TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Snoop Dogg has almost as many ties to football as he does to rap music.

The entertainer coached youth soccer for years and founded the Snoop League, an after-school program for youth in inner-city Los Angeles. Snoop was a guest analyst on football broadcasts and his son Cordell Broadus played Division I football.

When Snoop made his final move and became a bowl game sponsor, he had one demand: Find a way for all players in the game to receive name, image and likeness (NIL) money.

“This was Snoop’s idea,” said Kym Adair, general manager of the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin & Juice. “He was having conversations with people he knows in the college football world and I got a call saying he wanted us to be the first Bowler to make that commitment and we did. “

The beneficiaries are Colorado State and Miami (Ohio), which will conclude their seasons in the Arizona Bowl on Saturday at Arizona Stadium. The bowl is classified as a 501(c)(3), so all proceeds go to charity. And since it’s one of the few bowls not tied to ESPN, it opens the door for unique sponsorship opportunities.

The bowl was previously sponsored by Barstool Sports and the digital media company used its own cast of characters for the broadcast, which was streamed on its digital platforms.

Snoop Dogg is taking over this year. The rapper/entertainer is the latest celebrity to sponsor a bowl, following in the footsteps of Jimmy Kimmel and Rob Gronkowski at the LA Bowl.

And Snoop being Snoop, he wanted to put his own spin on his own bowl.

“College football fans are exhausted by the constant talk of NIL, conference realignment, coaching changes, transfer portal and superconferences,” Snoop said in a video posted to social media. “So it’s time for us to go back to the roots of college football – when it focused on the colleges, the players and the competition, the community, the fan experience and the pageantry.”

This means there will be a NIL component.

The bowl can’t pay players just for playing in the bowl, but both teams took football clinics Friday and are being paid for their services. Other bowls have offered zero opportunities to individual players, but this is believed to be the first bowl to offer them to every player on both teams.

“I love the fact that the Arizona Bowl is unique and tries new things, and of course having Snoop here is unique,” ​​Colorado State coach Jay Norvell said. “The NIL component is the future. That’s how football has become now. We think it’s fantastic for our children and the interaction with the children is the hidden gem of it all.”

The NIL component of the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl comes a month after a similar performance at The Players Era Festival basketball tournament in Las Vegas. The eight-team tournament said it paid participating players $9 million in zero-money funds for non-competitive activities. It also offered $50 million in NIL opportunities over the next three years for services and activities that comply with NCAA regulations.

Are the Players Era Festival and the Arizona Bowl the beginning of a new future? This isn’t out of the question in major college athletics, where schools are already preparing for next year’s era of revenue sharing with players.

“The division of income between the players and the sports departments is already becoming apparent. So whether this replaces such agreements or whether they are completely separate is yet to be decided,” Adair said. “We’re just trying.” Be flexible, ahead of the curve and make an impact in any way you can.”

Just the way Snoop wants it.