iStockphoto / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
Former Colorado football player Jeremy Bloom will not donate NIL money.
Jeremy Bloom played football at Colorado in the early 2000s. He now serves as the CEO of the X Games. Despite boasting wealth and ties to the university, he refuses to donate to Deion Sanders’ program.
He explained why in a sit-down with Front Office Sports.
The former player’s refusal has nothing to do with leadership or the current state of the program. Instead, it relates to return on investment and the setup of college athletics.
Who is Jeremy Bloom?
Bloom is an entrepreneur and dual-sport talent that made his name in both football and skiing. He co-founded B2B enterprise software firm Integrate in 2010. He is also the founder of Owl AI and Wish of a Lifetime, a charitable affiliate of AARP that grants meaningful, life-changing experiences to older adults in the US.
Bloom is two-time Olympian and three-time World Champion skier who was inducted into the United States Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in 2012. He won 10 World Cup gold medals while also having played briefly in the NFL after being drafted by the Eagles in 2006.
At the age of 15, he became the youngest male freestyle skier to make Team USA. He competed in the 2002 and 2006 Olympics.
In between, he had a two-year career as a Colorado football player where he was a wide receiver and return specialist. Bloom earned Freshman All-America honors in ’02, taking two punts to the house and adding another touchdown on offense. He scored the very first time he touched the football.
In ’03, he hauled in a career-high 22 passes for 356 yards and found the endzone as both a receiver and kickoff returner. His college career was cut short when the NCAA ruled him ineligible for accepting sponsorships for Olympic skiing.
He was later rostered by both the Eagles and Steelers but never played a down in the regular season. He then went into business and sports broadcast where he’s experienced even more success.
Bloom’s net worth is estimated to be around $2 million. He refuses to give any of his money back to Colorado football’s NIL fund.
The bank is closed for Colorado football.
Jeremy Bloom helped recruit Deion Sanders to Colorado in 2023. He targeted Coach Prime to lead the team, which he says had “flatlined.”
“The program had flatlined. There wasn’t even a heartbeat. On October 2nd, when Karl Dorrell was let go, I had one guy in mind and it was Deion Sanders. I called Rick George, the athletic director, and said, ‘We’ve got to go get Deion. He’s the only guy that can overnight make this program relevant again.'”
Bloom played an integral role in luring Sanders to campus, but he will not give his program NIL money. He explained why in a recent interview with Front Office Sports.
Bloom touched on private equity, conference restructuring, and the operation of college athletics as a for-profit business as opposed to the current non-profit setup.
“You’ve got to professionalize these (revenue generating) sports,” he said. “It’s the Wild, Wild West. There’s a lot of things I dislike about it… This is a professional sports league that doesn’t deserve non-profit dollars. It needs to build a capitalistic foundation to support it… Society should not feel any pressure to fund these sports.
“Colleges charge $30k to $80k to go to school and we still think of it as a handout to go give them money?… No, you are a business. Modernize the system.”
He was then asked directly if he’s given NIL money to Colorado. He has not.
“No,” Bloom continued. “The system is broken. I think anybody that gives NIL money should have some sort of value creation plan for those dollars. I don’t think it should be thought of as a non-profit… If you want to raise capital, give out some equity…
“Anybody that’s donating to a university should have equity in that university or some sort of value creation plan for their dollars… At some point, people are going to get fed up with just giving money to these universities that are charging enormous amounts to go to school.”
It’s worth noting that Jeremy Bloom is not against NIL. He sued the NCAA as a player after being stripped of eligibility for making money as a skier.
He is, however, against asking fans and donors to foot the bill for player contracts, particularly with the growing costs of education in the US. Many of these supporters paid tens of thousands to attend the university. They are now being asked to continue giving without the guarantee of a return.
It’s a stance that many have taken with player ‘salaries’ skyrocketing. This year alone, top college football rosters are valued at upwards of $50 million. Making matters worse, the players you invest in as a donor can simply transfer the following season.
Why are fans funding NIL deals when coaches make 8 figures, players make 7, media rights bring in billions, and athletes can transfer a year later? Pay players from revenue, not donations. Give them real contracts with buyouts, and let new capital invest for ownership and upside.
— Jeremy Bloom (@JeremyBloom11) November 4, 2026
Revenue generating sports bring in billions through media rights. Coaches are cashing millions annually, even those being paid to stop working. The transfer portal is a revolving door that welcomes bidding wars.
Bloom says fanbases should not be responsible for funding these ventures. He will not donate NIL money to Colorado football in the current setup.