Freeman gift will elevate football and sustain athletic excellence

Stanford philanthropist and former trustee Bradford M. Freeman, ’64, has made a $50 million gift to benefit Stanford football.

The gift comes at a critical time for Stanford Athletics, which has been adapting to seismic shifts in the college athletics landscape.

“This is a game-changing gift for Stanford,” said President Jonathan Levin. “It will help us to recruit top talent and compete at the highest level. Brad’s generosity and commitment to football will benefit our entire athletics department, as excellence in football will support success across all 36 varsity sports.”

A steadfast Cardinal fan

Bradford Freeman was a star football player at his high school in Fargo, North Dakota, and came to Stanford on a football scholarship. In a 2014 interview, he reflected, “I went from outstanding player of the year to setting a record at Stanford for the most minutes not played in four years.”

After graduating from Stanford in 1964 with a degree in economics, Freeman earned an MBA at Harvard before starting a career in investment banking. In 1983, Freeman and his longtime friend and business partner, Ron Spogli, ’70, co-founded Freeman Spogli & Co., a private equity investment firm.

Freeman remained a loyal Stanford football fan. In 1988, he endowed the nation’s first head coaching position, the Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football, which is currently held by Frank Reich. His early support helped inspire the endowment of other coaching positions across Stanford’s 36 varsity sports.

Freeman’s volunteer service at Stanford spans nearly six decades. He has held positions on multiple university advisory boards, been active in several fundraising campaigns, and served 10 years as a member of the Stanford University Board of Trustees starting in 1995. In 2005, he and Spogli jointly committed $50 million to endow the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford’s hub for nonpartisan, interdisciplinary research, teaching, and policy impact in international affairs. His philanthropic support for Stanford has included support for undergraduate education, fellowships, professorships, and the Bing Overseas Studies Program.

“I remain grateful for the opportunities that my Stanford football scholarship gave me, and for all the ways that the university impacted the trajectory of my life,” Freeman said. “I hope my gift will herald a new era of excellence for Stanford football and help the university address the new financial demands of competitive college athletics.”

Stanford football will honor Freeman’s gift by naming the tunnel where players and coaches enter Stanford Stadium as the Bradford M. Freeman Tunnel, and naming a highly trafficked entrance gate for visitors as the Bradford M. Freeman Gate. He will also be recognized as one of six Trailblazer honorees in Stanford’s Home of Champions, which shares the story and history of Stanford Athletics.

Football’s role in college athletics

Because of its ability to drive media rights deals and ticket sales, football plays an outsized role in the financial health of college athletics. Stanford has 36 varsity sports and has won the most NCAA championships and Directors’ Cups of any college – and is on track to celebrate 50 years of consecutive NCAA championship wins this year. Yet the primary drivers of revenue remain football and basketball.

For more than a century, Stanford’s conference home was the Pac-12. In 2024, after several Pac-12 schools departed the conference to pursue more lucrative media deals, Stanford accepted an invitation to join the Atlantic Coast Conference so that its student-athletes could continue competing at the highest levels nationally.

Since becoming Stanford president in August 2024, Levin has pledged his commitment to charting a path forward for Stanford Athletics and to building a financially sustainable model that ensures the future of all varsity sports. He appointed John Donahoe – a graduate of Stanford Graduate School of Business, former chief executive officer of Nike, former college basketball player, and lifelong sports fan – to lead the university through this critical time in college athletics.

“Athletics is part of the fabric of Stanford, and it brings people together,” Levin said. “As is the case across the university, we rely on the support of alumni and friends. We’re grateful that playing football at Stanford changed Brad’s life, and years later, he remains among the Cardinal’s biggest fans.”

This story originally appeared in Stanford Report.