Colorado student-athletes will provide content for subscription-based fundraising program
- Lincoln Roch
- 2 minutes ago
- 2 min read
A new fundraising program offers a glimpse into how the University of Colorado plans to utilize its athletes' Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) in exchange for direct payments.
In late June, the athletics department announced the launch of Buffs Premier, a subscription-based fan loyalty program that will offer a list of perks, including personalized messages from athletes.
Athletes with revenue-sharing contracts with the university will be expected to contribute their name, image and likeness to the program.
Buffs Premier will have three tiers of pricing, starting at $39.99 a month. Prices for the higher-tiered levels were not provided in the announcement.
Subscribers to the program will receive perks from the school. Those include special access to buy tickets at select home games, sweepstakes, limited-edition merch drops, behind-the-scenes tours, virtual roundtables and unique gameday experiences. Subs will also get signed memorabilia and personalized messages from athletes, coaches and athletics leadership.
Participation in Buffs Premier is the first publicized responsibility for athletes receiving payment from the school since the House v. NCAA settlement was finalized. The settlement allows schools to make direct payments to athletes for their NIL.
“Contracts are still being finalized, but student-athletes who participate in revenue sharing will have NIL-related responsibilities to the CU Athletic Department of which Buffs Premier will be a part,” CU Athletics spokesman Steve Hurlbert said in an email to Sko Buffs Sports.
The program is athletic director Rick George’s latest attempt at finding new revenue streams to meet the settlement's full $20.5 million cap on athlete pay.
While programs around the country are cutting entire sports to meet the cap, George has so far avoided the idea. Instead, he’s gotten the student athletics fee raised, brought all fundraising in-house and eliminated some positions.
In addition to revenue sharing, the settlement allows all student athletes to receive full scholarships. When the student athletics fee was raised, the department said the funds would go specifically to women's sports scholarships.
While the department's main fundraising arm, CU Buff Club, allows donations to be earmarked for specific sports or given to George's discretionary funds, it is not fully clear how money from Buffs Premier will be distributed.
“All funds that are generated will be used to support CU student-athletes, which will help CU continue to compete at the highest levels of college athletics. The exact mechanism of that distribution is still being finalized,” Hurlbert said.
For the new program, CU is partnering with Two Circles, a data-driven sports marketing agency that will operate the program. Two Circles has worked on similar initiatives with the NFL, Premier League and EA Sports.
“We’re excited to be the first college athletic department to partner with them,” Hulbert said.
The announcement did not share how much Two Circles will be compensated for operating Buffs Premier. While the program does not have an official launch date, fans can sign up for updates on the athletic department's website.