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The folks contributing to Lifetime Cardinal have done so specifically intending their funds to go towards supporting National top caliber athletes and teams to represent Stanford. Those that contribute towards academic related endowments are doing their intent as well. Why can’t both co-exist and flourish?

You might contract with Tiger Woods for $1M to get him to play in a tournament, but I wouldn't call that "contributing" or "donating".  I find it hard to equate "contributing" to the 49ers or SJ Giants or Tiger Woods with contributing toward academic related endowments.

IANAL, but as I understand it, money given to Lifetime Cardinal would not be considered a charitable donation by the IRS.  I do note that Lifetime Cardinal does NOT claim to be a "charitable" 501©3 organization on its web site, but then, the web site does not warn donors that they are not a charitable organization.  Indeed, the words "tax", "charitable", "501©3" do not appear, but "Stanford", "student", "general fund," "Haven House," "Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital," and "Ronald McDonald House" do appear.   Hmmm.....  I note that GoFundMe.com has a help page to explain the tax situation when you give money there.

So, (IANACPA) the $1M Lifetime Cardinal NIL payout would typically represent maybe $1.3M (22 full scholarships) of before-tax earnings for the donors and only about $700K of value to the recipient.  That's a lot of potential academic support that winds up getting eaten up by taxes.

I presume that the money is committed by a contract before the athlete puts on a uniform or enrolls.  Technically, the money is for Name, Image, Likeness, and, oh no, definitely not pay-to-play.   What if the athlete chooses not to play, whether holding out for more money or worrying about an injury before a pro draft, or transferring, or quits going to class and become ineligible, or has a falling out with the coach, or does some stunt making them ineligible?  How the heck do they write the contract to in effect commit the player to play in order to get paid, without actually stepping over the line into pay-to-play rather than NIL?

If s requirement is somehow that they maintain their team membership, what's the financial liability of the school if the athlete drives a golf cart while intoxicated and the coach kicks the athlete off the team, thereby impacting the anticipated income of the athlete?

And, where does this stop when looking at younger players?  Suppose Gargantuan U. pays $20K/yr "NIL" to each of the top 20 8th-12th grade athletes in a sport with a contract that puts the money in a trust with the athlete as beneficiary, whose value is doubled the first year that they play at G.U.  Of course the NIL would be for wearing G.U. gear and coming to some events at G.U.

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The folks contributing to Lifetime Cardinal have done so specifically intending their funds to go towards supporting National top caliber athletes and teams to represent Stanford. Those that contribute towards academic related endowments are doing their intent as well. Why can’t both co-exist and flourish?

You might contract with Tiger Woods for $1M to get him to play in a tournament, but I wouldn't call that "contributing" or "donating".  I find it hard to equate "contributing" to the 49ers or SJ Giants or Tiger Woods with contributing toward academic related endowments.

IANAL, but as I understand it, money given to Lifetime Cardinal would not be considered a charitable donation by the IRS.  I do note that Lifetime Cardinal does NOT claim to be a "charitable" 501©3 organization on its web site, but then, the web site does not warn donors that they are not a charitable organization.  Indeed, the words "tax", "charitable", "501©3" do not appear, but "Stanford", "student", "general fund," "Haven House," "Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital," and "Ronald McDonald House" do appear.   Hmmm.....  I note that GoFundMe.com has a help page to explain the tax situation when you give money there.

So, (IANACPA) the $1M Lifetime Cardinal NIL payout would typically represent maybe $1.3M (22 full scholarships) of before-tax earnings for the donors and only about $700K of value to the recipient.  That's a lot of potential academic support that winds up getting eaten up by taxes.

I presume that the money is committed by a contract before the athlete puts on a uniform or enrolls.  Technically, the money is for Name, Image, Likeness, and, oh no, definitely not pay-to-play.   What if the athlete chooses not to play, whether holding out for more money or worrying about an injury before a pro draft, or transferring, or quits going to class and become ineligible, or has a falling out with the coach, or does some stunt making them ineligible?  How the heck do they write the contract to in effect commit the player to play in order to get paid, without actually stepping over the line into pay-to-play rather than NIL?

If s requirement is somehow that they maintain their team membership, what's the financial liability of the school if the athlete drives a golf cart while intoxicated and the coach kicks the athlete off the team, thereby impacting the anticipated income of the athlete?

And, where does this stop when looking at younger players?  Suppose Gargantuan U. pays $20K/yr "NIL" to each of the top 20 8th-12th grade athletes in a sport with a contract that puts the money in a trust with the athlete as beneficiary, whose value is doubled the first year that they play at G.U.  Of course the NIL would be for wearing G.U. gear and coming to some events at G.U.