Why Money Is Not The Problem For Oregon State Athletics

By 750 THE GAME STAFF

The Oregon State Beavers are losing athletes to the transfer portal what seems like daily. It doesn’t matter the sport. Basketball or football. Another day. Another Beaver is hitting the transfer portal. The question is why?

Is it the money? Is it the uncertainty of the conference going forward?

Co-founder of the Dam Collective Kyle Bjornstad joined the Bald Faced Truth with John Canzano to talk about Oregon State’s NIL strategy. It was reported by ESPN’s Pete Thamel that star running back Damien Martinez was in line to make more than $400,000 from the Beavers next season. But Martinez hit the portal.

Canzano asked Bjornstad about Martinez and others leaving Oregon State. Bjornstad says it’s all the other things that the student athletes didn’t sign up for that is the problem.

“Oregon State’s been kicked a bit for the last year, and there are other factors at play,” Bjornstad said on 750 The Game. “Conference realignment. What conference are we going to be playing in? Can you still get the same exposure? Who are my teammates going to be? All of those things that these kids have to deal with and have to think through. It’s really unfortunate because it’s not fair. They didn’t sign up for that.”

Bjornstad says that it’s not the Dam Collective’s fault that athletes are leaving and that the Dam Collective is doing all that they can.

“We are putting our best foot forward and doing all that we can with NIL, and if they’re making decisions on other things that’s out of my control,” Bjornstad said. “There’s a lot of other factors and they come up in conversation and that’s just the world we’re living in right now.”

Canzano asked Bjornstad about the reported $400,000 that Damien Martinez was going to get. Canzano wondered where that money goes and if it goes to a pot just for the football program. Bjornstad explained how the donations work and what happens in a case like Martinez.

“When people contribute to Dam Nation they have the ability to earmark it to be general funds as needed for any sport, or most of the time people earmark for a specific program. In a case such as this the funds are re-distributed into the football allotment that I have, and it’s my job to watch the ebbs and flows of the roster as another portal is upon us and to the best of my abilities that we are taking care of these kids.”

Listen to the full interview with Kyle Bjornstad by clicking the podcast below. Catch the Bald Faced Truth with John Canzano live weekdays 3-6 p.m. in Portland exclusively on 750 The Game.

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