Cam Newton is turning lemons into lemonade.
Coming off the disappointment of a short-lived run on 106 & Sports for BET’s streaming service, Newton revealed Wednesday that he is putting his earnings from the show to great use.
In a press release on his LinkedIn account, Newton announced that he will put all of the money he made on 106 & Sports back into a six-stop college football tailgate series this fall.
“I took on the BET project for one reason: To give back and shine a light on the excellence of our HBCUs — their student-athletes, their academic programs, their alumni, and that one-of-a-kind gameday experience,” Newton said in a statement.
106 & Sports shot in HBCU-rich Atlanta and closely covered these schools during its run.
Newton added that he was “proud” of the eight-episode run on BET+ with co-host Ashley Nicole Moss, but feels that personally funding, orchestrating and making content out of the tour will be more effective.
According to the release, Newton will use the tour to develop video content for his 4th and 1 podcast, spotlight standout programs, and explore the “heritage” of each school.
Newton explained that giving to HBCUs is a priority because he was the only member of his family not to attend one. As a top NFL prospect, Newton bounced from Florida to a rural Texas junior college before winning a Heisman and a national championship at Auburn.
Four of the six stops on the tour will be to HBCUs. Newton said the full schedule will be released soon.
Interestingly, Newton has also become a regular for First Take during its HBCU stops during the football season. It is unclear whether Newton’s college tailgate tour could overlap with the ESPN show’s plans.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.