(08-08-2022 09:26 PM)BearcatMan Wrote:  Just heard from someone who would know that athletes at UT made just south of $51,000 combined from NIL in the last year. Doesn't seem like a large amount by any means, especially with some of these other numbers being thrown around...SMU just announced that EVERY basketball and football player would receive $36,000/year from NIL starting this year.

Doesnt Rockys initiative or whatever give a mil a year? so like thousands to every athlete on campus?

(08-08-2022 10:19 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  

(08-08-2022 09:26 PM)BearcatMan Wrote:  Just heard from someone who would know that athletes at UT made just south of $51,000 combined from NIL in the last year. Doesn't seem like a large amount by any means, especially with some of these other numbers being thrown around...SMU just announced that EVERY basketball and football player would receive $36,000/year from NIL starting this year.

Doesnt Rockys initiative or whatever give a mil a year? so like thousands to every athlete on campus?

It just started up.

(08-09-2022 05:27 AM)MidnightBlueGold Wrote:  

(08-08-2022 10:19 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  

(08-08-2022 09:26 PM)BearcatMan Wrote:  Just heard from someone who would know that athletes at UT made just south of $51,000 combined from NIL in the last year. Doesn't seem like a large amount by any means, especially with some of these other numbers being thrown around...SMU just announced that EVERY basketball and football player would receive $36,000/year from NIL starting this year.

Doesnt Rockys initiative or whatever give a mil a year? so like thousands to every athlete on campus?

It just started up.

Yeah, that was the "goal", but they need to raise the capital first, and ensure that it doesn't affect giving to other, more essential operations of the University on top of that.

Does anyone know how to donate to the Toledo NIL?

(08-10-2022 08:33 AM)stpeterocketfan Wrote:  Does anyone know how to donate to the Toledo NIL?

https://friendsofrocky.com/

Click "Commit Now" and you'll be prompted with an amount. I'm assuming you could reach out to them through their contact information if you're looking at 4 zeroes or more.

(08-08-2022 10:19 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  

(08-08-2022 09:26 PM)BearcatMan Wrote:  Just heard from someone who would know that athletes at UT made just south of $51,000 combined from NIL in the last year. Doesn't seem like a large amount by any means, especially with some of these other numbers being thrown around...SMU just announced that EVERY basketball and football player would receive $36,000/year from NIL starting this year.

Doesnt Rockys initiative or whatever give a mil a year? so like thousands to every athlete on campus?

Their goal is to raise $1M per year, not disburse $1M per year...there is nowhere near enough gift generation in athletics at UT for either of those things, but I appreciate their attempt for sure.

Briggs: Wait a minute, how is Michigan playing catch-up against Toledo in NIL era?


Some interesting tid-bits...

Quote:A year ago, [Tycen] Anderson signed an endorsement deal with RightTrak, an online financial education program for students and young adults developed by TDC Companies in Maumee, where Delps is the CEO. Now, he’s redirecting the earnings from his NIL deal back to Friends of Rocky — a $20,000-plus contribution to benefit his former teammates.

Quote:Friends of Rocky has raised $250,000 — its goal is $1 million per year — and a second collective for the men’s basketball program is off the ground. A women’s hoops collective is coming soon.

(06-13-2022 10:51 AM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  The thing I find most interesting about this is, why have these people not been donating these levels of money to athletic-designated accounts in the UT Foundation for the past, say, 50 years? According to the Jun '21 Annual Report of the foundation, only 2% of the endowment's assets are designated for athletics. That's $7.7M total, accumulated over the life of the foundation, including all unspent earnings on those donations. Now all of a sudden, people can find hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars to pay NIL deals. I don't get it. Was the University not asking these people for money, were their donations not going into the endowment, or what? Or is it only gratifying for some when they get to pay an athlete, and not when they donate to the University. Seems strange to me.

If the intention is to assist the student athletes, I’d much rather donate to a fund that directly pays the student athletes instead of donating to UT and watching that money eaten up by wasteful state bureaucracy.

(08-17-2022 10:17 AM)toledobigmike Wrote:  

(06-13-2022 10:51 AM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  The thing I find most interesting about this is, why have these people not been donating these levels of money to athletic-designated accounts in the UT Foundation for the past, say, 50 years? According to the Jun '21 Annual Report of the foundation, only 2% of the endowment's assets are designated for athletics. That's $7.7M total, accumulated over the life of the foundation, including all unspent earnings on those donations. Now all of a sudden, people can find hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars to pay NIL deals. I don't get it. Was the University not asking these people for money, were their donations not going into the endowment, or what? Or is it only gratifying for some when they get to pay an athlete, and not when they donate to the University. Seems strange to me.

If the intention is to assist the student athletes, I’d much rather donate to a fund that directly pays the student athletes instead of donating to UT and watching that money eaten up by wasteful state bureaucracy.

I don't think the University of Toledo Foundation is a state entity and I have no knowledge on its overhead, whether it be more or less than NIL oversight but point taken. There's a few here who maybe can tell us the difference in how money gets directed and the costs of oversight.

The NIL gives donors opportunity to make connections directly to athletes, potentially future high earning athletes that the previous system did not. Possibly that is why more money is coming out of the pockets into "athletics."

(08-17-2022 11:54 AM)eastisbest Wrote:  

(08-17-2022 10:17 AM)toledobigmike Wrote:  

(06-13-2022 10:51 AM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  The thing I find most interesting about this is, why have these people not been donating these levels of money to athletic-designated accounts in the UT Foundation for the past, say, 50 years? According to the Jun '21 Annual Report of the foundation, only 2% of the endowment's assets are designated for athletics. That's $7.7M total, accumulated over the life of the foundation, including all unspent earnings on those donations. Now all of a sudden, people can find hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars to pay NIL deals. I don't get it. Was the University not asking these people for money, were their donations not going into the endowment, or what? Or is it only gratifying for some when they get to pay an athlete, and not when they donate to the University. Seems strange to me.

If the intention is to assist the student athletes, I’d much rather donate to a fund that directly pays the student athletes instead of donating to UT and watching that money eaten up by wasteful state bureaucracy.

I don't think the University of Toledo Foundation is a state entity and I have no knowledge on its overhead, whether it be more or less than NIL oversight but point taken. There's a few here who maybe can tell us the difference in how money gets directed and the costs of oversight.

The NIL gives donors opportunity to make connections directly to athletes, potentially future high earning athletes that the previous system did not. Possibly that is why more money is coming out of the pockets into "athletics."

By it's nature, the UT Foundation (and all other Foundations) are not state/public entities. As far as their overhead, based on conversations at multiple state institutions, I believe University Foundations are typically beholden to stipulations in their charters to operate within the margins of their endowment, so there typically isn't a lot of administrative waste in a Foundation...as opposed to other University Offices and Divisions that it

Completely agreed on the "why" a lot of people seem to be giving to NIL Collectives instead of the Universities as a whole, though I think the issue that might crop up is if NILs are not able to qualify as tax-exempt agencies or not-for-profit entities in the state. Far less people will see the benefits they get from donating to those.

To be clear, though, this NIL Collective has not generated anywhere near the gift revenue that the athletics department has since its inception. I believe Athletics got just over $540,000 in just their Day of Giving this past April. Having said that, over the last 5 years of reported budgets (2016-17 to 2020-2021), the athletic department only generated an average of $1,008,747/year in gifts, meaning this collective is hoping to generate that same amount every year. I could very easily see some cannibalizations going on to the point that the AD gets hit hard in the pocketbook (more so than they already do every year).

NILs are great and all, but I'm far more interested in the outcome of the battle that is brewing within the Big Ten about athletes getting a cut of media rights money. If that happens, College Football as we once knew it is well and truly done, with parity going out the window (good and bad to that piece IMO).

(08-17-2022 12:05 PM)BearcatMan Wrote:  NILs are great and all, but I'm far more interested in the outcome of the battle that is brewing within the Big Ten about athletes getting a cut of media rights money. If that happens, College Football as we once knew it is well and truly done, with parity going out the window (good and bad to that piece IMO).

How does the money flow in an NIL and is it deductable? Starting from someone says, "hey, I want to give money to the 3rd basemen."

Of course, everyone is free to do whatever they want with their money, so if some want to give to a collective, have at it. But remember if funds are now going directly to that athletes that used to go to the school, the athletes might have some coin, but in the long term they may not have a team to play on. The non-P5/6 schools need the donations to the school, and money siphoned away will, I fear, hurt the athletic product more than the NIL money helps.

And the collectives have overhead too. They all have to hire a firm to collect and disburse and maintain the dollars. That costs money. And, do you get any say in what athlete gets your donation? If I were want to be an NIL donor, I would rather pick an athlete and pay them directly for some activity or just for the heck of it, rather than to toss it into a pot with a bunch of other folks' money that I have no say over. But that's me.

I don't know, but I have a hunch that this is somewhat of a fad right now with people jumping in to give money now, but will everyone still be doing that in 3 or 5 years time? I mean, will people keep wanting to pay walk-on players (like some schools have said) who will likely never see the field/court? Or will the money dry up after a few years after folks realize they are just giving money to some athletes who disappear and are never heard from again. At least donating to the school maintains my relationship with the organization over time. Also, I assume that donations to NIL collectives are NOT tax-deductible. $250k raised is a good chunk of change, but ends up as < $1000 per athlete at UT. And they need to do this every. single. year. forever. Will the money be their every year? What happens when an athlete signs and then there are no funds left for him/her that season because donations are down? Lawsuit? Transfer? Refusal to play?

I am all for athletes being able to earn money, and if businesses or individuals want to pay them individually, I think that's great. But I fear these collectives are going to be worse for the games in the long term more than they are helping. Then again, I am a pessimist, so?

(08-17-2022 04:24 PM)eastisbest Wrote:  

(08-17-2022 12:05 PM)BearcatMan Wrote:  NILs are great and all, but I'm far more interested in the outcome of the battle that is brewing within the Big Ten about athletes getting a cut of media rights money. If that happens, College Football as we once knew it is well and truly done, with parity going out the window (good and bad to that piece IMO).

How does the money flow in an NIL and is it deductable? Starting from someone says, "hey, I want to give money to the 3rd basemen."

It's a funky thing, because technically, based on how the NCAA has defined NIL payments, that it is fair compensation for work and depending on the state it would be taxed as such...but with how new it all is, there isn't a lot of "settled science" on how it all is impacted by the tax code.

It really depends on how the NIL is classified within the state...I haven't heard from anyone who is 100% on if it can even be classified as a 501c, which is the difference between it being a charitable gift and a paid salary. With it operating outside of the University due to NCAA legislation, that just adds another weird wrinkle.

In short, no one really knows at this point. With Friends of Rocky not having a 501c Tax Number listed, and with it partnering with a VERY For Profit entity in Blueprint Sports, I'm thinking at best, there are no positive tax implications to giving to the NIL Collective over the UTF.

(08-17-2022 04:39 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  Of course, everyone is free to do whatever they want with their money, so if some want to give to a collective, have at it. But remember if funds are now going directly to that athletes that used to go to the school, the athletes might have some coin, but in the long term they may not have a team to play on. The non-P5/6 schools need the donations to the school, and money siphoned away will, I fear, hurt the athletic product more than the NIL money helps.

And the collectives have overhead too. They all have to hire a firm to collect and disburse and maintain the dollars. That costs money. And, do you get any say in what athlete gets your donation? If I were want to be an NIL donor, I would rather pick an athlete and pay them directly for some activity or just for the heck of it, rather than to toss it into a pot with a bunch of other folks' money that I have no say over. But that's me.

I don't know, but I have a hunch that this is somewhat of a fad right now with people jumping in to give money now, but will everyone still be doing that in 3 or 5 years time? I mean, will people keep wanting to pay walk-on players (like some schools have said) who will likely never see the field/court? Or will the money dry up after a few years after folks realize they are just giving money to some athletes who disappear and are never heard from again. At least donating to the school maintains my relationship with the organization over time. Also, I assume that donations to NIL collectives are NOT tax-deductible. $250k raised is a good chunk of change, but ends up as < $1000 per athlete at UT. And they need to do this every. single. year. forever. Will the money be their every year? What happens when an athlete signs and then there are no funds left for him/her that season because donations are down? Lawsuit? Transfer? Refusal to play?

I am all for athletes being able to earn money, and if businesses or individuals want to pay them individually, I think that's great. But I fear these collectives are going to be worse for the games in the long term more than they are helping. Then again, I am a pessimist, so?

I think the money is going to run dry in the 3-5 year period. Some of these places building up $10M+/year NIL Collectives are going to run out of money really quick or their ADs are going to start ringing the bell for major facilities improvements that take precedent, plus kids are going to be getting screwed left and right because there are no legally binding documents involved. Hell, there are already stories of players not getting money they were promised this last year.

(08-17-2022 09:21 PM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(08-17-2022 04:24 PM)eastisbest Wrote:  

(08-17-2022 12:05 PM)BearcatMan Wrote:  NILs are great and all, but I'm far more interested in the outcome of the battle that is brewing within the Big Ten about athletes getting a cut of media rights money. If that happens, College Football as we once knew it is well and truly done, with parity going out the window (good and bad to that piece IMO).

How does the money flow in an NIL and is it deductable? Starting from someone says, "hey, I want to give money to the 3rd basemen."

It's a funky thing, because technically, based on how the NCAA has defined NIL payments, that it is fair compensation for work and depending on the state it would be taxed as such...but with how new it all is, there isn't a lot of "settled science" on how it all is impacted by the tax code.

It really depends on how the NIL is classified within the state...I haven't heard from anyone who is 100% on if it can even be classified as a 501c, which is the difference between it being a charitable gift and a paid salary. With it operating outside of the University due to NCAA legislation, that just adds another weird wrinkle.

In short, no one really knows at this point. With Friends of Rocky not having a 501c Tax Number listed, and with it partnering with a VERY For Profit entity in Blueprint Sports, I'm thinking at best, there are no positive tax implications to giving to the NIL Collective over the UTF.

What I recall from the tax code (my knowledge may be incomplete, out of date, or not relevant to this specific area) is that you cannot claim a charitable deduction if the money is designated to a specific person or persons - that's considered a gift, and technically the giver has to PAY taxes on gifts. So for example, you can't create a foundation, donate money into that, and then chose yourself what person or person gets the money. As I recall, you had to hire an independent board who would make judgements on who was eligible to receive any disbursements from the foundation. Or, if you donate to a foundation you have no affiliation with, and can't influence who they give the money to.

This sounds a lot like that, given the persons receiving the money are likely to be known in this case (specific athletes). So, it would surprise me if the IRS would rule donations to these kinds of things to be tax deductible. But who knows.

Anyone donating to this?

(08-18-2022 07:19 AM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  

(08-17-2022 09:21 PM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(08-17-2022 04:24 PM)eastisbest Wrote:  

(08-17-2022 12:05 PM)BearcatMan Wrote:  NILs are great and all, but I'm far more interested in the outcome of the battle that is brewing within the Big Ten about athletes getting a cut of media rights money. If that happens, College Football as we once knew it is well and truly done, with parity going out the window (good and bad to that piece IMO).

How does the money flow in an NIL and is it deductable? Starting from someone says, "hey, I want to give money to the 3rd basemen."

It's a funky thing, because technically, based on how the NCAA has defined NIL payments, that it is fair compensation for work and depending on the state it would be taxed as such...but with how new it all is, there isn't a lot of "settled science" on how it all is impacted by the tax code.

It really depends on how the NIL is classified within the state...I haven't heard from anyone who is 100% on if it can even be classified as a 501c, which is the difference between it being a charitable gift and a paid salary. With it operating outside of the University due to NCAA legislation, that just adds another weird wrinkle.

In short, no one really knows at this point. With Friends of Rocky not having a 501c Tax Number listed, and with it partnering with a VERY For Profit entity in Blueprint Sports, I'm thinking at best, there are no positive tax implications to giving to the NIL Collective over the UTF.

What I recall from the tax code (my knowledge may be incomplete, out of date, or not relevant to this specific area) is that you cannot claim a charitable deduction if the money is designated to a specific person or persons - that's considered a gift, and technically the giver has to PAY taxes on gifts. So for example, you can't create a foundation, donate money into that, and then chose yourself what person or person gets the money. As I recall, you had to hire an independent board who would make judgements on who was eligible to receive any disbursements from the foundation. Or, if you donate to a foundation you have no affiliation with, and can't influence who they give the money to.

This sounds a lot like that, given the persons receiving the money are likely to be known in this case (specific athletes). So, it would surprise me if the IRS would rule donations to these kinds of things to be tax deductible. But who knows.

Doesn't a gift have to be over a certain amount before it needs to be claimed as income?

(08-18-2022 10:04 AM)eastisbest Wrote:  

(08-18-2022 07:19 AM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  

(08-17-2022 09:21 PM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(08-17-2022 04:24 PM)eastisbest Wrote:  

(08-17-2022 12:05 PM)BearcatMan Wrote:  NILs are great and all, but I'm far more interested in the outcome of the battle that is brewing within the Big Ten about athletes getting a cut of media rights money. If that happens, College Football as we once knew it is well and truly done, with parity going out the window (good and bad to that piece IMO).

How does the money flow in an NIL and is it deductable? Starting from someone says, "hey, I want to give money to the 3rd basemen."

It's a funky thing, because technically, based on how the NCAA has defined NIL payments, that it is fair compensation for work and depending on the state it would be taxed as such...but with how new it all is, there isn't a lot of "settled science" on how it all is impacted by the tax code.

It really depends on how the NIL is classified within the state...I haven't heard from anyone who is 100% on if it can even be classified as a 501c, which is the difference between it being a charitable gift and a paid salary. With it operating outside of the University due to NCAA legislation, that just adds another weird wrinkle.

In short, no one really knows at this point. With Friends of Rocky not having a 501c Tax Number listed, and with it partnering with a VERY For Profit entity in Blueprint Sports, I'm thinking at best, there are no positive tax implications to giving to the NIL Collective over the UTF.

What I recall from the tax code (my knowledge may be incomplete, out of date, or not relevant to this specific area) is that you cannot claim a charitable deduction if the money is designated to a specific person or persons - that's considered a gift, and technically the giver has to PAY taxes on gifts. So for example, you can't create a foundation, donate money into that, and then chose yourself what person or person gets the money. As I recall, you had to hire an independent board who would make judgements on who was eligible to receive any disbursements from the foundation. Or, if you donate to a foundation you have no affiliation with, and can't influence who they give the money to.

This sounds a lot like that, given the persons receiving the money are likely to be known in this case (specific athletes). So, it would surprise me if the IRS would rule donations to these kinds of things to be tax deductible. But who knows.

Doesn't a gift have to be over a certain amount before it needs to be claimed as income?

Used to be over 10K$...may be more now