According to KSR UKAA is looking at taking all the greenspace at Kroger Field next year and charging for tailgate spots and reserving more space for corporate tailgates.....pony up tailgaters!!
Pony Up Tailgaters!!!
- Thread starter flyingkat
- Start date
Long overdue . When I tailgated for forty years I would have loved to have a paid for reserved space for my tent . Good idea and very fair way to raise money from those who benefit from the space .
For better or worse, College Football is fully monetized, soon to include profit sharing of 20% of revenue with athletes. In reality, success has long been at least loosely connected to profitability.
But that profitability allowed for massive contracts for coaches, gold-plating athletic facilities, and in a few instances, at select schools, the actual funding of academic facilities such as UK’s Young Library.
Those days are suddenly and irretrievably gone.
Look for coaches salaries to increase in small increments compared to the last 45 years, the end of construction of lavish dorms and practice facilities, and the end of any cash flow toward academic causes.
We are in an era of battle directly based on dollars in every respect, and can’t bring a water gun to the fight.
And we need to fight the battle with both the very large and the very small . . . large donors have traditionally benefitted UK and most “Old State U’s.” They will in the future.
But on the smaller scale, we need to aggressively seek opportunities for “ponying up,” without excessive pain. We need an enterprising capitalist or two to establish the business models that directly benefit NIL. How about Blue caps with a favored player’s number emblazoned, with the word “Kentucky” also noticeable . . . hence free of a direct object that must be marketed by UK. And how about stores in malls and medium sized cities with “NIL” directly in their name/title, to allow hundreds of thousands to slightly amend their shopping habits to the benefit the cause?
Kentucky Blue Lite is a hit, my local stores/bars struggling to get their hands on it, but does not advertise UK by name. That effort is a good source of how it can be done: UK and their corporate partners do not own the color blue, the name of the state, or a player’s Name, Image, Likeness or jersey number.
We are a comparatively small state, and hardly the wealthiest. But cumulative, incremental spending can produce huge results. I know of a local community (750 people) where a small convenience store pays $4,000.00 every three months to the city for a 5% tax on the sale of beer . . . meaning that small store is selling $80,000.00 per quarter in beer. And this small community is surrounded by other small towns, all of whom have gone wet the last ten years, and is dominated by the Southern Baptist Churches, with a local Catholic population of less than 3%. (I’m not picking on Catholics, I admire their lack of hypocrisy and I am a rural charismatic Christian by Faith, Grace and tradition).
I had NO IDEA, how much beer was consumed in rural Kentucky.
If Kentucky Blue Light could capture 5 percent of Kentucky’s massive beer consumption, that alone would fund half of NIL at UK.
But that profitability allowed for massive contracts for coaches, gold-plating athletic facilities, and in a few instances, at select schools, the actual funding of academic facilities such as UK’s Young Library.
Those days are suddenly and irretrievably gone.
Look for coaches salaries to increase in small increments compared to the last 45 years, the end of construction of lavish dorms and practice facilities, and the end of any cash flow toward academic causes.
We are in an era of battle directly based on dollars in every respect, and can’t bring a water gun to the fight.
And we need to fight the battle with both the very large and the very small . . . large donors have traditionally benefitted UK and most “Old State U’s.” They will in the future.
But on the smaller scale, we need to aggressively seek opportunities for “ponying up,” without excessive pain. We need an enterprising capitalist or two to establish the business models that directly benefit NIL. How about Blue caps with a favored player’s number emblazoned, with the word “Kentucky” also noticeable . . . hence free of a direct object that must be marketed by UK. And how about stores in malls and medium sized cities with “NIL” directly in their name/title, to allow hundreds of thousands to slightly amend their shopping habits to the benefit the cause?
Kentucky Blue Lite is a hit, my local stores/bars struggling to get their hands on it, but does not advertise UK by name. That effort is a good source of how it can be done: UK and their corporate partners do not own the color blue, the name of the state, or a player’s Name, Image, Likeness or jersey number.
We are a comparatively small state, and hardly the wealthiest. But cumulative, incremental spending can produce huge results. I know of a local community (750 people) where a small convenience store pays $4,000.00 every three months to the city for a 5% tax on the sale of beer . . . meaning that small store is selling $80,000.00 per quarter in beer. And this small community is surrounded by other small towns, all of whom have gone wet the last ten years, and is dominated by the Southern Baptist Churches, with a local Catholic population of less than 3%. (I’m not picking on Catholics, I admire their lack of hypocrisy and I am a rural charismatic Christian by Faith, Grace and tradition).
I had NO IDEA, how much beer was consumed in rural Kentucky.
If Kentucky Blue Light could capture 5 percent of Kentucky’s massive beer consumption, that alone would fund half of NIL at UK.
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Yeah. This will hurt Lexington businesses, but UK has never cared about them anyway.
Won't affect me or those I know. Most have stopped tailgating at UK games. They only do that at road games or do their tailgates at people's houses. Kids and adults all have more fun that way. Some miss the games still. Most don't since they stopped going.
I passed on the game and a tailgate this weekend. Didn't think we'd play well. Stayed home and enjoyed time with family. Glad I gave up my season tickets when I did. All of our donations to the program are at an end.
To your point @The-Hack
Me and some business associates had a business idea and they pitched a co-branded product to UK people decades ago as a way to generate revenue for the ath dept. Frankly, they were rude, condescending, and dismissive. They haven't donated a dime since.
UK couldn't be bothered to help local businesses for the 30 yrs I've been here. They'll have a rough row to hoe if they don't find big corporate sponsors for everything, and then they're a little fish in a big pond compared to other SEC football programs.
Won't affect me or those I know. Most have stopped tailgating at UK games. They only do that at road games or do their tailgates at people's houses. Kids and adults all have more fun that way. Some miss the games still. Most don't since they stopped going.
I passed on the game and a tailgate this weekend. Didn't think we'd play well. Stayed home and enjoyed time with family. Glad I gave up my season tickets when I did. All of our donations to the program are at an end.
To your point @The-Hack
Me and some business associates had a business idea and they pitched a co-branded product to UK people decades ago as a way to generate revenue for the ath dept. Frankly, they were rude, condescending, and dismissive. They haven't donated a dime since.
UK couldn't be bothered to help local businesses for the 30 yrs I've been here. They'll have a rough row to hoe if they don't find big corporate sponsors for everything, and then they're a little fish in a big pond compared to other SEC football programs.
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