Arkansas player-driven NIL collective continues new trend

The list of player-led NIL collectives continues to grow.

After Michigan State’s East Lansing NIL Club and Auburn’s Plains NIL Club launched earlier this month, football players at Arkansas announced they have also formed their own collective.

The Razorback group is called the Fayetteville NIL Club. The group announced its formation with a post on social media Tuesday morning.

“The era of NIL is here,” the post said. “Name, Image, and Likeness has captured national headlines about how it will impact the transfer portal and recruiting. As players dedicated to our team and winning a national championship, we aren’t interested in the noise.

“There is a better way for us to use NIL to enhance our program and support our mission of winning. Arkansas football is about the TEAM. With this in mind, we have come together to launch the Fayetteville NIL Club.”

Fayetteville NIL Club allows exclusive access

The Fayetteville NIL Club is a membership-based community. It allows “fans to access the players like never before.”

Players will partner with YOKE, a licensing company with a gaming background, to operate the collective.

Arkansas offensive lineman Devon Manuel, cornerback Malik Chavis, EDGE Landon Jackson, linebacker Marco Avant, tight end Dax Courtney and quarterback Kade Renfro were just a few of the players indicating they were involved in the collective.

“We will have an online community where fans can chat with us and get access to exclusive behind-the-scenes content from all the guys on the team,” the announcement said. “The proceeds from the club will support every single member of the team who is participating. Including everyone will allow us to reach our maximum potential both on and off the field.

Additionally, beginning in July 2022, the group will sell a limited number of Fayetteville NIL Club Access Passes. The digital Access Passes will be the “ticket to the online community” and “in-person player events.”

Player-led collectives new trend across country

When Michigan State football players launched the East Lansing NIL Club, they set off a new era of collectives in college sports.

The player-led group was the first of its kind. Aimed at connecting the athletes directly to fans, it takes out the third party. Collectives have been the biggest trend to emerge in the new era of NIL. Often founded by prominent alumni and influential supporters, school-specific collectives pool funds from a wide swath of donors to help create NIL opportunities for student-athletes through an array of activities.

Typically independent of the university, collectives look to support players financially. This latest launch from Michigan State, Auburn, and now Arkansas, has the same action plan. But fan engagement will be the driving force.

Furthermore, experts are not surprised by players moving to have a seat at the table. The move also gives student-athletes the opportunity to have the cash funnel directly to them.

“I’m not surprised that they are giving it a try,” Mit Winter, a sports attorney at Kansas City-based Kennyhertz Perry LLC, said after the Michigan State collective launched. “With players running the collective, theoretically more of the revenue generated by the collective will flow to the players than with a collective run by a third-party business.”

And on top of that, the accessibility to coaching staffs is much easier.

“Even if a state law prevents a school and its employees from communicating with a collective, the school and employees would still be communicating with the athletes about other things,” Winter added. “If there is strict adherence to a law like that they’d be prevented from talking about the collective and its activities. But it would be difficult to keep athletics issues and collective issues separate when talking.”