The USC Trojans are entering a new era of not just college football, but college athletics as a whole. With NIL now under more scrutiny, but still the wild west, and RevShare becoming a real thing, the Trojans have done a marvelous job of staying ahead of the curve in this new world.
Jen Cohen has been a very forward-thinking Athletic Director, and now a new initiative is launching that will bring the athletic department to even greater heights.
USC Trojans Launch “The New” Trojan Athletic Fund
The USC Trojans Athletic Department just announced the launch of their “new” Trojan Athletic Fund. This initiative and rebrand, if you will, is designed to create new and better engagement opportunities for fans, and in turn, better support for student-athletes.
Per a press release from the University, based on the assessment from a third-party, the program will prioritize:
- Increased Recognition and Stewardship
- Donors will be stewarded for their holistic support of USC Athletics with enhanced donor communications, events, access, and more.
This will allow die-hard fans and donors/supporters more access to the teams that they love, and in turn, more opportunities for student-athletes to network and meet influential people all across the Los Angeles landscape.
- Greater Access, Fair Costs
- The average per-seat ticket price decreases by 47% for Football and 61% for Men’s Basketball. All seats are now fairly priced to align with market value.
- Improved Game Day Atmospheres
- Individual seating funds increase access to USC’s home venues to passionate fans, allowing for competitively advantageous home environments across all venues.
- Victory Points
- A new point-based rewards system offers year-over-year accumulation and prioritizes donors for postseason tickets, parking, and exclusive events. Points are earned through both current and historical giving, honoring all support of USC Trojans Athletics.
Donors will be able to earn these “Victory Points” for all and any contributions to the Trojan Athletic Fund, but it will focus on four key areas. Per the USC Trojans release:
- Trojan Victory Fund
- The Trojan Victory Fund will serve as USC Athletics’ competitive excellence fund, supporting institutional NIL agreements with student-athletes (commonly known as ‘rev-share’) as well as offering additional scholarship support and providing championship-level resources to all 23 programs. Contributions to TVF are 100% tax-deductible.
- Scholarship Support
- USC is increasing its investment in all 23 programs, and with scholarship limits removed following the House settlement, TAF will work to endow life-changing scholarship opportunities to enable student-athletes to reach their full potential in all they do.
- Capital Projects
- Maximizing investment in student-athletes includes USC’s world-class facilities. USC has raised $174 million of its $225 million goal for Athletics West capital projects, highlighted by the Bloom Football Performance Center and a new baseball stadium at Dedeaux Field.
- Per-Seat Contribution Model
- Every season ticket in football and men’s and women’s basketball will carry a clearly defined per-seat contribution, replacing the outdated membership tier system, bringing USC up to par with its peers in the Big Ten, and empowering better home atmospheres in the Coliseum and the Galen Center.
This new per-seat model is similar the how NFL teams (specifically the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers) charge a seat license in conjunction with the season-ticket price.
This new model will roll out for USC Football beginning in 2026 and USC Trojans Men’s and Women’s Basketball for the 2025-2026 season.
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The past model was virtually unchanged for nearly two decades, so this new Trojan Athletic Fund will bring many of these initiatives into the modern era, and in some instances, surpass some of the other programs in the space.
“Adapting our business to secure critical resources for our student-athletes, prioritizing partnerships, and building alignment are central to our MAP to win the era, and we are excited to announce the new Trojan Athletic Fund, which has been redesigned to better support our student-athletes and better engage our fans,” said USC Athletic Director Jennifer Cohen. “The Trojan Athletic Fund reflects our unwavering commitment to building championship-level programs, creating competitively advantageous environments across our athletics venues, and ensuring USC remains the Place To Be for student-athletes to reach their full potential in all they do.”
With still so much unknown about the recent House settlement and the new NIL approval process, this updated donor fund and season-ticket operation will provide some clarity, at least to that arm of athletics.
The improved game day experiences and atmosphere will be really interesting to see in real time. Bringing the experience at the Coli back to what it was in its heyday is of the utmost importance.