Syracuse Orange faces challenges, can compete on NIL in ACC – experts
By Neil Adler
Donations large and small help
When I caught up with DeSorbo and the 315 Foundation’s other co-founder, Michael Bristol, they declined to provide specific details on NIL compensation to Syracuse Orange student-athletes.
They did say that in 2022, the 315 Foundation supported every Syracuse basketball men’s player who was eligible for NIL. They added that, in the near future, they’re looking to forge NIL agreements for Syracuse Orange student-athletes in women’s basketball, as well as men’s and women’s lacrosse.
A key for these nonprofit collectives is awareness and marketing. The millions of ‘Cuse fans worldwide, the robust alumni base, wealthy individual donors and the like have to know that they can easily make tax-deductible donations to support Syracuse Orange student-athletes through the 315 Foundation and Athletes Who Care Web sites.
DeSorbo and Bristol say that wealthy donors making significant donations are important, but so, too, are the smaller donations from SU fans. Those $10 and $20 donations add up, they say.
The 315 Foundation co-founders also point out that for wealthy donors who want to financially contribute to an athletic facility or put their name on a Syracuse University academic building, they can invest in those sorts of things, but they also should consider NIL donations as well.
As an example, a $5 million donation for an athletic facility or a SU academic building could be split into $2.5 million for that, and $2.5 million for NIL. Understandably, it may not prove all that easy to convince such wealthy donors to go down that route.
A long-term goal of the 315 Foundation, the co-founders say, is to create an endowment fund or funds that can support Syracuse Orange student-athletes across multiple sports. Such a fund or funds would then get professionally invested, and the investment gains could then support SU Athletics on an annual basis in perpetuity.
It’s also pivotal that ‘Cuse fans, alumni and the like know that their donations – whether $10 or seven figures – will help Syracuse Orange sports programs succeed now and in the future. And if the 315 Foundation, for one, can develop an endowment fund that has sizable NIL funds at its disposal, that will enable the organization to provide NIL deals that can help retain players.