Posted June 27, 20232 yr Moderator As we all talk about on this forum, I believe it's essential that both SDSU and SMU be invited to join the Pac-12. SMU is comparable to USC in so many ways, except for the brand at this point. SMU has positive growth values for the conference. SDSU is strategically important and needed for the conference. Five things you need to know. Chris Schoemann is the executive director of “The Boulevard Collective” — SMU’s high-octane donor collective. I spoke with a number of wealthy donors for a piece I wrote last week and came away thinking that the buying power of the school’s collective is a threat to some the top entities in the Pac-12. If the Mustangs are invited into the Pac-12 via conference expansion in the coming days or weeks, where would SMU’s NIL collective rank when it comes to wealth? Turns out the folks at The Boulevard Collective have studied it. Said Schoemann: “It’s behind only Division Street. That’s where we are.” Oregon’s collective has billionaire Phil Knight backing it, among others. Last year, I was told by one UO donor that the initial buy-in for Division Street, Inc. was $500,000 and that didn’t get you a say in who the collective did business with. Schoemann told me that the SMU collective was included in the analysis done by consulting firms trying to gauge whether the school was a good fit for the Pac-12. Geography, campus culture, academics, media market, brand and some other criteria certainly matter. But if the Pac-12 is trying to figure out how competitive the Mustangs might be right away, the health of the collective offers a glimpse. Schoemann told me: “We have had good feedback. believe SMU is being analyzed in a number of ways and we’re part of the component.” Canzano: A whale, two wins, a bag of money and a meeting of the minds WWW.JOHNCANZANO.COM Five things you need to know.
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