Bulldog Club/Bulldog Initiative

[dawgstudent]

Dear Bulldog Initiative Friends and Supporters,

Over the past 30 months, The Bulldog Initiative has proudly stood beside Mississippi State University and its student-athletes as we have navigated the ever-shifting landscape of college sports. With December on the horizon, our mission to attract and retain top-tier talent to State remains as critical and urgent as ever.

For us to succeed, we need your continued support. This is why I am happy to announce today that we now have a new and simpler way for you to support our mission, while at the same time unlocking for yourself all the benefits that come with making a contribution to The Bulldog Club – by giving to The State Excellence Fund.

Yesterday, Zac Selmon sat down with Bart Gregory and me on our podcast, Out of Left Field, to talk about Starkville, MSU Football, and the importance of The State Excellence Fund. Give it a listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to hear more discussion on our alignment.

There is nothing you need to do now.

In the coming days, Bulldog Club representatives and I will be reaching out to our supporters to answer questions and to discuss this next step in our development. If you would prefer that your contact information remain private and that it not be shared with The Bulldog Club, please let me know by emailing us at this opt out link before end of the day on Sunday, and we will be sure to honor your preferences.

To be clear, The Bulldog Initiative's mission has not changed, and we will continue our work of promoting State and its athletes - and we still need your help. Today, though, marks another step forward as we continue to build on the months of hard work with The Bulldog Club to make this new giving opportunity possible.

Stay tuned. Good things are happening.
Hail State!

Charlie
The Bulldog Initiative, LLC

 

[dawgstudent]

So this reads to me as you will give to the Bulldog Club instead of the Bulldog Initiative very soon.

 

[patdog]

So this reads to me as you will give to the Bulldog Club instead of the Bulldog Initiative very soon.

Yep. Should be a lot more efficient this way. For once, a positive change from the NCAA.

 

[MStateDawg]

Charlie: will I still get to choose which sport(s) my monthly donation is allocated to or is the Bulldog Club gonna distribute as they see fit?

 

[johnson86-1]

Charlie: will I still get to choose which sport(s) my monthly donation is allocated to or is the Bulldog Club gonna distribute as they see fit?

Going to be interesting to see how schools handle this. In the past, schools have refused donations at times because honoring the donor wishes would have made title IX compliance too difficult. Basically took the position that if donors wanted to specifically fund a wrestling team for example, they had to come up with funds to also support another woman's team in some sport. If the vast majority of NIL money is being designated for football, men's basketball, and baseball, as it almost certainly will be, I wonder how long before somebody takes the position that the school's involvement means they have to somehow equalize NIL between men and women athletes.

 

[dawgstudent]

Going to be interesting to see how schools handle this. In the past, schools have refused donations at times because honoring the donor wishes would have made title IX compliance too difficult. Basically took the position that if donors wanted to specifically fund a wrestling team for example, they had to come up with funds to also support another woman's team in some sport. If the vast majority of NIL money is being designated for football, men's basketball, and baseball, as it almost certainly will be, I wonder how long before somebody takes the position that the school's involvement means they have to somehow equalize NIL between men and women athletes.

Once they start getting paid - does Title IX matter? To me - that's like saying WNBA players need to make as much as NBA players. Or college baseball players need to make as much as college football players.

 

[patdog]

Once they start getting paid - does Title IX matter? To me - that's like saying WNBA players need to make as much as NBA players. Or college baseball players need to make as much as college football players.

This will be the next round of lawsuits. Schools have two choices of how to pay players. Allocate equally to all athletes/sports, or allocate based on revenue generated. Either way, you're getting sued. Of course all the major college athletic departments will be allocating based on revenue generated and deal with the lawsuits from the women's/minor sports when they come. One thing for sure, you won't see many turning down donations, restricted or not.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

The way I see this playing out:

- TV money pays the revenue sport players, if it all happens they way they've said (i.e., labor sharing in the profits);
- State Excellence Fund (or other similar giving programs) subsidizes the non-revenue sports;
- Bulldog Initiative still there to pay whoever players they/donors want.

Now, I've heard that State Excellence is supposed to be earmarked or whatever for football, so might do a switcharoo there or something to hit that 20M or whatever the number is. Guess it all sums up to the same thing, but I'm VERY interested in the accounting of all this, not just for us, but for all schools.

 

[Dawgg]

Once they start getting paid - does Title IX matter? To me - that's like saying WNBA players need to make as much as NBA players. Or college baseball players need to make as much as college football players.

The difference being that the WNBA is a different organization from the NBA and neither of them are a university, which is where Title IX applies.

I'm not saying Title IX is going to apply in this case. I'm just saying there's a very real difference in how men and women in two different organizations are viewed versus men and women in the same organization are viewed, especially when that organization is a partially federally funded educational institution.

 

[dawgstudent]

The way I see this playing out:

- TV money pays the revenue sport players, if it all happens they way they've said (i.e., labor sharing in the profits);
- State Excellence Fund (or other similar giving programs) subsidizes the non-revenue sports;
- Bulldog Initiative still there to pay whoever players they/donors want.

Now, I've heard that State Excellence is supposed to be earmarked or whatever for football, so might do a switcharoo there or something. Guess it all sums up to the same thing, but I'm VERY interested in the accounting of all this, not just for us, but for all schools.

From what I know - I think this is what will happen.

 

[Dawgbite]

Give us money, we can't tell you how we're spending the money nor be held accountable but trust us. We know better how to spend your money than you do. As an added bonus you will now get BDC points with any donation. Ignore the fact that BDC points are worthless unless you're in the top 750 of points. Just give us money and don't ask any questions.

 

[Dawgg]

Who came up with the name "The State Excellence Fund"? It sounds like a generic building fund. Did they take the Bulldog name out of it to make it sounds less 'athletics' focused?

 

[OG Goat Holder]

Give us money, we can't tell you how we're spending the money nor be held accountable but trust us. We know better how to spend your money than you do. As an added bonus you will now get BDC points with any donation. Ignore the fact that BDC points are worthless unless you're in the top 750 of points. Just give us money and don't ask any questions.

Nah, I think BC/SEF are going to be straight forward. You have an amount of money, or a budget, that you need to hit every year (who knows what that is). Someone has to pay for it. If we want a baseball program, they'll be a budget item in there for that (and remember, there's a lot more scholarships to pay for now).

The BI is where the flexibility would come in, and you can pick and choose there.

You can be negative if you want, but let's not spread bad info.

ETA: Don't get me wrong, once this all fleshes out and we know exactly what everything is going towards (which we should, soon I would think), I'd still like to see an AD strategy for how we will use this to help our teams win. That is what I am missing most right now - it's simply give, give, give and I'd like to know 'hey, are we concentrating on DL and this offense, etc etc.'. Or, are we prioritizing this sport over that sport, etc.

 

[CharlieWinfield]

Charlie: will I still get to choose which sport(s) my monthly donation is allocated to or is the Bulldog Club gonna distribute as they see fit?

You will also be able to specify your intention for the funds.

 

[Dawgbite]

Nah, I think BC/SEF are going to be straight forward. You have an amount of money, or a budget, that you need to hit every year (who knows what that is). Someone has to pay for it. If we want a baseball program, they'll be a budget item in there for that (and remember, there's a lot more scholarships to pay for now).

The BI is where the flexibility would come in, and you can pick and choose there.

You can be negative if you want, but let's not spread bad info.

Cynical? Most definitely but bad , no. Can you tell me what you got for your donation? Did you get 19.83% of a point guard? Did you get two innings of relief pitching? Did you get 2 extra points? I realize this is now how the game is played but I don't want to play this game.

 

[johnson86-1]

Once they start getting paid - does Title IX matter? To me - that's like saying WNBA players need to make as much as NBA players. Or college baseball players need to make as much as college football players.

I have no clue. If you read the actual statutory language of Title IX, it's hard to figure out how letting donors pay for a men's wrestling team somehow results in a person being "denied access to, excluded from, or discriminated against in any educational program or activity that receives federal financial assistance based on sex."

It's just an absurd interpretation. it would make a lot more sense to say that men and women's programs are simply prohibited by Title IX and there should just be sports teams and men and women can make it on their merit or not.

I think you're reasonably likely to see a district court case that does rule that it violates Title IX for a disproportionate amount of "NIL" money to go to men if that money is flowing through an entity controlled by the school. Because whoever brings that suit is going to get to pick where they bring it, and they're not going to bring it, for example, in the fifth circuit. I would assume they'll try to find a district with very left leaning judges somewhere in the 9th circuit.

I wouldn't think it would survive on appeal even in the 9th circuit, but I would think somebody is going to try. And I don't see a particularly principled reason that schools can shuffle disproportionate amounts of money to male athletes based on donor preference but they can't shuffle disproportionate amount of scholarships to male athletes based on donor preference.

 

[johnson86-1]

Cynical? Most definitely but bad , no. Can you tell me what you got for your donation? Did you get 19.83% of a point guard? Did you get two innings of relief pitching? Did you get 2 extra points? I realize this is now how the game is played but I don't want to play this game.

Call me an optimist, but I'd like to think I got 19.83% of a stripper that helped us land a point guard. Maybe that's just me being unrealistic because of nostalgia for how recruiting worked in the good ole days, but that's what I choose to believe.

 

[Maroon13]

Staying on topic here.....I've listen to this twice and haven't heard any new real details other than......

BI donations will now go to the State Excellence fund.

That's new. So I guess confidence is very high that House v NCAA settlement will settle and bring NIL management in-house to Athletic departments.

Doing my own reading, State excellence is a branch of the Bulldog Club that will handle all aspects of NIL with players deals and payments. BC will still be around to fund scholarships and your seat license fees etc will go to the BC. You will donate separately to State excellence to fund NIL deals for players.

Someone feel free to correct me if this isn't accurate.

 

[gtowndawg]

If we have been giving to the BI will those funds roll over to the Bulldog Club now or do we need to cancel BI giving and start over with the Excellence Fund?

 

[CharlieWinfield]

If we have been giving to the BI will those funds roll over to the Bulldog Club now or do we need to cancel BI giving and start over with the Excellence Fund?

Our plan is to start reaching out to everyone next week to discuss all the conversion options, etc.

 

[Maroon13]

This is a few months old and before the judge told both parties to "go back to the drawing board"..... but a good article explaining many aspects of the house v ncaa settlement proposal. Scroll down to get to Title IX information and opinions.

https://businessofcollegesports.com/legal/10-questions-answered-about-the-ncaas-house-settlement/

 

[ChE1997]

This will be the next round of lawsuits. Schools have two choices of how to pay players. Allocate equally to all athletes/sports, or allocate based on revenue generated. Either way, you're getting sued. Of course all the major college athletic departments will be allocating based on revenue generated and deal with the lawsuits from the women's/minor sports when they come. One thing for sure, you won't see many turning down donations, restricted or not.

As long as they are all paid, then what's the difference between that and other jobs?

A teller at JP Morgan doesn't get paid like the CEO.

 

[8dog]

As long as they are all paid, then what's the difference between that and other jobs?

A teller at JP Morgan doesn't get paid like the CEO.

JP Morgan isn’t governed by Title IX. I didn’t think that had to be said.

 

[mcdawg22]

Cynical? Most definitely but bad , no. Can you tell me what you got for your donation? Did you get 19.83% of a point guard? Did you get two innings of relief pitching? Did you get 2 extra points? I realize this is now how the game is played but I don't want to play this game.

Do you donate to BDC?

 

[Maroon13]

The way I see this playing out:

- TV money pays the revenue sport players, if it all happens they way they've said (i.e., labor sharing in the profits);
- State Excellence Fund (or other similar giving programs) subsidizes the non-revenue sports;
- Bulldog Initiative still there to pay whoever players they/donors want.

Now, I've heard that State Excellence is supposed to be earmarked or whatever for football, so might do a switcharoo there or something to hit that 20M or whatever the number is. Guess it all sums up to the same thing, but I'm VERY interested in the accounting of all this, not just for us, but for all schools.

Are you saying State will do a lot of "robbing Peter to pay Paul?"

TV money will pay salaries for administrators, coaches and operating expense. Which will include the house settlement money

BC pays for scholarships for all sports through ticket sales and seat license donations.

State Excellent funds NIl management and deals and payments for all athletes across all sports.

Cristil Society: above and beyond donations over seat license to fund what State deems fit.

BI. No idea going forward. However many in the media and administrators believe the house settlement won't rid us of collectives.

 

[ChE1997]

JP Morgan isn’t governed by Title IX. I didn’t think that had to be said.

You cannot "discriminate based on Sex" in the workplace either. IT's not like Title Ix is the only place that phrase exists....

I didn't think that had to be said....

Also, IF THEY ARE ALL GETTING PAID

then

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance

Where is this statement violated?

Participation?
Benefit?
discrimination?

Based on the sex of the person?

 

[Dawgbite]

Do you donate to BDC?

I did for 20+ years but when they informed me that I was losing my baseball parking pass because i wasn't in the top 750 of the BDC , I was out. I was giving the university and BDC over $5000 per year but apparently that didn't qualify me for a parking pass that I'd paid for for years. I told whoever I was talking too that if they wouldn't renew my parking pass then i wouldn't renew any of my season tickets nor make any more donations. So far I've lived up to my end of the bargain.