Dinkytown Athletes

I keep going back and forth.
I know that NIL funds are the reality of collegiate athletics...and I just feel frustrated that fans are in a spot to try to secure liquidity for programs.

Please assume positive intent - I'm strongly considering the $10/month tier (big baller, I know). I am just wishing that a state with so many strong corporations could get more buy in from those deep pocketed institutions. Target, best buy, united health group, 3M....those are the folks that I would like to see stepping up for us.

Glad DT Athletes is a thing, I'm coming around.
I do the $10 a month and I also gave some to get the match a couple of days ago. I dropped my subscription to 247 as I figured it was better to have the $10 a month go more directly to the U's athletes, at least 85% of it anyway.
 


It’s obvious the coaches support Dinkytown Athletes with how much they mention it in interviews. Here’s another example in a fun interview with PJ and BSF posted yesterday.

 

The mindset or psychological incentives and rewards of fans or collections of fans paying players directly versus individual fans donating to the department will probably need time to evolve. The lack of publicized tangible effects could be more of a hindrance than an advantage in achieving that imo. Can membership money be specifically earmarked to the football team or is that at the whim of the collective managers.
 

I fully agree.
Last night I decided to just go ahead and make a one time contribution to this collective. I didn’t sign up for a membership at this time. I just made a $100.00 donation to help Gopher Student Athletes. I didn’t designate a specific sport as all Gopher Student Athletes are deserving to be treated equally with what SC rulings have determined and what the NCAA fully sanctions. I want our athletic programs to continue to compete in the Big Ten Conference as it evolves going forward. I suspect that in the future I will buy a membership and probably may even gift a membership or two to great Gopher fans that I know.

I’m 75 years old and I watched Derek play on one of the great Gopher offensive lines. I played ball against Derek’s dad and know him and even attended Gopher games and spring games with him when Derek played.

I guess that since nil is here to stay, this collective is a MUST for common, every day fans like me to support these great student athletes who are wearing Maroon & Gold and for the past 65 years have given me a lifetime of having had a real team in so many sports to passionately be loyal to and cheer for.

It is a “no brainer” for me to find ways to support this new era of how college sports is going to be.

We got the on campus stadium. Now nil is a MUST! I will try to contribute in my small and insignificant way and level. I’m just an old, grateful, lifelong Gopher fan.



Beat the stinking badger & hawkeye, Gopher!!!
 
Last edited:


The mindset or psychological incentives and rewards of fans or collections of fans paying players directly versus individual fans donating to the department will probably need time to evolve. The lack of publicized tangible effects could be more of a hindrance than an advantage in achieving that imo. Can membership money be specifically earmarked to the football team or is that at the whim of the collective managers.
Did you click on the website? You can choose exactly where your money goes. You can split it amongst different teams. It’s your decision.

I’ll also say that my gifts to the U of M have been met with a “thank you” email and no further follow-up. $1000 to them means very little, apparently. I don’t know where that money went. Did it get a rental car for a week or did it pay for a lunch at Manny’s for Coyle and PJ? I have no idea. If I give $1000 to DTA I am confident $850 will be distributed to gopher athletes. As a former broke ass college student $200 can go a long ways towards making my week/month better. That’s a lot of cheap beer, McDonald’s and a hoodie.
 

Is there a reason there are no hockey players listed in their athletes section?
 


I know nothing about hockey, just noticed they weren't represented. Maybe something to do with some of them already being drafted and having some cash?
 



Is there a reason there are no hockey players listed in their athletes section?
I am not in anyway affiliated with Dinkytown Athletes or any collective, but they are all voluntary organizations. Each individual student-athlete has to "opt in" if they want to participate. The collective is open to all SAs, but many may choose not to participate for a variety of reasons including that they don't want the money and the potential distractions that come with it or they may have their own NIL agreements in place and don't need to participate in a group with a "share the wealth as widely as possible" philosophy.
 

It’s obvious the coaches support Dinkytown Athletes with how much they mention it in interviews. Here’s another example in a fun interview with PJ and BSF posted yesterday.

NIL discussion aside, that is an awesome interview, lol! Thanks for sharing! PS: Fleck's beard is showing a lot more gray these days.
 


Last night I decided to just go ahead and make a one time contribution to this collective. I didn’t sign up for a membership at this time. I just made a $100.00 donation to help Gopher Student Athletes. I didn’t designate a specific sport as all Gopher Student Athletes are deserving to be treated equally with what SC rulings have determined and what the NCAA fully sanctions. I want our athletic programs to continue to compete in the Big Ten Conference as it evolves going forward. I suspect that in the future I will buy a membership and probably may even gift a membership or two to great Gopher fans that I know.

I’m 75 years old and I watched Derek play on one of the great Gopher offensive lines. I played ball against Derek’s dad and know him and even attended Gopher games and spring games with him when Derek played.

I guess that since nil is here to stay, this collective is a MUST for common, every day fans like me to support these great student athletes who are wearing Maroon & Gold and for the past 65 years have given me a lifetime of having had a real team in so many sports to passionately be loyal to and cheer for.

It is a “no brainer” for me to find ways to support this new era of how college sports is going to be.

We got the on campus stadium. Now nil is a MUST! I will try to contribute in my small and insignificant way and level. I’m just an old, grateful, lifelong Gopher fan.



Beat the stinking badger & hawkeye, Gopher!!!
Well - you just got me.
 



Once/if the organization gets qualified for 501(c)(3) status by the IRS, then they will eventually need to make their financial statements public. That should help provide some transparency, though sometimes the financial statements are so summarized it's tough to tell what's really going on. At minimum, those statements should provide how much gets distributed to the stated mission (the athletes) and how much is spent on operating expenses (this is where self serving can happen).

Gopher supporters should hope these NILs are wildly successful in their mission. I'm guessing it's a bit of a land grab right now. The cream will rise to the top.
990s have quite a bit of info.
 










Top Bottom