A former CU Buffs football coach approached Saudi Arabian officials to secure money for the school’s 5430 NIL collective, according to a Sports Illustrated report.
Trevor Reilly, who resigned as special teams coordinator on Aug. 1, told SI that he traveled to the Middle East over the holidays as a CU football representative to lobby the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) for Name, Image, and Likeness funding. According to the SI report, the gambit was ultimately unsuccessful.
CU athletics released a statement Thursday afternoon addressing the report that read,“According to Trevor Reilly himself, he acted on his own accord and is no longer an employee of the university.”
The publication said it obtained a resignation letter sent by Reilly, who previously worked with CU head coach Deion Sanders at Jackson State, to CU athletics director Rick George that mentioned the trip to Saudi Arabia.
“The arrangement was that, because I did all the NIL work at Jackson and got us through, you guys would pay me a modest salary and make me the Special Teams Coordinator, which should have freed up time for me to handle NIL activities,” Reilly wrote, according to the report.
“You paid me $90,000 a year and let me handle special teams. I did all this work in your name and was told to pursue it. I burned through all my contacts in my Mormon community, which is worth about $3 trillion. Now, I can’t get these people to answer my calls because I just found out today that none of my endeavors will happen.
“I even went to Saudi Arabia and got a meeting with the Saudis, who were interested in pursuing business. I have email receipts to prove it, and you guys let it fall flat on its face.”
NIL collectives are non-profits that are affiliated with, but operate independently from, a university and that university’s athletic department.
In late March, CU consolidated its NIL operation with the announcement of the 5430 Alliance, a merger of two collectives into one entity. The Alliance conjoined Buffs4Life, which was geared toward student-athletes in all sports; and the 5430 Foundation, which was affiliated strictly with the football program.
“The alliance will provide prospective donors the opportunity to make contributions through memberships that can fit any budget,” the university explained via a news release.
The PIF is no stranger to sports investments.
The sovereign wealth fund founded LIV Golf in 2021. It also purchased the English soccer club Newcastle United, started the Saudi Pro League and has made investments in boxing promotions, cricket and other athletic ventures.
It is tied to Saudi royalty, including crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, who allegedly had Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi brutally murdered at the country’s embassy in Turkey for his criticisms of Saudi government.
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Originally Published: August 22, 2024 at 8:20 p.m.
