Highlights from the article:
The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Zeigler wonders if San Diego State and similarly resourced programs can compete consistently against programs which have solid NIL infrastructure in place. Aztecs AD Wicker weighs in: “NIL is the new reality in all of college athletics. But I think there are enough good players out there that for some it’s about the money and for others it’s about the culture, about what I can get out of the program and all the other intangibles that come with it. They chose to value other pieces more.” MESA Foundation Co-Founder Smith says the SDSU-focused collective that is in place was never meant to compete with schools like Miami (FL), noting the first-year budget recently reached its $350K goal thanks in large part to the Aztecs Final Four run. “There’s no real way to know exactly what everybody else is doing, but you do hear these intimidating numbers and it does make you nervous. It makes my head spin. … We weren’t going to be a school that could clip off $250K to $500K from an individual. We learned pretty quickly that’s not San Diego State. The truth is, if this does get sustained and MESA does continue forward, we need to get the word out that this is only going to work if everybody buys in just a little bit. We’ll succeed based on the support of the community, not a few people.”
www.sandiegouniontribune.com
The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Zeigler wonders if San Diego State and similarly resourced programs can compete consistently against programs which have solid NIL infrastructure in place. Aztecs AD Wicker weighs in: “NIL is the new reality in all of college athletics. But I think there are enough good players out there that for some it’s about the money and for others it’s about the culture, about what I can get out of the program and all the other intangibles that come with it. They chose to value other pieces more.” MESA Foundation Co-Founder Smith says the SDSU-focused collective that is in place was never meant to compete with schools like Miami (FL), noting the first-year budget recently reached its $350K goal thanks in large part to the Aztecs Final Four run. “There’s no real way to know exactly what everybody else is doing, but you do hear these intimidating numbers and it does make you nervous. It makes my head spin. … We weren’t going to be a school that could clip off $250K to $500K from an individual. We learned pretty quickly that’s not San Diego State. The truth is, if this does get sustained and MESA does continue forward, we need to get the word out that this is only going to work if everybody buys in just a little bit. We’ll succeed based on the support of the community, not a few people.”
Is San Diego State’s approach sustainable when other schools’ NIL collectives are buying teams?
San Diego State is in the Final Four this week in Houston. Miami is in the Final Four.San Diego State has name, image and likeness money for its players. Miami has NIL money.That’s where the …
www.sandiegouniontribune.com
