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When Nevin Shapiro pledged $150,000 to the University of Miami athletic department, he got a student-athlete lounge named after him. But the bigger perk was access — to the football players he idolized, the stadium sideline, the coaches, even the team plane. Big-time college sports rely on boosters to bankroll escalating coaches’ salaries and ever-expanding facilities, and those donors sometimes think of themselves as part-owners of the team.

The more they pay, the closer they get.

Anybody who donates $30,000 or more annually becomes a member of the University Club and is promised interaction with a student-athlete, two pregame football sideline passes, travel for two on the team charter to a road game, scoreboard recognition at Sun Life Stadium, four VIP hospitality passes, and a diamond lapel pin, among other things.

That, in a nutshell,...

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