In an ASU-produced video last week, Sun Devil mega-donor Brian Swette, former COO of eBay and former CEO of PepsiCo, confirmed he has donated $10 million to the Sun Devils, mostly to help the long-mediocre Arizona State football program take a step forward.
Arizona State head football coach Kenny Dillingham watches his team as they run drills during a spring practice at Kajikawa practice fields in Tempe on April 14, 2026.
Swette further said that "his good friend" Gregg Brewster, who is a member of the Arizona Board of Regents, is working on another $10 million gift for Sun Devil athletics. Swette said Brewster plans to get 1,000 ASU donors to each contribute $10,000 to ASU sports.
Swette made it sound so simple. But where do you find 1,000 people willing to donate $10,000 to a football program even if it's a colossal power like, say, Michigan or Alabama?
There's a bottom line here. ASU is expected to distribute $20.5 million to its athletes via revenue sharing this year. That would eat up almost every cent of Swette's donation and the hoped-for donations gathered by Brewster. And then you've got to start over for the following season.
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In college sports, donor fatigue is sure to set in at some point very soon.
