NIL collective 502Circle adds 40 Louisville athletes in latest class

Forty Louisville athletes will use their name, image and likeness rights in association with the collective 502Circle as part of the collective’s latest class of athletes. 502Circle announced the additions on Monday.

The majority of the athletes in the collective’s latest class are football players, including many projected starters and high-level contributors, plus men’s basketball players. All of the athletes will partner with businesses and nonprofit organizations during the 2023-24 school year, according to a news release.

502Circle declined to share the names of the athletes, although those will be made public in the future as the athletes begin to engage with businesses and nonprofit organizations.

Why did 502Circle announce the number of athletes but not the names?

“For us, it really comes down to keeping the integrity of the athletes that we’re working with, making sure that we do the best we can to protect them and their business activities,” 502Circle President Dan Furman said Monday in a phone interview. “We figured it would be more valuable from a marketing standpoint for that to come out naturally and not necessarily force it through a release or a social pump like this.”

502Circle will announce the signings of more Louisville athletes later this summer.

“At 502Circle, we look to work with athletes that are going to make an impact both on-campus and in the community,” Furman said. “This is high-level group of individuals that we’re excited to expose to a variety of business opportunities in the coming months.”

502Circle’s leadership for NIL collective

In April, 502Circle announced its first two full-time hires with Furman and director of operations Samantha Delph. Furman previously worked for the Cardinal Athletic Fund as an associate director of development, major gifts. Delph’s previous role was as the marketing and community outreach manager for the Cincinnati Reds‘ Triple-A affiliate, the Louisville Bats.

Louisville alum Marc Spiegel founded 502Circle last summer. Its Athlete Advisory Board features decorated former Louisville athletes. They include former Louisville football players in longtime NFL quarterback Chris Redman, former offensive lineman Jake Smith and former wide receiver Miguel Montano.

Former No. 1 overall WNBA draft pick Angel McCoughtry, former Louisville basketball player and coach David Padgett, and former men’s basketball player Larry O’Bannon Jr. represent the Cardinals’ men’s and women’s basketball programs. Plus, NCAA champion swimmer Mallory Comerford, former softball player Shea Beckwith, former field hockey player Jenna Ahern and former volleyball player Maya McClendon are also on the board.