Champions Circle® is the leading fan engagement community focused on Michigan athletics. Champions Circle® connects fans with once-in-a-lifetime experiences; offers club memberships and content subscriptions; matches brands and charities with athlete endorsement opportunities; produces sponsored content; operates an online retail store; produces private and public events; and licenses its intellectual property to third parties in order to enhance their brand’s appeal to sports fans.

Champions Circle® is the leading fan engagement platform focused on Michigan athletics which is supported by a diverse business model and partnership network.

• We connect fans with once-in-a-lifetime athlete (current and former), celebrity, and event experiences

• We offer club memberships and content subscriptions at various levels of support with different tiers of benefits and access

• We match a variety of organizations (including brands and charities) with compatible, impactful athlete (current and former) endorsement opportunities through Valiant Management Group (“VMG”) and in collaboration with Michigan Sports Properties (the multi-media rights holder for Michigan Athletics)

• We partner with VMG to produce, distribute and sell compelling sponsored content such as podcasts and live video chats with current and former student-athletes

• We operate an online retail store, selling exclusive apparel, trading cards, autographs, and other memorabilia

• We license student-athlete IP to Michigan merchandise vendors through VMG’s athlete (current and former) licensing program

• We curate priceless fan experiences by producing public and private events featuring celebrities from the world of sports (including current and former student athletes)

• We license our intellectual property to third parties in order to enhance their brand’s appeal to sports fans

NIL stands for “name, image, and likeness” and has become the general term used to describe the promotional activities for which student-athletes can be compensated without compromising their collegiate eligibility. In the current amateur athletic environment, NIL is an important factor in being able to attract and retain the talent necessary to win championships.

VMG is the leading sports marketing agency in the State of Michigan, primarily serving University of Michigan student-athletes. VMG provides a wide range of services to Champions Circle® including marketing services, representation management, event management and overall advisory and management services.

Please contact VMG at marketing@valiantuofm.com to let us know more about the nature of your interest and budget. VMG is able to put together a wide variety of marketing activations and events involving Michigian student-athletes that are tailored to your needs.

Champions Circle® is actively raising funds for the 2024 and 2025 calendar years to support Michigan student-athletes and their coaches and programs. Many of you may have seen recent headlines or read articles related to the proposed settlement in the House v. NCAA case and wonder how this might impact our need for your continued support to keep Michigan Athletics competitive.

In short, while the collegiate athletics landscape is evolving toward revenue sharing, we and Michigan still need your support for the 2024 and 2025 calendar years to remain competitive for the following reasons:

• There will be no revenue sharing in 2024 and there are significant unmet needs (in excess of $5M) to support athletic programs across Michigan this year.

• The proposed revenue sharing that is expected to begin in the fall of 2025, will provide approximately $20-22M in funding which will be shared across all of our 29 sports and in compliance with federal Title IX provisions (equal opportunities for men and women in athletics). With an estimated 950 Michigan student-athletes, this could mean an average of $24,000 in annual compensation per student-athlete. Thus, given current market conditions and any reasonable manner of sharing these funds, Michigan Football and Men’s Basketball will still need significant external funding for NIL-related activities (easily in excess of $6M and possibly as much as $10M) to remain competitive.

• The proposed class-action settlement has not actually been accepted by the judge and many further details will need to be worked out before it can be fully implemented. Furthermore, there are obstacles (including other lawsuits) which could derail the implementation of the proposed settlement. This means there is uncertainty regarding the availability of the estimated $20-22M in revenue sharing for the 2025-26 seasons.

As revenue sharing continues to evolve, we do anticipate that the need for donor funding of NIL-related activities to help keep Michigan competitive will be reduced. However, this will likely take place over several distinct steps over many future years until there is a framework in place that has student-athlete compensation fully funded within athletic department budgets and without the need for external resources. Until we reach that point in time, Champions Circle® will continue to evolve and work in conjunction with the Michigan Athletic Department to ensure that Michigan has the resources to remain the Leaders and Best!