For years, Oklahoma State had the second-richest owner in college football in oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens. Pickens was OSU’s version of Phil Knight. He donated over $652 million to his alma mater until his death at the age of 91 in 2019. Unfortunately, for Cowboys athletics, Pickens died before the NIL era begun. The pre-NIL era was a simpler

Is Oregon the Next Oklahoma State?

Great thoughts to ponder, Darren, but especially for our younger ones.

I already lived this once, as I watched, losing Oregon Duck teams as a teenager in the 80s, (including the infamous toilet bowl of 1983)

Often times sporting a mullet.😜

Whatever happens with the Ducks, personally, I am never going back!😁

Excellent point to discuss. I’ve wondered about this as well.

I had to look up how old Phil Knight is; he’s 87.

Hoping Oregon makes this national championship happen sooner than later. Oregon doesn’t have the massive student body / alumni numbers to keep up with the likes of Mich. / tosu / Penn St. once the piggy bank runs dry.

Also would be nice to confirm if Phil Knight has things set up for Oregon after he’s gone, or if the rumors are a coping mechanism for a scenario us fans don’t want to face.

Oregon was just fine before PK came along...

🤣

1 hour ago, Krsmqn said:

Oregon was just fine before PK came along...

🤣

Agree to disagree.

1 hour ago, Krsmqn said:

Oregon was just fine before PK came along...

Who said sarcasm is dead. I can clearly see your tongue sticking out the side of your mouth.

Darren, not a thought I want to ponder. So, I will go with the conventional thought that IT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN.

And if it does, then I hope Phil lives to 113, that way when I'm gone at 101 . . .

1) I won't live to see it.

2) I will have seen at least one Natty.

3) I will have seen us overtake ewe dub in our series with them.

Interesting topic. I’m sure OBD have had many internal discussions on it probably with PK himself. I don’t know what the answer is but since the Ducks have been leaders in innovation for the last couple decades, I’d bet it’s a good one.

I suppose that there could be a doomsday scenario ahead when PK leaves this earthly orb, but it would make no sense for his estate to not fund the U of O in all the capacities that it has in the past. Once you reach $35B in net worth I would imagine that legacy means more than anything else. I can't imagine that PK doesn't have an army of suits that will keep that legacy on track.

Some back of the napkin math:

PK net worth is $35-37B

PK Nike stock value is ~$23B (20% of Nike market cap of $115B)

PK other assets ~$12-15B

He just dropped a $2B donation to OHSU Knight Cancer Institute (granted, it is a promise and not endowed all at once) without budging Nike stock. That funding source was from Phil and Penny Knight's personal wealth. Add up all the UO athletic facilities he has funded, PK Park, MK Arena, Hatfield-Bowling Complex, Hayward Field, etc and you still fall well short of the OHSU gift.

All this is to say that PK has pledged 'unlimited' support for OBD's NIL and I don't think that changes once he is gone. That support is independent of Nike's market value. The rest of the college sports world may deride Oregon's good fortune sugar daddy, but better us than them. Looking at you, Cowpoke Gundy.🤠

The rumor from inside sources around two years ago was that after both Phil and Penny are gone...UO Athletics gets 8 billion. What about funding after Phil and before the loss of Penny? Unknown.

And all of this is rumor/conjecture and might be wishful thinking. But there is no doubt that with enough left in a Knight Endowment...the interest could pay for everything, and maybe NIL for Olympic sports as well?

I think we’re pretty well established on the field.

Since 1994 (31 years!) OkState has one conference title and zero playoff appearances.

Having a particularly notable donor does not make us the same.

Edited yesterday at 03:37 PM1 day by JabbaNoBargain

Who knows what the financial future holds.

I do know the costs of competing in college sports are sky rocketing upward, along with inflation. At some point, the financials will be an issue, and Oregon will not be the only one struggling to balance an athletic budget each year.

I can’t worry about what might happen. We all face challenges, and I am sure Oregon will continue to be known as “the Fighting Ducks”, far into the future.

By the time PK goes the way of his forefathers OBD will be close to or at full revenue sharing in the BIG, which will be somewhere around $100 million a year (give or take $20 million). With Oregon's strong brand (The GOAT of brand equity?), fiscal management, facilities, NFL presence, etc, etc, I don't see us EVER going the way of the Cowpokes. IMHO.

13 minutes ago, JabbaNoBargain said:

I think we’re pretty well established on the field.

Since 1994 (31 years!) OkState has one conference title and zero playoff appearances.

Having a particularly notable donor does not make us the same.

Follow up, we all know, but when you tally it up it’s pretty stark.

Using the same criteria, since 1994 OBD have 10 conference titles and 3 playoff (including BCS title game) appearances.

FYI - A little context - prior to the expanded playoff last year, only 10 teams had ever made the playoff.

Edited yesterday at 03:48 PM1 day by JabbaNoBargain

2 hours ago, Steven A said:

Who said sarcasm is dead. I can clearly see your tongue sticking out the side of your mouth.

Yes, pure sarcasm... lol. Obviously.

It truth, I don't see OBD going back to the dark ages, but it's reasonable to think that we will have a sizable drop from where we sit now. When does Oregon get a better chunk of the media rights? 2030? That's a small band-aid, at least.

4 hours ago, WTD25 said:

Excellent point to discuss. I’ve wondered about this as well.

I had to look up how old Phil Knight is; he’s 87.

Hoping Oregon makes this national championship happen sooner than later. Oregon doesn’t have the massive student body / alumni numbers to keep up with the likes of Mich. / tosu / Penn St. once the piggy bank runs dry.

Also would be nice to confirm if Phil Knight has things set up for Oregon after he’s gone, or if the rumors are a coping mechanism for a scenario us fans don’t want to face.

Exactly, Oregon does not have as many rich donors as those type of schools, we just currently have the one richest guy. Kinda having all of our duck eggs in one basket.

5 hours ago, Massduck said:

Great thoughts to ponder, Darren, but especially for our younger ones.

I already lived this once, as I watched, losing Oregon Duck teams as a teenager in the 80s, (including the infamous toilet bowl of 1983)

Often times sporting a mullet.😜

Whatever happens with the Ducks, personally, I am never going back!😁

Yeah, me too. I hate to be the crusty, old guy, saying, "well, back in my day...." But, life was really tough for Oregon fans back in the day. Spoiled kids today!!! lol

4 hours ago, Krsmqn said:

Oregon was just fine before PK came along...

🤣

The Duck Dome!!!!! yikes, lol

2 hours ago, Steven A said:

Darren, not a thought I want to ponder. So, I will go with the conventional thought that IT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN.

And if it does, then I hope Phil lives to 113, that way when I'm gone at 101 . . .

1) I won't live to see it.

2) I will have seen at least one Natty.

3) I will have seen us overtake ewe dub in our series with them.

The power of positive thinking!!!

2 hours ago, The Kamikaze Kid said:

Interesting topic. I’m sure OBD have had many internal discussions on it probably with PK himself. I don’t know what the answer is but since the Ducks have been leaders in innovation for the last couple decades, I’d bet it’s a good one.

From what i've heard he's got things setup to help the Ducks for a long time. But, it still won't be the same. There will be a dip, just how big?

2 hours ago, EastBayDuckDad said:

I suppose that there could be a doomsday scenario ahead when PK leaves this earthly orb, but it would make no sense for his estate to not fund the U of O in all the capacities that it has in the past. Once you reach $35B in net worth I would imagine that legacy means more than anything else. I can't imagine that PK doesn't have an army of suits that will keep that legacy on track.

Some back of the napkin math:

PK net worth is $35-37B

PK Nike stock value is ~$23B (20% of Nike market cap of $115B)

PK other assets ~$12-15B

He just dropped a $2B donation to OHSU Knight Cancer Institute (granted, it is a promise and not endowed all at once) without budging Nike stock. That funding source was from Phil and Penny Knight's personal wealth. Add up all the UO athletic facilities he has funded, PK Park, MK Arena, Hatfield-Bowling Complex, Hayward Field, etc and you still fall well short of the OHSU gift.

All this is to say that PK has pledged 'unlimited' support for OBD's NIL and I don't think that changes once he is gone. That support is independent of Nike's market value. The rest of the college sports world may deride Oregon's good fortune sugar daddy, but better us than them. Looking at you, Cowpoke Gundy.🤠

Thanks for the analysis. The hope is that nothing changes. But, when other people are in charge of things, who knows. That damn "human factor."

2 hours ago, Charles Fischer said:

The rumor from inside sources around two years ago was that after both Phil and Penny are gone...UO Athletics gets 8 billion. What about funding after Phil and before the loss of Penny? Unknown.

And all of this is rumor/conjecture and might be wishful thinking. But there is no doubt that with enough left in a Knight Endowment...the interest could pay for everything, and maybe NIL for Olympic sports as well?

Thanks, Charles! That's helps to alleviate doubts.

1 hour ago, JabbaNoBargain said:

I think we’re pretty well established on the field.

Since 1994 (31 years!) OkState has one conference title and zero playoff appearances.

Having a particularly notable donor does not make us the same.

Yes, lots of other factors. The oregon blur offense, uniforms, other cool factors. It would interesting if T. Boone was still alive, he'd probably be all in on NIL hence improving the program. But, oh well.

couple comments

1) Getting into the Big Ten WAS a big deal. PK well understood that and was doing what he could, and WAS rebuffed a bit, to try to offer that Pac12 off ramp to the Ducks. It is a big deal, not only for annual funding, but ongoing public consciousness and publicity. Being in the B1G may be bigger long-term than facilities?

2) All schools have big donors, some are just bigger than others. Jerry Jones, Arkansas; Mark Cuban, Indiana; Red Combs, Texas; Boone Pickens, Oklahoma State....just to name a small few. But, they generally were/are interested in funding capital projects that will be assets for many years after they are gone. Some make donations for a facility maintenance fund to ensure their longevity. The goalposts have moved a bit due to inflationary operating costs and NIL, but the positive positioning from capital projects is still important.

3) Will there potentially be a step-back without Knight? Aside from being a major donor, he has a presence within team activities that still resonates. Think about how many recruits post photos with Knight if they can get close enough to him to do so. He is Nike. But, he is also Yoda for Oregon's Star Wars facilities. Once he is gone, I don't see someone that fills that spot. (Matthew McConaughey, Will Ferrell, Shaq, Larry the Cable Guy??...come-on, not even close)

NO! 🤬

49 minutes ago, Darren Perkins said:

Exactly, Oregon does not have as many rich donors as those type of schools, we just currently have the one richest guy. Kinda having all of our duck eggs in one basket.

Without the help of Uncle Phil, the Oregon Athletic Department is one of the few in the Black.

No accounting chicanery. Statements filed with the Feds have to conform to FASB accounting standards.

Come 2031, OBD will be bringing in @$100 million B1G bucks a season. It will be more if the B1G adopts the Eat What You Kill PO revenue model and the Eyes on the Prize media revenue cut.

And if CFB consolidates to 32 to 40 teams, OBD will not be left behind.

Oregon has been at the forefront of college athletics marketing since Joey Harrington showed up in NYC. Oregon is a B1G Brand and a Big Brand, especially without Mario around to bury the brand.

Charisma? No one does it better than Danno. 😍 (Especially Deion and Chaple Bill, notwithstanding all of the clicks.)

Great article and comments.

Certainly there will be an endowment of some kind to continue supporting Oregon's athletic program.

Certainly being a premier team in the "consolidation of power" era will ensure that the best level set funding provided by the conferences will be as good as anywhere.

My question is what happens to the level of Nike involvement, dare I say integration with our athletics program? Will we continue to be used as proving grounds for the state of the art by Nike? Will they continue to be involved in NIL and use players as an employee pipeline?

I would like to think enough history is there that the status quo continues to be the path forward as a mutually beneficial arrangement, at least until some hotshot CEO decides to move Nike headquarters to some low cost southern state..

Some of it depends on what happens to the 20% voting shares of PK. Is it sold or just administrated as part of the estate.

It's possible ... but here are my reasons why that probably won't be the case.

1. Phil Knight helped elevate Oregon's brand but the university also bought into it. The hiring of Rich Brooks and the indoor practice facility followed. After Brooks there was Bellotti and then Kelly. All built on their predecessor in terms of on field production. The uniforms and facilities absolutely helped but it was the coaching that produced those results and it was the AD and President who hired those coaches not Knight.

2. NIL is a big deal right now but regulations are slowly coming. With revenue sharing coming in this year I can see more regulations on NIL coming soon as well because players are getting paid. So hopefully the future impact of NIL is reduced.

3. Though Knight is the biggest donor for Oregon they are not the only one. In my article linked below I talked about another big Oregon donor, Connie and Steve Ballmer. They purchased the Concordia University campus in Portland that is now the site for UO Portland. They were also the ones who increased Dan Lanning's contract. So there are other investors at Oregon though none are as big as Knight.

4. Multiple sources have said that Knight has money set aside for Oregon in a trust. This money is supposedly invested and will become available over time. This wouldn't make up for the loss of Knight but it is stability in the transition.

5. The Nike connection will continue after Knight though it will change over time. Nothing is forever and Oregon will continue to be all about innovation on and off the field. This leverages the brand and will keep Oregon relevant.

6. Oregon is in the B1G, one of the Power 2. We will have money coming in that makes us relevant moving forward. Oklahoma State did not leverage their brand into a bigger and better conference. The SEC is not calling for Oklahoma State to join them.

http://fishduck.com/2023/08/its-time-to-take-a-deep-breath-oregon-is-going-to-be-fine/

"My question is what happens to the level of Nike involvement,..."

Penn State and Tennessee are switching to Adidas joining Texas Tech, Nebraska, Kansas, Louisville, NC State, Mississippi State, Washington and Grambling State.

To me, that means less competition for a relationship with Nike. If Nike is still interested in college branding, there will be fewer schools to consider. Oregon will be on a shorter list.

4 hours ago, Darren Perkins said:

The power of positive thinking!!!

Positive / delusional . . . potato / potatoe

While there are no guarantees (that we’re sure of) that Nike support will reflect Knight’s current level of commitment to Oregon athletics once he is gone, there are some state-wise differences between Oregon’s stature and that of Oklahoma State, and that of the benefit derived from Nike support of the Ducks by comparison to that of the Pickens Foundation for the Cowboys that leads me to think Oregon will come out okay.

In terms of general, state-wide fan (and NIL) support, Oregon has only to deal with the appeal of Oregon State, while the Cowboys are in an opposite relationship to that with Oklahoma. Sports fans (and businesses) like the image of their state as a winner, and the team that provides that usually gets their support.

Unlike Picken’s fortune (made as a business magnate, financier, hedge fund operator and takeover corporate raider), Nike’s retail wealth has a public image it tries to maintain, and is enhanced by choosing to back both individuals and teams that bolster that image. Oregon can now sit along side Michael Jordan as part of that Nike tradition as having earned that support.

12 hours ago, Krsmqn said:

Oregon was just fine before PK came along...

🤣

Those pre-PK decades were primarily misery.

2 hours ago, Desert Duck said:

Those pre-PK decades were primarily misery.

I have no idea what you are talking about. However, if you want a referral to a good lobotomy doctor I can give you a speed dial number.

This has gotten me thinking about both OSU's that wear orange and black and how alike they actually are. They are in different positions but both have opted for the "things are fine" approach.

Oregon State has never really invested in their football program. They have always rejected the Oregon approach of invest in the program and strive to improve and good things will happen. Instead they opted for the goal of just reaching a bowl game is good enough. The embodiment of this is their hiring of Mike Riley and the maintaining of his contract. Riley was a good coach, he had more winning seasons than losing ones at Oregon State and he kept the Beavers generally towards the middle of the Pac.

But he never got them to a Rose Bowl by winning the conference. OSU never invested in the program and they were fine with the status quo.

Oklahoma State had money invested and they hired Gundy back in 2005 making Gundy one of the longest (if not the longest) tenured coach in college football. Gundy has been better than Riley and Oklahoma State has invested more into their program than Oregon State. But Oklahoma State didn't seem to leverage their funds into building a next level program. They are firmly in the BIg 12 which is much much much better than Oregon State's situation but the SEC isn't calling on Oklahoma State to join them.

It feels like Oklahoma State is just fine with where they're at right now. Maybe in a few years they'll get more active about trying to build a better NIL collective and leverage their resources into building up their program but in a lot of ways Gundy feels like Riley. Just fine.

29 minutes ago, David Marsh said:

This has gotten me thinking about both OSU's that wear orange and black and how alike they actually are. They are in different positions but both have opted for the "things are fine" approach.

Oregon State has never really invested in their football program. They have always rejected the Oregon approach of invest in the program and strive to improve and good things will happen. Instead they opted for the goal of just reaching a bowl game is good enough. The embodiment of this is their hiring of Mike Riley and the maintaining of his contract. Riley was a good coach, he had more winning seasons than losing ones at Oregon State and he kept the Beavers generally towards the middle of the Pac.

But he never got them to a Rose Bowl by winning the conference. OSU never invested in the program and they were fine with the status quo.

Oklahoma State had money invested and they hired Gundy back in 2005 making Gundy one of the longest (if not the longest) tenured coach in college football. Gundy has been better than Riley and Oklahoma State has invested more into their program than Oregon State. But Oklahoma State didn't seem to leverage their funds into building a next level program. They are firmly in the BIg 12 which is much much much better than Oregon State's situation but the SEC isn't calling on Oklahoma State to join them.

It feels like Oklahoma State is just fine with where they're at right now. Maybe in a few years they'll get more active about trying to build a better NIL collective and leverage their resources into building up their program but in a lot of ways Gundy feels like Riley. Just fine.

I’d go so far as to say they’re almost identical.

If the PAC had survived and the B12 was the one to blow up they might be in the same situation as Beavis. We will never know but I’m guessing Okie would have been on the bubble as an ACC or PAC expansion list target.

"Is Oregon the Next Oklahoma State?"

NO.