University of Central Florida fans have raised $27,000 for the schools official NIL collective by voting to do away with a stadium singalong tradition.
Starting in 2021, UCF began playing Frankie Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" at the beginning of the fourth-quarter as a singalong for fans. Fans were split on their love the song, which is why UCF's collective put it to an online vote where fans could either click a button and "Donate to keep the song" or "Donate to retire the song."
"Tip the scales with your contributions to determine if the Bounce House actually loves 'Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You' by Frankie Valli. Don’t take your eyes off the leaderboard – someone could swoop in at the end of the day and decide the future of the song," the website read on Wednesday, alongside two buttons to make a one-time contribution.
UCF players backed the vote, with some posting to social in support of the song, while other issued posts in favor of having it axed.
According to CBS, the vote was a painfully close vote, decided by barely $1,000. Ultimately, $14,017 was spent to kill the song with $12,900 spent to keep it.
"To raise that much money while having some fun doesn't happen a lot," Kingdom NIL executive director SJ Tuohy told FOX 35. "I think at least on the surface, to me, everybody had a fun time and everybody was a good sport and that doesn't happen a lot."
Tuohy said over 140 people donated, and it wasn't as divided as he thought it would be.
"I donated to kill the song. Although it was a nice thought, I felt like it brought down the energy (in the Bounce House)," die-hard UCF fan Mary Ashbaugh told FOX 35. "We need hype to get the crowd going in the fourth quarter. Especially for close games. Hype songs get people on their feet cheering."
