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Jun 24, 2025

How does Gold & Blue Enterprises fit into the WVU athletic support landscape? | West Virginia University Sports | wvnews.com

The announcement of the formation of Gold & Blue Enterprises, a new initiative from West Virginia University designed to support the NIL efforts of its athletes, might at first sound like another

The announcement of the formation of Gold & Blue Enterprises, a new initiative from West Virginia University designed to support the NIL efforts of its athletes, might at first sound like another fundraising effort in the fast-growing monetary support ecosystem for collegiate athletics. That’s not the case, however, as it is more designed to fill a gap in West Virginia’s ability to help its players connect with more earning opportunities across the NIL landscape, and develop other revenue streams, outside of straight donations to the athletic department.

GBE has two main priorities. The first will be to “generate new and diversified revenue streams that fuel the continued success of WVU Athletics”, while the second aims to “elevate the personal and professional opportunities available to Mountaineer student-athletes.” Both of those, of course, involve indirect monetary support, but they will not include the financial support for scholarships and capital projects, as those will remain the bailiwick of the Mountaineer Athletic Club.

Boil those both down, and GBE will have success if it can raise incoming revenue to the athletic department as a whole, and to individual athletes to supplement any scholarship money they may receive or any House revenue sharing funding they are slated to earn. Fans and businesses will not donate to GBE directly, but GBE will facilitate as many introductions as possible in trying to give athletes the chance to bolster their earning potential. In doing so, GBE could encounter and develop support chances for other WVU projects and initiatives and direct them out to the MAC or Learfield, wherever they might most properly fit.

Given West Virginia’s current intention to forego adding any scholarships to its sponsored sports, the efforts of Country Roads Trust, the MAC and GBE become critical for all of its sports, as their cash outlays will be one of the primary ways that athletes will earn money in his new world of college athletics, along with the House settlement revenue share.

WVU is expected to dole out the House money, some $20.5 million this year, in splits that mirror many other schools, with some 70-75% going to football, 10-15% to men’s basketball, 5% to women’s basketball and the rest to its remaining sports programs. Not all schools are committing to distribute the full amount of House money to its athletes, but West Virginia, like those playing in the top tier of collegiate athletics, will do that this year. Those money figures are best estimates at this point, but without question football and basketball will get the bulk of that revenue share with which to pay its players.

This simple roundup, of course, leads to myriad rabbit holes that make the overall landscape very confusing to track and get a handle on. Scholarship limits, NILGo, the College Sports Commission and different tactics to try to circumvent, or at least angle past, the new rules designed to enforce roster limits and pay deals that don’t pass review are just some of the items that are now demanding the attention of athletic departments.

In the coming weeks, we’ll attempt to break those down into digestible chunks to determine where WVU stands, but until the Athletic Department explains its revenue breakdown strategy, it will be difficult to get an overall handle on its tactics.

There are current no plans for GBE to merge with or take over Country Roads Trust, which is one of the fundraising mechanisms that supports NIL efforts for WVU. While there is some overlap in the services provided by CRT, for now GBE will remain a separate entity, with its own staff and governing board.

The GBE will be fully under the WVU Athletic Department, with several high-ranking WVU staffers, including president Michael T. Benson, expected to be on the board which oversees its function. The GBE will also have some employees who are not staffers of the university.

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