The Texas One Fund's "A Night for Texas" proves to be extremely successful
The Texas One Fund hosted its signature event at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday, where donors to the main NIL collective that supports Texas Longhorns student-athletes were treated to open bars, hors d’oeuvres, and a concert featuring superstar musicians Ryan Bingham and the Texas Gentlemen and Brooks and Dunn.
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While Texas One Fund president Patrick “Wheels” Smith did not have a specific dollar figure on hand while speaking with Inside Texas on Sunday night, the event did plenty to support the Texas One Fund’s efforts for the 2024-25 athletic year.
“All I’ll say is I think it was a very successful night for the One Fund,” Smith said.
The big names were out in full force on Campbell-Williams Field on Saturday. In addition to Bingham, Brooks, Dunn, and comedian Shane Gillis, UT president Jay Hartzell, athletic director Chris Del Conte, head football coach Steve Sarkisian, head men’s basketball coach Rodney Terry, and a host of others from the Longhorn athletic department were there to thank those who supported Texas athletics through NIL.
“This was one of those deals where if you’re a Texas fan, or alum, or whatever, you turn around and there’s Madison Booker, then you turn around and there’s Sark, you look over and there’s President Hartzell,” Smith said. “Everybody is there, so it was really a unique experience to be around coaches, student-athletes, administrators, all that in one night.”
This evening, one Smith described as the Texas One Fund’s keystone event, functioned as a thank you for donors to the collective. The thank you featured strong sets by the artists and was one of a handful of concerts to ever take place in the almost 100 year history of DKR. For Bingham, it served as a bit of a dream come true at the end of a literal long journey.
“The concert was awesome,” Smith said. “Ryan Bingham told Del Conte before ‘I was born in New Mexico, moved to Texas and lived here. I’m a Texan. My dad was probably the biggest Texas football fan, and when I got this gig he wouldn’t have believed it. This was like the biggest thing.’
Smith continued: “(Bingham) flew from Australia, came to this, and then he’s going back. He’s a stud. Brooks and Dunn is an hour of you know every song. It was two incredible shows all in one night. It was pretty slick.”
Smith made sure to mention that the appreciation for donors wasn’t just for their generosity toward Longhorn student-athletes, but rather for the real local impact the Texas One Fund has on the University of Texas and Austin communities.
“For the past two years, we’re telling the story of what we’re doing, why it matters, the impact it has on the kids’ lives, the team, and in the community with what’s happening,” Smith said. “We had Dell Children’s, the Co-Op, all these things. People don’t realize when they go over and do a NIL opportunity at the Co-Op, literally the money raised through that is going to kids scholarships across the board at UT. There is a financial impact that is going well-beyond NIL. It’s really a multiplier to these other charities. It’s telling that story over and over to where people are like ‘I get it.’ We’re trying to create win-wins out of NIL.”
“A Night for Texas” was the appreciative event for some of the biggest supporters of the Texas One Fund, but Smith mentioned there will be other opportunities for donors of differing levels to go through unique experiences. He said some of these opportunities will be in the fall and associated with the football program.
“We’re trying to meet the needs of every donor without just saying ‘hey, contribute,” Smith said.
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Those opportunities will support the Texas Longhorns and their main NIL collective, but they won’t be the superstar event Texas hosted on Saturday that will do a lot for the Longhorns during their first athletic year in the Southeastern Conference.
