Lobo coach makes pitch to fans: Chip in to help attract, retain players

Apr. 17—T. Boone Pickens isn't walking through that door.

And the Lobos know that.

So, in order to keep up in the current landscape of college athletics in the absence of a billionaire donor like Oklahoma State had in the late Pickens — who reportedly donated roughly $652 million to that university with a significant amount earmarked for athletics —UNM football coach Danny Gonzales is hoping the "it takes a village" approach may catch on in this neck of the woods.

For nearly two years now, the NCAA has allowed college athletes to be paid thanks to legislation passed by dozens of states (including New Mexico), for use of their name, image and likeness (NIL).

UNM is just getting started, but more than $500,000 total was distributed to several dozen UNM athletes this current sports year.

Gonzales, the fourth-year UNM football coach and Albuquerque native might as well have been taping a pro wrestling promo at a Monday news conference for Lobo football.

His goal? Entice those in the Albuquerque community to chip in and give a little — not only to UNM Athletics, but on this day, a little more specifically, to the 505 Sports Venture Foundation. That is the name of the local "collective" spearheading the fundraising efforts to keep Lobo athletics in the college game by paying athletes.

And, as Gonzales and many others have started to point out to their fans, this isn't just about the common notion of pay to play, but pay to stay.

"How are we going to keep these kids around? I think we can help them in significant ways," Gonzales said on Monday. "These young men, I think the advantage to NIL, we can help people that don't have an opportunity to get their parents back and forth to watch games. We can help them with housing. We can help them with more food. ... NIL can do all those things."

The man at the forefront of NIL at UNM is Kurt Roth, a 68-year-old UNM graduate and Brooklyn, New York, real estate attorney who now spends more time in Albuquerque running — salary free — the collective that has played a rather significant role in landing some of the Lobo men's basketball team's top transfers of the past 12 months and likely played a role in the decisions of others to stick around.

An in-depth 45-minute interview that the Journal recorded Monday will be released later this week in podcast form and accompany an article about all the ins and outs of what 505SVF actually is — how much can players be paid, how people can contribute to the collective, etc.

UNM has offered its validation, of sorts, to Roth with a corporate partnership agreement through its third-party media rights company that allows for 505SVF to use Lobo logos and branding in social media campaigns and advertising.

Roth says when the current fiscal year ends June 30, it is expected that the 505SVF will have paid 32 Lobo athletes a combined $525,000 for the past sports year. Not all equally, of course — some maybe just a couple hundred dollars for an appearance, and a select few closer to the neighborhood of six figures.

He hopes to one day soon raise $3.5 million annually, from which at least some compensation can be paid to all UNM athletes, regardless of sport.

Therein lies the challenge in a state without the billionaire donor throwing money at Lobos.

"I have said from the get-go that New Mexico is unique in its loyalty to UNM sports," Roth said. "But I don't have Jeff Bezos or Bill Gates or T. Boone Pickens knocking on my door. So what we need, I've talked about this in terms of the Green Bay Packers being a publicly traded, community-owned team and a very small town. New Mexico needs community support."

Gonzales noted that there are future plans for a wide-ranging selection of "tiers" donors can choose from to donate to 505SVF. But for now the foundation has unveiled a basic $20 per month donation base that, as Roth points out, would require just about 4,000 fans to approach $1 million raised per year.

Later this week

More information on the foundation can be found online at www.505sports.org and later this week the Journal will post a podcast interview with Roth (podcast archive HERE) and publish this coming weekend an extended article about Roth, NIL and UNM.