I have been receiving DMs from subscribers who have had good ideas about how to increase our reach and subscriber base. I think getting to fans beyond Twitter and Instagram is the next phase to growing the subscriptions.
One subscriber named Jared talked to me about an event or challenge that he and others of the Oregon Chapter of the BYU alumni had to raise money for scholarships. They were able to raise six figures in one night.
Currently we are hovering around 500 subscribers. I know of about 15 starters or significant contributors who would greatly benefit from a regular NIL deal. Something in the $500-$1,000 a month range. In exchange the players would do regular write ups, Q&A with fans in the Twitter DM groups, attend VIP events and promote CougConnect over social media. In order to get the subscription money for those players, we want to do a similar campaign to the Oregon BYU Alumni.
On June 29th we are challenging every subscriber to contact people and invite them to become a paying subscriber. The players are going to help us out with this too. We will be getting 15-20 players together at the Chubby’s near the Orem mall and movie theater. We want as many subscribers as we can get to come and FaceTime or call the BYU fans they know and have them talk to the players about CougConnect and invite them to subscribe.
The players will be there from 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm and will jump on any FaceTime or phone call you make to BYU fans. This should make this a unique and fun experience for everyone.
Chubby’s has agreed to reserve space for us and provide drinks to everyone who comes to participate.
CougConnect will be giving out 5 premium prizes for the 5 subscribers who get the most new subscribers signed up. The five prizes are a mini Royal BYU helmet signed by the players, a BYU football signed by Kalani, a paid VIP dinner for you and two guests with Masen Wake and Jake Brandon, a Royal Dallin Hall Jersey, a bag filled with team issued gear, stickers, signed posters and more.
The top 5 subscribers of the campaign can pick from those prizes. First place picking first and so on. If the winner is out of state we can ship the prize to them or we can schedule the dinner for when they are in town or they can gift it to family or friends near BYU campus.
If there are fans you want us to cold call there will be a team of volunteers that will call people and ask them to subscribe. Just add there name and number to the form linked below.
Our goal is to add 3,000 new subscribers in one night. If we can get buy in from the subscribers we should be able to get all 15 players on recurring deals that will allow them to focus more on football and not have to drive Uber eats or donate plasma. This strengthens the team now but also when new recruits visit and ask about NIL opportunities they can point to this and highlight the fan support in NIL at BYU
Just recently the Oregon State Men’s Basketball coach resigned due to concerns with NIL. They didn’t have the buy in and their program has suffered. I understand that there is a stigma with NIL about entitlement, and greed. The stigma makes it feel like all college sports are tainted by NIL. But I can assure you that a lot of our starters are just trying to make ends meet or focus more on football.
We have a good relationship with many of the players and we will be strategic with how we use these new funds. We understand fairly well who is going to start and contribute and who among them also could benefit from more NIL opportunities. I read a tweet from an “insider” talking about an O Lineman he expects to start. I know this player won’t start and may not be eligible. The insights and relationships we have makes us able to be good stewards of these NIL funds.
We won’t just throw this money around but try and use it a manner that benefits the team and program as a whole. We are uniquely positioned in the BYU NIL space to do this.
I have been excited by the recent growth and commitment from fans towards CougConnect. I know we have a lot of ground to cover to become the best NIL destination in College Sports. But I also know cougar nation is uniquely passionate and dedicated. Once we get that passion and dedication behind CougConnect we can attract the best players who fit the mission/vision of BYU and we will be able to elevate the program.
Go Cougs!!
Link to refer fans