On the latest episode of JohnWallStreet Presents: Big Business on Campus, a college sports podcast powered by Playfly Sports, JohnWallStreet Founder Corey Leff and Playfly Sports Chairman Michael Schreiber sit down with East Carolina University Director of Athletics Jon Gilbert.

In this 45-minute conversation, the trio discuss:

Leveraging Local Advantages to Create Outsized Value

East Carolina benefits from a unique local advantage, MrBeast's Greenville roots. Proximity to one of the world’s largest creators enables the school to generate meaningful incremental revenue and the relationship creates broader economic benefits for the surrounding community.

MrBeast “[recently] rented our football stadium for 50 days [to stage Beast Games]. [His company] rented our residence halls. They partnered with Aramark to cater the meals. They had 300, 400 people here from all over the country working. The hotels were full. You couldn't get a rental car in town…So, we [generated] a lot of income institutionally, but [the city] has benefited [too],” Gilbert said. 

However, the value extends beyond the financial windfall. The creator’s enormous audience gives ECU a platform that the university could never replicate through paid marketing.

“We recently just did one [video with him] … They wanted one of our cheerleaders in uniform, and all they would tell us was that person [would] be chained to another individual for a period of time [and the prize would be $250,000] ... I looked this morning, [the video] already has 67 million views,” Gilbert said. “There's [another] video where MrBeast races Usain Bolt on our track. [It has] ~70 million views. [So], we get the rental income from [the relationship], but we're also getting visibility that quite frankly, we couldn't afford to pay for.”

Funding Competitive Ambition Through Content

The next phase of the relationship could position ECU athletics as more than just a setting for MrBeast’s productions. One program could become the focus of a content series.

“Back in the spring, MrBeast tweeted out, ‘If I gave ECU football $99 million, could they win a national championship?’... Obviously [he is] in the business of making money… He's not giving [capital to us] for free. And so [the question becomes] how does he monetize [the support],” Gilbert said. 

Generating a positive return on a nine-figure investment seems challenging. A more modest commitment to another sport, however, could be viable.

“We talked to them about basketball. ECU's basketball history is not at the level that our football history is. It’s [also] a much smaller sport with not as many players. So, if you did an investment on NIL and revenue sharing in men's basketball, and you actually videotaped it as a series, it actually [could make] a lot more sense,” Gilbert said. “From a timing standpoint, it was a little too soon [to pull off for this upcoming season. However, the possibility remains] up in the air. That would be a really good [opportunity] for us because [we could] go get a few players and in the league that we're playing in, it really wouldn't take that much money, relatively speaking, to [put] an NCAA tournament team [on the floor. MrBeast] could take that [compelling behind the scenes content] and put it on Amazon Prime or Netflix [and generate his return].”

Turning Affinity into Recurring Income

Like every other school, ECU is actively working to create new revenue streams capable of helping to fund athlete revenue sharing. But its efforts extend beyond the usual playbook. One concept in development is a credit-linked loyalty program designed to turn supporters’ everyday spending into recurring revenue.

“If you look at athletic departments and what is the next frontier that's out there that we could all benefit from, it is the spending power of our fan bases,” Gilbert said. “So, we are close to launching [a] credit card [that will] have our logo on [it] and we [will be paid a] royalty for that logo. But we [will] also create an affinity portion of [the program] where much like Marriott Rewards or Delta rewards, [the user is] going to get benefits from ECU Athletics [when spending]. It could be an experience on the very high end, it could be once you reach a certain threshold, you're going to get a hat or access to some student athletes or coaches… We will be one of, if not the first institution, to launch [a payment linked loyalty program] and the investment part on the back end is really important because… both the investors and the school are going to benefit [by participating] in a higher percentage of that 2% to 3% credit card fee.” 

📺 Watch the full video on JohnWallStreet’s YouTube Page. 
🎧 Listen on  Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

We’ll be back with the next episode of JohnWallStreet Presents: Big Business on Campus next week. University of Utah Director of Athletics Mark Harlan and Utah Brand Initiatives CEO Matt Webb will be our guests.

Previous episodes of BBOC, including sit-downs with Big East Commissioner  Val Ackerman, Arizona AD Desiree Reed-Francois, Maryland AD Jim Smith, American Commissioner Tim Pernetti, Pittsburgh AD Allen Greene, Wake Forest AD John Currie, Kansas AD Travis Goff, Ivy League Executive Director Robin Harris, Big Sky Conference Commissioner Tom Wistrcill, SMU AD Damon Evans, Ohio State AD Ross Bjork, West Virginia President Michael Benson, Weatherford Capital Founding Partner Drew Weatherford, IMG Academy CEO Brent Richard and USA Fencing CEO Phil Andrews on the Enrollment Cliff, Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez, Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould, St. John’s AD Ed Kull, Army AD Tom Theodorakis, Alabama AD Greg Byrne, Clemson AD Graham Neff, Rutgers University Director of Athletics Keli Zinn and Scarlet Knight Enterprises Chairman Oliver Luck, and DePaul University AD DeWayne Peevy can be found on JohnWallStreet’s YouTube channel.

In the latest episode, The Sports Advisors offer up some free, unsolicited advice for new MLS Commissioner Larry Berg.

Domestic soccer fans prioritize players and performance; Berg must bridge the league's ownership divide and eliminate GAM/TAM; transfer-fee revenue should be reinvested in domestic building blocks; and MLS should be thinking hemispherically and embrace a tri-cast distribution model.

As always, you can connect with a member of the JohnWallStreet Advisory team by sending a note to [email protected]. In fact, we encourage it!

📺 Watch the full episode on JohnWallStreet’s YouTube page.
🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

The next episode will be released on Wednesday, August 26.