How can Eleven Warriors – one of the most trafficked, influential and highly-regarded sports sites on the internet – fulfill its mission delivering free, best-in-class Ohio State athletics coverage?
Welcome to the 12th Warrior program, where everybody eats.
12W is a selfless perks program for readers who have a little extra money to help accomplish the opposite of the paywall system: It is designed to upgrade and enhance Eleven Warriors for everybody, whether they're a 12th Warrior or not. This is about supporting a site you love and paying forward for readers who can't.
But 12W is not without exclusive perks either. Membership includes the following treats - which should keep the site 100% safe from becoming chippy, tribal or degraded:
- A voucher for $40 off any purchase from Eleven Warriors Dry Goods. Have your eye on a t-shirt? Get that. A hat? It's yours. Some stickers, a flask, and some other things? Treat yourself.
- The opportunity to purchase new goods before they're promoted in the wild and sell out. We'll also run some of our commercial ideas and decisions by you for your blessing and feedback before we act on them.
- Exclusive experiences and events. In our world, this means tailgates, happy hours, and other things we can do to get together and reward members for paying forward.
- Access to the Premium Lounge forum. Yes, it's real and it's spectacular.
- The pride of knowing you've paid forward and helped make Eleven Warriors the highest-quality destination for Buckeye enthusiasts while keeping it free for thousands of people who may never know or be able to personally thank you.
By becoming a 12th Warrior, you'll help us fulfill our mission by…
- Keeping the site free for all with no paywall.
- Helping fund travel to events not often covered by other media organizations, like the All-American Bowl, the Senior Bowl, the NFL Draft, The Opening, and funding coverage of Ohio State wrestling, ice hockey, women's basketball, and other sports often ignored by other outlets that cover the Buckeyes.
- Empowering us to invest in new technologies and additional server capacity for a site that sees massive traffic, particularly during football season when millions of fans visit each month.
Sound good? You might have some questions. We have answers.
HOW MUCH DOES COST TO BECOME A 12th WARRIOR?
12th Warrior runs $85 a year. That's one dollar for every yard of one of the greatest runs you've ever seen in your life.
That's 23 cents a day for a site staffed by a team that is relentless in bringing fans comprehensive Ohio State coverage, reasoned sports takes and a vibrant community.
CAN ANYONE BECOME A 12th WARRIOR?
12W candidates must have an 11W account in good standing. Trolls, troublemakers, and accounts not with a negative helmet stickers balance: we cannot accept your money. Sorry.
HOW DO I GET MY VOUCHER FOR $40 OFF AT THE STORE?
Vouchers are automatically emailed to new 12th Warriors within days of signing up. Please make sure the email address tied to your account is current and if you have any issues at all, feel free to reach out to us at contact@elevenwarriors.com.
THIS SOUNDS GREAT. WHAT IF I WANT TO RENEW AFTER A YEAR?
No problem, friend. Your account is set up to automatically renew after one year. Don't want to renew? Simply uncheck the auto-renew setting on your account page. There's no phone number to call or email to send because that's annoying.
Oh, you'll also receive a new $40 voucher for Eleven Warriors Dry Goods every year when you renew, too, so your wardrobe will always be on point.
WHAT ABOUT REFUNDS, FREE TRIAL PERIODS, DISCOUNTS, ETC?
All sales are final. There will never be a free 12th Warrior trial period and there will never be a discount code. This is a pay-what-you-want web site, as long as what you want to pay is $85 or $0. We think that's simpler.
CAN MY 12W MEMBERSHIP BE TERMINATED WITHOUT NOTICE OR REFUND?
No. You would get a friendly warning and possibly a second and third chance. There's nothing we hate more than jailing posters. Terminating 12W accounts sounds worse.
We hope that never happens but this site will not get tribal, nor will 12W entitle anyone to sidestep commenting policy or demonstrate abusive behavior.
WHAT IF I'M UNABLE TO BECOME A 12th WARRIOR?
No problem, friend. Just continue enjoying the amazing, free coverage at Eleven Warriors like you currently do. Want to support us in other forms? We appreciate every contribution, whether big or small.
