‘In The World Of NIL, It’s Pay To Play’

It’s no secret that Blenders founder Chase Fisher loves his alma mater, San Diego State.

Fisher attended the university and graduated from there in 2010. It wasn’t long after that he founded Blenders, an eyewear company that reached a valuation of $90 million in 2019 upon 70% of the company being acquired by Safilo Group.

The San Diego-based company has become mainstream and popular over the years, especially due to its affiliation with Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders. Sanders and Blenders created a custom line called the Prime21 collection. That’s in addition to its partnership with F1’s Oracle Red Bull racing for a collection of eyewear.

While the sunglasses and the company are definitely mainstream and cool in its appearance – it tries to match its San Diego-based roots – what’s also notable about Fisher and the company is their continued efforts through NIL.

Fisher recently donated $5 million to the San Diego State Aztecs men’s basketball program. It’s the largest donation ever to San Diego State and $1 million will be donated to them on an annual basis over the next five years.

That’s a big deal for a San Diego State program that isn’t a blue blood school. It’s also a big deal considering the Aztecs are prepping for a move from the small-tier Mountain West conference into a historically power conference in the Pac-12, which features the likes of superpowers such as the UCLA Bruins and Arizona Wildcats, who have a combined 50 national championships among them.

Fisher has already made $300K in NIL donation through Blenders this year outside of the donation to the Aztecs.

“This is a very exciting moment, full-circle moment for me personally, just because of the amount of significance,” says Fisher in a one-on-one interview. “The story is even more significant of how this even came to be. I was the kid that wasn’t supposed to go on and do big things, I struggled in school, and I was dyslexic. I was in special education, and I was just a kid that was basically set up to fail. If you look at Chase Fisher on paper, he was not supposed to make it.”

Fisher has a close relationship with Coach Dutch – San Diego State head coach Brian Dutcher – and the players. Coach Dutch has been affiliated with the program since 1999 when he jumped on board as an assistant coach. He was named the head coach in 2017 after Steve Fisher announced his retirement.

He says this is about maximizing the team while also giving the students the resources that they need to become as big as possible. From an on-court perspective, it also gives them a chance to compete with schools that receive much bigger NIL donations. That’s a big deal considering they’ll moving to a power conference such as the Pac-12 next year.

“My focus and vision here is kind of two prong – one is to give the student athletes the resources that they need and to stay in San Diego,” says Fisher. “But also to get them to believe in themselves in a bigger way. Coach Dutch and all the coaches here at SDSU are always talking about bigger than the game and attracting new talent and keeping new talent. What happens when the ball stops bouncing. This is really about belief. This is really about investing in the student athletes and giving them an opportunity that’s much bigger than the sport itself.”

Fisher’s NIL donations will help them maintain and attract talent to the San Diego State basketball program, which made a surprise run to the national championship against the UConn Huskies just a couple years prior in 2023.

Coach Dutch explains why Fisher is such an energetic figure around the student athletes, saying that his personality and positive vibes match the youthful energy of the players. Dutcher says he was a Blenders guy before he even met Fisher due to its San Diego ties.

“Saw the energy, he lived his life with a passion and it’s contagious,” says Dutcher of Fisher. “His attitude is contagious. The work to build something from nothing and you want guys like that around your program because they match more of the kind of kids we get. These are not kids from families that are wealthy and this and that, so you’re trying to also show me how basketball is a pathway.

“Here’s a guy that went to San Diego State and built it,” Dutcher continues to say of Fisher. “He didn’t have a golden spoon, and he built something great from his experience at San Diego State. To have him around the program, meet him, learn how he built his business, was really great for all of us.”

The program hit rough patch last year, getting bounced in the NCAA Tournament First Four. They had been to the NCAA Tournament in each of the prior four years.

“In the world of NIL, it’s pay to play,” says Fisher. “That’s just the world we live in, and coaches, teams, trainers and athletes, it’s a big deal. They attract talent, key talent, then we need to invest in them. I hope that my investment and my donation is not even a donation – it’s a declaration that SDSU is here to stay. We live in America’s finest city, and I want to be part of America’s finest athletics and building the program that recruits and keeps the best talent in America.”

Fisher says it’s not only a personal contribution, but also a “leadership” one. He wants to be a part of the Aztec players’ journeys.

“This is a personal contribution, not just from a monetary perspective, but from a mentorship, a leadership perspective,” Fisher details. “I want to be part of these guys’ journey. I want to know their stories. I want to be in their front row shoulder to shoulder. I want to help them succeed in whatever that looks like. This is the largest donation in SDSU NIL history. This is a huge milestone for me personally, and a game-changing donation for the program itself, and just a win overall for the city truly.”

Outside of the NIL donations, Dutcher explains why future basketball stars should look to play at San Diego State, calling it the “most beautiful city” in America and saying that the Aztecs are “San Diego’s team.” It’s the city’s basketball program and they don’t have many pro sports teams left, with the San Diego Padres being the most notable remaining after the San Diego Chargers departed for Los Angeles.

“We bring great pride to our students and our alumni, I like to think we’re San Diego’s team,” says Dutcher. “We have the San Diego Padres, and then we have San Diego Wave FC for women’s soccer. But we don’t have pro basketball. We don’t have a pro football team anymore. I like to think we’re San Diego’s team, and so there’s San Diego’s sunglasses. We both bring great pride to the city.”

Dutcher says while the on-court impact from the contributions is a big deal, he says the impact it has on the local community is what’s an even bigger deal.

“It’s not just about ourselves,” says Dutcher. “We’re trying to give back. Part of our NIL Mesa foundation is we do camps for underserved populations, challenge athletes camps for wheelchair basketball, go down to the food bank and serve food, work with the homeless. As much as I like NIL, I like revenue sharing, I want them to do something that makes a difference in the community too.

“I think Chase embraces that,” Dutcher continues to say. “He’s giving basketball for revenue sharing and NIL opportunities. But I think he’s giving it because we give back to the community. We’re involved, we’re invested in the city, like he is. There’s a commonality there between us.”