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Washington Huskies announce massive ‘Go BIG! for Washington’ fundraising campaign

By Ethan Lee

Sep 7, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Washington Huskies defensive lineman Jacob Bandes (55) celebrates with defensive lineman Deshawn Lynch (41) after a defensive stop against the Eastern Michigan Eagles during the second half at Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images
Sep 7, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Washington Huskies defensive lineman Jacob Bandes (55) celebrates with defensive lineman Deshawn Lynch (41) after a defensive stop against the Eastern Michigan Eagles during the second half at Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images / Steven Bisig-Imagn Images
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The move to the Big Ten has been huge for the future of the Washington Huskies athletics department and the University of Washington as a whole. The decision to leave the Pac-12 provides stability as the entire college football (and college athletics) landscape continues to shift and change.

But while the move to the Big Ten is generally a good thing, the University of Washington and the Huskies have to address a few small things. Like traveling across the country on a more regular basis. That’s a cost that is going to go up across the board for all of the 22 teams that UW fields. 

And while the Huskies generally have a solid financial situation, all things considered, it’s not bad, but there are considerably bigger budgets elsewhere in the Big Ten. And that’s why it’s generally a good thing for the Huskies to continue to improve in that area. 

Thus, the creation of the brand new “Go BIG! for Washington” fundraising campaign. 

What is the ‘Go BIG! for Washington’ fundraising campaign?

That, my friends, is a great question. 

The stated goal for the fundraiser is to help support University of Washington athletics as the Huskies get settled into the Big Ten. As the Huskies note in their press release, Washington won’t receive an equal share of revenue from the Big Ten over the first five years of the Huskies’ membership in the new conference.

That was just part of the deal to get into the conference.

So, when considering that and the fact that UW will be traveling from the West Coast all over the Midwest and over to the East Coast, there’s a need to address the potential financial problems caused by the revenue share situation and the bunch of new travel-related expenses that come with joining the Big Ten.

So, UW is aiming to raise $300 million over the next five years. That’s a lot of money. Like, a lot of money. I don’t know what I’d do with that kind of money. It’s a lot. 

But! This campaign is new and the Huskies have already raised over $50 million. That includes a rather substantial gift from Jedd Fisch (the head coach of the UW football team) and his wife.

So, progress is already being made. The Huskies are aiming to go toe-to-toe with some of the biggest athletic departments around. And this campaign is a huge step in that direction.

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