NIL

[LPTiger 5,202]

Happy Monday all.   I know that many in our fan base and many here don't like NIL.  I believe part of the reason why is we/Auburn have not explained it well.   If you believe some of the things you hear, you are left with the impression that 18 and 19 year old kids, who have yet to create real value, are getting paid large sums of money.   I don't believe that narrative holds true.   Saturday night I attended an NIL meeting that was mostly specific to baseball.   This is what I learned -- Joseph Gonazales who was our star pitcher last year (and missed this entire year due to injury) said his mom and dad live in Puerto Rico and are poor.   He said that prior to NIL they didn't get to see him play because they could not afford to fly to the US.   He said he used his NIL $$$ last year to fly his parents to a few games.   Some of may not know, but baseball only gets 11 scholarships that must be broken up and pieces divided between the entire 35 man roster.   For baseball players, NIL $$$ literally pays their tuition, meals and room and board.  I also learned that the by-laws of our collective, On TO Victory, prohibits the board from getting paid a single penny.   Their board consists of some of our best donors and they are doing it because they love Auburn.   The staff consists of Jason Campbell, Chandler Cox and I believe one other person.   They are paid a salary for their work.   But after paying their salaries, overhead and expenses, OTV gives 90% of what is received to our student athletes.   If you are inclined to give, you can go to the On To Victory website and give a general gift that is divided among the sports or you can designate how you want your gift allotted.   To be completely transparent, know that your gift is NOT tax deductible and it does NOT add to your TUF priority.   I wrote a check Saturday night.   I personally viewed it kind of like an income tax.   I don't like paying them but doing so is essential to the functioning of our state and nation.  NIL is essential to our sports programs.   After seeing Joseph's story, I felt better about writing the check and actually it felt pretty good.   And, I'm confident that OTV will be a better steward of my money that our state and federal government... 

[Gowebb11 9,429]

15 minutes ago, LPTiger said:

Happy Monday all.   I know that many in our fan base and many here don't like NIL.  I believe part of the reason why is we/Auburn have not explained it well.   If you believe some of the things you hear, you are left with the impression that 18 and 19 year old kids, who have yet to create real value, are getting paid large sums of money.   I don't believe that narrative holds true.   Saturday night I attended an NIL meeting that was mostly specific to baseball.   This is what I learned -- Joseph Gonazales who was our star pitcher last year (and missed this entire year due to injury) said his mom and dad live in Puerto Rico and are poor.   He said that prior to NIL they didn't get to see him play because they could not afford to fly to the US.   He said he used his NIL $$$ last year to fly his parents to a few games.   Some of may not know, but baseball only gets 11 scholarships that must be broken up and pieces divided between the entire 35 man roster.   For baseball players, NIL $$$ literally pays their tuition, meals and room and board.  I also learned that the by-laws of our collective, On TO Victory, prohibits the board from getting paid a single penny.   Their board consists of some of our best donors and they are doing it because they love Auburn.   The staff consists of Jason Campbell, Chandler Cox and I believe one other person.   They are paid a salary for their work.   But after paying their salaries, overhead and expenses, OTV gives 90% of what is received to our student athletes.   If you are inclined to give, you can go to the On To Victory website and give a general gift that is divided among the sports or you can designate how you want your gift allotted.   To be completely transparent, know that your gift is NOT tax deductible and it does NOT add to your TUF priority.   I wrote a check Saturday night.   I personally viewed it kind of like an income tax.   I don't like paying them but doing so is essential to the functioning of our state and nation.  NIL is essential to our sports programs.   After seeing Joseph's story, I felt better about writing the check and actually it felt pretty good.   And, I'm confident that OTV will be a better steward of my money that our state and federal government... 

Thanks for this. A lot of fans aren’t even aware that ALL sports, male and female are now part of NIL. I just watched our baseball team take 2 of 3 from top ranked LSU after taking 2 of 3 from 5th  ranked USC last week. Many don’t understand that Coach Thompson is already fighting with one hand behind his back because he doesn’t have access to the lottery scholarships. If our NIL isn’t there for him he won’t stay competitive. The big dogs can deal with the few top stars getting big money, but all of us need to do a little for the rest of these sports and athletes. 

[LPTiger 5,202]

13 hours ago, Gowebb11 said:

Thanks for this. A lot of fans aren’t even aware that ALL sports, male and female are now part of NIL. I just watched our baseball team take 2 of 3 from top ranked LSU after taking 2 of 3 from 5th  ranked USC last week. Many don’t understand that Coach Thompson is already fighting with one hand behind his back because he doesn’t have access to the lottery scholarships. If our NIL isn’t there for him he won’t stay competitive. The big dogs can deal with the few top stars getting big money, but all of us need to do a little for the rest of these sports and athletes. 

GWeb, thank you for this post!!!!

[passthebiscuits 6,886]

Great post.

NIL has its problems for sure…most of which are due to the lack of intuition and capabilities of the NCAA—who profited from the system it governed for far too long. But…overall it needed to happen. It changed collegiate athletics, but at least we all have it out in the open now. 

[Tiger1992 999]

On 5/8/2023 at 7:21 AM, Gowebb11 said:

 Many don’t understand that Coach Thompson is already fighting with one hand behind his back because he doesn’t have access to the lottery scholarships. 

As a Georgia resident, I can tell you that the Hope Scholarship in Georgia is huge for non-revenue sports (everything not basketball or football). Pretty damn huge for us parents as well.

I know (not well, but I know) one of the college softball head coaches in the state. They try to fill their roster with as many Georgia students who are eligible for Hope as possible because Hope pays for tuition if you graduate high school with a 3.0 and maintain a certain GPA in college. That gives them a lot of flexibility to use their 11.7 (I think) scholarships wisely and sometimes offer more to a player they otherwise might not get (the school in question is not UGA or Tech). It doesn't help that Auburn doesn't do any kind of reciprocity with other states, at least not with Georgia and Hope. Bama certainly does.

My daughter is in high school and plays softball and will have the opportunity to play in college if she wants (not sure at what level yet). And she has good grades. I wouldn't say no to Auburn if Dean is smart enough to want her 😀 but I will say Auburn out-of-state tuition is 3x in-state. I wouldn't let money get in the way, but with tuition, room and board, books, beer, and othe college expenses, Auburn is a $50k a year proposition for someone out of state, She'd get some scholarship money, but still. As much as I love Auburn....$50k per year? Really? Auburn has said, hey, we're getting record applications, we don't need to offer anything extra for non-Alabama residents, we have enough who are coming as is.

Sorry, got off on a tanget...TLDR summary - lottery scholarships are huge for non-revenue sports.

[augolf1716 21,434]

1 hour ago, Tiger1992 said:

As a Georgia resident, I can tell you that the Hope Scholarship in Georgia is huge for non-revenue sports (everything not basketball or football). Pretty damn huge for us parents as well.

I know (not well, but I know) one of the college softball head coaches in the state. They try to fill their roster with as many Georgia students who are eligible for Hope as possible because Hope pays for tuition if you graduate high school with a 3.0 and maintain a certain GPA in college. That gives them a lot of flexibility to use their 11.7 (I think) scholarships wisely and sometimes offer more to a player they otherwise might not get (the school in question is not UGA or Tech). It doesn't help that Auburn doesn't do any kind of reciprocity with other states, at least not with Georgia and Hope. Bama certainly does.

My daughter is in high school and plays softball and will have the opportunity to play in college if she wants (not sure at what level yet). And she has good grades. I wouldn't say no to Auburn if Dean is smart enough to want her 😀 but I will say Auburn out-of-state tuition is 3x in-state. I wouldn't let money get in the way, but with tuition, room and board, books, beer, and othe college expenses, Auburn is a $50k a year proposition for someone out of state, She'd get some scholarship money, but still. As much as I love Auburn....$50k per year? Really? Auburn has said, hey, we're getting record applications, we don't need to offer anything extra for non-Alabama residents, we have enough who are coming as is.

Sorry, got off on a tanget...TLDR summary - lottery scholarships are huge for non-revenue sports.

That's a very important expense to include........smart man I like your thinking