USC has gone all-in since it hired Lincoln Riley. Although the program didn’t have a great 2024, you can see the investment in their aggressive recruiting for the future classes. Off the field, USC continues to invest in ramping up the facilities to reflect current times. As part of the development of its athletics program, the Trojans are working on the Athletics West project. The Bloom Performance Center is being built to facilitate Lincoln Riley‘s Trojans reaching their full potential. To accommodate more funds, the college program hinted at a major change, which would end indirect funding to its B1G rival.

USC AD Jennifer Cohen has been regularly updating on their Athletics West project every month through a press release. In the latest edition, Cohen talked about the opening of the Rawlinson Stadium and provided an update on the Bloom Football Performance Center and a new stadium at Dedeaux Field as part of their Athletics West campaign. However, following the announcements, Cohen also noted that they are running short of funds on the campaign. 

“We are $50 million from reaching our $225 million goal for Athletics West, which will give our football program the best performance facility in the country, construct a new home at Dedeaux Field for our baseball program, provide additional training spaces for our golf programs, and allow us to reimagine the John McKay Center for our Olympic sports,” she said.

How do they plan to tackle it? With naming opportunities at Dedeaux and inside Bloom that start at $250,000. But there’s more in the store.

Cohen also stated that in the upcoming weeks, the program will come up with ‘exciting news on a new apparel deal,’ both at the campus and conference levels. They are doing it ‘to enhance existing or identify new revenue streams, from improved trademark and licensing efforts to the exploration of jersey patches.’ So, how does it affect funding for Oregon? 

The USC Trojans have been on a 10-year athletic apparel deal with Nike since May 2018. However, Phil Knight, the co-founder of Nike, has been a huge donor to the University of Oregon, which includes the money generated by selling USC’s merchandise and apparel. This potential change in the deal will have a significant impact on the indirect funding to Oregon.

USC Trojans are $50M short of a football facility

The Trojans broke ground on their dream Bloom Football Performance Center in November 2024. It is a $250M project, and they started to raise funds for $225M. With $174 million already raised through funds, they are still $51 million short, as they are nearing the scheduled opening (Summer 2026). Therefore, they made different ways to raise funds, including scholarships, NIL opportunities, the Victory fund, and now the apparel deal.

USC AD made it clear that they remain committed to fiscal responsibility, so they look for immediate opportunities for longer-term ventures as they arise. They also introduced naming opportunities at both Dedeaux and inside Bloom centers, for which the starting fund will be $250,000.