The Swarm Collective launches to support Iowa athletes through NIL

Iowa was among the last Big Ten schools to receive the support of an NIL collective. That changed Thursday with the announcement that The Swarm Collective launches next week. An introductory press conference is scheduled for next Tuesday.

Hawk Central reported football coach Kirk Ferentz, men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery and women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder will be involved in the press conference.

Iowa alum and former Hawkeyes golfer Brad Heinrichs is the CEO of The Swarm Collective.

“As a former student-athlete at the University of Iowa, I am excited to form The Swarm Collective — a non-profit corporation that contracts with Iowa’s student-athletes to serve the community,” Heinrichs said in the release. “NIL is a wonderful tool for student-athletes to be able to profit from their name, image and likeness. Our objective is to use their popularity for the benefit of the Iowa community by raising money or providing services to local charities and other non-profit organizations.”

What is a collective?

NIL collectives are groups typically launched by fans of a specific school that pool contributions, which are then paid to athletes in exchange for NIL-related services, such as social media posts or public appearances. A collective can be a catch-all term for various groups that are designed to promote NIL opportunities for athletes at a specific school, or even a specific athletic program. Some collectives are registered as an LLC while others have filed for non-profit status, such as The Swarm Collective.

Collectives are most common at the Power 5 level, especially in the Big Ten and SEC. Some collectives have already merged, such as Florida State’s Rising Spear and Warpath 850.

Here you can read more about NIL collectives, including their origin, the different types of collectives and how they operate.

The Swarm Collective joins the Iowa City NIL Club

The Swarm Collective is the second NIL-related group recently announced to support Iowa athletes. The Iowa City NIL Club is one of the YOKE-backed membership-based communities where every football player on a team can opt into the club and receive an equal share of the revenue.

Michigan State right guard Matt Carrick, who’s part of the East Lansing NIL Club, said the players will receive 75% of the revenue.

The Iowa City NIL Club launched Friday. Fans can pay $199 per year for an Access Pass, according to Hawk Central, and it will provide access to in-person events and exclusive digital content.

Potential preseason All-American defensive back Riley Moss told reporters he’s not participating in the Iowa City NIL Club, even though he said about 70% of the Hawkeyes have joined the club.

“I stayed out of it just because I kind of want to focus on some football things and that would be taking up a lot of my time,” Moss told Hawkeye Report. “I’m here to play some football. It’s not the best for me. But it’s good for some of these guys to get some of that exposure. It’ll be good for them.”