July 24, 2025 • 24 mins
University of North Dakota Athletics Director Bill Chaves stops in to discuss the now many ways that UND supporters can choose to support UND Athletics and its student athletes.
Part One, includes the various areas that will be options for individuals, groups and businesses can choose to pursue.
Part One, includes the various areas that will be options for individuals, groups and businesses can choose to pursue.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
First off, here we're going to dive into the weeds.
So Tim can probably take Bella for a walk for
a few minutes anyway. But I don't I don't think
there are those that, you know, don't give any There
are those that don't give any thought to what we
talk about about college sports in the current environment that
it's in. And then there's people like me who follow
(00:20):
this because I wish that college sports, something that I
really love and that other people really love as well,
really would get to a place where we could just
you know, worry or where we could just worry about
the games and worry about what a team will be
like and things. And maybe somewhat naively, I thought getting
through this House Settlement would go a long way and providing,
(00:43):
you know, that that stability basically, and as of right now,
you know, in the days that after that this has
all happened, it really doesn't seem to be the case
in a lot of ways. For whatever we were told
that the House Settlement may offer for institution and the
college sports landscape, as of right now, I look at
(01:04):
it and I'm like, I don't. I don't know that
we're any more stable day to day than we were
five months ago.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Yeah, you know, and I guess I'm gonna try to
go a couple of different places here, but one I'm
just gonna stay really broad and say, you know, I
think most people enjoy the games and want to just
see the games. Sure, and I get it. I mean,
that's very fair. And you know, you know, we kind
of chuckle and say, hey, we're gonna have a schedule.
We're gonna have games where we're gonna have a roster. Sure,
(01:31):
I mean, but but the inside, if you go back historically,
there wasn't a lot of change for many, many years
when the NCA was born to about seventy two when
Title nine came in, it all kind of played the
same way. And Title nine made it obviously a major
impact obviously with the evolution of women's athletics and what
(01:54):
we see today for sure. So you really from like
seventy two to to twenty one, really so another fifty
years and now we're in the middle of instability, right.
It's just we were not in a washerants repeat cycle
right now. We're really in a cycle where every day
seems like something comes through the door and it's just
(02:16):
it's unsettling, really it's unsettling. So we're trying to figure
out what's best for the University of North Dakota and
where in the conferences that we play, And that's I
guess my very first you know, thought every day going in,
how do we position ourselves to continue to go through
this landscape?
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Okay, So with that being said, when we decided to
change the University of North Kota's option, we they decided
to opt into the settlement previously going in, but they
changed they changed kind of what was going to happen
with the roster limits and things like that, and so
that changed kind of your purview as far as how
(02:53):
that would work for the University of North Dakota and
what would be the best fit for it to move
through these times. But the question I have now is
for the people, and you mentioned in some of the
responses about how the eighteen eighty three will factor in, well,
how Champions clubal factory in. So if a person comes
to you, that's all in the community and says where
should I where would I be best suited to do?
(03:17):
You know, I don't have any I'm not going to
direct anything specifically. Should I go to Champions Club? Should
I go to eighteen eighty three? Should I support that way?
How should I should I support Alston? What would be
the best way in today's environment to do it to
best serve University of North Dakota student athletes and the institution.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Yeah, so think of it this way, Paul. We've got
probably in a sense, we'll call it very broadly, four
entities that support us. The institution for sure. So you've
got the institution, You've got our alumni Foundation do a
great job, Ourria group does an awesome job. And then
are collective, and so all of us are communicating on
(04:00):
literally a daily weekly basis. We literally have a weekly
meeting set up and just to make sure that we're
aligned so that if someone asks the question, they can
point them in the right direction. Because if you want
to give to say internal nil, that'll be the foundation.
If you want to work with Fighting Hawk Sports Partnerships
and you're a business and you want a student athlete
(04:20):
to get an opportunity with them, it could be our
Fighting Hawk Sports Partnership coupled with the collective. So there's
ways to do this. You just need to talk with
someone and we're going to try to make it as
simple as possible and say hey, here are the buckets,
go to that bucket if that makes sense if you're
in a visual mode. And so there's just different ways
(04:42):
to support our student athletes like never before. And I
think with us opting in, obviously we were concerned about
the rosters, and I think we were kind of right
about that to be concerned. Yeah, the judge was concerned.
And at the end of the day, then the opt
in gave you a chance to grant father the year
rosters over the course of a four year period, plus
(05:04):
introduce what we're calling internal nil, which is which is
to be basically, hey, a student athlete comes in over
the course of time, maybe it was always here's a
scholarship if if and you know, some sports have what
we're called equivalencies, so some like sometimes I could get
a full scholarship and you could get a half scholarship.
(05:26):
Internal nil alls it is is hey, this person coming
in might have might have the opportunity to use their
just existence to put und at a different platform just
by who the person is. Just to stent athlete might
direct correct, So that's kind of what it is.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
They might have just a bigger platform who they are
coming in because they may be a projected top pick
in an NBA draft or a could be a NFL
draft or an NHL draft or whatever. They with them
some pinash and whatever, So there might that make be
a value basically.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
That's right. Oh, that's right. So that's maybe the best
way of looking at it. So now if you are
interested in potentially providing support in that realm, you would
go through our alumni foundation. Then there's there's some back
end conversation about this. There could be tax deductibility with that.
There may there may be depending on how it all
(06:27):
works itself out. That would be a conversation for our
foundation folks and the donor. And now the other side
of it is fear a business. There's at least a
nice kind of a runway that we can say, hey,
go over and talk to our collective and go over
and talk to Fighting Hawksports Partnership. So it's kind of
like tools in the toolbox. And we've kind of opened
all that up back in March, which was curious to
(06:49):
me that we had to make a decision before the
settlement was actually settled and actually now in real time
we're implementing the settlement that hasn't been fully set up.
How about that? That's the truth. Yeah, and so now
we're even seeing in real time things are changing right
before our eyes. And so you just got to be
nimble right now. And all this is behind the curtain
(07:11):
and it's probably an eye roll for many, but it's real.
It's real. This is what und is working through right now,
and we need to make sure that we stay on
it each and every day.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Well, and I would just say this because number one
you've always said when you've come on here, and it
is a real thing when you walk in the offices,
and if you ever walk in the offices with Bill,
Eric and Liz and Chad, and number one is these
student athletes they are that's the thing here. How do
we give them their best platform and foundation while they're
(07:43):
here at the University of North Dakota. And you have
how many athletes do we have? You're currently one and
fifty three hundred and fifty basically, and they all have
different things that they're trying to get out of the
University of Northdakota while they're here. And so you know,
basically you're trying to navigate. And also there are those
in the community that are trying to support as well
(08:04):
as you to as you're doing it on the day
to day. And I think probably the best way to
describe it is the way you just described it was
there's buckets for you, so as you if you're choosing
to support you and die athletics and it's student athletes
right now, there are pieces or buckets that you can
choose that may be the best way to do that.
(08:26):
That's where you know, you may want to work with
the Champions Club. It may still be scholarship and may
it's still maybe it's still may be that, but it
does it may not be, so maybe that's having those conversations.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
I think that's right. I think that's right. And if
you talk to our coaches, you know what has transpired
over time are our fan base is so generous, our
donors are generous, and you know what we've given in
the past is huge too. You know, I'll call it
legacy given giving. Yeah, And we can't forget about that
because the scholarship piece is still real. That is an
(09:00):
amazing thing. And I'm probably really old school here, Paul,
but I still think it matters. I think it matters
getting an education. I think it matters getting a degree.
I think it sets you up for the rest of
your life and it provides a platform for you as
you're going through and trying to do something really hard.
Not many people in the world do what these student
(09:21):
athletes do is participate at this level, and we're just
trying to support them as best as we can.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
So the one other thing I want to add here,
and there's a couple of different ways we can go,
but in addition to that, think about this if you've
never considered it for student athletes, whatever school. Let's just
use the University of North Dakota. Think about a student
athlete that gets a scholarship while they're at the University
of North Dakota and they leave school with little to
(09:49):
zero debt, and then then you can look across campus,
or they can look across the hallway in their apartment
or their dorm or whatever. Of students that don't have
that when they leave school, think about what a benefit
that that is. Yeah, you know, when you don't really
think about where you I had a recent graduate athlete say,
I don't think people realize that when we leave school
(10:10):
not having debt. I mean, if we truly took advantage
of our scholarship getting a degree, And it was like,
people don't realize leaving school without really having some of
the things that my fellow classmates that weren't student athletes,
that didn't have a scholarship of that magnitude, What an
advantage that is for me. Because he's like, I'm not
going to go play pro. I'm actually going to use
(10:31):
my degree.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Yeah. Yeah, well, there's no doubt about it. And I
would say that, you know, we we emphasize that our
athletes need to lead in the classroom too. Yeah, And
I you know, I've spoken to enough deans and professors
and provost to know that our students do great in
the classroom, and that's the expectation. They need to lead
(10:54):
in every facet of their life because that's what they're
doing right now in their chosen sport. Sure, they're leading
themselves number one, to be the best that they can
and they're gonna they're gonna encounter failure because they're at
the top level of doing some things and they may
never have encountered failure before. So we have to make
sure that we kind of support them in that regard.
(11:15):
But then at the end of the day, you're still
part of a community, both on campus and off and
you need to go into the classroom and you need
to lead. And I think they're doing a great job
in that regard. But I think they value it. I
really do, and I want to make sure people understand
how much we still value that too. It's not the
shiny new toy that we're talking about, but it's now
(11:37):
just part of our menu that we can provide.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Yeah, And you know, the thing about it is now,
as I mentioned coming in, is that I feel, like,
you know, I was hoping maybe this utopia would happen,
like we get past the host settlement, things would really
be a framework. And I read stories Mister Dellinger from
Yahoo does a lot of coverage of a lot of
(12:01):
the college sports behind the scenes. The murkiness of you know,
trying to navigate where we're at now and all the
things that are coming out is because originally, with this
house settlement, there was going to be a sports commission
that is going to look at name, image, likeness deals.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
Right.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
That wasn't just going to be the NCAA, was going
to be what the CSC, the College Sports.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Commission, non internal and il deals.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Non internal so they're the ones that.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
We're going to external and il deals.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Yeah so through okay, So that they were going to
be the ones to monitor that. Well, now we're having
some unique challenges with them first getting going with this basically.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Yeah, I thought, I think our our friends at the
power for and I'll say really the power to sure
Big ten in the SEC if they've had some interesting
I'll call it steps along the way that I've questioned.
And and partially the reason is so very broadly, there's
about three hundred and sixty Division I schools. Some play football,
(13:01):
some don't play football. Is that relevant or not? Yeah,
in this day and age, it actually kind of is.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
So but the end of the day, they're kind of
working through the settlement details. We're just learning a lot
of times I'm reading Ross Dellinger and I'm learning it
from Ross Ellinger. That's what I'm just telling you. That's
how it goes. And so sometimes I'm scratching my head,
going why are we doing this roster limits? That seemed
weird to me, And then it seemed weird to the judge,
(13:29):
and it was like that that could have been something
that could have been figured out the twenty point five
will never get up to that internal nil cap number.
But that twenty point five if you think about it
right now, if you have a football team at the
highest level, and you don't have a football team at
the highest level, let's just say Saint John's versus Kentucky. Okay, weird,
(13:50):
where do you think money's going to go, right.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Well, it's going to go to well for Kentucky, it's
going to go to football. Some is a good chunk,
good chunk. Yeah, even those are going to go from
saying all to basketball.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Big Blue Nation. Very sad right now, big.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
That's well and that okay, what can we put that
in a in a very interesting concept for our fans
in this part of the world. So the NCCHC, we
talked about this a few months ago, is a unique
conference in its in its makeup and this is where
Tim's world. So Tim, I know if you're still back there.
(14:26):
Then the NCC has Arizona State. That's a big twelve school,
so power four. Right, it's got Miami of Ohio, Western Michigan.
So that's group of five FBS. Okay, group of six. Okay,
so that's pseudo FBS because I know they they want
to be part of that group at the Power four
are like, well, okay, whatever, but don't tell them I
(14:50):
said that, but we know what's going on there. And
then you've got Division two, Division three primarily schools like
you're Saint Cloud's you're to lose. Division three would be
Colorado College. And then you have FCS school like US.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
And Omaha and Omaha without football.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Without football, and then you have Denver, which would be Yeah.
So you have all these different you have them all right,
you have them all in one conference for hockey, correct.
And who's to say that Colorado College doesn't have the
biggest advantage of this.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
They could, they could they they literally could opt in
which they have, yes, and they have women's soccer and
they have men's ice hockey, and.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
They could just shove it all.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Basically, if if they had a billionaire that wanted to
give twenty point five each year, and let's just say
they wanted to go half and half or they wanted
to go all in on hockey, they could do.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
It right where other schools may not have that lecture
football school.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Yeah, we I mean, we could have a same billionaire
if we could think through how we'd want to do
something as well, So there's opportunities for us. Yeah, it's
just when you're a Division I school across the board,
all your teams are opted in versus a Colorado College
or Minnesota Duluth or a Saint Cloud where just the
(16:11):
sports that they play at the Division I level have
to follow quote unquote these rules. So it really is,
you know, it's way inside baseball. But I was a
little concerned about that piece of the puzzle that seemed
a little I'm not even saying unfair, it just seems interesting,
like I do it.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
So there is an advantage there.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
I believe so. But you know, but here we are.
I mean, at the end of the day, you know,
if you I can't worry about too much about what
others have or don't have right now. I can only
worry about what we have and what we're doing here.
Because obviously, if you look at hockey, we've got the
most historical program in college hockey, and we have the
(16:56):
most beautiful arena and the development opportunities and this and
that and this and that, and so if you want
to come to Grand Forks and play in front of
eleven seven, you're you're gonna do it. If that's what
you want to do. It may not be for.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Everybody, And that's a fair point.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
It may not be I may actually rather like, if
you want to be on COMMAV, go to be you, right, sure,
I mean if you want to. I mean, Tim, we
were just to be you last year or two years ago.
I mean that's a little different than Grand Forks, right,
just a tish right, I mean, it's a little bit different.
And so if you want to go be it, we'll
(17:34):
go there. I think that's different than coming in where
our our fan base is all in all the time
right now, they're all in there, they're all in. If
that if that appeals to you, that's the kind of
person we want in the locker room.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Yeah, that's a good point. I mean that that's it's
it's not for everyone, and that's the and and that's okay,
that's okay.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
I'm a Red Sox fan. It's not for everybody. It's
not it's not. I mean, it just that's how it goes.
And so you know, you know, we just have to
make sure. And if you talk to coach Jackson or
you talk to coach Schmidt, coach say they're coach Hutter whomever.
I mean, you want the right person, people in the
locker room that want to be here for the right reasons,
(18:19):
and I think that's what I hope are fan base
what would want to support as well.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
So the biggest thing to take away right now is
at the University of North Dakota with its athletics and
the way to support student athletes and athletics. There's still
the good old traditional ways of being a Champions Club member.
All that stuff is and trying to support through scholarships
and being part of Champions Club, going to games and
buying tickets and all that stuff. That all remains, but
there's some other buckets now that you can play with
(18:46):
either working with the Champions Club and internal nil working
with the sponsorship piece and eighteen eighty three. That is
some different opportunities there, but it's important to have if
you're in that world where you might be a business
or an individual however, to discuss with them basically how
it may work best and there may be some different
(19:09):
opportunities than there have been in the past.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Basically, you know. So Jonathan Holf and Matt Bondser you've
had on sure have done a great job. Tony Goldenstein
with Fighting HWK Sports Partnership. He leads that area. All
of that is still in play, and I think we're
all in. And if you're you know, see Jody Hodson
or myself or Eric Martinson, you know, grab any one
of us, Colton Sanderson, Tim Bellmore, Valve Sussex, Mike Manassa.
(19:32):
I mean, any one of us are in tune with
making sure that we can have a conversation that tries
to put you in the right direction that you can
help support our student athletes.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
Well, I'm sure it's been with the champions golf events
around the region here where it brings a lot of
people together that are on a year to year basis
supporting you indie athletics, and so some way, shape or fashion,
and a lot of that communication happens prior to those events.
Through those events, those have probably have been pretty important
this summer.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
They have been And you know what I end up doing, Paul.
So that's why I really appreciate you two having me
on today. You know what I end up doing. I
just say, hey, look there's a lot here and I'm
not going to go deep into anything. Ask me the
questions that that are on your mind right now. Right,
that's the best way because that's then I can sort
of address where someone's at at that point in time
(20:22):
and meet them as to where they're at right now.
And then the same thing goes with the coaches, because
the coaches are in the trenches. They're in the trenches
having conversations with uh, you know, with student athletes, with
their parents, with their agents. And that's a whole nother
story that we could get on for a long period
of time. But man, this this timeframe, boy, we've unleashed
(20:44):
the agent.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Oh boy, yeah, I mean they used to be just
called the family advisor.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Oh no, they're agents.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
They're agents. Tim. How's your agent doing?
Speaker 3 (20:53):
Well? I mean that's you're right. I mean, how things
evolve because you couldn't even tell somebody that they had
a family advisor, and now it's now it's his agent.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Yeah, it's his agent. Yeah. Yeah, I mean that's the
world that we're in.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
And you know what, I'm okay with that. As long
as there should be parameters and a lot of things
in life, and I'm not suggesting that there shouldn't be
agents or advisors, I think that's more than fine. It's
right now there's no there's.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
No engagement, there's no framework for those individuals, and so
each agreement between what said agent, family advisor and that
perspective student athlete or current student athlete, that that may
be a really bad deal for said student athlete. And
when you look at the numbers, maybe because nobody really knows.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Yeah, So I would say, you know, for for many
you might be saying, boy, I just yearned for the
day what it was to some degree. Well, I think
Dale Lennon said it. Well, we were at the Football
Legends event and Dale had said, you know, and it
was all football supporters in a sense, but he said,
I got to UNDA in nineteen eighty and if I
(22:08):
look back now at where we are today at twenty
twenty five, that would have been nineteen thirty five. So
life would have changed from nineteen thirty five to nineteen eighty, right,
So life has now changed from nineteen eighty to twenty
twenty five, and it's a good way to look at it.
In a sense. The game is still the game, but
(22:28):
all the inner workings around it has evolved and changed.
And I think as we're moving forward, you're saying, what's
going to happen I think we're going to be in
this for years upon years.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Okayous I do, I do.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
I don't see any end to this right now. You
know when the end's going to happen is when? Because
right now all three hundred and sixty schools are participating
in the back damages of the house settlement. I think
once our friends at the highest level feel as if
they can potentially break away at that point because enough
has been paid and they can pay the rest, I
think we'll see a split at that point.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Okay, well that's my now.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
I might be well retired at this Who knows, I
could be retired this afternoon. You know, you never know.
But at the end of the day, the the that
that's what I think is going to happen. That's just
my opinion.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Well, we're always waiting for the Shepherd hook on this program.
So I mean, you see the old Muppet Show, Basically
you just get the old Shepherd hook out and we're
just being yanked right out of this.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
Dude.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
It could happen, right, It could happen right at the
news right wether weever. It could be Tim's safe, Tim safe, because.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Tim's Tim Tim's Yeah, they can't even get to Tim,
he's in a remote thing. He just the show must
go on. So he's been perfect.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
So I just want to watch the games.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
And that actually get it. And I completely get that too.
And Tim, as you mentioned to me close circuit, you said,
you're a Champions Club member and you want to know
something that still works great.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
It is. It is, And I thank you because it's
all of that's important and I want to make sure
that that's not lost in translation here.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Yeah, and that's the thing that I, yeah, re emphasize
that that method is still a great method. There are
just other buckets available and coming into focus now that
are given to those that want to partake in those
and and try some different things in that may aid
in supporting student athletes within the within University of North Dakota.
(24:25):
So we'll talk more. We got to dive into some
of the things with our conferences that we participate in,
maybe some of the news coming out of there. We're
going to do the weather here though, first with Tim
and Tim. The weather's being brought to you by the
Blue Mooves, Bar and Grill
First off, here we're going to dive into the weeds.
So Tim can probably take Bella for a walk for
a few minutes anyway. But I don't I don't think
there are those that, you know, don't give any There
are those that don't give any thought to what we
talk about about college sports in the current environment that
it's in. And then there's people like me who follow
(00:20):
this because I wish that college sports, something that I
really love and that other people really love as well,
really would get to a place where we could just
you know, worry or where we could just worry about
the games and worry about what a team will be
like and things. And maybe somewhat naively, I thought getting
through this House Settlement would go a long way and providing,
(00:43):
you know, that that stability basically, and as of right now,
you know, in the days that after that this has
all happened, it really doesn't seem to be the case
in a lot of ways. For whatever we were told
that the House Settlement may offer for institution and the
college sports landscape, as of right now, I look at
(01:04):
it and I'm like, I don't. I don't know that
we're any more stable day to day than we were
five months ago.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Yeah, you know, and I guess I'm gonna try to
go a couple of different places here, but one I'm
just gonna stay really broad and say, you know, I
think most people enjoy the games and want to just
see the games. Sure, and I get it. I mean,
that's very fair. And you know, you know, we kind
of chuckle and say, hey, we're gonna have a schedule.
We're gonna have games where we're gonna have a roster. Sure,
(01:31):
I mean, but but the inside, if you go back historically,
there wasn't a lot of change for many, many years
when the NCA was born to about seventy two when
Title nine came in, it all kind of played the
same way. And Title nine made it obviously a major
impact obviously with the evolution of women's athletics and what
(01:54):
we see today for sure. So you really from like
seventy two to to twenty one, really so another fifty
years and now we're in the middle of instability, right.
It's just we were not in a washerants repeat cycle
right now. We're really in a cycle where every day
seems like something comes through the door and it's just
(02:16):
it's unsettling, really it's unsettling. So we're trying to figure
out what's best for the University of North Dakota and
where in the conferences that we play, And that's I
guess my very first you know, thought every day going in,
how do we position ourselves to continue to go through
this landscape?
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Okay, So with that being said, when we decided to
change the University of North Kota's option, we they decided
to opt into the settlement previously going in, but they
changed they changed kind of what was going to happen
with the roster limits and things like that, and so
that changed kind of your purview as far as how
(02:53):
that would work for the University of North Dakota and
what would be the best fit for it to move
through these times. But the question I have now is
for the people, and you mentioned in some of the
responses about how the eighteen eighty three will factor in, well,
how Champions clubal factory in. So if a person comes
to you, that's all in the community and says where
should I where would I be best suited to do?
(03:17):
You know, I don't have any I'm not going to
direct anything specifically. Should I go to Champions Club? Should
I go to eighteen eighty three? Should I support that way?
How should I should I support Alston? What would be
the best way in today's environment to do it to
best serve University of North Dakota student athletes and the institution.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Yeah, so think of it this way, Paul. We've got
probably in a sense, we'll call it very broadly, four
entities that support us. The institution for sure. So you've
got the institution, You've got our alumni Foundation do a
great job, Ourria group does an awesome job. And then
are collective, and so all of us are communicating on
(04:00):
literally a daily weekly basis. We literally have a weekly
meeting set up and just to make sure that we're
aligned so that if someone asks the question, they can
point them in the right direction. Because if you want
to give to say internal nil, that'll be the foundation.
If you want to work with Fighting Hawk Sports Partnerships
and you're a business and you want a student athlete
(04:20):
to get an opportunity with them, it could be our
Fighting Hawk Sports Partnership coupled with the collective. So there's
ways to do this. You just need to talk with
someone and we're going to try to make it as
simple as possible and say hey, here are the buckets,
go to that bucket if that makes sense if you're
in a visual mode. And so there's just different ways
(04:42):
to support our student athletes like never before. And I
think with us opting in, obviously we were concerned about
the rosters, and I think we were kind of right
about that to be concerned. Yeah, the judge was concerned.
And at the end of the day, then the opt
in gave you a chance to grant father the year
rosters over the course of a four year period, plus
(05:04):
introduce what we're calling internal nil, which is which is
to be basically, hey, a student athlete comes in over
the course of time, maybe it was always here's a
scholarship if if and you know, some sports have what
we're called equivalencies, so some like sometimes I could get
a full scholarship and you could get a half scholarship.
(05:26):
Internal nil alls it is is hey, this person coming
in might have might have the opportunity to use their
just existence to put und at a different platform just
by who the person is. Just to stent athlete might
direct correct, So that's kind of what it is.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
They might have just a bigger platform who they are
coming in because they may be a projected top pick
in an NBA draft or a could be a NFL
draft or an NHL draft or whatever. They with them
some pinash and whatever, So there might that make be
a value basically.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
That's right. Oh, that's right. So that's maybe the best
way of looking at it. So now if you are
interested in potentially providing support in that realm, you would
go through our alumni foundation. Then there's there's some back
end conversation about this. There could be tax deductibility with that.
There may there may be depending on how it all
(06:27):
works itself out. That would be a conversation for our
foundation folks and the donor. And now the other side
of it is fear a business. There's at least a
nice kind of a runway that we can say, hey,
go over and talk to our collective and go over
and talk to Fighting Hawksports Partnership. So it's kind of
like tools in the toolbox. And we've kind of opened
all that up back in March, which was curious to
(06:49):
me that we had to make a decision before the
settlement was actually settled and actually now in real time
we're implementing the settlement that hasn't been fully set up.
How about that? That's the truth. Yeah, and so now
we're even seeing in real time things are changing right
before our eyes. And so you just got to be
nimble right now. And all this is behind the curtain
(07:11):
and it's probably an eye roll for many, but it's real.
It's real. This is what und is working through right now,
and we need to make sure that we stay on
it each and every day.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Well, and I would just say this because number one
you've always said when you've come on here, and it
is a real thing when you walk in the offices,
and if you ever walk in the offices with Bill,
Eric and Liz and Chad, and number one is these
student athletes they are that's the thing here. How do
we give them their best platform and foundation while they're
(07:43):
here at the University of North Dakota. And you have
how many athletes do we have? You're currently one and
fifty three hundred and fifty basically, and they all have
different things that they're trying to get out of the
University of Northdakota while they're here. And so you know,
basically you're trying to navigate. And also there are those
in the community that are trying to support as well
(08:04):
as you to as you're doing it on the day
to day. And I think probably the best way to
describe it is the way you just described it was
there's buckets for you, so as you if you're choosing
to support you and die athletics and it's student athletes
right now, there are pieces or buckets that you can
choose that may be the best way to do that.
(08:26):
That's where you know, you may want to work with
the Champions Club. It may still be scholarship and may
it's still maybe it's still may be that, but it
does it may not be, so maybe that's having those conversations.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
I think that's right. I think that's right. And if
you talk to our coaches, you know what has transpired
over time are our fan base is so generous, our
donors are generous, and you know what we've given in
the past is huge too. You know, I'll call it
legacy given giving. Yeah, And we can't forget about that
because the scholarship piece is still real. That is an
(09:00):
amazing thing. And I'm probably really old school here, Paul,
but I still think it matters. I think it matters
getting an education. I think it matters getting a degree.
I think it sets you up for the rest of
your life and it provides a platform for you as
you're going through and trying to do something really hard.
Not many people in the world do what these student
(09:21):
athletes do is participate at this level, and we're just
trying to support them as best as we can.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
So the one other thing I want to add here,
and there's a couple of different ways we can go,
but in addition to that, think about this if you've
never considered it for student athletes, whatever school. Let's just
use the University of North Dakota. Think about a student
athlete that gets a scholarship while they're at the University
of North Dakota and they leave school with little to
(09:49):
zero debt, and then then you can look across campus,
or they can look across the hallway in their apartment
or their dorm or whatever. Of students that don't have
that when they leave school, think about what a benefit
that that is. Yeah, you know, when you don't really
think about where you I had a recent graduate athlete say,
I don't think people realize that when we leave school
(10:10):
not having debt. I mean, if we truly took advantage
of our scholarship getting a degree, And it was like,
people don't realize leaving school without really having some of
the things that my fellow classmates that weren't student athletes,
that didn't have a scholarship of that magnitude, What an
advantage that is for me. Because he's like, I'm not
going to go play pro. I'm actually going to use
(10:31):
my degree.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Yeah. Yeah, well, there's no doubt about it. And I
would say that, you know, we we emphasize that our
athletes need to lead in the classroom too. Yeah, And
I you know, I've spoken to enough deans and professors
and provost to know that our students do great in
the classroom, and that's the expectation. They need to lead
(10:54):
in every facet of their life because that's what they're
doing right now in their chosen sport. Sure, they're leading
themselves number one, to be the best that they can
and they're gonna they're gonna encounter failure because they're at
the top level of doing some things and they may
never have encountered failure before. So we have to make
sure that we kind of support them in that regard.
(11:15):
But then at the end of the day, you're still
part of a community, both on campus and off and
you need to go into the classroom and you need
to lead. And I think they're doing a great job
in that regard. But I think they value it. I
really do, and I want to make sure people understand
how much we still value that too. It's not the
shiny new toy that we're talking about, but it's now
(11:37):
just part of our menu that we can provide.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Yeah, And you know, the thing about it is now,
as I mentioned coming in, is that I feel, like,
you know, I was hoping maybe this utopia would happen,
like we get past the host settlement, things would really
be a framework. And I read stories Mister Dellinger from
Yahoo does a lot of coverage of a lot of
(12:01):
the college sports behind the scenes. The murkiness of you know,
trying to navigate where we're at now and all the
things that are coming out is because originally, with this
house settlement, there was going to be a sports commission
that is going to look at name, image, likeness deals.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
Right.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
That wasn't just going to be the NCAA, was going
to be what the CSC, the College Sports.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Commission, non internal and il deals.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Non internal so they're the ones that.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
We're going to external and il deals.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Yeah so through okay, So that they were going to
be the ones to monitor that. Well, now we're having
some unique challenges with them first getting going with this basically.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Yeah, I thought, I think our our friends at the
power for and I'll say really the power to sure
Big ten in the SEC if they've had some interesting
I'll call it steps along the way that I've questioned.
And and partially the reason is so very broadly, there's
about three hundred and sixty Division I schools. Some play football,
(13:01):
some don't play football. Is that relevant or not? Yeah,
in this day and age, it actually kind of is.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
So but the end of the day, they're kind of
working through the settlement details. We're just learning a lot
of times I'm reading Ross Dellinger and I'm learning it
from Ross Ellinger. That's what I'm just telling you. That's
how it goes. And so sometimes I'm scratching my head,
going why are we doing this roster limits? That seemed
weird to me, And then it seemed weird to the judge,
(13:29):
and it was like that that could have been something
that could have been figured out the twenty point five
will never get up to that internal nil cap number.
But that twenty point five if you think about it
right now, if you have a football team at the
highest level, and you don't have a football team at
the highest level, let's just say Saint John's versus Kentucky. Okay, weird,
(13:50):
where do you think money's going to go, right.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Well, it's going to go to well for Kentucky, it's
going to go to football. Some is a good chunk,
good chunk. Yeah, even those are going to go from
saying all to basketball.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Big Blue Nation. Very sad right now, big.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
That's well and that okay, what can we put that
in a in a very interesting concept for our fans
in this part of the world. So the NCCHC, we
talked about this a few months ago, is a unique
conference in its in its makeup and this is where
Tim's world. So Tim, I know if you're still back there.
(14:26):
Then the NCC has Arizona State. That's a big twelve school,
so power four. Right, it's got Miami of Ohio, Western Michigan.
So that's group of five FBS. Okay, group of six. Okay,
so that's pseudo FBS because I know they they want
to be part of that group at the Power four
are like, well, okay, whatever, but don't tell them I
(14:50):
said that, but we know what's going on there. And
then you've got Division two, Division three primarily schools like
you're Saint Cloud's you're to lose. Division three would be
Colorado College. And then you have FCS school like US.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
And Omaha and Omaha without football.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Without football, and then you have Denver, which would be Yeah.
So you have all these different you have them all right,
you have them all in one conference for hockey, correct.
And who's to say that Colorado College doesn't have the
biggest advantage of this.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
They could, they could they they literally could opt in
which they have, yes, and they have women's soccer and
they have men's ice hockey, and.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
They could just shove it all.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Basically, if if they had a billionaire that wanted to
give twenty point five each year, and let's just say
they wanted to go half and half or they wanted
to go all in on hockey, they could do.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
It right where other schools may not have that lecture
football school.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Yeah, we I mean, we could have a same billionaire
if we could think through how we'd want to do
something as well, So there's opportunities for us. Yeah, it's
just when you're a Division I school across the board,
all your teams are opted in versus a Colorado College
or Minnesota Duluth or a Saint Cloud where just the
(16:11):
sports that they play at the Division I level have
to follow quote unquote these rules. So it really is,
you know, it's way inside baseball. But I was a
little concerned about that piece of the puzzle that seemed
a little I'm not even saying unfair, it just seems interesting,
like I do it.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
So there is an advantage there.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
I believe so. But you know, but here we are.
I mean, at the end of the day, you know,
if you I can't worry about too much about what
others have or don't have right now. I can only
worry about what we have and what we're doing here.
Because obviously, if you look at hockey, we've got the
most historical program in college hockey, and we have the
(16:56):
most beautiful arena and the development opportunities and this and
that and this and that, and so if you want
to come to Grand Forks and play in front of
eleven seven, you're you're gonna do it. If that's what
you want to do. It may not be for.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Everybody, And that's a fair point.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
It may not be I may actually rather like, if
you want to be on COMMAV, go to be you, right, sure,
I mean if you want to. I mean, Tim, we
were just to be you last year or two years ago.
I mean that's a little different than Grand Forks, right,
just a tish right, I mean, it's a little bit different.
And so if you want to go be it, we'll
(17:34):
go there. I think that's different than coming in where
our our fan base is all in all the time
right now, they're all in there, they're all in. If
that if that appeals to you, that's the kind of
person we want in the locker room.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Yeah, that's a good point. I mean that that's it's
it's not for everyone, and that's the and and that's okay,
that's okay.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
I'm a Red Sox fan. It's not for everybody. It's
not it's not. I mean, it just that's how it goes.
And so you know, you know, we just have to
make sure. And if you talk to coach Jackson or
you talk to coach Schmidt, coach say they're coach Hutter whomever.
I mean, you want the right person, people in the
locker room that want to be here for the right reasons,
(18:19):
and I think that's what I hope are fan base
what would want to support as well.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
So the biggest thing to take away right now is
at the University of North Dakota with its athletics and
the way to support student athletes and athletics. There's still
the good old traditional ways of being a Champions Club member.
All that stuff is and trying to support through scholarships
and being part of Champions Club, going to games and
buying tickets and all that stuff. That all remains, but
there's some other buckets now that you can play with
(18:46):
either working with the Champions Club and internal nil working
with the sponsorship piece and eighteen eighty three. That is
some different opportunities there, but it's important to have if
you're in that world where you might be a business
or an individual however, to discuss with them basically how
it may work best and there may be some different
(19:09):
opportunities than there have been in the past.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Basically, you know. So Jonathan Holf and Matt Bondser you've
had on sure have done a great job. Tony Goldenstein
with Fighting HWK Sports Partnership. He leads that area. All
of that is still in play, and I think we're
all in. And if you're you know, see Jody Hodson
or myself or Eric Martinson, you know, grab any one
of us, Colton Sanderson, Tim Bellmore, Valve Sussex, Mike Manassa.
(19:32):
I mean, any one of us are in tune with
making sure that we can have a conversation that tries
to put you in the right direction that you can
help support our student athletes.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
Well, I'm sure it's been with the champions golf events
around the region here where it brings a lot of
people together that are on a year to year basis
supporting you indie athletics, and so some way, shape or fashion,
and a lot of that communication happens prior to those events.
Through those events, those have probably have been pretty important
this summer.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
They have been And you know what I end up doing, Paul.
So that's why I really appreciate you two having me
on today. You know what I end up doing. I
just say, hey, look there's a lot here and I'm
not going to go deep into anything. Ask me the
questions that that are on your mind right now. Right,
that's the best way because that's then I can sort
of address where someone's at at that point in time
(20:22):
and meet them as to where they're at right now.
And then the same thing goes with the coaches, because
the coaches are in the trenches. They're in the trenches
having conversations with uh, you know, with student athletes, with
their parents, with their agents. And that's a whole nother
story that we could get on for a long period
of time. But man, this this timeframe, boy, we've unleashed
(20:44):
the agent.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Oh boy, yeah, I mean they used to be just
called the family advisor.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Oh no, they're agents.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
They're agents. Tim. How's your agent doing?
Speaker 3 (20:53):
Well? I mean that's you're right. I mean, how things
evolve because you couldn't even tell somebody that they had
a family advisor, and now it's now it's his agent.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Yeah, it's his agent. Yeah. Yeah, I mean that's the
world that we're in.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
And you know what, I'm okay with that. As long
as there should be parameters and a lot of things
in life, and I'm not suggesting that there shouldn't be
agents or advisors, I think that's more than fine. It's
right now there's no there's.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
No engagement, there's no framework for those individuals, and so
each agreement between what said agent, family advisor and that
perspective student athlete or current student athlete, that that may
be a really bad deal for said student athlete. And
when you look at the numbers, maybe because nobody really knows.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Yeah, So I would say, you know, for for many
you might be saying, boy, I just yearned for the
day what it was to some degree. Well, I think
Dale Lennon said it. Well, we were at the Football
Legends event and Dale had said, you know, and it
was all football supporters in a sense, but he said,
I got to UNDA in nineteen eighty and if I
(22:08):
look back now at where we are today at twenty
twenty five, that would have been nineteen thirty five. So
life would have changed from nineteen thirty five to nineteen eighty, right,
So life has now changed from nineteen eighty to twenty
twenty five, and it's a good way to look at it.
In a sense. The game is still the game, but
(22:28):
all the inner workings around it has evolved and changed.
And I think as we're moving forward, you're saying, what's
going to happen I think we're going to be in
this for years upon years.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Okayous I do, I do.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
I don't see any end to this right now. You
know when the end's going to happen is when? Because
right now all three hundred and sixty schools are participating
in the back damages of the house settlement. I think
once our friends at the highest level feel as if
they can potentially break away at that point because enough
has been paid and they can pay the rest, I
think we'll see a split at that point.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Okay, well that's my now.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
I might be well retired at this Who knows, I
could be retired this afternoon. You know, you never know.
But at the end of the day, the the that
that's what I think is going to happen. That's just
my opinion.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Well, we're always waiting for the Shepherd hook on this program.
So I mean, you see the old Muppet Show, Basically
you just get the old Shepherd hook out and we're
just being yanked right out of this.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
Dude.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
It could happen, right, It could happen right at the
news right wether weever. It could be Tim's safe, Tim safe, because.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Tim's Tim Tim's Yeah, they can't even get to Tim,
he's in a remote thing. He just the show must
go on. So he's been perfect.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
So I just want to watch the games.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
And that actually get it. And I completely get that too.
And Tim, as you mentioned to me close circuit, you said,
you're a Champions Club member and you want to know
something that still works great.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
It is. It is, And I thank you because it's
all of that's important and I want to make sure
that that's not lost in translation here.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Yeah, and that's the thing that I, yeah, re emphasize
that that method is still a great method. There are
just other buckets available and coming into focus now that
are given to those that want to partake in those
and and try some different things in that may aid
in supporting student athletes within the within University of North Dakota.
(24:25):
So we'll talk more. We got to dive into some
of the things with our conferences that we participate in,
maybe some of the news coming out of there. We're
going to do the weather here though, first with Tim
and Tim. The weather's being brought to you by the
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