[dabigv13]

https://apnews.com/article/march-madness...77a2eb1942

Interesting article. Stanford mentioned at the end.

Unlike virtually all countries, the United States government does not fund its Olympic teams. For decades, that system has worked because the U.S. has the world’s most extensively developed college system, which is where the bulk of the nation’s Olympic athletes — and hundreds representing other countries, as well — get their training.

But the teams they play for are reliant on the overall health of football and men’s basketball programs, revenue from which pay for virtually all Olympic sports played on campuses across the U.S. Based on recent trends, some 75% of the U.S. team heading to the Paris Olympics later this year will be composed of athletes who came out of the college system; 82% of U.S. Olympic medalists at the Tokyo Games in 2021 played their sport in the NCAA.

..........

The mushrooming amounts embedded in NIL deals also will be part of this conversation. Though they don’t come directly out of school coffers, they are run by “collectives” with close ties to the schools that are often funded by donors, whose money might be redirected toward the collective rather than the school.

“So, they say, ‘How do you want us to spend it? Do you want us to send it to the athletic department to help pay coaches? Or do you want it to go to student-athletes?’” said Mike Roth, a former athletic director at Gonzaga. “But the total amount of money that people are going to give is probably not going to change significantly.”

Not long ago, with the pandemic straining athletic department budgets, Stanford made the unpopular choice to shut down 11 of its 36 varsity programs. A near revolt ensued, as did a massive fundraising effort, and Stanford backtracked. One stat that stood out back then: Had Stanford athletes been their own country at the 2016 Olympics, they would’ve placed 11th on the medals table.

These days, some of the same conversations that led Stanford to cut programs are spreading across America’s college landscape.

“It’s challenging in these times as resources become limited,” Stanford athletic director Bernard Muir said. “But we still feel like this place is an athletes village and we want to really grow that. We’re proud of the Olympic movement and we want to continue that for quite some time to come.”

[dabigv13]

https://apnews.com/article/march-madness...77a2eb1942

Interesting article. Stanford mentioned at the end.

Unlike virtually all countries, the United States government does not fund its Olympic teams. For decades, that system has worked because the U.S. has the world’s most extensively developed college system, which is where the bulk of the nation’s Olympic athletes — and hundreds representing other countries, as well — get their training.

But the teams they play for are reliant on the overall health of football and men’s basketball programs, revenue from which pay for virtually all Olympic sports played on campuses across the U.S. Based on recent trends, some 75% of the U.S. team heading to the Paris Olympics later this year will be composed of athletes who came out of the college system; 82% of U.S. Olympic medalists at the Tokyo Games in 2021 played their sport in the NCAA.

..........

The mushrooming amounts embedded in NIL deals also will be part of this conversation. Though they don’t come directly out of school coffers, they are run by “collectives” with close ties to the schools that are often funded by donors, whose money might be redirected toward the collective rather than the school.

“So, they say, ‘How do you want us to spend it? Do you want us to send it to the athletic department to help pay coaches? Or do you want it to go to student-athletes?’” said Mike Roth, a former athletic director at Gonzaga. “But the total amount of money that people are going to give is probably not going to change significantly.”

Not long ago, with the pandemic straining athletic department budgets, Stanford made the unpopular choice to shut down 11 of its 36 varsity programs. A near revolt ensued, as did a massive fundraising effort, and Stanford backtracked. One stat that stood out back then: Had Stanford athletes been their own country at the 2016 Olympics, they would’ve placed 11th on the medals table.

These days, some of the same conversations that led Stanford to cut programs are spreading across America’s college landscape.

“It’s challenging in these times as resources become limited,” Stanford athletic director Bernard Muir said. “But we still feel like this place is an athletes village and we want to really grow that. We’re proud of the Olympic movement and we want to continue that for quite some time to come.”

[SkiBum80]

https://apnews.com/article/march-madness...77a2eb1942

Interesting article. Stanford mentioned at the end.

... “But the total amount of money that people are going to give is probably not going to change significantly.”

That is an assumption. And like many assumptions it is not necessarily true. What is true, is that It Depends.

[SkiBum80]

https://apnews.com/article/march-madness...77a2eb1942

Interesting article. Stanford mentioned at the end.

... “But the total amount of money that people are going to give is probably not going to change significantly.”

That is an assumption. And like many assumptions it is not necessarily true. What is true, is that It Depends.

[M T]

Has the IRS indicated the tax status of NIL payments?  It is hard for me to see how they would be tax deductible. That would seem to impact how much potential donors pay. Big advertisers would pay for (true) NIL  but donors may not pay as much in (pay-to-play) NIL as they have in donations to an educational institution.

[M T]

Has the IRS indicated the tax status of NIL payments?  It is hard for me to see how they would be tax deductible. That would seem to impact how much potential donors pay. Big advertisers would pay for (true) NIL  but donors may not pay as much in (pay-to-play) NIL as they have in donations to an educational institution.

[SkiBum80]

Has the IRS indicated the tax status of NIL payments?  It is hard for me to see how they would be tax deductible. That would seem to impact how much potential donors pay. Big advertisers would pay for (true) NIL  but donors may not pay as much in (pay-to-play) NIL as they have in donations to an educational institution.

From a tax advising company. Cannot personally vouch for it's accurateness.
I can say that my donation to Lifetime Cardinal gave a receipt with no indication it was tax deductible nor that Lifetime Cardinal was a 501c3.

Payments to NIL collectives
NIL collectives pool cash from boosters to provide opportunities for student-athletes. They’re often founded by prominent alumni and influential supporters, and they pool funds from several donors and businesses, help facilitate NIL deals for athletes, and/or assist in providing benefits to enrolled student-athletes or their family members.
Initially, many of these collectives were set up as 501©(3) nonprofit organizations, which allowed contributions to the collective to be tax-deductible charitable contributions. However, in June 2023, the IRS Office of Chief Counsel released a memorandum (AM 2023-004) that concluded that contributions to NIL collectives are not tax-deductible charitable gifts “because the private benefits they provide to student-athletes are not incidental both qualitatively and quantitatively to any tax-exempt purpose furthered by that activity.
This memo is a sign that the IRS will deny new applications for 501©(3) status from collectives and may revoke the status granted to other collectives through audits.

[SkiBum80]

Has the IRS indicated the tax status of NIL payments?  It is hard for me to see how they would be tax deductible. That would seem to impact how much potential donors pay. Big advertisers would pay for (true) NIL  but donors may not pay as much in (pay-to-play) NIL as they have in donations to an educational institution.

From a tax advising company. Cannot personally vouch for it's accurateness.
I can say that my donation to Lifetime Cardinal gave a receipt with no indication it was tax deductible nor that Lifetime Cardinal was a 501c3.

Payments to NIL collectives
NIL collectives pool cash from boosters to provide opportunities for student-athletes. They’re often founded by prominent alumni and influential supporters, and they pool funds from several donors and businesses, help facilitate NIL deals for athletes, and/or assist in providing benefits to enrolled student-athletes or their family members.
Initially, many of these collectives were set up as 501©(3) nonprofit organizations, which allowed contributions to the collective to be tax-deductible charitable contributions. However, in June 2023, the IRS Office of Chief Counsel released a memorandum (AM 2023-004) that concluded that contributions to NIL collectives are not tax-deductible charitable gifts “because the private benefits they provide to student-athletes are not incidental both qualitatively and quantitatively to any tax-exempt purpose furthered by that activity.
This memo is a sign that the IRS will deny new applications for 501©(3) status from collectives and may revoke the status granted to other collectives through audits.