Louisville's 502 Circle NIL collective raises $50K in win over Notre Dame

Dan Furman had been waiting for a while for a Saturday night like that in Louisville.

The president of Louisville’s 502 Circle NIL collective reflected on the win over Notre Dame on Sunday morning. Sure, the Cardinals knocked off then-No. 10 Wake Forest last year.

But Saturday night’s win felt different. Louisville handled the Fighting Irish on a night that ultimately ended with Cardinal fans storming the field. With hometown son Jeff Brohm now as head coach, the Cards are 6-0 and appeared at No. 14 in Sunday’s AP poll, their highest ranking since the 2017 season.

Furman’s collective also had a successful Saturday night of fundraising. Announced as a “Flash Give” earlier in the week, during the first timeout of the second quarter, 502 Circle raised $50,849 for Louisville athletes. Fans were prompted to donate through in-venue QR codes and signage. Basepath assisted with the donation platform.

During the timeout, celebrities at the game including Donovan Mitchell, Jack Harlow and Peyton Siva all appeared on the video board, drawing even more attention to the Flash Give.

“From the jump, we have wanted to meet people where they are,” Furman told On3. “Being able to provide a way to support 502Circle inside L&N Stadium was important for us and the Louisville community. As NIL continues to evolve, we want to bring more creative ideas like this to the Louisville fan base. Their support has been incredible, and I know they will continue to rally around our athletes.”

Furman was also honest that this was a week-long effort, not something that just came together in a few moments during the game. The collective had been in touch with some major donors who committed to make substantial donations.

Along with promotion on social media and in radio spots throughout the week, 502 Circle benefited from its relationship with the Louisville athletic department. The entire campaign was able to happen thanks to the collective’s partnership agreement with Learfield’s Louisville Sports Properties, which allows for in-venue advertisement and sponsorship.

Louisville also sent out a press release about the Flash Give drive last Monday, providing links to QR codes and information on the goal behind the campaign.

“We’re very fortunate to have such great alignment between our athletic department, Louisville Sports Properties and 502Circle,” Louisville athletics told On3 in a statement. “A lot of schools and collectives are striving every day to get the type of cooperation we have. The collective recently signing an official partnership with LEARFIELD opens up a whole new world of possibilities of ways we can collaborate to help support our student-athletes through NIL. It’s not just about rights to marks and logos – it’s about integrating 502Circle into the Louisville experience.

“It was great to raise so much money last night from a wide variety of first-time donors to the collective, but most importantly, it provided a level of awareness and comfortability with 502Circle for our fan base that we need to continue to grow.”

Across the country, more and more collectives are entering partnerships with their athletic departments. Many are flashing their logos on videoboards during sporting events, drawing attention to their brand.

But 502 Circle’s first-of-its-kind Flash Give paid off in a major way. In an era where NIL is key in attracting and retaining talent, raising just over $50,000 will be key this offseason. It was a night filled of wins, including Louisville snapping Notre Dame’s 30-game regular-season conference winning streak.

“It takes a village to make NIL successful at a Power 5 program,” Furman said.