How It Works Around Here

I've realized something the last 24 hours: I've done a TERRIBLE job explaining how subscriptions work around here. This article will be nothing more than an explanation of how it all works. I'm writing it so I can pin it to my Twitter profile for a while and point to it when asked a question about subscriptions.

I blame all of this on my refusal to talk about the website, here or on social media. I assume that people are just checking out the subscription descriptions or the FAQ page if they have a question and that's not always the case. I also don't post my articles on Twitter (I believe I've only linked to four of them in 2025) so thousands of my 24,000 Twitter followers don't even know I have a website. I can't tell you how many people have stopped me here or there after recognizing me from Twitter and then asked me, as part of our conversation, "so what do you do for a job?"

I like it that way. I built it that way. When I started my first blog in 2009, I put one link in two places (one on Illinois Loyalty, one on the old off-topic IlliniBoard message board, The Deuce) saying "I have started a blog" with a link to it. And I told myself that it would only grow if it was good enough and people shared it. I never wanted to talk people into reading my stuff. I wanted the writing to be good enough that everyone would find out about it.

I still have the same approach today. I rarely share articles anywhere. I've never shared them on Facebook. I've mentioned IlliniBoard subscriptions twice on Twitter in the last five years (this will be #3!). I don't even use #Illini hashtags. I wouldn't want someone to find IlliniBoard because some algorithm sent them there after a bunch of hashtags did their job; I want someone to find IlliniBoard because the articles are so good that everyone is telling them that they need to check it out.

My realization in the last 48 hours: because of this, and because we moved to a fully paywalled model five years ago (no more "three free reads and then for the fourth one, you have to pay"), no one knows how it works. Not even my own subscribers. I don't tweet about it, I don't talk about it, I don't write about it, and because of that, when I write an article saying "you guys know there's a ton of practice notes over on Slack, right?", I get emails from nearly 40 subscribers in the following 24 hours saying "hey Robert, I've been a subscriber for years now but I never checked out Slack - can you let me know how that works?"

That was a big light bulb for me. Last summer I didn't finish a series that I had promised to finish. I was surprised by the nature of the reaction. I'm fine with people unsubscribing because I didn't complete the task of giving them a certain series of articles. But the "you barely write anymore" accusations bothered me. I had written more Illini words than anyone in the month of August, including a 21,000-word football preview, and I "barely write anymore?"

The last 11 months have been this slow realization that this was all on me. Sure, I was putting up practice notes on Slack most evenings and I was writing a 21,000-word preview, but I wasn't telling anyone I was doing those things. I was just... sending the preview to subscribers at the upper levels and assuming everyone knew that there was lots of other content on Slack. From my window, there was a ton of content. And those receiving it seemed to really appreciate it. Why are so many people rage-quitting?

Because you're not explaining where this stuff exists and specifically what it costs to access it, you idiot. (That's me talking to me, by the way.)

This will then be that explanation. With a 650-word intro. Because that's how I do.

We launched the "new" IlliniBoard in September of 2020 (the week after the Big Ten reversed course and announced that there would be a season). We then made some changes to the structure in January of 2024 when we upgraded to a new system. The tiers within that current structure are what you see when you go to begin (or change) a subscription:

$25 is the introductory subscription. You get all of the articles on the site and have a full year to decide if you want to continue. After that year, your subscription renews at the Grange Membership level ($77, get it?) and that makes you a full member with access to all of the extras.

The $77 Grange Membership gets you the Slack channel (more on that in a bit), the season previews (football in late August, basketball in early November), and the monthly newsletter called "Slapdash". Slapdash is where I take a deep dive into a topic and send it only to the full (Grange) subscribers.

And then there's the Seventeen Club ($17 per month or $204 per year). That's just the supporter tier. It's a collection of people who are choosing to directly support me as I travel around the country following the Illini like they're my favorite band. We have a structure in place where the income at the other tiers is split between the three members of the LLC (Brumby, Tyler, and myself) at certain percentages. But the Seventeen Club is just the "support Robert directly" club. And with that support, they get all of the stuff from the Grange Membership plus some opportunities to hang out (which, I should note - look for an email very soon, Seventeeners).

So really all you need to know is that there's a $25 introductory price (no extras, though) and a $77 base price. The original format was $30-$60-$90, but then we changed that to $25 per year (and made it the intro price), $77 per year, and $17 per month. Which means that yes, there are many you still at the original $30 subscription (with no extras). I've left that grandfathered for now. If you want to move up a tier, you can use the Account page to do that. If not, just keep on reading the site with no extras.

What's Slack? Let's go through that.

Slack is a communication platform. Many people have it at work so they can discuss projects online with coworkers. You know, the whole "workflow" thing where Sherri uploads the latest deliverable and then everyone makes comments while Mark just makes jokes (freakin' Mark). We use it as a message board of sorts.

The thing I didn't realize until the last 24 hours: by saying "we use it as a message board of sorts", people, even subscribers from the past five years, don't realize that a lot of the stuff I used to put on the site now goes on Slack. Stuff that I wouldn't ever want a Minnesota coach to read on the website with a quickie subscription. Stuff I want to keep out of view (like, you know, football practice notes). All of that goes on Slack.

No, it's not an "insider" thing. I have no information to share. I've never once in my life said that I'm "hearing" that things are looking up for {insert basketball recruit}. Slack is a way for me to deliver things right to those Grange and Seventeen Club subscribers. And I get to hand out the invitations, so I'll catch PJ Fleck if he tries to get in, even if he uses a fake email address. Slack is... my safe space to share things away from the website. (And it's also game threads and off-topic boards and other stuff that comes with a message board.)

There you have it. That's how things work around here. If you are having issues with logging in or upgrading your subscription or anything like that, the FAQ page at the top will likely have your answer. Or you can always email me at robert@illiniboard.com.

And if you're interested in subscribing, just click on the orange subscribe button up in the corner....

....and then choose your subscription level ($25 for an introductory year or $77 to get the extras). Just don't choose Seventeen Club if you're new. We don't know each other yet. That would be weird.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming. (Including practice notes on Slack!)