re: Tristan Keys Commits to LSU!!!

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We were just the first money offer. Starting point with bidding war

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Dozens of power conference programs are hustling to reach eight-figure donation goals or are exhausting their collective bank accounts in an effort to distribute funds to athletes before the arrival in July of the new revenue-sharing era and its more stringent enforcement arm. All payments made to athletes starting July 1 are subject to a new enforcement entity that is expected to reject many of these lucrative booster-backed deals so prevalent over the last four years.

As a result, schools and their affiliated collectives have designed contracts for players that distribute all or a large portion of compensation to them before July 1 — a concept described as “frontloading.” This is a way to not only avoid the new enforcement arm but to create flexibility with a school’s revenue-share pool next year. The cash distributed before July does not count against a program’s revenue-share pool cap.

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In Baton Rouge, the specific figure has been established.

“We are frontloading at a level where we are trying to get to or above $13 million,” Kelly told Yahoo Sports last month in an interview from his office. A portion of that $13 was used to support last season’s team. LSU expects to frontload roughly $10 million of it before July 1 for members of the 2025 roster.

The $13 million is more than the collective distributed the past three football rosters combined: $5.5 million last year, about $4 million in 2023 and $2 million in 2022.

“We thought, ‘Let’s push all the chips in,’” said Carlos Spaht, general counsel and former co-manager of the LSU collective Bayou Traditions. “It’s not just because we want to perform better on the field and win a national championship, but the back-counting of these collective dollars will essentially allow revenue-share dollars to go further.”

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The future of collectives under the revenue-sharing concept is uncertain. It’s the “$1 million question,” said Bayou Traditions president Jared Wilson.

Many of them are remaining alive to operate as marketing agencies, arranging third-party NIL deals for athletes that allow a school to exceed the cap.

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