HEARING💰: The Cost of Staying Elite at Kansas

• 🏀 KU’s high-stakes NIL balancing act

• 📝 Quick Links: New donor name at KU’s Gateway?

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EVERYTHING IN THIS NEWSLETTER IS BASED UPON WHAT I AM HEARING FROM PEOPLE I TRUST. PLEASE DO NOT MISTAKE THIS FOR FACT OR FOR ACTUAL JOURNALISM, WHICH HAS VERIFICATION STANDARDS THAT I HAVE NOT ADHERED TO. I DO NOT GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT.

Inside KU’s High-Stakes NIL Balancing Act

Kansas basketball’s pursuit of star transfers this offseason hasn’t stalled because of fit or interest. It’s stalled because of money and the choices that come with spending it. KU’s NIL budget is strong, around $10M, and was boosted by fundraising trip to Texas by Bill Self and Travis Goff after KU’s season ended. But even KU basketball has limits.

That pressure showed up this week. I sent a VIP text saying there was internal hesitation about raising additional NIL funds to land Texas Tech transfer wing Darrion Williams, something I’d unexpectedly picked up while talking to people close to KU who understand its fundraising dynamics. Then some fans got mad online at Goff. The text needed more context. So here it is.

Programs everywhere are navigating this same reality. Rosters are bought, not built in today’s world. And every school has to make tradeoffs between football, basketball, and then everything else.

But Kansas carries a unique weight. A $759M Gateway and Stadium Project is underway. The school already raised $182M in donations toward it, with more to come. It’s an incredible level of support from KU’s donors.

This is a school that’s always bet big on hoops. It’s finally gotten serious about football, too. And that leaves Travis Goff with one of the hardest questions in college sports:

How do you fund a top-five basketball program and save Kansas football — when failure in either could unravel everything KU is trying to build?

This pressure isn’t going away. Ticket prices are significantly increasing. The cost to remain a top five basketball program requires top five money. Basketball’s success today helps pay for KU’s big bet on football. Football’s future success, and fan support, is critical to KU’s longterm revenue model.

There’s some donor fatigue, sure. But more than that, there’s a clear desire to be more measured with its NIL strategy, especially after two expensive seasons that didn’t meet expectations.

As for this week, Self and Goff having some level of back-and-forth is exactly what I’d expect to happen. You can believe Lance Leipold has had similar conversations. It’s normal.

And by the way, those money people who first mentioned the hoops recruiting hesitation? They believe Self got more money to make a run Williams. They always thought he’d get it, too.

But this moment highlights something bigger: the financial reality of college sports, and KU’s unique battle to remain at the top. It’s about winning, and doing so sustainably, as most schools have to rethink their financial model.

Kansas isn’t alone in this struggle, but with championship expectations in basketball, an ambitious football vision, and the uncertainty of further conference consolidation on the horizon, the stakes at KU are different.

Winning still solves everything. But the ability to fund that winning without burning out the very people who make it possible has never mattered more.

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🏈 A new donor name is appearing at the new KU football stadium. I’m Hearing we’re looking at the future Garlinghouse Plaza, named after Brad Garlinghouse.

 🏈 KU football landed a commit from Georgia Tech transfer DB Syeed Gibbs. Read a breakdown here. The Jayhawks also landed Chattanoga DE Leeroy Lewis earlier in the week.

🏀 LA Jayhawks: KU great Darnell Jackson will be part of the LA Times Festival of Books on April 26 from 2-4pm. More info here

⚾️ KU fans have started to receive their Homefield Apparel KU baseball pullover. Shop the gear here.