Some important NIL info and updates

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Originally Posted by Todd4State

That's different. I can double check with Charlie but I think it's because the Bulldog Club is through MSU and MSU can't give money to NIL.

That's why NIL is through "collectives".

And honestly if it was allowed and maybe I'm wrong- the easy thing to do would be to take NIL out of our Bulldog Club donations.

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NIL and BC are separate entities and can’t be connected in any way. People have to divide their donations

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Originally Posted by Coach34

Some of you have reached out to me here and in person about our NIL situation. The events of this past week and frustration of the last few months motivated me to find out what is going on. So I reached out to people that know and here is what I learned:

A) We kinda M-State'ed it up in the beginning. Instead of being proactive, getting set up, hiring someone and building an office to handle these things- we didnt do that. Kinda piecemealed it together. So it comes as no surprise to anyone we arent where we should be with it currently. We have in the last few months gotten someone that has grabbed the bull by the horns and taken this huge task on head first. We are now making some headway and getting the organization that is necessary.

B) Before long- we will have a website for people to make contributions online. You will be able to set up your own account and donate as much and as often as you wish. Annually, monthly, one-timer...whatever. Can be as big or as little as you can afford. In the meantime, there are other ways of getting your contributions where they need to go. Message me and I will help you with that info until the website is up. Or contact them directly on Twitter-

https://twitter.com/BulldogNIL?s=20&...sJRjRhRKNew9TA

C) We may not have the deep pockets other Universities have- but we do have the army. We are the people's university. Give what you can. So what you cant give 10k? 100 people giving $50 here and there add up. A Thousand people giving $100 monthly or every other month or whenever- helps the cause. It adds up. We have to be smart and do what we can.

This is from me personally-Dont be that guy that gives $250 and then wants to tell people how you want it spent. Privates have to do the heavy lifting in the army- the brass (coaches and others) decide on where resources are allocated. You give 10k? Well thats a little different. That at least gets you a listen. That's always been a problem for us in the old days- too many chiefs and not enough Indians. Be like an offensive lineman- do the lifting and enjoy your team getting the success. It's ok not to be the headline.

D) This is also my opinion- decrease your Bulldog Club donation and get some (if not most) to NIL. Our facilities in the Big 3 are where they need to be to compete. Our baseball stadium is state of the art. We upgraded in basketball. Davis-Wade is a very good venue. We need players. And now- that costs money. Get that money to NIL so we can at the very worst- remain a power in baseball.

It's a new world in college sports today- we have to keep up or become Memphis. I think eventually all this leads to the Power schools creating their own league and if we want to be part of it- we cant lag too far behind.

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Yo, I have 1,000,000,000,000 dollars. Is that enough? HA! Seriously, let's go. This isn't complicated. Everyone needs to do what they can and it starts with everyone on this board.

https://media.istockphoto.com/photos...re-id492595743

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Originally Posted by Coach34

This is what our fanbase has got to understand and understand immediately. We are in the middle of the food chain. We arent the shark. Not only do we have to pay recruits and portal guys- we have to pay our own guys not to leave. Its not all of them- but it is a significant amount. You don't think other big programs want Marks? Wheat? Forbes? Tolu? Cade Smith? Hunter Hines? These guys are being offered money now to leave for the blue bloods.

This is college sports now

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Yes, and other programs will use US to help THEM recruit diamonds in the rough, or guys that may/may not produce in the SEC. Just watch. The schools will always watch MSU to see who they can pull away from us. It's time we start being proactive and doing more. Quit sitting back and being lazy! Let's move forward.

I'm sorry but big programs aren't lining up for many of our guys. In baseball, it's almost a non-issue completely. Forbes or someone, maybe but we probably don't have 3 a year anyone would even consider. Wheat and Marks ain't them. I'll wait til it actually happens, because it's not happening much at all so far, before claiming it's even much of an issue. And I'll be honest, we start throwing millions at kids, I'm done with it all anyway.

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Originally Posted by Todd4State

That's different. I can double check with Charlie but I think it's because the Bulldog Club is through MSU and MSU can't give money to NIL.

That's why NIL is through "collectives".

And honestly if it was allowed and maybe I'm wrong- the easy thing to do would be to take NIL out of our Bulldog Club donations.

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Unless I misunderstood what he was saying I think the OP was saying that Bulldog Club will get their money anyways from seat donations across the sport and folks need to consider whatever extra they were giving to the BDC to give it to the Bulldog Collective

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Originally Posted by Cooterpoot

I'm sorry but big programs aren't lining up for many of our guys. In baseball, it's almost a non-issue completely. Forbes or someone, maybe but we probably don't have 3-5 a year. I'll wait til iit actually happens before claiming it's even much of an issue.

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We had P5 programs try to contact athletes in all of the Big 3 sports. A couple of the offers were big and they decided to stick with us.

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Originally Posted by StarkVegasSteve

We had P5 programs try to contact athletes in all of the Big 3 sports. A couple of the offers were big and they decided to stick with us.

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How many left? Not a damn one. Most of our guys would be depth at best for an elite in football. They aren't leaving for that. Basketball will be the worst probably. Baseball won't happen unless you've got a kid with crazy parents or a problem here.
End of the day, if an Elite wants a kid, we will never be able to outbid them. If it comes down to nothing but money, we will still lose them. Especially if it's a shot at a ring.

Please post the verified venmo link ASAP. Get this ball rolling.

If you want to donate to the Bulldog initiative, you can Venmo @TheBulldogInitiative.

If you have questions you can reach out to Charlie at 662 769 9031 or cwinfield@bulldog.ms.

I believe you can also mail checks to PO Box 1653 | Starkville, MS 39760.

This was copied from another board.

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Originally Posted by StarkVegasSteve

Unless I misunderstood what he was saying I think the OP was saying that Bulldog Club will get their money anyways from seat donations across the sport and folks need to consider whatever extra they were giving to the BDC to give it to the Bulldog Collective

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I've raised this question before....Both football and basketeball have "seat license" fees that go to the BDC. I have wondered just how much this raises but have been unable to get an estimae. Got to be a pretty good amount.

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Originally Posted by WhiskeyPirate

. This whole NIL business is going to end up with a salary cap just like MLB. That?s the only solution.

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Absolutely. College sports are already going down the shitter fast. The only way to save it is put a hard cap on all NIL deals and it needs to happen fast.

Who is Charlie?

Winfield. He?s the guy heading it all up.

Is the Bulldog Initiative a nonprofit entity?

Seemingly the argument has been that folks have been making money off these kids NILs without paying them.

And yet it seems we as fans are being asked to pick up the expense associated with those revenues?

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Originally Posted by EdwardDrayton

Seemingly the argument has been that folks have been making money off these kids NILs without paying them.

And yet it seems we as fans are being asked to pick up the expense associated with those revenues?

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The only people making the money are the players. Our NIL guys are working for free

I don't watch a whole bunch of professional sports, but what is keeping teams and owners from throwing cash under the table at free agents and trying to stay under the salary cap? Now I might be totally thinking about this the wrong way

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Originally Posted by Coach34

The only people making the money are the players. Our NIL guys are working for free

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I could see it being just the opposite, the players getting paid without actually doing anything(which i'm sure they're doing the bare minimum to make this all by the rules.)

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Originally Posted by StarkVegasSteve

Unless I misunderstood what he was saying I think the OP was saying that Bulldog Club will get their money anyways from seat donations across the sport and folks need to consider whatever extra they were giving to the BDC to give it to the Bulldog Collective

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Yes. Thanks

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Originally Posted by Coach34

This is what our fanbase has got to understand and understand immediately. We are in the middle of the food chain. We arent the shark. Not only do we have to pay recruits and portal guys- we have to pay our own guys not to leave. Its not all of them- but it is a significant amount. You dont think other big programs want Marks? Wheat? Forbes? Tolu? Cade Smith? Hunter Hines? These guys are being offered money now to leave for the blue bloods.

This is college sports now

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Then I am just about done with it

Truth. This will kill FB attendance if teams like us are just playing for the SEC check. Nothing but tv programming for the networks and warmup games for the blue bloods before the playoffs. Gene Simmons has said "Rock id Dead". College sports as we knew it is rapidly headed for life support. Attendance in person, no longer needed. See USFL. 2022. We still have 8 season tickets, used to be 12. Six family members nearly bailed for 2022. Been through much more bad than good in the last 55 years of being there. Don't like where this is seems to be heading. Even NFL has salary cap. Hail State!

If Bulldog Club donations decrease ticket prices and seat licenses will increase. So you redirect your Bulldog Club donations to NIL and you end up paying more money to attend games.
I have no issue if this is the way it works out because I love Mississippi State and want the university to be successful in everything it does but I foresee more live music and traveling and less sporting events in my future.
NASCAR priced me out in the 90s and I figured collegiate athletics would follow at some point.

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Originally Posted by Coach34

The only people making the money are the players. Our NIL guys are working for free

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The Initiative folks are not the ones who have been making the money off the players NILs all these years. The whole argument that got us here is players were miffed that EVERYONE ELSE was making money off their NILs BUT them.

And us fans sure haven’t been getting any dividend checks.

34 can you opine as to why we were not organized on NIL, when we knew this was coming like everyone else? I realize this is different than Cohen?s normal over site, but couldn?t he have asked someone to run it or express the need for it?

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Originally Posted by EdwardDrayton

The Initiative folks are not the ones who have been making the money off the players NILs all these years. The whole argument that got us here is players were miffed that EVERYONE ELSE was making money off their NILs BUT them.

And us fans sure haven’t been getting any dividend checks.

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NIL just started so there is no "all these years".
The players are being paid NOW.

I'm not understanding your point

This concept is simple- athletes have to be paid now. It has to be done by fans and it has to be done by businesses who use it for advertising. Either we get on board or our programs will fade into Bolivian.

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Originally Posted by IMissJack

34 can you opine as to why we were not organized on NIL, when we knew this was coming like everyone else? I realize this is different than Cohen?s normal over site, but couldn?t he have asked someone to run it or express the need for it?

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I could try and sugar coat it but basically we tried to halfass it in the beginning. It appears our view of NIL was a necessary evil when other schools like A&M looked at it as an opportunity. We quickly began to figure out other schools are serious about this shit and we better start getting there ourselves. Us losing the guy to Mizzou was yet another wake-up call about where we are vs other schools.

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Originally Posted by LC Dawg

If Bulldog Club donations decrease ticket prices and seat licenses will increase. So you redirect your Bulldog Club donations to NIL and you end up paying more money to attend games.

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If we dont have players- nobody is going to buy tickets. This is a new age and the BC is going to have to understand where we are in this.

And the businesses in Sville better understand where we are in this. Without players- we will keep being thrown into the 11am time slot for football and money spent in Sville will continue to drop. They already know the difference the impact of 6pm vs 11am makes.

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Originally Posted by Coach34

I could try and sugar coat it but basically we tried to halfass it in the beginning. It appears our view of NIL was a necessary evil when other schools like A&M looked at it as an opportunity. We quickly began to figure out other schools are serious about this shit and we better start getting there ourselves. Us losing the guy to Mizzou was yet another wake-up call about where we are vs other schools.

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I got blasted for saying we would "Mississippi State" it up when NIL first was introduced. We've always been the last to change and adapt. I was hoping we'd take charge for once. Hoping it's not too late.

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Originally Posted by Coach34

NIL just started so there is no "all these years".
The players are being paid NOW.

I'm not understanding your point

This concept is simple- athletes have to be paid now. It has to be done by fans and it has to be done by businesses who use it for advertising. Either we get on board or our programs will fade into Bolivian.

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I think he?s asking why it took so long to form a collective or initiative. In my opinion our infant ?organization? was focused on educating student athletes on how to be responsible and how to safely navigate NIL within the framework of the NCAA. While on the surface this is great and looks good in the headlines, however in the real world schools like Florida with the Gator Collective came out utilizing NIL to what we see it is now: paying players and recruits. For some inexplicable reason we thought that players wouldn?t be getting paid real sums of money across the country. We were naive in thinking it wasn?t easy for player A to get a large sum from a group funneling money into one fund - which at the time we did not have.

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Originally Posted by Coach34

NIL just started so there is no "all these years".
The players are being paid NOW.

I'm not understanding your point

This concept is simple- athletes have to be paid now. It has to be done by fans and it has to be done by businesses who use it for advertising. Either we get on board or our programs will fade into Bolivian.

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Well, I’ll agree your perspective is simplistic. The broader understanding will come to roost eventually. College sports will not survive.

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Originally Posted by EdwardDrayton

Well, I’ll agree your perspective is simplistic. The broader understanding will come to roost eventually. College sports will not survive.

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I'm just talking about where we are today. What you are talking about is fact and something has to change eventually. But until it does? This is where we are

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Originally Posted by Rawdawg

I think he?s asking why it took so long to form a collective or initiative. In my opinion our infant ?organization? was focused on educating student athletes on how to be responsible and how to safely navigate NIL within the framework of the NCAA. While on the surface this is great and looks good in the headlines, however in the real world schools like Florida with the Gator Collective came out utilizing NIL to what we see it is now: paying players and recruits. For some inexplicable reason we thought that players wouldn?t be getting paid real sums of money across the country. We were naive in thinking it wasn?t easy for player A to get a large sum from a group funneling money into one fund - which at the time we did not have.

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Gotcha. And you are most likely correct

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Originally Posted by Coach34

I'm just talking about where we are today. What you are talking about is fact and something has to change eventually. But until it does? This is where we are

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You do see. It’s a hard pill to swallow that fans are being asked to keep it on life support until hopefully things do change. And yes this is unfortunately where we are. It sucks.

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Originally Posted by EdwardDrayton

You do see. It’s a hard pill to swallow that fans are being asked to keep it on life support until hopefully things do change. And yes this is unfortunately where we are. It sucks.

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We have to try to win 8 in football. There is no chance of us winning anything anymore
We have to focus on 3-4 quality guys in bball
Baseball takes 1MM to stay in the top 10- we can do that

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Originally Posted by Rawdawg

I think he?s asking why it took so long to form a collective or initiative. In my opinion our infant ?organization? was focused on educating student athletes on how to be responsible and how to safely navigate NIL within the framework of the NCAA. While on the surface this is great and looks good in the headlines, however in the real world schools like Florida with the Gator Collective came out utilizing NIL to what we see it is now: paying players and recruits. For some inexplicable reason we thought that players wouldn?t be getting paid real sums of money across the country. We were naive in thinking it wasn?t easy for player A to get a large sum from a group funneling money into one fund - which at the time we did not have.

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Ask yourself this Raw. What entities were making all the money the players wanted a piece of? Hint: it wasn’t the fan base.

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Originally Posted by Coach34

I could try and sugar coat it but basically we tried to halfass it in the beginning. It appears our view of NIL was a necessary evil when other schools like A&M looked at it as an opportunity. We quickly began to figure out other schools are serious about this shit and we better start getting there ourselves. Us losing the guy to Mizzou was yet another wake-up call about where we are vs other schools.

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One more reason for me to doubt our leadership.

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Originally Posted by EdwardDrayton

Ask yourself this Raw. What entities were making all the money the players wanted a piece of? Hint: it wasn’t the fan base.

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Obviously, but that?s irrelevant because the school can not pay players out of its funds so you have to have a brokered third party do it which is the Bulldog Initiative. Our problem is we?re months behind everyone else.

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Originally Posted by Rawdawg

I think he?s asking why it took so long to form a collective or initiative. In my opinion our infant ?organization? was focused on educating student athletes on how to be responsible and how to safely navigate NIL within the framework of the NCAA. While on the surface this is great and looks good in the headlines, however in the real world schools like Florida with the Gator Collective came out utilizing NIL to what we see it is now: paying players and recruits. For some inexplicable reason we thought that players wouldn?t be getting paid real sums of money across the country. We were naive in thinking it wasn?t easy for player A to get a large sum from a group funneling money into one fund - which at the time we did not have.

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I think the law the MS Legislature passed didn't help us either - as we tend to over correct and over enforce on ourselves - we weren't going to bend the "school can't be involved" law. Meanwhile, most other schools don't have that handicap, and OM doesn't follow rules anyway so they didn't GAF and we fell behind.

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Originally Posted by Rawdawg

Obviously, but that?s irrelevant because the school can not pay players out of its funds so you have to have a brokered third party do it which is the Bulldog Initiative. Our problem is we?re months behind everyone else.

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We will see if the fan base thinks it’s irrelevant. Think fans rather will want this shit model changed and quick. And not sure our leadership being reluctant to wade into this cluster is something less than admirable.

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Originally Posted by EdwardDrayton

We will see if the fan base thinks it?s irrelevant. Think fans rather will want this shit model changed and quick. And not sure our leadership being reluctant to wade into this cluster is something less than admirable.

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What our fanbase thinks is really irrelevant. It what the top college teams think. Either we compete now with money or we die as a sports program. We have no choice. If you are ready to give up on college sports? So be it. Other schools are not and are ramping up money to get better