about government policies when they don’t vote?

 

[madguy30]

Will you be crying like a spoiled brat when iowa state isn’t as competitive in sports in the same way people cry and complain about government policies when they don’t vote?

If every ISU fan contributed a bunch of money and it sounded like a done deal, and then North Carolina wanted that player instead, and they asked Michael Jordan to find a way higher amount stashed in a shoebox of cash somewhere, it wouldn't matter either way.