Thursday, Syracuse announced a $50M fund-raising campaign called “Champion ’CUSE.” The initiative is earmarked to raise money for four purposes:
- Win Championships: pursue excellence at the highest level and win ACC and national championships, empowering student-athletes to reach their highest potential and excel on the biggest stages.
- Cultivate Champion-Caliber Teams: provide the resources necessary to attract and retain the nation’s best student-athletes and coaches and deliver state-of-the-art facilities and elite training resources that give our teams the competitive edge.
- Level Up the Student-Athlete Experience: support Syracuse’s 550-plus student-athletes with comprehensive programs that prepare them to excel in competition, academics and their future careers.
- Strengthen the Orange Brand: elevate Syracuse Athletics’ prominence on the national stage while uniting our community and inspiring the next generation through a commitment to breaking barriers and setting new records.
There’s some common college sports buzzwords in there, but the central point here is to raise money for NIL. In the third paragraph of the press release the school mentions the new dynamic of NIL and being “nimble in the transfer portal.” Translation: Syracuse needs a central fund to pay for better talent and trying to pay as you go is a difficult proposition. The timing could certainly be better with basketball in such a tailspin.
The sentence that states everything is: “Champion ’CUSE will focus on attracting and retaining champion-caliber student-athletes.” This is all about NIL. Yes, enhancing the facilities would be nice. Sure, enhancing the brand is ideal. But SU needs money, and quickly, to pay for top-tier talent.
SU is attempting to raise $50M over the next three years, which not coincidentally is a reasonable expectation for Fran Brown’s time before he may leave for a better job. Of course, that’s a good problem to have. If Brown wins enough to where he’s poached by a larger program, it means SU has built off the ’24 success. But the school clearly has reason to find money for Brown to help keep the good times rolling.
Syracuse states in the release that donors can allow SU to direct the contributions as the school sees fit or one can donate directly to a specific program. They included three ways to get ahold of the school: cuse.com/championcuse, email caf@syr.edu or call 315.443.1419. Is $50M in three years a realistic goal?
It’s heady for sure. That’s $17M-$18M per year. At massive schools like Ohio State and Texas, there are dozens of millionaire boosters that can be counted on for large scale donations. Not so at Syracuse. This is a lot of heavy lifting, and if they reach the $50M goal the clock starts again. In ’28, there’s another $20M per year to raise in perpetuity. But to keep up with the Jones’ in 2025, a school needs to be proactive. Credit SU for sounding the alarms and pressing buttons to pay for top-end talent. The question now is, can they reach such a lofty goal?
