Larry Gies Makes Transformational $100 Million Gift to Illinois Athletics
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blackdog
- Champaign
Wording is key here too. Whitman didnt they say they were going to hire a firm they said they have engaged one. I would guess they are well into the process already.
I don't even say State Farm Center!
And no one will ever force you to. Just enjoy the upgrades to our program and facilities that they've enabled.
And my guess is once the renderings come back, only then do they solicit additional donations for a Memorial Stadium reno. This Gies gift is just the start and not anywhere close to finished, IMO.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Probably overthinking it, but I’m glad the new wording isn’t on the 1LL1NO1S font…!!!
for any clarity/conformation:
The money, Whitman said, will largely go towards football and Memorial Stadium, but comes with no specific instructions from Gies, who also donated $150 million to the UI College of Business, which bears his name.
The money, Whitman said, will largely go towards football and Memorial Stadium, but comes with no specific instructions from Gies, who also donated $150 million to the UI College of Business, which bears his name.
blackdog
- Champaign
Good bet says they're already in talks with other big fish and probably have been for quite awhile. Just because they made this public now doesn't mean it wasn't already a done deal for some time.
It's obviously a great day for Illinois sports and a tremendous gift. The fact that our athletic budget is now over $200M means we are competitive nationally. The fact that this gift will cover upgrades to Memorial stadium over the next 5+ years without Whitman having to go into more debt or dip into the athletic budget is a big asset for the program and it means other sports will get more upgrades as well given we should be running at a healthy surplus in the budget going forward. Our debt servicing as far as I can tell is about 7-8% of the budget which is a very manageable amount
The next step, as many have called for, would be a large contributions to the NIL funding to compete with the top tier programs for players. We're still a ways away from that - but the more the facilities improve and the results on the field and court improve, the more NIL funding will come. As Josh said, hopefully donations like this one inspire others to make donations as the momentum builds and you can see the positive impact donations can make.
blackdog
- Champaign
Subtle point but just because Gies didn't have specific instructions doesn't mean they wouldn't have a solid plan to show him before he put the money down. Very rare is someone going to spend that much money without having a pretty good idea of how its going to be spent.
I don't think they care what you call them, especially in State Farm's case, they just want it to be on TV for marketing.
Regardless of whether any of the donation goes to NIL funds, the program is now free to use its own funds for NIL and not allocate as much to the renovations. It could allow for more focus on non-revenue sports as well.
This is a purist definition of a gift and probably the optimist's definition of one. But if that's how we define gift I'm not sure I've ever seen a true gift given. Everyone who's ever gifted something has gotten something in return. Usually it's just a warm fuzzy feeling and a "thank you." Validation: we all crave it.
If you've ever given a gift and gotten no appreciation (probably you've experienced this if you have kids) I'm sure it didn't feel good. You probably thought to yourself "why do I even bother." But if you truly expected nothing in return, you wouldn't have thought that, right?
When my wife gifts me nice clothes, she gets a lifetime of me saying "thanks, my wife actually bought me this, she has great taste" whenever I am complimented on said clothes in public. I'm sure to her that validation is great value on the money she paid for a shirt or sweater. When the gift is 9 figures though, I suppose the validation needs to be bigger too?
All I know is that if you were to put the naming rights up for sale you wouldn't get $100 million. State Farm is paying just $2 million a year for the naming rights to Assembly Hall. To me it's like when you donate to a public radio station and get a tote bag. Are you paying $10 a month in perpetuity because you wanted a $20 tote bag? Of course not. You're paying $10 a month because you want to support public radio. But having the tote bag gives you some validation and social cachet. You walk around town, and everyone knows you support public radio. Other customers in Trader Joes smile at you. We are all humans at the end of the day and everybody who does something good wants the social validation of having done something good.
To clarify - schools cannot contribute to their own NIL collectives, that has to come from outside donations and corporations. The new revenue sharing, capped at $20.5M per school comes directly from school revenue, which all power 4 schools will payout that full amount to the athletes, which will be audited and monitored. So a donation like this one helps free up revenue to be used for other purposes (to your point), but doesn't increase what we pay athletes directly given we would payout the full $20.5M that we're allowed to regardless of this donation
I would bet there were discussions around the best use of $ for Illinois athletics, $100M to the stadium, sports, etc., vs $80M to the stadium, sports, etc., and $20M to NIL.
This was a well-thought-out donation based on where the funds can have the most significant positive impact on Illinois Football, and the overall athletic department.
Chief is not happening. Good thing for the stadium and program that Mr. Gies is the billionaire and not you if the chief would be your requirement to give a $100MM.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
If you change your last name to Gies, you can tell your kids the stadium is named after youI would have no problem changing my name to Gies for $100M.
A lot of people have pointed out that it is named after Gies’s father, a (WWII?) veteran. But who will remember that in 10 years or so? There are still many people who don’t know that the name, Fighting Illini, was named after the veterans who fought in WWI and not for an Indian tribe. I think most people will just assume it was named after the son, or more likely, the Gies family.
I would have thought that too - if Gies challenged Josh and team to come up with something bold/transformative and this donation was years in the making, I would think contributing to NIL in this era of college sports is the most transformative thing you can do, but this donation is very clearly for the Athletic department and mostly for Memorial stadium not the ICON NIL Collective which is a completely different organization. It wouldn't be up to the athletic department to allocate some to NIL, it would have to be a separate donation to the NIL collective (they are monitored separately, one is tax deductible and one isn't) Maybe there is something else coming down the road that is going to NIL, but this wasn't it.
Added benefit.
If it's a gift, it's tax deductible. He's not advertising anything.
There are thousands of unbelievably awesome ways to spend 100 million dollars. Mr. Gies' choice will bring joy to many more Illini fans than just his namesakes. Between the Business school and the football stadium, his legacy is secure at the University he loves.
We are the beneficiaries of his generosity, and it cost us nothing. Just say thank you.
There are thousands of unbelievably awesome ways to spend 100 million dollars. Mr. Gies' choice will bring joy to many more Illini fans than just his namesakes. Between the Business school and the football stadium, his legacy is secure at the University he loves.
We are the beneficiaries of his generosity, and it cost us nothing. Just say thank you.
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
Well… it cost us 100 years of standing firm that Memorial Stadium is a proud tribute to the Illinois men and women who served our country in WW1. Now it’s, apparently, a tribute to the father of one man who, conveniently enough, was a veteran.
But once again, I’m pragmatic. $100 million dollars in exchange for relinquishing that century-old stance is a fantastic deal. Hell, I probably would’ve sold it for half that. But let’s not kid ourselves that we’re sacrificing something here and that this was a transactional deal. So many people are falling all over themselves to justify something that doesn’t really need justification. There was a price on the stadium’s name. It’s just that no one knew what that was until an offer was made and the money was on the table.
Naturally… I must assume that any suggestion to make a WW1 Doughboy our mascot is now a dead issue. That would be… awkward.
But once again, I’m pragmatic. $100 million dollars in exchange for relinquishing that century-old stance is a fantastic deal. Hell, I probably would’ve sold it for half that. But let’s not kid ourselves that we’re sacrificing something here and that this was a transactional deal. So many people are falling all over themselves to justify something that doesn’t really need justification. There was a price on the stadium’s name. It’s just that no one knew what that was until an offer was made and the money was on the table.
Naturally… I must assume that any suggestion to make a WW1 Doughboy our mascot is now a dead issue. That would be… awkward.
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