All Things DinkyTown Athletes

We also have Post Consumer Brands which many forget is HQ'd in Lakeville with their cereal and other food brands.
Hormel in Austin, Land'O'Lakes in Arden Hills, Target and Best Buy in Minneapolis
 



Asking for a friend:

why can't PJ Fleck buy 100k Duck Beers?


No, I'm serious. The man is thirsty. Why can't he? Keep em in his garage. Hand em out to friends, etc.
 



How much actual money would that get DA? Like $10k?
 

We should think bigger than just metro, Polaris has deals with the Vikings at US Bank Stadium, why aren't we trying to get them on board somehow with Gopher Athletics? Here are some others not mentioned that are MN based
  1. Graco - Minneapolis
  2. Aveda - Blaine
  3. Anderson WIndows - Bayport
  4. Ecolab - St Paul
  5. Jefferson Lines - Minneapolis
  6. Dairy Queen - Bloomington
  7. Great Clips - Bloomington
  8. Thermo King - Bloomington
  9. Medtronic - Fridley
  10. Carlson Companies - Minnetonka
  11. Phillips Distilling - St Cloud area
The list goes on and on lots of opportunities to try and seek partnerships that could help keep this boat rowing in the NIL area of play.
 

So which scenario do you believe is more likely true?

1) we actually do have some rich guys who care about Gopher football, and while they inexplicably withheld NIL donations from DTA up until now ... now they finally have come to their senses

2) nothing is actually different. We have very little NIL money to offer players. And all these guys pimping DTA suddenly on Twitter is just another play, like Duck beer?


With a lack in info available to fans ... I will default to scenario 2.


If these guys are so excited to sign with DTA and put it out there how great that is ... then why aren't they saying what their contracts are worth?

When/if they make it to the league, anyone and everyone will be able to find out exactly how much their contract is worth. So you might as well get used to it.

Unless Fleck is explicitly forbidding them from doing that? Seems like something he would do.
 




So which scenario do you believe is more likely true?

1) we actually do have some rich guys who care about Gopher football, and while they inexplicably withheld NIL donations from DTA up until now ... now they finally have come to their senses

2) nothing is actually different. We have very little NIL money to offer players. And all these guys pimping DTA suddenly on Twitter is just another play, like Duck beer?


With a lack in info available to fans ... I will default to scenario 2.


If these guys are so excited to sign with DTA and put it out there how great that is ... then why aren't they saying what their contracts are worth?

When/if they make it to the league, anyone and everyone will be able to find out exactly how much their contract is worth. So you might as well get used to it.

Unless Fleck is explicitly forbidding them from doing that? Seems like something he would do.
I think you’re forgetting option #3: More people have joined DTA in recent months and their partnerships (DDB, vodka, pizza, etc) have been successful and raised enough money to make the current players feel appreciated. Probably not a massive amount, but amounts comparable to what they were offered to leave.
 

I think you’re forgetting option #3: More people have joined DTA in recent months and their partnerships (DDB, vodka, pizza, etc) have been successful and raised enough money to make the current players feel appreciated. Probably not a massive amount, but amounts comparable to what they were offered to leave.
I like to assume that every player that stays here is due to my $110.
 

@MGGopher I’m certain you nailed it, but I respectfully disagree that is meaningfully different than #2.

That’s what we’ve had and what I believe we continue to have. We can offer low-level NIL in P5 terms. Those guys took it because they didn’t get offered anything significantly better and would be going to more risk/question on how much they’d get to play. Not worth it.

I personally don’t believe that crowdsourcing efforts will ever move the needle in NIL.

If you have great NIL now, it’s because you already had great donations and bagmen in the past. If you didn’t, then you don’t.

The rich get richer, is how laissez faire things tend to work out.
 

I think you’re forgetting option #3: More people have joined DTA in recent months and their partnerships (DDB, vodka, pizza, etc) have been successful and raised enough money to make the current players feel appreciated. Probably not a massive amount, but amounts comparable to what they were offered to leave.
The fact that the majority of the key pieces from last year have already announced their intention to return is certainly a good sign that we are doing something right on this front.

Guys we have lost to this point have left some depth holes to fill but the guys most were concerned about seem to be coming back (Taylor, Walley, Jackson.....)
 



It takes just a few of these public NIL deals to get the ball rolling. The Beer and Pizza deals are huge in moving the needle here in MN. I've now seen at least two bars announce that they have DDBeer on tap. Other local brands are likely to jump on board.

These guys aren't signing and staying for nothing.
 

For those that are DTA members, I'm curious what kind of communication you receive from the organization. e.g. What kind of transparency regarding the use of funds is provided? Do they share an annual report, etc.?

Not asking to be critical, genuinely curious.
 


There is no doubt that DTA is gaining traction. My experience is showing me that most people still DO NOT understand the NIL/DTA and it's impact. I brought a case of DDB to my softball game and literally nobody had heard of it or understood what it meant for NIL $$. These are sports guys with a few of them having graduated from the U of M. DTA should be some money towards an ad campaign because a vast majorty of the rubes have no idea what all of this means still.
 

This is a good trend. Rather than have local businesses sponsor individual Gopher athletes......get them to support the collective as a whole. No reason why Gophers athletics cannot partner with these companies to get steady revenue coming back into the collective.
As I said before, I won't give any money directly to a collective for NIL. But I will do things like buy Duck Duck Beer! and pizzas that may even taste like ketchup atop construction paper. Arrangements like this are perfect for guys like me.
 

There is no doubt that DTA is gaining traction. My experience is showing me that most people still DO NOT understand the NIL/DTA and it's impact. I brought a case of DDB to my softball game and literally nobody had heard of it or understood what it meant for NIL $$. These are sports guys with a few of them having graduated from the U of M. DTA should be some money towards an ad campaign because a vast majorty of the rubes have no idea what all of this means still.
Agree. The marketing and advertising has not been great. It seems they've targeted only hard-core Gopher fans and people who most likely already are giving to NIL.
 

It takes just a few of these public NIL deals to get the ball rolling. The Beer and Pizza deals are huge in moving the needle here in MN. I've now seen at least two bars announce that they have DDBeer on tap. Other local brands are likely to jump on board.

These guys aren't signing and staying for nothing.
This. Loved when Mo got a Gushers sponsorship. Would really love to see some of our Minnesota HQ'd businesses step up and support local athletes.
 


As a former bartender, I'd put Grey Duck Vodka just below a Svedka, or Sky Vodka, and well above Karkov, Bellows, and Grey Wolf.

It's smooth, with not too much after taste, and I'd highly recommend it!

All the relatives will get a 12er of Duck Duck Beer if I can find it.
 

Do you know the cost of Grey Duck Vodka compared to the cheaper vodkas? It'd be interesting if DTA could do a deal with some of the local bars where Grey Duck was just used as the well vodka to drive up sales?
 

Do you know the cost of Grey Duck Vodka compared to the cheaper vodkas? It'd be interesting if DTA could do a deal with some of the local bars where Grey Duck was just used as the well vodka to drive up sales?
I think it was a 1.0 Ltr for $19.99
 


@MGGopher I’m certain you nailed it, but I respectfully disagree that is meaningfully different than #2.

That’s what we’ve had and what I believe we continue to have. We can offer low-level NIL in P5 terms. Those guys took it because they didn’t get offered anything significantly better and would be going to more risk/question on how much they’d get to play. Not worth it.

I personally don’t believe that crowdsourcing efforts will ever move the needle in NIL.

If you have great NIL now, it’s because you already had great donations and bagmen in the past. If you didn’t, then you don’t.

The rich get richer, is how laissez faire things tend to work out.
So you think that all the players everyone said were likely to leave because they get offered big bucks by the schools that spend decided to stay for much less? I mean its possible but...

You think DTA has no big splash headlines they are broke or underwhelming to athletes and we are screwed. You also seem to assume that all those clickbait stories (you know clickbait, its what you accuse people of being when you dont like their takes) about how "X school is paying $250k per player" or "Y player is making $1.5 million from partnerships" or "Z coach is saying you need all the money to compete" are true...which they are likely not.

I think you just ignore the reality. The collective is working. The reason they aren't pimping huge contracts for players is because that isn't the point of DTA and never has been.
 

So you think that all the players everyone said were likely to leave because they get offered big bucks by the schools that spend decided to stay for much less? I mean its possible but...

You think DTA has no big splash headlines they are broke or underwhelming to athletes and we are screwed. You also seem to assume that all those clickbait stories (you know clickbait, its what you accuse people of being when you dont like their takes) about how "X school is paying $250k per player" or "Y player is making $1.5 million from partnerships" or "Z coach is saying you need all the money to compete" are true...which they are likely not.

I think you just ignore the reality. The collective is working. The reason they aren't pimping huge contracts for players is because that isn't the point of DTA and never has been.
They likely stay for less and knowing they are the starter.
 

We should think bigger than just metro, Polaris has deals with the Vikings at US Bank Stadium, why aren't we trying to get them on board somehow with Gopher Athletics? Here are some others not mentioned that are MN based
  1. Graco - Minneapolis
  2. Aveda - Blaine
  3. Anderson WIndows - Bayport
  4. Ecolab - St Paul
  5. Jefferson Lines - Minneapolis
  6. Dairy Queen - Bloomington
  7. Great Clips - Bloomington
  8. Thermo King - Bloomington
  9. Medtronic - Fridley
  10. Carlson Companies - Minnetonka
  11. Phillips Distilling - St Cloud area
The list goes on and on lots of opportunities to try and seek partnerships that could help keep this boat rowing in the NIL area of play.
Thermo King is part of Trane Technologies (Trane - White Bear Lake). Corporate HQ is in Davidson, NC. I'm intimately aware of this organization. I would say there would be better name recognition with Trane as most average consumers recognize residential HVAC. Not too many people openly talk transport refrigeration at parties. :)
 

They likely stay for less and knowing they are the starter.
Yep.....key is doing enough to keep guys from wanting to go test the free agent market. Contrary to what some believe all players are not going to go to the highest bidder and there are other factors that still matter to guys in terms of where they play above and beyond the amount of pay for play money they are getting.
 

As a former bartender, I'd put Grey Duck Vodka just below a Svedka, or Sky Vodka, and well above Karkov, Bellows, and Grey Wolf.

It's smooth, with not too much after taste, and I'd highly recommend it!

All the relatives will get a 12er of Duck Duck Beer if I can find it.
Good to know! And another reason I like GopherHole.
 




Top Bottom