Eight Southern Methodist University megadonors have raised $50 million for the school’s athletes, signaling a dramatic escalation in college sports’ donor-fueled financial arms race to recruit and retain the best players.
The university has also launched a major gift-giving organization, the Boulevard Society, which campus leaders expect to raise at least an additional $50 million for the school’s athletes by the end of the year.
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In an age when deep-pocketed boosters are a program’s lifeblood, Miller knows the resources are in place. He believes the $50 million financial gift will supercharge their efforts. And SMU, campus leaders said, is not backing down.
“It just says to people, ‘Hey, if you want to play this game at a very high level, then you’re going to have to make a very serious investment to do that,’” Miller said. “Whether it’s philanthropic gifts or university support or state support or whatever, it’s just darn expensive.”
Added Evans: “We’re not going anywhere. We’re going to be one of the best programs in the country.”
If SMU raised enough money to buy their way into the ACC, why is anyone surprised about this NIL gift? The question people should be asking is what took SMU BMDs so long to get this gift?
The broader effect that everyone realizes is the cost of doing business in college sports just went up. Including for UH.
PLEASE…They are super rich, always have been. They raised way more than that very quickly to buy their way to an ACC bid…They are so rich they gave away their ACC tv money for years because to them, it was no big deal. I wish them nothing but FAILURE in the future…
I always wonder do the athletes that benefit from these payments how come none of them get super rich - do they not take advantage of the surroundings and pick the brains of a super rich person?