Rising Spear showcases support for FSU female athletes with latest NIL deal

Florida State-focused NIL collective Rising Spear is a major supporter of Seminole female student-athletes. And Rising Spear’s latest NIL deal is another example of that backing.

Rising Spear facilitated a new NIL partnership with Seminoles beach volleyball star Maddie Anderson and Garnet & Gold, which is known as Tallahassee’s last locally-owned Florida State apparel store.

Anderson is 75-19 over the past three seasons at Florida State. She was an AVCA All-America pick in 2022 after finishing with a 31-12 record and 14 wins against top-10 ranked opponents. She was also named to the CCSA all-academic team, all-conference team and all-tournament team for the 2022 season. Anderson was a member of the USA Volleyball Beach Collegiate National Team in 2022 and the 2021 U21 Beach National Team.

As part of the NIL deal, Garnet & Gold will be selling officially licensed Anderson jerseys in its store. The Retro Brand women’s tank tops sell for $39.99 and are available currently on Garnet & Gold’s website in sizes adult small through extra-large.

“Beach volleyball has had tremendous success over the past six years, and Maddie Anderson went from Court 1 of the NCAA championship to three medals over the following months with USA Beach Volleyball traveling the world,” Rising Spear Chief Operating Officer Will Cowen told On3. “Not all expenses were covered for these trips and six scholarships are divided amongst her teammates.

“Maddie was a perfect candidate for our Rising Spear Female Ambassador program and for the Garnet & Gold partnership. An investment in Rising Spear allows us to create opportunities like this for all interested student-athletes to reduce college debt, save for future plans beyond FSU and make valuable connections with alumni, fans and business partners.”

NIL deals with female stars are a priority for Rising Spear

This is hardly the first female sports-focused NIL dealing that Rising Spear has engaged in.

This past October, Rising Spear helped Garnet & Gold strike a deal to sell FSU soccer star Jenna Nighswonger replica jerseys to help raise funds for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Nighswonger ended up being the fourth overall pick in the 2023 NWSL draft by Gotham FC. The collective also has executed teamwide NIL deals with both the men’s and women’s basketball teams, the volleyball team, soccer, tennis, beach volleyball, softball and baseball programs. Cowen said the “women’s softball and soccer ambassadors paved the way to success with co-branded merchandise sales in 2022, so don’t be surprised if more female-focused NIL deals are in the works.

Rising Spear continues to make big NIL moves

Rising Spear was one of the first NIL collectives launched in the country back in December 2021, and it also generated headlines when it became the first known collective to merge with another group when it absorbed Warpath 850 in May 2022.

Additionally, FSU athletic officials endorsed Rising Spear in late January. The announcement was made possible through a partnership between Learfield and Seminole Sports Properties.

Moves like that and deals supporting female student-athletes further cement Rising Spear’s place as one of the top NIL collectives in the country.

“Rising Spear will soon become synonymous with the standard of excellence set forth by the entire athletic department and Seminole Boosters – alignment and daily communication have enabled our brand recognition to grow and serve more student-athletes,” Cowen recently told On3. “Our organization has amassed over 1,800 donors who have empowered us to execute over 200 NIL deals representative of 10 sports including 100% of the ‘NIL eligible’ men’s and women’s basketball scholarship players.”