[dut99002]

Spencer Checketts on Kall700 has Trevor Reilly on recently (you can stream their interview online). They talked about this exact question. Trevor was a GA with the Utes, was on CU’s coaching staff for a season under Deion Sanders and is close with Kalani and Jay Hill. In *his opinion* BYU has a very strong NIL program currently, stronger than the Utes.

I have no insider info myself, but looking at what they’ve pulled off in basketball via NIL reportedly, I think it reasonable to believe there’s some truth to it. Why wouldn’t they try and pay high amounts for football players too? I have lots of BYU alumni friends/contacts who are very well of financially. Guys who are executives of monetary funds, corporate executives, MDs, dentists, have very successful businesses, Harvard MBAs, entrepreneurs, etc. Many like BYU sports and travel to a few away games a year. Are they contributing to BYUs NIL pool? No idea. My point is though that BYU has lots of wealthy supporters who could conceivably be donating to NIL.

Personally, I don’t think the Utes have as wealthy of a base of alumni. I’d guess that Whittingham, Scalley, etc. are fully aware of the “new normal” in the NIL world and are actively trying to make things work.

[chinngiskhaan]

“[Q]uashing more bad BYU fan narratives.”

[Holladay Ute]

I said this in a different post somewhere else. None of us really know and so it’s all speculation based on available information. What we do know is that Utah retained most of it’s top players from last year (and not for a lack of interest from other teams). Fano and Lomu are both projected first-round draft picks. Snowden obviously had plenty of options. And there were rumors of Barton being wooed away as well. All of these players stayed. If we were living on a different planet versus BYU or others, then I think it is highly unlikely these players would still be Utes. Furthermore, don’t forget that we also bought a number of players in the portal that I’m sure other teams were also going after (like Dampier and Parker). I am not convinced that BYU’s football program has gobs more NIL than us. If they did, I think they would have done better in the transfer portal? Their basketball program clearly has a ton of NIL support right now (but we’ll see if that proves sustainable, as others have posited here).

[Jim Vanderhoof]

It comes down to who has the deeper pockets. Is Utahs pockets maxed out or are there certain donors you can go to for a big name player? BYU is highly motivated to surpass the Utes and gain national attention. Right now I’d say they have the deeper pockets.

We have no honor code and a normal college experience. Big advantage for non LDS players. Even some LDS athletes prefer a more diversified campus experience. $$$ can’t buy everything!!

[Utebeam]

I’m guessing there’s a big push to give NIL from alum, but it won’t be consistent. Mormons(I’m LDS) are cheap and won’t be willing to shell out cash for the long run. If ybu doesn’t have a good season this year I think money starts to dry up.

[Jim Vanderhoof]

I would make Jay Hill a priority for DC. I think he comes back home for equal or more money. BYU will not be outbid!! He is worshipped in Provo. Their donors won’t let that happen. He would have taken the Utah State job if it wasn’t for transfer portal and NIL. Tough to win at USU without a large NIL budget. He will get some lucrative offers next year from G5 to P4. If the Utes bounce back this year and are successful it makes it much easier to promote within. Swan and Shah are excellent candidates and are loyal to the program.

[Holladay Ute]

Can you give me an example? I’d like to do more research on this myself. Please paste a link to a social media influencer that you know for a fact is being funded by the church.

[Holladay Ute]

I am actually not that familiar w/ what you’re referring to here. Are you saying that the church pays social media influencers to say good things about them?

I know the church spends money on it’s missionary effort (which is not new or, in my mind, controversial) and I know that social media is a newer tool they are using within their missionary effort (which is also not, in my mind, controversial). How that translates to paying athletes is not a logical connection to me. The church is 100% NOT funding the NIL for any of these athletes. The church obviously supports the university financially, but the athletic program is separate and funds itself. And the athletic program hasn’t been paying for the NIL of these athletes either. It’s been wealthy donors. That may change for all universities going forward though w/ the recent legislation.

[Utah]

We found the younger Utah fan here. BYU has always had more money. Why do you think they were so dominant in the WAC in the 70’s and 80’s.

BYU’s budget was 2-3 times larger than any other WAC school and it showed.

All Utah needs to be is physical and competitive with money. When that is the case, Utah wins 70% of the time.

And going with your 4th paragraph, Utah was 6-4 when BYU still had a massive money advantage over Utah. Utah didn’t gain any sort of financial advantage until the PAC-12. BYU has always dropped more money into their programs than Utah has when conference affiliation was the same.

When they were in the MWC, they had more money, more resources, more media coverage, better recruiting classes and we still won 60% of the time.

BYU ain’t s**t.

[Utesbyfive]

This is my take. I’ve always figured it would be Shah. Why else would he have stuck around so long?

[Author]

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