UCF Announces Largest Athletic Donation, NIL Contribution
The UCF Knights are in the middle of their first year in a power conference and they’re learning that it takes money to complete. Fortunately, one deep-pocketed donor just made a significant pledge to both the athletic department and to Name, Image and Likeness funding.
UCF recently announced that it accepted a $5.5 million donation from Taylor A. Gerring, who is a blockchain pioneer and expert and co-founder of Ethereum Foundation. The donation is the largest single donation the athletic department has ever received. It also comes from a former Knight, as Gerring graduated in 2005.
The kicker is that he pledged an additional $1 million to UCF’s official NIL collective, The Kingdom.
The Knights are one of four teams that joined the Big 12 in July, including Cincinnati, BYU and Houston.
“I’m happy to give back to the university to show my appreciation for everything that’s been provided to me,” Gerring said in a release. “My hope is that it inspires other students to achieve great things.”
Gerring’s donation means that UCF’s new football campus will be called the Taylor A. Gerring Football Center. That center is part of what UCF calls its “Mission XII” project, which supports is overarching Kenneth G. Dixon Athletics Village, which is for all student-athletes.
Gerring’s $5.5 million gift to UCF Athletics includes $5 million in support of the construction of the football center and $500,000 that will be invested in the Taylor A. Gerring Athletics Facilities Endowment Fund.
UCF’s football team is coming off a 6-7 season in their first year in the Big 12. The men’s basketball team is pointed toward a fifth losing season in conference play, the last four of which were in the American Athletic Conference.
