The State of Troy | March 20: 'Time To Win' Campaign, Victory Points & Athletics West Project
March 20, 2025 | Baseball, Football, USC Athletics, Men's Golf, Men's Swimming & Diving, Men's Tennis, Men's Volleyball, Track & Field, Women's Basketball, Women's Golf, Women's Lacrosse, Women's Rowing, Women's Swimming & Diving, Women's Tennis, Women's Water Polo, Women's Beach Volleyball
Trojan Family,
It's already been a busy and exciting spring for USC Athletics, and so much has happened across our department since my last letter. Whether they're in the postseason, offseason, or midseason, our coaches, staff, and student-athletes continue to work relentlessly in the classroom and in competition to represent our institution proudly.
Let me start by celebrating our men's indoor track and field program for winning USC's 137th national championship! Congratulations to Coach Watts, his staff, and student-athletes on this incredible accomplishment, and a big shout-out to our amazing track and field community, including John and Janine Colich and South Bay Athletic Club, whose support plays an instrumental role in building championship programs.
As our championship pursuits continue across all 23 sports this spring, we remain hard at work behind the scenes to continue positioning USC for success in the changed and evolving landscape of collegiate athletics. In order to win this new era, we know we must continue to maximize our investment in student-athletes, and I'm excited to share some updates on how your support and generosity continue to ensure USC is THE PLACE TO BE for student-athletes to reach their full potential in all they do.
MEN'S T&F WINS NCAA INDOOR TITLE
'Time to Win' Campaign
Last month, we launched our "Time to Win" campaign in collaboration with House of Victory, whose support of our student-athletes since its inception has been instrumental to our success in all 23 sports.
The engagement of the entire Trojan Family throughout this campaign has been incredible to witness – the first day of the fundraiser was HoV's most successful single day of public fundraising ever! In the days since, we have seen an outpouring of passionate pride for USC, receiving gifts from hundreds of Trojans all over the country – including a $10,000 gift courtesy of Trojan legend and Yankees head coach Aaron Boone and $100,000 gifts from L'Abri Management and our dear friend Woo Hoo Sue. In addition, Trojan fans have answered the call and spread the word on social media, generating more than 1.75 million impressions and 65,000 engagements across all platforms!
This campaign is yet another example of what we can accomplish with alignment, engagement, and most of all, your support. Every dollar given will go to supporting student-athletes who come to USC to not only pursue their dreams and change their lives, but to also change the lives of others – from the family who raised them to the community that inspires them.
The anticipated approval of the House settlement in April is just weeks away, and as I have previously noted, we will invest the maximum permissible $20.5 million in rev-share with student-athletes. House of Victory has been a wonderful partner at every step of our journey through this shifting landscape, and we are grateful for their adaptability and unwavering support of the student-athletes who inspire our Trojan Family.
USC can do more than ever for student-athletes in this new era, and we are excited to work with HoV, South Bay Athletic Club, and all supporters of Trojan Athletics to determine the best ways to contribute to our efforts moving forward. What exactly that will look like is still to be determined as we gain further clarity on enforcement and the newly formed NIL clearinghouse, but what is clear is that between institutional support, the brand marketing opportunities available in the greatest city for sports in America, and a reimagined NIL ecosystem, USC is well-positioned to thrive and win in this new landscape.
Introducing Victory Points
Every day, we continue to build our road map for navigating the new era of college athletics, and one area we know will remain vital to our future success is improving our engagement with our loyal and generous supporters. Our development team has been working hard behind the scenes to identify opportunities to better steward the giving that is central to all our efforts, and we look forward to sharing their work in the coming months.
I'm excited to introduce Victory Points, our new priority point system that rewards Trojan fans for all donations to USC Athletics. Through Victory Points, all donors and supporters will earn credit for every donation they provide to support USC Athletics. This priority point system allows us to better recognize and steward all supporters including both season and non-season ticket holders. Victory Points will also increase transparency and reward loyalty, creating a clear system for stewardship, allocations, and more.
Trojan fans will earn Victory Points on all donations to USC Athletics dating back to 1985, and this includes gifts to House of Victory and South Bay Athletics. Additionally, there will be opportunities to earn bonus points for philanthropic gifts, consecutive years of season ticket purchases, NIL support, scholarship funds, and more. More information on Victory Points will be available to all supporters in the coming months with the first implementation of Victory Points happening this summer! If you have any questions about Victory Points, please visit our Victory Point FAQ page or reach out to our development office.
Athletics West Updates
It's amazing to walk onto campus each day and see how much progress is being made on our Athletics West capital projects. The construction teams are hard at work every day helping to transform our facilities into the very best in the entire country.
First, I'm incredibly excited to welcome USC Baseball back to campus for practice, as the Trojans returned to Dedeaux Field in February after a season of off-site practices. This program has displayed unmatched grit and competitive spirit during the construction process, and we cannot wait to build and open a new stadium for them in time for the 2026 season.
I'm also excited to announce that we have now raised $174 million of our $225 million goal for these projects. This figure includes two additional donors who provided gifts of $5 million or more. We have now received seven Cornerstone gifts and are looking for four more to bring our total to 11, one for each USC Football national championship.
Some other updates from Athletics West to share:
- The Bloom Football Performance Center is swiftly making progress. The first two floors of the building are now visible on the campus skyline, and steel is being erected on-site and will be topped out the first week of April.
 - Rawlinson Stadium will be ready for our soccer and lacrosse programs to call home this summer. Construction is complete on the stadium and student-athlete pavilion spaces, with the current focus on interiors and finishes. Sod is slated for installation the first week of April, and you can see a video of the progress here!
 - A new golf short game practice facility will be constructed beyond the outfield fence at the new Dedeaux Field. Design is near completion, and we expect the facility to be ready in summer 2026.
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Finally, I want to highlight our new Athletics West webpage, which will keep fans informed and updated on the construction of the Bloom Football Performance Center, a new stadium at Dedeaux Field, and a short-game practice space for our golf programs. Additionally, anyone who is interested in giving to these projects (and earning Victory Points for those gifts!) can get in touch with our development team through the website.
B1G Updates
- In my last letter, I shared our commitment to adapting the infrastructure of our football program for this new era. Since then, we have hired Chad Bowden from Notre Dame as our general manager and rounded out our personnel office with a number of excellent additions to the Trojan Family. We are excited for the start of spring practice and already looking forward to seeing all of you in the Coliseum during the 2025 season. Season ticket renewals are ongoing for existing ticket holders, or you can place a deposit to secure yours now!
 - Congratulations to our women's basketball program for wining USC's second Big Ten championship of the year and earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament! The Women of Troy finished 17-1 in league play to win the program's first conference championship since 1994, and we are excited to serve as a host site for the NCAA Tournament this week.
 - USC is well known for broad-based success across all 23 sports, and currently, we have seven programs ranked in the top five (Men's Track and Field, Women's Water Polo, Women's Track and Field, Beach Volleyball, Women's Basketball, Men's Volleyball, and Women's Golf) and 13 in the top 25 (Women's Swimming and Diving, Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Tennis, Lacrosse, Men's Tennis, and Rowing). We are so proud of all our programs and grateful for your support during their pursuit of championships this spring.
 - One of the great traditions supported by USC Athletics is the annual Swim with Mike event to support physically challenged student-athletes. Led by former USC All-American Mike Nyeholt, the Swim with Mike Foundation does incredible work across the country, supporting more than 300 scholarship recipients at more than 150 universities over the last 44 years. This year's Swim with Mike Event is scheduled for April 5, and I hope you'll consider supporting or registering.
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Our work preparing for the new era of college athletics continues, and we are more determined than ever to win the era. As always, it is your support and passionate pride for USC that will ensure our success.
Now, it's time to win!
Fight On!
Jen Cohen
Charles Griffin Cale Director of Athletics
