What Wisconsin tells donors torn between funding NIL or a new football facility (2024)

The Thursday night event last October dressed up the Camp Randall Sports Center in a way not seen for years — if ever.

The University of Wisconsin athletic department hired companies to outfit the aging indoor recreation facility, known better as the Shell, with lights and sound. It installed video boards and a stage that incorporated a replica of the Camp Randall Arch as a backdrop.

Athletic director Chris McIntosh spoke from the podium, as did football coach Luke Fickell and donor Ted Kellner. Former Badgers tackle Joe Thomas took the stage wearing his gold Pro Football Hall of Fame blazer.

The roughly 350 people at tables and sofas spread underneath the facility's arched roof gathered to officially launch the fundraising campaign that will replace the 68-year-old building with a football practice facility that Badgers athletics officials have said for years is sorely needed.

Some of the invited guests already had donated. Others were being encouraged to follow to help get Wisconsin to a $75 million fundraising goal for the $285 million project.

Lingering amid the din of dueling piano players and chatter, however, was another expense that many of the people in the Shell at some point had been asked to help fund. College sports programs need facilities for players to train, but they increasingly need money to fund name, image and likeness deals to bring in or retain players.

If donors have a set sum they're willing to give to the Wisconsin athletic department, which category should it go to: the facility that has been eyed for years or the NIL funding that might make the difference in putting together a winning roster?

McIntosh said he has fielded that question over and over, and his response has been to politely put the choice back on the donor.

"First of all, I'mgrateful that they're asking the question," he said in an exclusive interview with BadgerExtra. "But my answer to them is wherever it resonates with them.

"It's gone either way. Some people, it speaks to them more to help us with a capital project like the indoor (facility). Some people are far more excited and eager to help us with our NIL efforts."

Asking people to donate to both is more of a challenge.

"If you could draw it up, you wouldn't be doing both of those at the same time," McIntosh said. "We don't have that luxury. Obviously NIL is an important factor today, but we've found ourselves so far behind on facilities."

Wisconsin is 'way behind' in facilities that appeal to recruits, donor says

Some Badgers donors are wary of giving to NIL in its current state: a mix of endeavors with a service component or endorsem*nt attached and the pending arrival of direct payments.

John Schaefer, the CEO of Fleet Farm, and his wife, Cindy, had their names projected onto the wall of the Shell during the fundraiser kickoff to show they were among the first donors to the indoor practice facility project.

He is a former alumni representative on the university's Athletic Board and was chair of the oversight body's finance committee, so he's well aware of the athletic department's funding and the state of some of its facilities.

A new football practice building has been near the top of Wisconsin's wish list for years. Coaches and administrators have lamented limitations of the McClain Center, the school's current indoor space: Its football field is 20 yards shorter than regulation, the height of its roof doesn't easily allow for kicking drills and the layout of team spaces is outdated, they've said in meetings.

The construction project will replace the McClain Center and adjacent Shell, which formerly was operated by the university's recreational sports department, with a full-sized practice field and adjacent team facilities. The work will happen in stages between this fall and the early part of 2027.

"It doesn't take more than one visit to realize that we're way behind in terms of practice facilities and all the things we try to do in terms of marketing to a potential recruit," John Schaefer said.

An increasing part of recruiting, however, is the compensation NIL collectives connected to schools will offer players. Like facility construction, that's available only with enough funding.

Schaefer said he has been skeptical of NIL in what he called its infancy stages. He said he gave some money to an NIL drive — The Varsity Collective is the group organized outside the athletic department to support Badgers players — but the indoor practice facility was the higher priority.

"As a donor, I'm looking forward to the time when it becomes more cohesive and you can give one place and it just gets spread how the athletic department thinks it should," Schaefer said. "But in the meantime, the bulk of my money goes to the university with donations to the NIL as needed."

McIntosh said it's not a healthy approach for a continued relationship with donors when the athletic department chooses whether their money goes to either the football facility or NIL funding.

That's an understandable approach in today's college athletics landscape, an expert on sports finances said.

"Different donors have different motivations for giving," said Tim DeSchriver, an associate professor of sport management at the University of Delaware. "So you can't say we need everybody to give toward NIL or facilities because somebody might say, 'I'm just not comfortable with this new idea of athletes getting — I'm paying them a salary here.'"

The original intent of NIL, DeSchriver said, was to allow athletes to make money from endorsem*nt deals. Collectives have changed things, and NCAA losses in court mean it can't prevent NIL money from being used as a recruiting inducement or limit the number of times a player transfers.

Schools have to understand that they won't get money for NIL from some donors because of philosophical differences with the changes in college sports.

"You might have some big donors who are like, 'Yeah, I'm not comfortable with it — it feels like I'm just writing a check to an athlete,'" DeSchriver said. "'That's not what I want to do. I'd rather give it to a facility.' Where others might just say, 'Hey, whatever is best for the program. If that means my money's going into the athlete's pocket, I'm fine with that.'"

At Wisconsin, facilities and NIL fit into a bigger picture

McIntosh said fundraising for the practice facility has been strong. "We're not quite there, but we're getting close," he said.

NIL fundraising has been "appropriate for how we see NIL fitting into our overall offering," McIntosh said.

That's a nod toward Wisconsin not putting all of its eggs into the NIL basket in how it recruits players. School leaders historically have emphasized athletics operating within the framework of amateurism, but expansion of NIL and an upcoming revenue sharing plan are challenging that existence.

Still, McIntosh said the Badgers are trying to lure players by advertising the holistic experience. NIL money, facilities, the social setting and the value of a UW-Madison degree all factor into the approach, he said.

"Don't get me wrong: You can walk through the entire building and people are really excited about the indoor (practice facility)," McIntosh said. "And it's going to be fantastic. And it's going to be something that we can be proud of.

"Is it going to play a role in attracting talent to Wisconsin? Yeah, probably. But is it the most important tool that we use to do that? No, I don't think it is. And NIL would fall in the same category.

"It is about the people. It is about relationships. Even though, obviously, the times that we live in are different and there are many competing factors, that is where it starts. I think our coaches would say that that's the place that they would like it to start."

The stance is reminiscent of one Wisconsin took in an era when athletic departments paid out millions to enhance their facilities. The Badgers were participants — the department has built or heavily renovated 10 athletic facilities since 2012 — but didn't go to the extremes that some others did.

There were no bowling lanes, slides or mini-golf holes built in Wisconsin's football facility when it was overhauled in the early and late 2010s. Designs for the new indoor practice facility also have appeared more aligned with practicality than flashiness.

Improvements for college athletics facilities have continued around the country, but there have been some suggestions that the arms race is slowing because of NIL. If players are going to get paid, the theory goes, that's more of a recruiting tool than a fancy players lounge.

Uncertainty about the financial future of college sports with revenue sharing for players on the horizon contributed toward the pausing of a new wrestling facility at Iowa State and renovations to the baseball stadium at Ole Miss.

Wisconsin's planning for the indoor practice facility started in late 2019, so the wheels were moving before the financial landscape changed with the introduction of NIL deals in 2021.

McIntosh said there was never a discussion of delaying the project to push more donor money toward NIL.

"If the indoor practice facility were a nice-to-have project, it might warrant looking at it differently," he said. "This is a need-to-have project. There's been no second-guessing."