Thank you so much for the kind words and, even more, for your well-founded optimism in our future. So great to see a new day dawning and a serious approach to competitive success taking hold. As you noted in the links, we are suspending California Legends in order to focus our efforts on helping Cal maximize its NIL revenue share with the students. Cal can spend up to $20.5m annually and has committed to do so. That's a major lift for Cal with donors and the fact that folks can now get a tax deduction for their contributions makes this a better place to have them direct their gifts.
To answer one of the questions you raise, Cal has committed to a 75/15/5/5 model in splitting up this $20.5m. This means that 75% of the money will go to football, 15% to Men's Basketball, 5% to WBB and 5% to the other sports (combined). This is the structure being followed by most P4 schools as it mirrors how the money is being allocated for the historical damages under the House settlement. 75% of that money is going to football players so most schools (including Cal) will spend 75% on football on a go forward basis. The idea is that football generated most of the revenue so it should get most of the revenue share.
While it seems obviously correct, it's worth noting that this 75/15/5/5 model wasn't an obvious or easy conclusion for Cal to reach. Huge credit to Rich Lyons for understanding the need to invest in football in order to save the entire athletic department. There is just zero chance our prior leadership would have made this choice, and Rich had to push back against some very powerful members of the bureaucracy who wanted Cal to do a 50/50 split between the men's and women's sports because of their interpretation of Title IX. The fact that no other school was following this 50/50 model and it would have doomed us all didn't matter in the least to these people because frankly "winning" has never mattered to them. And that has always been obvious in everything they do.
While my posts linked above thank many people for how they helped with the Collective, here I'd also like to say a special thank you to Write4California. You guys have always done an amazing job connecting with the broader Cal community. Also a special shout out to the Calgorithm. Whatever national "buzz" Cal achieved last year and our place in the zeitgeist was thanks to you. Hopefully you can work some magic and replicate your success again this year (and beyond).
Bittersweet to be moving on from the Collective, but I'll continue to try to find ways for Cal to reach the promised land. To paraphrase Galadriel in the Lord of the Rings, "I will diminish and go into the West . . . and remain Sebastabear."
A quick question...from where you sit, do you share the optimism I've heard expressed elsewhere that Cal will be able to raise/access the $20.5M cap amount for distribution this year? Thanks again.
Yes, that is absolutely the plan. Making good progress on that front. Still a few million short but definitely getting there. It is absolutely undersold how difficult it will be for schools to come up with this much money and how few will actually be able to do it. Everyone focuses on the Ohio States and the USCs but ignore that even schools in the SEC who have massive media deals are having to make major cuts to come up with this much cash. Cal is blessed given the size and the affluence of its alumni base but even here it’s a tough lift. For many schools, it will be impossible.
Yeah, one thing we have going for us is a lot of rich alums. They may be less into funding sports on average compared to other schools, but when you start with a really big number a below average share can still get you to a big number.
And also their contributions to athletics have been depressed recently in part due to lack of trust in Knowlton. Seems like that's not a problem under Rivera!
Great info as usual Nick. Structurally, Cal is finally organizing for success, and the commitment to NIL max is great. And the 2026 football commits, if they do actually show up in Berkeley, look very promising. BUT, big Qs for 2025 football... one other news item of note: Cal Rugby has been fully funded!!! GO BEARS!
Great article and welcome back! Question: where is our donation best spent under the House Agreement, Legends NIL or Cal Athletics? Kinda confused about how the relationship between these entities will change.
While I agree with the Knowlton criticism... (disastrous on-field results, embarrassing coaching scandals, freefalling revenue sports, uninspiring outreach, complete lack of strategic vision for Cal Athletics)
...I also think of positives: He is a good person. He was a good fundraiser. He was a capable administrator who gave it an honest effort. He represented Cal in a professional way and was a responsible adult. We won Big Games. We hosted Gameday. Most of our teams are still nationally relevant and gave us some highlights. He kept the ship afloat.
He might be a very good Deputy AD?
But he is clearly out of his depth in the current era of college sports. I like Lyons and I think he was right to push him out.
My message to JK: Thank you for doing your best, I do not blame you for staying on until we made you leave, good luck in your next role because you do not need to retire, you are welcome to stay and cheer for Cal from the stands, and hopefully you feel happy when the next AD returns Cal to the top!
This mirrors a lot of my feelings. This season may not be "saved" but the foundation for Cal football seems a lot stronger than it has since the Tedford era. God willing, this new arrangement with Rivera and the "Football GM" position can continue and the passionate donors can keep having the right input. Getting this program out of the hands of stuffy administrators is what badly needed to happen.
And if we can start seeing success there then hopefully this approach can be carried over to basketball too.
Very promising... just wish it had turned a few months earlier, before losing so many key FB players. And, why is the Baseball program unable to keep so many of it's young stars?? There's much to still sort out.
Yes, and maybe Justin can chime in on this: what is the fundraising structure for keeping Cal baseball relevant? Stu Gordon, Marcus Semien, Jeff Kemp and others have given Cal baseball a fighting chance with their donations and organizational (Cal Baseball Foundation) efforts. But how/where will the now even greater monetary needs be addressed to allow the baseball Bears to keep up with the rest of the ACC?
As relieved as I am to see Knownothing go and for Ron to have the keys, it is so frustrating it took us this long and so close to death to begin to try to look like a competent program. Can’t be overstated how poor Christ/Knownothing were at this part of their jobs.
For sure. It's not too late still. But I can't help but wonder if we had Lyons in place earlier whether we could have maybe had a better B1G case. Similarly, I wonder what this year's roster might have looked like if Ron was installed even just a few months earlier. But alas, a lot to be grateful for looking forward.
If only Cal and Stanfurd had hung in there for the reconstitution of the Pac 8/10/12 they could be at the top of the conference now instead of "hopefully" in the middle of the ACC (and with a lot shorter distance to travel).
If we can have success in the ACC then it increases our chances of potentially reuniting with our former conference mates in the B1G, some time in the future. That needs to be the north star here.
I'm pretty sure most of those schools want Cal and Stanford in the fold, but we need to convince the TV networks that it will be worth it.
Thank you so much for the kind words and, even more, for your well-founded optimism in our future. So great to see a new day dawning and a serious approach to competitive success taking hold. As you noted in the links, we are suspending California Legends in order to focus our efforts on helping Cal maximize its NIL revenue share with the students. Cal can spend up to $20.5m annually and has committed to do so. That's a major lift for Cal with donors and the fact that folks can now get a tax deduction for their contributions makes this a better place to have them direct their gifts.
To answer one of the questions you raise, Cal has committed to a 75/15/5/5 model in splitting up this $20.5m. This means that 75% of the money will go to football, 15% to Men's Basketball, 5% to WBB and 5% to the other sports (combined). This is the structure being followed by most P4 schools as it mirrors how the money is being allocated for the historical damages under the House settlement. 75% of that money is going to football players so most schools (including Cal) will spend 75% on football on a go forward basis. The idea is that football generated most of the revenue so it should get most of the revenue share.
While it seems obviously correct, it's worth noting that this 75/15/5/5 model wasn't an obvious or easy conclusion for Cal to reach. Huge credit to Rich Lyons for understanding the need to invest in football in order to save the entire athletic department. There is just zero chance our prior leadership would have made this choice, and Rich had to push back against some very powerful members of the bureaucracy who wanted Cal to do a 50/50 split between the men's and women's sports because of their interpretation of Title IX. The fact that no other school was following this 50/50 model and it would have doomed us all didn't matter in the least to these people because frankly "winning" has never mattered to them. And that has always been obvious in everything they do.
While my posts linked above thank many people for how they helped with the Collective, here I'd also like to say a special thank you to Write4California. You guys have always done an amazing job connecting with the broader Cal community. Also a special shout out to the Calgorithm. Whatever national "buzz" Cal achieved last year and our place in the zeitgeist was thanks to you. Hopefully you can work some magic and replicate your success again this year (and beyond).
Bittersweet to be moving on from the Collective, but I'll continue to try to find ways for Cal to reach the promised land. To paraphrase Galadriel in the Lord of the Rings, "I will diminish and go into the West . . . and remain Sebastabear."
Go Bears!
Thanks again for everything, S!
A quick question...from where you sit, do you share the optimism I've heard expressed elsewhere that Cal will be able to raise/access the $20.5M cap amount for distribution this year? Thanks again.
Yes, that is absolutely the plan. Making good progress on that front. Still a few million short but definitely getting there. It is absolutely undersold how difficult it will be for schools to come up with this much money and how few will actually be able to do it. Everyone focuses on the Ohio States and the USCs but ignore that even schools in the SEC who have massive media deals are having to make major cuts to come up with this much cash. Cal is blessed given the size and the affluence of its alumni base but even here it’s a tough lift. For many schools, it will be impossible.
Yeah, one thing we have going for us is a lot of rich alums. They may be less into funding sports on average compared to other schools, but when you start with a really big number a below average share can still get you to a big number.
And also their contributions to athletics have been depressed recently in part due to lack of trust in Knowlton. Seems like that's not a problem under Rivera!
Great insight, and it makes sense than many will fall short...thanks
Thank you!!!!! Go Bears Forever!
Great info as usual Nick. Structurally, Cal is finally organizing for success, and the commitment to NIL max is great. And the 2026 football commits, if they do actually show up in Berkeley, look very promising. BUT, big Qs for 2025 football... one other news item of note: Cal Rugby has been fully funded!!! GO BEARS!
Great article and welcome back! Question: where is our donation best spent under the House Agreement, Legends NIL or Cal Athletics? Kinda confused about how the relationship between these entities will change.
Cal Athletics
https://www.si.com/college/cal/other-sports/explanation-why-california-legends-collective-will-suspend-operations-01jx85ysgjfe
I totally missed this! Thanks!
Ah, glad you are back Nick!
Go Bears!
While I agree with the Knowlton criticism... (disastrous on-field results, embarrassing coaching scandals, freefalling revenue sports, uninspiring outreach, complete lack of strategic vision for Cal Athletics)
...I also think of positives: He is a good person. He was a good fundraiser. He was a capable administrator who gave it an honest effort. He represented Cal in a professional way and was a responsible adult. We won Big Games. We hosted Gameday. Most of our teams are still nationally relevant and gave us some highlights. He kept the ship afloat.
He might be a very good Deputy AD?
But he is clearly out of his depth in the current era of college sports. I like Lyons and I think he was right to push him out.
My message to JK: Thank you for doing your best, I do not blame you for staying on until we made you leave, good luck in your next role because you do not need to retire, you are welcome to stay and cheer for Cal from the stands, and hopefully you feel happy when the next AD returns Cal to the top!
He wasn't a good fundraiser. Contributions to the AD have dropped during his tenure. The longer he was around, the less people wanted to give.
Knowlton was the administrative equivalent of Andy Buh.
Cal can have great players. Winning is a different issue though. Even during the Tedford era, we were notorious for doing less with more talent.
Exactly.
This mirrors a lot of my feelings. This season may not be "saved" but the foundation for Cal football seems a lot stronger than it has since the Tedford era. God willing, this new arrangement with Rivera and the "Football GM" position can continue and the passionate donors can keep having the right input. Getting this program out of the hands of stuffy administrators is what badly needed to happen.
And if we can start seeing success there then hopefully this approach can be carried over to basketball too.
Hi Nick, enjoyed the article. Does Jim Knowlton's departure signal hope for Cal football? I'm thinking yeah, it sure as heck does. Go Bears!
As noted: yes, but even more than just him it's the structural changes that helped hasten his departure that can really move the needle.
Very promising... just wish it had turned a few months earlier, before losing so many key FB players. And, why is the Baseball program unable to keep so many of it's young stars?? There's much to still sort out.
Yes, and maybe Justin can chime in on this: what is the fundraising structure for keeping Cal baseball relevant? Stu Gordon, Marcus Semien, Jeff Kemp and others have given Cal baseball a fighting chance with their donations and organizational (Cal Baseball Foundation) efforts. But how/where will the now even greater monetary needs be addressed to allow the baseball Bears to keep up with the rest of the ACC?
As relieved as I am to see Knownothing go and for Ron to have the keys, it is so frustrating it took us this long and so close to death to begin to try to look like a competent program. Can’t be overstated how poor Christ/Knownothing were at this part of their jobs.
Completely agree.
However I am relieved that it happened this summer just in time for the beginning of the new revenue sharing structure.
For sure. It's not too late still. But I can't help but wonder if we had Lyons in place earlier whether we could have maybe had a better B1G case. Similarly, I wonder what this year's roster might have looked like if Ron was installed even just a few months earlier. But alas, a lot to be grateful for looking forward.
True. Would have been nice to have this leadership 2 years ago for the conference realignment
It probably needed to be in place at least 5 years ago. 2 years would not have been enough runway.
But I think all hope is not lost! There will be other chances to join the B1G. Just gotta make a stronger case next time.
And the other shoe to drop in the next year: Rivera announcing Wilcox’s replacement.
How about within the next few weeks?
Firing Wilcox makes zero sense at the moment. Finally have a set of coaches getting it done on the recruiting trail and you want to destabilize that?
You're probably right on that....
Nice work Nick. Hope you had a fantastic vacation. Great article!!
Well, this didn't last long...
https://www.on3.com/rivals/news/4-star-iol-tommy-tofi-decommits-from-cal-bears/
Maybe, though as we saw from the Sagapolutele saga it may not be over.
Knowlton is gone, but Wilcox remains.
If only Cal and Stanfurd had hung in there for the reconstitution of the Pac 8/10/12 they could be at the top of the conference now instead of "hopefully" in the middle of the ACC (and with a lot shorter distance to travel).
If we can have success in the ACC then it increases our chances of potentially reuniting with our former conference mates in the B1G, some time in the future. That needs to be the north star here.
I'm pretty sure most of those schools want Cal and Stanford in the fold, but we need to convince the TV networks that it will be worth it.