UBooster adds basketball and 2016 football

GREENVILLE, SC – UBooster, a new online platform that aims to dramatically impact the funding of collegiate athletics, has added two recruiting databases

Fans can now pledge for athletes in college men’s basketball and the 2016 football recruiting classes, said Patrick Sapp, UBooster’s brand ambassador. The web platform launched last week and has seen significant interest from fans nationwide.

“You always have to be cautiously optimistic when launching a game-changing platform, but our early response has been better than expected,” Sapp said. “We originally didn’t plan to add these databases until after February.

UBooster is a one-of-a-kind program that allows ordinary fans to show their support for their school’s athletic prospects. Fans pledge funds in support of a prospect’s consideration of a particular college. If an athlete chooses that fan’s specified athletic program, then the school’s booster club will receive the funds to use under its own guidelines. Fans participating in the UBooster program do not have to pay pledges if the athlete doesn’t choose their school.

UBooster works when fans set up a simple account on the UBooster website. They can work with friends and other donors to pledge funds that show in real time how their fundraising stacks up compared to other programs. On National Letter of Intent Signing Day, if a future college athlete chooses a fan’s specified school, then that fan’s pledge is charged and the donations made in honor of the schools selected by the future college athletes are turned over to the booster clubs of each school. If a future college athlete chooses a program other than the one supported with a pledge, the fan would not be charged, although the fan could still choose to fund his pledge.

This program merges the excitement that many feel while watching college athletics with the anticipation of the recruiting process – creating a first-of-its kind platform.

UBooster was started due to the evolving requirements to compensate college athletes for use of their likeness and image, guaranteed full four-year scholarships, and increased stipends to cover an athlete’s full cost of attendance, all of which are quickly creating new financial obligations for hundreds of colleges and universities. Cases such as O’Bannon v. NCAA and Jenkins v. NCAA could threaten the ability of collegiate athletic programs to survive in this new climate.

NCAA regulations do not permit the funds raised through UBooster to go directly to high school athletes or athletes playing at the college level, and UBooster aims to support that. UBooster is providing a new funding source for booster clubs to offset the rising costs of college sports.

When fans contribute funds through UBooster, student-athletes will ultimately benefit as the booster clubs that receive these contributions can allocate these funds to student-athletes within their own program parameters.

About UBooster

UBooster is an independent platform for supporting college athletics and the booster clubs at each school. It empowers fans like never before to help support their favorite athletic programs. Get in the game at www.ubooster.org.