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Message: [QUOTE="Consigliere, post: 5521051, member: 559"] They did name Orange United their preferred collective then chose to terminate the relationship for convenience. My understanding is that Orange United (and several other collectives) would have migrated to the Blueprint Sports umbrella with SANIL ceasing operations. In fact, the BPS CEO was directly involved in negotiations with Kevin Morgan as late as late August/early September. I know that SU would prefer that individual modest to midsize donations first go to ChampionCuse and the Athletics Excellence Fund that supports student athlete revenue sharing. I will speculate that initiative needs more immediate support and that by streamlining the donation options the administration sees this as a strategy to funnel more money through internal channels. I am rarely critical of the SUAD, but in this scenario I am troubled by how long donors who were on a monthly subscription model and the individuals who were running the Orange United collective were strung along by the University. I am also questioning what the transition plan is for funds in Orange United’s hands right now. Some of that money, including the SyraCRUZ Tailgate treasury and ongoing donations from its supporters, was earmarked for sports other than football and men’s basketball primarily through tailgate guest appearances that I wrote into the contract with OUC. In many cases this was the only NIL money that soccer, lacrosse and other minor sports athletes received. Finally I am disappointed that our group’s efforts that helped pay for a soccer players books for a semester and a women’s basketball player’s family’s hotel room so they could watch her play on the road. And personally, I am sure those of you who have had the opportunity to meet Mark Hayes, the GM of Orange United will agree he deserved better. Mark’s love of the Irange led him to leave a position with the Syracuse Crunch and agree to head a preferred collective that lasted less than two years. [/QUOTE]

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