Blank Check?

LA Times sports columnist continues to gush about all the support for UCLA football that is being promised by Chancellor Frenk:

...It’s believed that the last UCLA chancellor to speak at a coach’s introduction was Albert Carnesale in 2003 upon the hiring of Karl Dorrell. All of which makes Frenk’s appearance, not to mention his speaking for nearly five minutes... inside a Luskin Center ballroom, all the more extraordinary. Frenk was there to welcome Bob Chesney, the new football coach who has quickly galvanized a long-suffering fan base with his passion and willingness to immediately poke rival USC by proclaiming that UCLA would soon become “the school in town.” ...

“Athletics are the front porch of the university, one of the most visible signals of what we stand for,” Frenk said. “Athletics connect us across generations and geographies with students and alumni, friends as well as strangers. These things are extremely important and help build community and all of that is coming true at UCLA.” There was also a reference to one word — alignment — that athletic director Martin Jarmond and Chesney would later echo in their remarks. “Winning in college football requires a unified approach across all of the university — university leadership and athletics are aligned and committed to doing the right things to build a winning program,” Frenk said.

Jarmond suggested that Frenk was willing to help in a way that his predecessor was not — a slightly curious idea given Block’s willingness to support the move to the Big Ten Conference and approve Jarmond’s contract extension, but it seemed that Jarmond’s larger point was about increased institutional support for the football program under the new chancellor...

Source: https://www.latimes.com/sports/ucla/newsletter/2025-12-15/bruins-julio-frenk.

The problem is that when "institutional support" is translated into money, there are real risks. NIL has become pay-for-play. Breaking a contractual commitment to Pasadena for using the Rose Bowl in the end is doable - provided enough money can be provided for the litigation and buyout. The tax to Berkeley for UCLA's move to the Big Ten must be paid according to a regental fiat. What broadcast rights will provide in the future - and who will provide payments for such rights* - is uncertain. (Any contracts there can also be broken.) 

I don't know about you, but blank checks make me nervous.

====

*It was recently announced that the Oscars are moving from broadcast TV to YouTube.