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Gator Guard – New program up to $5 million raised in 24-hours

By Jeremy Trottier

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 05: Orange and Blue balloons are seen arranged into the letters "UF" before a press conference introducing Billy Napier to the Media as the new Head Football Coach of the Florida Gators at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on December 05, 2021 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 05: Orange and Blue balloons are seen arranged into the letters "UF" before a press conference introducing Billy Napier to the Media as the new Head Football Coach of the Florida Gators at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on December 05, 2021 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images) /
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New “Gator Guard” program up to $5 million raised in under 24 hours

This morning we saw the implementation of a new program called the “Gator Guard”.  This program was created by Hugh Hathcock to create a place for high-profile donors to raise money for the Gators, which will be utilized for NIL deals & potential facility upgrades eventually.  Since our article this morning regarding the new program, there has been some major movement and additions to the Gator Guard that are worth mentioning.

Current Valuation & Contributions

The first major change we have seen is the actual amount of money that has been contributed to the Gator Guard, as well as how much it has gone up in less than 24 hours after implementation.  As of the last notification from Darren Heitner, who announced the initial forming of the program, the amount contributed is currently $5 million.  This is an absolutely amazing accomplishment as this amount was released at noontime today, less than 24 hours after implementation.  If this program can rake in that amount of money in less than a day worth of time, just imagine what it could do when priority recruits are on the fence and influential members of the Gators community want them?  The influence on this program could be massive, and this is just the first step toward showing how much it can do for UF.

Partnership with Gator Collective

As we mentioned in this morning’s article, this was created to work in tandem with the Gator Collective and provide different ways to raise money for NIL deals.  The Collective is primarily for fans who can spend anywhere from 10-1000 dollars to support the team on a recurring basis.  The Guard is more for high-profile donations that will be of much larger monetary value, where they can shift the tides just through a single donation.

https://twitter.com/GatorCollective/status/1517242959472652288?s=20&t=-lnfvkczcupIKJ2H1prgYA

With this, we saw the two programs join forces and become one to try and get as much NIL money as physically possible.  Both to lure in new recruits as well as retain players who want an increased deal as well (which we saw with Kowacie Reeves and Colin Castleton.  This news makes these two booster programs even more interesting, as it allows them to prioritize the players and truly focus on their goals as one comprehensive unit.  This should certainly change the landscape of the program for the foreseeable future, and allow the Gators to really develop their programs through players as well as potential upgrades to facilities.

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