Sports

Chase Griffin wants to show his UCLA teammates the money with new NIL venture

Published

2 years ago

September 6, 2024

Chase Griffin wants to show his UCLA teammates the money with new NIL venture

According to U.S. Dept. of Education figures, UCLA topped all Big Ten schools by receiving $692 million in donations from 2022-23.

But that zeal for lavishing cash did not carry over to the school’s athletic department, which ranked fourth from the bottom of the conference with just $16 million in donations over the same period.

Like a quarterback calling an audible, Chase Griffin wants to change those financial fortunes for his Bruins teammates.

“Our No. 1 goal,” said the backup quarterback who has long been a star in the name, image and likeness space, “is to make UCLA football the best team in the Big Ten.”

Griffin unveiled his plans for the transformation Thursday night at the W Hotel near campus when he launched the 1919 Players Fund before a group of partners in the venture and roughly half the football team.

UCLA quarterback Chase Griffin and former UCLA safety James Washington talk to UCLA football players about a new NIL venture. (Ben Bolch / Los Angeles Times)

The player-run NIL fund, whose name is a nod to the year the school was founded, aims to help the Bruins build their personal brands as ambassadors for products and services while also giving back through philanthropy.

Is it a collective? Well, yes and no.

“People can call it what they want,” Griffin said. “I see it more as a content studio, I see us almost as a talent agency where we develop UCLA football players and we give them the means of creating content that creates returns on investment with the brands that we work with.”

Early partners include the investment advisory firm SteelPeak Wealth, the Westwood Village Improvement Assn. and Movember, the organization centered around men’s health awareness. Griffin said he built those partnerships through the vast network of resources he forged while becoming a two-time NIL athlete of the year.

Showing his teammates the types of deals they could get with Westwood businesses, Griffin played a video showing himself biting into an ice cream cookie sandwich at Diddy Riese and a slice of cheese pizza at Danny Boy’s Famous Original Pizza.

Asked if the 1919 Players Fund dovetailed with Men of Westwood, UCLA’s school-sponsored collective, Griffin suggested that he favored a partnership over a rivalry.

“If they have content that needs to be executed, let us know,” Griffin said. “We’re hungry for opportunities, our players are showing that by coming here on a Thursday night that we had off and we have the ability to create any content and create return on investment for any brand.”

Among the speakers was former UCLA safety James Washington, a two-time Rose Bowl and two-time Super Bowl champion with the Dallas Cowboys who emphasized the importance of building wealth beyond a possible NFL career.

“Out of my class,” Washington said, “dudes that didn’t play on Sunday — I got three billionaires, 10 millionaires that I’m trying to figure out how to get them back here for you, you see what I’m saying? So when you look around, the endgame is just not playing football, the endgame is running your own business … it’s giving back to your community, it’s reaching down and grabbing the next one to lift the next one up.”

Griffin mentioned UCLA’s standing as the nation’s top public school and long history of trailblazers in athletics as reasons the school should lead the way in NIL endeavors. Underscoring the need for everyone in the UCLA community to contribute, Griffin encouraged fans to email him directly at chase@thegriffin.org.

“We’re not in a conference where we’re lucky to be there,” Griffin said, “we’re in a conference where they’re lucky to have us, and in order for us to compete in the way that we need to compete to make that statement ring true and to represent UCLA the way it ought to be represented, we have to make sure that we have programs in place like the 1919 Players Fund there to make sure that UCLA has a chance.”

Sports

Loyola wins Southern Section Division 1 lacrosse championship

Published

6 minutes ago

May 17, 2026

Press Room

Loyola wins Southern Section Division 1 lacrosse championship

There’s no denying that Loyola’s lacrosse program is best in Southern California and could be that way for years to come with the number of elite young players participating.

On Saturday night, the Cubs (16-3) won their latest Southern Section Division 1 championship with a 14-6 win over Santa Margarita. The Cubs have won three title since the sport was adopted as a championship event in the Southern Section. Defense has been Loyola’s strength all season.

Senior defenders Chase Hellie and Everett Rolph and junior goalkeeper William Russo led one of the best defenses in program history under coach Jimmy Borell.

Senior Cash Ginsberg finished with five goals and junior North Carolina commit Tripp King finished with two goals.

In girls Division 1, Mira Costa upset top-seeded Santa Margarita 12-6.

Sports

Napoleon Solo wins 151st Preakness Stakes

Published

11 hours ago

May 17, 2026

Press Room

Napoleon Solo wins 151st Preakness Stakes

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Napoleon Solo took home the 2026 Preakness Stakes on Saturday, the 151st running of the race.

The favorite in Taj Mahal, the 1 horse, was in the lead from the start until the final turn until Napoleon Solo made his move on the outside and took the lead at the top of the stretch. As Taj Mahal fell off, Iron Honor, the 9 horse, snuck up, but the effort ultimately was not enough.

Napoleon Solo opened at 8-1 and closed at 7-1. Iron Honor, at 8-1, finished second, with Chip Honcho fishing third after closing at 11-1. Ocelli, one of just three horses to run both the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago and Saturday’s Preakness, finished fourth at 8-1.

A Preakness branded starting gate is seen on track prior to the 151st Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park on May 16, 2026 in Laurel, Maryland. For the first and only time, Laurel Park is hosting the Preakness Stakes which is the second race of the Triple Crown jewel due to the traditional home of the race of the Pimlico Race Course undergoing complete renovations. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

A $1 exacta paid out $53.60, while a $1 trifecta brought in $597.10. But someone out there is very lucky, as a $1 superhighfive – picking the top-five finishers in order – paid out $12,015.70.

Even moreso, a 20-cent Pick 6 – picking the winners of the six consecutive races, with the final being the Preakness, paid out $33,842.34.

The race was run without the Kentucky Derby winner for the second year in a row. After Sovereignty did not run the Preakness last year – and wound up winning the Belmont Stakes – the training team of Golden Tempo opted to skip the Maryland race.

From 1960 to 2018, only three Derby winners did not run in the Preakness. Three Derby winners have skipped the Preakness in the last five years, and for the sixth time in eight years, for various reasons, the Triple Crown had already been impossible to accomplish by the time the Preakness even rolled around.

“I understand that fans of the sport or fans of the Triple Crown are disappointed, but the horse is not a machine,” Golden Tempo’s trainer, Cherie DeVaux, told Fox News Digital earlier this week.

Paco Lopez, right, atop Napoleon Solo, edges out Iron Honor, ridden by Flavien Prat, to win the 151st running of the Preakness Stakes horse race, Friday, May 15, 2026, at Laurel Park in Laurel, Maryland. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

CHERIE DEVAUX REFLECTS ON MAKING KENTUCKY DERBY HISTORY AS FIRST FEMALE TRAINER TO WIN THE RACE

Only three horses from two weeks ago – Ocelli, Robusta, and Incredibolt, were back at the Preakness. Corona de Oro, the 11 horse on Saturday, was scratched well ahead of the Derby, and Great White, who reared up and fell on his back after becoming startled shortly before entering the Derby gate, took the 13 post on Saturday.

The Preakness went off roughly 24 hours after a horse died following the completion of his very first race.

Hit Zero, trained by Brittany Russell, came into the race as the favorite. However, he finished last in the race, which was won by another one of Russell’s horses, Bold Fact — and upon crossing the finish line, Hit Zero reportedly began coughing, dropped to his knees, then put his head down and died.

The Preakness took place at Laurel Park as Pimlico undergoes renovations. It was the first time ever that Pimlico did not host the race, moving roughly 20 miles south.

Paco Lopez, atop Napoleon Solo, wins the 151st running of the Preakness Stakes horse race, Friday, May 15, 2026, at Laurel Park in Laurel, Maryland. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

The Belmont Stakes, the final Triple Crown race, will take place on June 6. The race will return to Saratoga for a third year in a row as Belmont Park continues to be renovated.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.