Texas Tech billionaire booster establishes non-profit Saving College Sports

Texas Tech billionaire booster Cody Campbell announced the formation of a new non-profit dedicated to college sports on Tuesday night. Dubbed “Saving College Sports,” the non-profit organization aims to create a “path to a sustainable future.”

Campbell, who is the co-founder of Texas Tech’s NIL collective, The Matador Club, is also the chairman of the Texas Tech Board of Regents. Campbell sold his oil and natural gas company, Double Eagle, to Diamondback Energy in February for approximately $4.08 billion in cash and stock. He was the main financial source for the Red Raiders’ top-ranked transfer portal class this winter.

The billionaire was also set to co-chair President Donald Trump’s college sports commission with former Alabama head coach Nick Saban. Put on pause for the time being, the commission was expected to tackle topics centered around the transfer portal, the state of the college sports landscape, NIL collectives and revenue sharing, among others.

“College sports are in trouble,” Cody Campbell wrote on X about his new organization. “We need to save all of them — from big schools to small schools and from big money sports like football and basketball to non-revenue Olympic sports like wrestling, swimming, track, tennis, golf, and volleyball. I’m on a mission to make sure that all 500,000 student-athletes in this country continue to have the opportunity for education and character development.”

Campbell has supported Congress giving the NCAA an antitrust exemption. He’s also penned multiple columns for The Federalist, recently stating that, “college athletics will disappear for the majority of the Americans who have enjoyed and benefited from it for generations.” His nonprofit has already started lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill.

The Saving College Sports organization has a three-prong approach, according to its website. That includes committing to legal and regulatory certainty and consistency, comprehensive governance reform and college sports maximizing their economic pie.

Campbell’s Matador Club has been at the forefront of NIL since it was launched in February 2022. In July 2022, the NIL collective announced it had signed 100 Red Raider football players to a one-year $25,000 NIL contract. Texas Tech spent over $10 million in the transfer portal this offseason, too.

“We have maximized the resources that are available to him financially to compete in this new revenue world. I think we’re in a great spot to have a good class this year and years to come,” Cody Campbell told Red Raider Sports this week. I’m excited about what the future is going to bring with respect to recruiting.”