FanAngel.....Game changer or no?

[Swim_Bike_Run]

Just heard an interview with the guy on ESPN's Mike & Mike for a new site/idea call fanagel.com. I was only half listening when they started then my ears perked up to say the least.

It's essentially a crowdfunding site started by a guy with a Masters from Harvard that pays athletes through donations, provided they meet the terms of the pledge. Lots of variables obviously. The athlete himself is not directly involved in any way to the pledges or any funds until his eligibility is up.

Example:

Joe Boscoe is starting QB at California State Tech University. Fans pledge $1M for Joe to stay an additional year. Joe's eligibility is not legally affected since he is not accepting or involved in the transaction. He technically has nothing to do with it. Once he meets the requirements and his eligibility is up he can accept the money. He gets 80%, 10% goes to the other team mates and I think 10% goes to non-profit.

The tricky part of the interview was mentioned that pledge incentives can also be tied to other performance levels which seemed a bit seedy, imho. TD's, assists, points scored, etc can be tied to pledge amounts. It sounded like a good deal till that part came up.

The concept is interesting to say the least. They have met with the NCAA and I got the feeling it was not well received but he kept insisting he was working to comply with all NCAA regulations. Clearly it will come down to what is legal and what is not. The player not agreeing or accepting any money until their eligibility is up is the key component for the legal process. The guy sounded pretty confident that they were on the right side of the law.


I will point out, that I did not think the guy came across as shady at all...he actually seemed rather sharp. I just don't know about the pledging of funds tied to performance tiers. If it is solely directed to incentivize guys to stay longer in school....I like it. Clearly they will be in for pushback big time from the NCAA but from a legality standpoint I don't know what the NCAA can do.

NCAA is a joke anyway, imo.


Fascinating idea...to me at least. Time to go find change in the couch cushion for Jahhhhhhhhhhhh to stay another year

 

[DukeDenver]

Coach Cal dreams of all his hillbilly fans using their lottery ticket money to keep his freshmen for an extra year.

 

[dukiejay]

Thanks Swim....I know the interview you're talking about. I had just dropped my daughter off at school and caught the end of it on my drive to the office. I was a little confused exactly what they were talking about but figured it out after a few minutes.

I'm going to go back to their show page and podcast the whole interview. It's an interesting concept.

 

[mo.st.dukie]

Decent idea but I'm hoping it's a stepping stone idea that gets something better in place. I like the idea of having funds the player can only access after exhausting his eligibility but don't like the idea of people donating for that purpose. People already spend enough money on college sports. The money generated from ticket and merchandise sales, a portion of that should be placed in an account for the players after they graduate. Maybe sell jerseys for every player, with their name on the back, and have that money go to a post-graduation fund. Or have all the money made from autographs sold by the university, like the autographed Duke posters, be divided up among the players and put into an account for after graduation. It just seems odd for people to give money just for the player to stick around.

This post was edited on 3/10 10:54 AM by mo.st.dukie

 

[skysdad]

Originally posted by DukeDenver:
Coach Cal dreams of all his hillbilly fans using their lottery ticket money to keep his freshmen for an extra year.Moon shine, white lightning, mountain dew, hooch, corn liquor can bring in gazillions of dollars. OFC

 

[FearTheBeard]

Originally posted by DukeDenver:
Coach Cal dreams of all his hillbilly fans using their lottery ticket money to keep his freshmen for an extra year.

They would rob banks to help fund it.

 

[DiehardDukeFan4Life]

IMHO I'm not sure that setting up a fund for people/fans to donate to in hopes of players staying in school for an extra year/years then being able to receive money from that fund after they use up their eligibility because most players nowadays want to get to the NBA as soon as they can, so the players will probably look at it like "why should I stay in school an extra year/years to get money after I use up all my eligibility when I can go to the NBA after my freshman season and get money". I do think that players should receive a portion of the money that the NCAA makes off them through merchandise sales and other things.