Coca-Cola Invests in BodyArmor in Sports Drink Feud With Pepsi

What's the going rate on legitimate influence? At a school like St. John's I'm thinking anyone who donates $1 million should be humored by being allowed in the room. But I'm probably not letting you in the smaller secret meetings unless you donate $10 million. And it had better be $20+ million if you want me to actually hire your guy.
 
[quote="Moose" post=293031][quote="Beast of the East" post=293026][quote="Moose" post=292519]Yet when it comes to the athletic dept he is largely ignored.[/quote]

Because he donated far less than you guys think, and probably thought that bought him a lot more influence than it did.

Sometimes its the other way around. There is an SJU grad who owns a MLB franchise who has rebuffed all efforts from the university at any relationship. There is another SJU grad who owns a chunk of an MLB franchise who has done a ton for the school. Go figure.[/quote]

We both know that we have a mutual contact close to this information. He very well might not donate as much as you think. But my understanding is its from previous conversations not going anywhere in terms of involvement. Should SJU give him the keys to the car? Probably not. But then again he's been a helluva lot more successful than SJU so maybe not a bad idea.

Point being SJU has listened to quite a few yahoos over the years. They can do a lot worse than listening to Repole.[/quote]

When it comes to big donors, there's a certain way to go about it if you want influence, and historically, even some of our big donors have misstepped. You write a big check and if the check is big enough you MAY be given some authority. If it's enormous you can get authority no question. But you can't expect to be given authority before the donation, or negotiate for that authority.

I know some guys who are influential. A dozen years ago I thought, "WTF does this guy know about sports, or our program" Because these are really successful guys, most are quick learners, and today I respect their opinions, which I won't share here.

I think Repole did an ROI on whatever donation he was contemplating, saw the way the school operates, and figured he had safer places to park a million or two then to do that and hope someone would listen to him. He had his moments, sitting on the bench, etc. It may be a chicken and egg story - SJU didn't knight him so he didn't cough up a bundle, or he didn't cough up a bundle so he didn't get knighted.

To LJSA's point - from my understanding he didn't donate a humorous amount - maybe a giggle.
 
[quote="Sju grad 13" post=293030][quote="Beast of the East" post=293026][quote="Moose" post=292519]Yet when it comes to the athletic dept he is largely ignored.[/quote]

Because he donated far less than you guys think, and probably thought that bought him a lot more influence than it did.

Sometimes its the other way around. There is an SJU grad who owns a MLB franchise who has rebuffed all efforts from the university at any relationship. There is another SJU grad who owns a chunk of an MLB franchise who has done a ton for the school. Go figure.[/quote]

I know the first owner ( who rebuffed SJU) is the Tampa Bay rays owner. Who’s the minority owner that you’re talking about?[/quote]

The other Florida team.
 
[quote="Paultzman" post=292653][quote="mjmaherjr" post=292647][quote="JohnnyFan" post=292646]Kobe Bryant's $6 Million investment in Body Armour now worth $200 million.

[/quote] which means Repole's stake is more than that. Jesus that guy just prints money in that business. He should be one of the guys on Shark Tank[/quote]
His original partner, Rohan Oza, at Vitamin Water was a guest shark a few seasons back, bright guy.

[/quote]

Just on my recollection, Repole wasn't a partner per se. I believe he was given shares in the company as compensation for building a brand and running sales.

I would correct the comment that he knows how to pick them. Obviously wise investments, but you need a lot of talent to create the kind of upwards trajectory that he did - 3 times now.
 
Fascinating stuff to think about the dynamics at play between highly successful alumni donors who can make truly game changing financial contributions to a program and what they'd want or expect in return tied to influence, access, input etc.

Had no idea the Tampa Bay owner was SJU grad. Perhaps his experience was pedestrian while a student so the personal connection is not there many years later. Must be an interesting conversation the first time someone high up in alumni relations, administration or board reaches out. Especially if it's years after graduation. These have to be way more complex than the e-mails and snail mails to general alumni we get. Both sides likely know the intent but must be a whole game to get to the punchline.
 
Last edited:
How nice would it be to have our version of a Phil Knight or a T Bone Pickens, Would be nice if someone helped finance a new arena with their name on it or their corporate name (along with Lou of course Like Bryant-Denny Stadium). If I had the bucks that would be me. Would build a luxury box condo and live there. :)
 
[quote="RedStormNC" post=293076]These have to be way more complex than the e-mails and snail mails to general alumni we get. Both sides likely know the intent but must be a whole game to get to the punchline.[/quote]

I come in well after the donation has been secured, but I edit hundreds of items a year that Stanford sends to donors -- from four-pagers to 100-page commemoratives recognizing what they've done for the university. It's a never-ending process after securing the donation. And a lot of these people are billionaires who are going to donate to Stanford regardless of what I work on.

There's a difference in budget of course, but does St. John's do something similar?
 
[quote="Beast of the East" post=293028][quote="Mike Zaun" post=292667]Sat behind Mike, his son, and what appeared to be his son's gf at a game at CA this past season. Seems like a down to earth cool guy, no flashy suit or anything just taking in a game. Don't worry guys, I didn't ask him to donate more to the program ;) though it wouldn't hurt.[/quote]

While all endowed institutions benefit from a concentrated number of big donors, what all universities try to establish is a culture of giving where nearly all alumni donate. St. John's has been much less successful than other schools in that regard. So many schools will ask 2018 graduates to donate $20.18, with a goal of 100% class participation.

I'm wondering if recent grads have been solicited in that manner?[/quote]

It may surprise you to know that only Georgetown at $1.4 billion has a larger endowment than St. John's in the Big East.
St. John's was 2nd in 2017 at over $640 million. Nationally among all universities it was #84 out of over 340 colleges.
So if St. John's is "much less successful than other schools" what would you say of Villanova?
Where St. John's is "much less successful than other schools" is selecting basketball coaches. Specifically, if we were half as successful as Xavier with the marquee names of the last 6 coaches in their stable we would be running in the Big Races with Repole's horses rather in the preliminaries to keep the fans interested in the program.​
 
Last edited:
While I disagree with class of 72 on certain things he’s right on this one. We have an endowment bigger than Providence, Xavier and Seton Hall combined, yet, our returns are not even close. We have 100 million+ dollar advantage over Creighton and Marquette yet Marquette is already projected to be better than us and Creighton has more stability.

Just feel with the money advantage and the media advantage ( NYC >> Everybody else) we should be further ahead.
 
[quote="Beast of the East" post=293059][quote="Moose" post=293031][quote="Beast of the East" post=293026][quote="Moose" post=292519]Yet when it comes to the athletic dept he is largely ignored.[/quote]

Because he donated far less than you guys think, and probably thought that bought him a lot more influence than it did.

Sometimes its the other way around. There is an SJU grad who owns a MLB franchise who has rebuffed all efforts from the university at any relationship. There is another SJU grad who owns a chunk of an MLB franchise who has done a ton for the school. Go figure.[/quote]

We both know that we have a mutual contact close to this information. He very well might not donate as much as you think. But my understanding is its from previous conversations not going anywhere in terms of involvement. Should SJU give him the keys to the car? Probably not. But then again he's been a helluva lot more successful than SJU so maybe not a bad idea.

Point being SJU has listened to quite a few yahoos over the years. They can do a lot worse than listening to Repole.[/quote]

When it comes to big donors, there's a certain way to go about it if you want influence, and historically, even some of our big donors have misstepped. You write a big check and if the check is big enough you MAY be given some authority. If it's enormous you can get authority no question. But you can't expect to be given authority before the donation, or negotiate for that authority.

I know some guys who are influential. A dozen years ago I thought, "WTF does this guy know about sports, or our program" Because these are really successful guys, most are quick learners, and today I respect their opinions, which I won't share here.

I think Repole did an ROI on whatever donation he was contemplating, saw the way the school operates, and figured he had safer places to park a million or two then to do that and hope someone would listen to him. He had his moments, sitting on the bench, etc. It may be a chicken and egg story - SJU didn't knight him so he didn't cough up a bundle, or he didn't cough up a bundle so he didn't get knighted.

To LJSA's point - from my understanding he didn't donate a humorous amount - maybe a giggle.[/quote] 99% agree with Beast assessment and he very well might have more of feel for me than this but what I was told and Beast and Moose wood now better than me directly is I heard he didnt want to deal with the bullshit that is st johns. Again I'm not saying thats fact but that shoes from pretty good person
 
[quote="Class of 72" post=293081][quote="Beast of the East" post=293028][quote="Mike Zaun" post=292667]Sat behind Mike, his son, and what appeared to be his son's gf at a game at CA this past season. Seems like a down to earth cool guy, no flashy suit or anything just taking in a game. Don't worry guys, I didn't ask him to donate more to the program ;) though it wouldn't hurt.[/quote]

While all endowed institutions benefit from a concentrated number of big donors, what all universities try to establish is a culture of giving where nearly all alumni donate. St. John's has been much less successful than other schools in that regard. So many schools will ask 2018 graduates to donate $20.18, with a goal of 100% class participation.

I'm wondering if recent grads have been solicited in that manner?[/quote]

It may surprise you to know that only Georgetown at $1.4 billion has a larger endowment than St. John's in the Big East.
St. John's was 2nd in 2017 at over $640 million. Nationally among all universities it was #84 out of over 340 colleges.
So if St. John's is "much less successful than other schools" what would you say of Villanova?
Where St. John's is "much less successful than other schools" is selecting basketball coaches. Specifically, if we were half as successful as Xavier with the marquee names of the last 6 coaches in their stable we would be running in the Big Races with Repole's horses rather in the preliminaries to keep the fans interested in the program.​
[/quote]

FWIW..Latest (June 2018) figures has Nova's endowment at $700 million. Sure Beast of the East could expand upon the #.

http://www.philly.com/philly/educat...g-goal-by-more-than-150-million-20180601.html
 
[quote="mjmaherjr" post=293085]99% agree with Beast assessment and he very well might have more of feel for me than this but what I was told and Beast and Moose wood now better than me directly is I heard he didnt want to deal with the bullshit that is st johns. Again I'm not saying thats fact but that shoes from pretty good person[/quote]

Where's Cecilia Chang when you need her?
 
[quote="bamafan" post=293078]How nice would it be to have our version of a Phil Knight or a T Bone Pickens, Would be nice if someone helped finance a new arena with their name on it or their corporate name (along with Lou of course Like Bryant-Denny Stadium). If I had the bucks that would be me. Would build a luxury box condo and live there. :)[/quote]


I think Mike is worth well over $1 billion which is likely more than T.Boone Pickens. He's a big fan of the program as many know. Over the past 15+ years I've seen him at a hell of a lot of redmen games, regardless of the coach and incompetent management of the basketball program. He gives plenty. He's local and family. I would put more faith in him running things than anyone at St. John's right now. At least he has a degree in sports management.;)
I don't recall our greatest player making special effort to appear at St. John's games over the years or endowing any significant amount of money like Carmelo Anthony did with Syracuse.
The endowment at St. John's is the 2nd largest in the Big East. What Mike sees is what many others see and that is the fleecing of the basketball budget by a bunch of dilettantes with iron clad contracts shielding them from scrutiny. What he sees is no leadership of the Sports Departments with no A.D. What he sees is a coach who reports to no one. He could easily write a check for $50 million but that would require accountability and that is not something that the current regime wants visible.
 
[quote="jerseyshorejohnny" post=293086][quote="Class of 72" post=293081][quote="Beast of the East" post=293028][quote="Mike Zaun" post=292667]Sat behind Mike, his son, and what appeared to be his son's gf at a game at CA this past season. Seems like a down to earth cool guy, no flashy suit or anything just taking in a game. Don't worry guys, I didn't ask him to donate more to the program ;) though it wouldn't hurt.[/quote]

While all endowed institutions benefit from a concentrated number of big donors, what all universities try to establish is a culture of giving where nearly all alumni donate. St. John's has been much less successful than other schools in that regard. So many schools will ask 2018 graduates to donate $20.18, with a goal of 100% class participation.

I'm wondering if recent grads have been solicited in that manner?[/quote]

It may surprise you to know that only Georgetown at $1.4 billion has a larger endowment than St. John's in the Big East.
St. John's was 2nd in 2017 at over $640 million. Nationally among all universities it was #84 out of over 340 colleges.
So if St. John's is "much less successful than other schools" what would you say of Villanova?
Where St. John's is "much less successful than other schools" is selecting basketball coaches. Specifically, if we were half as successful as Xavier with the marquee names of the last 6 coaches in their stable we would be running in the Big Races with Repole's horses rather in the preliminaries to keep the fans interested in the program.​
[/quote]

FWIW..Latest (June 2018) figures has Nova's endowment at $700 million. Sure Beast of the East could expand upon the #.

http://www.philly.com/philly/educat...g-goal-by-more-than-150-million-20180601.html[/quote]

Congrats to them in their campaign if they finally caught up to St. John's.  Just think what ours could be if we won two national championships in the two years since the 2016 data I used when St. John's  went from $685,937,386 to  $643,376,000  (-6.2 %)? 
It underscores the effect of having a nationally recognized program versus the crap show now being managed by the west coast mafia. 
Perhaps you or Beast can publish the 2018 Big East endowment list.  I'm sure there will be a correlation to our rapid decent to last place over the past three years while Villanova has capitalized on their success.  

2016
St John's University-New York 1 1 $643,376,000  (6.2 %)
$685,937,386
 College Logo Marquette University 2 2 $550,100,000  (0.3 %)
$551,600,000
 College Logo Creighton University 3 3 $448,457,000  (0.2 %)
$449,443,000
 College Logo DePaul University 4 4 $420,057,000  (4.1 %)
$438,194,000
 College Logo Seton Hall University 5 5 $236,798,000  (10.3 %)
$263,932,000
 College Logo Providence College 6 6 $198,601,326  (4.9 %)
$208,738,341
 
[quote="jerseyshorejohnny" post=293086][quote="Class of 72" post=293081][quote="Beast of the East" post=293028][quote="Mike Zaun" post=292667]Sat behind Mike, his son, and what appeared to be his son's gf at a game at CA this past season. Seems like a down to earth cool guy, no flashy suit or anything just taking in a game. Don't worry guys, I didn't ask him to donate more to the program ;) though it wouldn't hurt.[/quote]

While all endowed institutions benefit from a concentrated number of big donors, what all universities try to establish is a culture of giving where nearly all alumni donate. St. John's has been much less successful than other schools in that regard. So many schools will ask 2018 graduates to donate $20.18, with a goal of 100% class participation.

I'm wondering if recent grads have been solicited in that manner?[/quote]

It may surprise you to know that only Georgetown at $1.4 billion has a larger endowment than St. John's in the Big East.
St. John's was 2nd in 2017 at over $640 million. Nationally among all universities it was #84 out of over 340 colleges.
So if St. John's is "much less successful than other schools" what would you say of Villanova?
Where St. John's is "much less successful than other schools" is selecting basketball coaches. Specifically, if we were half as successful as Xavier with the marquee names of the last 6 coaches in their stable we would be running in the Big Races with Repole's horses rather in the preliminaries to keep the fans interested in the program.​
[/quote]

FWIW..Latest (June 2018) figures has Nova's endowment at $700 million. Sure Beast of the East could expand upon the #.

http://www.philly.com/philly/educat...g-goal-by-more-than-150-million-20180601.html[/quote]

This is certainly not my business but if endowment size basically means cash and cash equivalents, it does not allow for churn, namely amounts from the endowment being poured into infrastructure or capital improvements. About 5 years ago Villanova initiated a 600 million capital fund raising campaign. I was at the kickoff at a hotel in new york which was jam packed. Fsther Peter gave a theatrical and powerful presentation of his goal to transform the school into a national university of high regard (which was recently achieved). Within 30 days of the announcement of the campaign and pre kickoff, they had 52 donations of 1 million or more.

Nova is a much smaller school than st John's, with about 7000 undergrads.

They made their 600 million dollar goal rather quickly to my knowledge, and that campaign was the second in Father Peter's tenure, the first goal was 300 million and also reached before the target date.

Jsj who is an incredibly loyal and generous alum who simply does amazing things, would know better but I believe that when fh arrived sju alum participation was at about 4%, and by the time he left at about 8%.
 
[quote="Class of 72" post=293088][quote="bamafan" post=293078]How nice would it be to have our version of a Phil Knight or a T Bone Pickens, Would be nice if someone helped finance a new arena with their name on it or their corporate name (along with Lou of course Like Bryant-Denny Stadium). If I had the bucks that would be me. Would build a luxury box condo and live there. :)[/quote]


I think Mike is worth well over $1 billion which is likely more than T.Boone Pickens. He's a big fan of the program as many know. Over the past 15+ years I've seen him at a hell of a lot of redmen games, regardless of the coach and incompetent management of the basketball program. He gives plenty. He's local and family. I would put more faith in him running things than anyone at St. John's right now. At least he has a degree in sports management.;)
I don't recall our greatest player making special effort to appear at St. John's games over the years or endowing any significant amount of money like Carmelo Anthony did with Syracuse.
The endowment at St. John's is the 2nd largest in the Big East. What Mike sees is what many others see and that is the fleecing of the basketball budget by a bunch of dilettantes with iron clad contracts shielding them from scrutiny. What he sees is no leadership of the Sports Departments with no A.D. What he sees is a coach who reports to no one. He could easily write a check for $50 million but that would require accountability and that is not something that the current regime wants visible.[/quote]

I don't keep track of MRs assets but I seem to recall 400 million as his cut from vitamin water. Most of that was likely capital gains at the federal tax level (15% at the time, now 20%) but nys has no cap gains so it is taxed at ordinary income. That means approximately 100 million total went to taxes. Well known that MR invested 100 million in his life passion, horses. Then the Pirates booty investment of 50 or 100 million, which he doubled. Now body armor. He may be worth a big number on paper but may not have huge cash assets (1 billion) that your post suggests.

Superb success as an entrepreneur and brand builder.

Agree with mjmaher that MR Likely saw the lack of decisive management that he is used to running big enterprises and saw he couldnt influence things enough to get a return on any huge donation, namely catapult our program to elite status.
 
[quote="otis" post=293090][quote="Class of 72" post=293088]
......The endowment at St. John's is the 2nd largest in the Big East. ..... .[/quote]

Please see the above post by The Honorable Jerseyshorejohnny.

[URL][URL]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue[/URL][/URL]=80&v=beJpZha7m-Q[/quote]

24 months ago we were 2nd. That's a fact. Maybe the honorable OTIS will post the 2017 or 2018 ytd amounts?
Whatever the latest $ numbers consider we have been the cesspool of the Big East. Again, Villanova is capitalizing on 2 national championships while we are advocating patience with a homegrown train wreck. Do you think that approach will bring in Mike Repole dolkars???
 
[quote="Class of 72" post=293088]

I think Mike is worth well over $1 billion ..... He could easily write a check for $50 million.......[/quote]
________________________

Rather than speculate about Mr. Repole's financial worth and how much he has contributed to St. John's athletics it is more constructive for those reading this post to show their support for St. John's athletics by joining the Red White Club. Below is a link to the St. John's Red White Club for those who wish to join.

http://www.redstormsports.com/boosters/stjo-boosters.html
 
[quote="Class of 72" post=293097][quote="otis" post=293090][quote="Class of 72" post=293088]
......The endowment at St. John's is the 2nd largest in the Big East. ..... .[/quote]

Please see the above post by The Honorable Jerseyshorejohnny.

[URL][URL]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue[/URL][/URL]=80&v=beJpZha7m-Q[/quote]

24 months ago we were 2nd. That's a fact. Maybe the honorable OTIS will post the 2017 or 2018 ytd amounts?
Whatever the latest $ numbers consider we have been the cesspool of the Big East. Again, Villanova is capitalizing on 2 national championships while we are advocating patience with a homegrown train wreck. Do you think that approach will bring in Mike Repole dolkars???[/quote]

There is no question that athletic excellence begets increased giving from alumni, but also keep in mind that its not a necessity. Some of the most well endowed schools have little or no athletic prominence. We've discussed many times on here how athletic success in marquee sports is a tremendous boost to a university. UCONN was simply University of Connecticut before basketball success. Their applications soared and I'm guessing their academic profile too as a result. CTSTORM could better advise since he is faculty there. Georgetown pre 1981 alums (and post also) say thank God for Patrick Ewing. Basketball success catapulted their academic profile from very good, to elite. Same with Duke and many other schools.

I think the problem at SJU is the amount they invest in development, in terms of dollars, strategy, and quality. They are not alone, even among schools with large endowments. Villanova reached out to me in a very warm and personal way when my first kid was a freshman, and that relationship grew at all levels of administration until my son was admitted and instead headed for BC. They did things for my family that wasn't warranted by the size of my donations, and I'm forever grateful for the terrific people there.

BC on the other hand did little besides continual emails, and a very very occasional call from a student worker. Still there endowment is $2 billion, so they must be doing something right.

St. John's has some really great guys in the athletic department who fund raise. Both Nick and Paul are absolutely genuine and good guys, and have treated me really well. As my relationship with Villanova, St. John's athletic department appears to value relationships above the size of a donation. They are also great fans and we are luck to have both.

Strategically, the school just needs to invest more in talented fundraisers, and definitely target high earners by bringing them into the fold before hitting them up for donations. Value their talents, success, and as people, and more often than not donations will follow. Successful alums generally want to help the school, but also need to feel they are valued as people and part of the SJU family. It takes talented people to represent the school in that manner.

Additionally, to raise funds, you need to have well stated objectives, and then spend money on a well organized campaign. If there's a stated objective that makes sense, people are more likely to donate.

After the school takes Mjmaher's advice and hires me as AD and I straighten out the basketball mess, I will move on to fundraising. Just kidding. Maybe. No, just kidding. Definitely.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top