Nothing illegal about Colorado football soliciting Saudi Arabia for NIL funding

Per AL.com's Creg Stephenson, there is "technically" nothing illegal about Rick George and Deion Sanders' Colorado football program sending former special teams coordinator Trevor Reilly to Saudi Arabia to solicit funding from KSA's PIF.

"There is nothing technically illegal or against NCAA rules about Colorado soliciting NIL funding from the Saudi PIF or any other foreign entity," Stephenson prefaced before saying, "However, Saudi Arabia’s endeavors into professional sports have been met with pushback from many in the public due to the country’s poor human rights record."

On SI was able to get access to Reilly's recent resignation letter that confirmed that the ex-NFL linebacker had been in Saudi Arabia. Reilly said that Colorado's athletic department let it "fall flat on its face."

DNVR Buffs' Ryan Koenigsberg wrote the whole headline off as a non-story because of the "fall flat on its face" line.

"People are going to make this all about Coach Prime and the program at large but the story starts and ends with this part right here," Koenigsberg prefaced before saying, "A very… how should I say… free-spirited coach did something weird and Colorado’s leadership 'let it fall flat on its face.'

"What a story."

Deion Sanders reading sports tea leaves with outside-the-box Colorado football recruiting strategy

What Sanders did may be unpopular but getting involved with Saudi Arabia has been a normal thing in sports for years. WWE got involved with KSA in 2018, the LIV Golf league started in 2021, and Cristiano Ronaldo signed with Saudi club Al-Nassr in 2022.

Saudi Arabia being involved with American universities is a strange development, but it wouldn't be the first time a foreign nation was involved with schools in the U.S.

It's unclear if this will be the last time KSA and the NCAA are linked in such a way.