Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — After setting a company goal to raise money for a charity, a Salt Lake man decided to use his friends and family’s fierce sports rivalry to garner funds.
Diehard Utah fan Spencer Hall was not always a Utes fan. Hall said he grew up in Provo cheering on the Cougars with his family. He attended BYU Idaho for a few years, but in 2003 he “decided on a whim” to transfer to the University of Utah.
“I took so much flak from all my family for being a turncoat that it just galvanized me and now I’m a diehard U. of U. fan and BYU hater,” Hall said.
After receiving his bachelor’s degree and law degree from the U., Hall sealed his loyalty and now runs his company’s tailgate parties for the football games. When his company decided to have each employee raise $200 for the nonprofit organization Charity: Water, Hall said he knew where his contribution would come from.
Hall decided he would drum up support from BYU fans by offering to wear a BYU T-shirt to a Utes game if his friends and family could raise $200.
“I just had that idea that if I was willing to throw myself out as a sacrificial lamb, some of my BYU friends would jump all over that,” he said. “So I threw (the page) up there and sure enough they ran with it.”
Max Hall is public enemy No. 1 at Rice-Eccles Stadium. I'm just going to get destroyed if I wear that (jersey) in there. So if they can get to $1,000, I guess I will go put my life on the line.
–Spencer Hall
Hall said that after he posted the fundraiser page online, his friends and family raised the funds within one hour. So he decided to “up the ante” by offering to wear a Taysom Hill jersey if they could raise $500 and he agreed to wear a Max Hall jersey to a U. game if $1,000 could be raised.
“Max Hall is public enemy No. 1 at Rice-Eccles Stadium,” Hall said. “I’m just going to get destroyed if I wear that (jersey) in there. So if they can get to $1,000, I guess I will go put my life on the line.”
In an effort to raise more money, Hall started another donation page for his U. friends and said if they could raise more money than the BYU donation page, then he would only have to wear a T-shirt to the game and not the jerseys. However, as of Friday afternoon, the U. page only had a $20 donation while the BYU page had $270.
While the rivalry between Hall and his friends and family can get heated, Hall said it’s good humored and a fun way to raise money for a good cause.
“We have a good time with it,” he said. “It’s all in good jest. We make it pretty intense, but it’s all in good fun.”
Hall will pay up on his deal by wearing BYU swag when the University of Southern California plays at the U. on Saturday, Oct. 25.
*KSL.com has not verified the accuracy of the information provided with respect to the account nor does KSL.com assure that the monies deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
