GameChange Launches Sustainable Giving Platform For College Sports

The new platform will allow users to round up purchases and give to their desired college's athletic fund all while participating in user sweepstakes

Auburn Tigers mascot Aubi9e walks in the Tiger Walk before the UMass game at Jordan-Hare Stadium on the Auburn University campus in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday September 2, 2023. / Mickey Welsh / Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK

College sports is experiencing tremendous uncertainty. A proposed settlement in the House v. NCAA lawsuit is primed to disrupt college sports in a way many could never have imagined. Revenue sharing for athletes is on the horizon, and as a result, many schools have begun tightening their belts and looking for new revenue streams to stay afloat in a system where they are on the hook for direct athlete payment –– for the biggest schools, this new expenditure is projected to cost roughly $22,000,000 annually. 

Adding to the anxiety athletic departments around the country already feel is an overwhelming consensus of donor fatigue from university alumni. Since the inception of NIL in 2021, donors’ pocketbooks have been pillaged harder than ever, as they are now not only asked to give traditional university athletic funds but donate to NIL collectives as well. Messaging from coaches, collectives, and administrators has made it clear to fans that if they want to win in the NIL era, then they have to pay up –– while many schools who have seen success have large NIL war chests, a greater amount of schools have taken tremendous donor dollars for NIL only to remain stagnant. 

All of this is to say that the current state of college sports is far from stable. The giving landscape is a bubble about to burst. But, according to the New Testament, out of the darkness comes light. A new company, GameChange, provides a sustainable donation platform for an industry that desperately needs more stability. Today, just in time for week zero of college football, GameChange unveils a streamlined giving platform that rounds up credit and debit card transactions forwarding the difference to university athletic funds.

The process is remarkably simple, according to their press release, “Once users sign up with a major credit or debit card and select their school, every purchase they make will be rounded up to the next dollar with a majority of the proceeds going to their school’s athletic department.” Enrollment has been streamlined to take less than a minute, and once the card and school is set, users never have to touch the app again. Those intersted can go to www.GoGameChange.com.

Through a partnership with the longstanding charitable giving platform Harness Technologies, GameChange’s platform will be available to benefit every NCAA university from Division I to Division III. Leveraging the Harness Technologies platform means that a 501(c)(3) charity will hold every rounded-up donation from start to finish. While transaction frequency varies from person to person, GameChange has estimated that roughly $26 a month per person will be donated –– all of which will be eligible for a tax break. 

One exciting offering from GameChange is a sweepstakes platform for all users. With keen attention to legal compliance, all users are eligible to participate, and no consideration is necessary to enter. Forty percent of all donations will be routed toward sweepstakes prizes, and users can sign up for a chance to win. It is a genius move to incentivize fans to give back to their respective teams. 

While the launch version of GameChange is limited to a mandatory split of donations going to both university athletic funds and the sweepstakes pool, it is the goal of those at GameChange to give fans more discretion towards their gifts by the end of the football season. Upcoming updates to the platform will allow those without interest in sweepstakes to contribute all of their funds towards their university of choice. Additionally, GameChange plans to soon allow its users to earmark their funds to specific teams or athletic initiatives like facility upgrades, further empowering donors to know precisely what their money is going towards.   

The campaign for GameChange will be swift and prominent. Fittingly, the company has secured commercial airtime during ESPN’s College GameDay beginning week one of the college football season. Further integrating itself with ESPN, GameChange has recruited Marty Smith, a long-time ESPN personality, as a brand ambassador. When first introduced to the GameChange service, Smith immediately responded, “Why didn't someone invent this years ago?” Smith’s voice and likeness will be implemented in a significant portion of GameChange’s promotional messaging. 

Beyond GameChange’s ESPN-centric promotional attack, several schools have joined as university partners to help spread the word about the charitable platform. Auburn, Samford, and Georgia Southern are among many notable schools that will help market the service at launch. For schools looking to increase donor money, which is all of them, getting close with GameChange is a no-brainer. 

Universities have long relied upon the ultra-wealthy to maintain athletic funding. In a dynamic environment fraught with new expenditures and looming concerns of donor fatigue, creating a platform where everyday folks can give without impacting their financial well-being is refreshingly sustainable. Add the bonus offering of sweepstakes, and GameChange is set to provide both fans and schools with a fun and valuable service.

Is GameChange enough to save college sports on its own? Probably not. Is it a valuable step in the right direction? Absolutely.