J Batt previews Michigan State fundraising plans amid revenue-sharing preparations

While he was Georgia Tech athletics director, J Batt placed an emphasis on fundraising. That’s also his background from his time at Alabama as deputy athletics director, where he took on a key role in revenue generation.

Now the AD at Michigan State, Batt reiterated the importance of fundraising. But amid uncertainty around revenue-sharing as the House v. NCAA settlement final approval process continues, he cited the need to be ready to shift plans if necessary.

Batt stressed the need to provide coaches with resources to compete at the highest level as he takes over in East Lansing. While the approach to fundraising is sure to shift with rev-sharing set to come to college athletics, he said alignment will be necessary to succeed – and he expects that will be the case.

“We are going to be extremely successful and competitive in that space,” Batt said during his introductory press conference. “We’re going to be intentional about providing all of our coaches the resources to be successful at a championship level.

“I’ll tell you, I believe as we head into the revenue-share – the post-House settlement [era], hopefully – what that requires will change, and how we approach that space will change. But I can tell you we’ll have a great plan. We’ll be united in that plan, we’ll be aligned in that plan from President [Kevin] Guskiewicz to our coaches to our board as we head into that era.”

If the House v. NCAA settlement receives final approval, schools will be able to directly share dollars with athletes. That de facto cap is set at $20.5 million for 2025-26 and will increase by 4% each year of the 10-year agreement.

With those budget increases, concern grew about the future of non-revenue and Olympic sports. A former college men’s soccer player at North Carolina, J Batt understands what they mean to an athletics department. He made it clear those sports will still be important at Michigan State as he looks for success not just in the revenue sports, but in every program.

“I see them as continually incredibly important,” Batt said. “We talk about, if opportunity is the key and the currency in our business, the revenue sports help drive. But at the end of the day, those Olympic sports, the non-revenue sports, they’re just as important.

“Success across the board is an important goal. This is a Top-10 athletic department and we’ll be successful.”