Athletic officials realize it's time to support NIL collectives or get left behind

When the NCAA clarified its interim NIL policy in late October, it opened the door for schools, athletic department officials and coaches to officially endorse booster-run collectives.

And in three short weeks, schools across the country have wasted little time throwing their support behind the groups that have become college sports’ key driving force in recruiting, roster maintenance and Transfer Portal.

Officially a member school is not able to provide financial support to a NIL collective, have an athletic department staff member employed by the booster-run organization or provide an incentive to drive funds to a collective.

But athletic departments are able to help fundraise for collectives, including, for example, an administrator appearing at events. They can also provide donor information and facilitate meetings between the collective and booster.

“People involved with high-level college athletics know how important NIL has become in recruiting and retention of both players and coaches,” Mit Winter, a sports attorney and NIL expert at Kennyhertz Perry LLC, said. “And collectives play a big part in a school’s NIL program since in many cases they are creating the majority of NIL opportunities for a school’s athletes. So, more schools and athletic administrators have realized they need the collectives, and that they need them to be well funded.

“With the NCAA now definitively saying schools and their employees can express support for collectives and ask donors and fans to make financial contributions to collectives, it makes sense that coaches and athletics administrators are going to publicly ask for that financial support.”

Many schools diving in with support of NIL collectives

Tennessee athletic director Danny White was one of the first to throw his support behind Spyre Sports and its Volunteer Club. He also endorsed the Lady Vol Boost Her Club, which has focused on women’s basketball and other female sports.

A day later, football coach Chris Klieman and basketball coach Jerome Tang appeared in advertisements for Wildcat NIL, one of two K-State-focused collectives.

“Through our premier K-State collective, Wildcat NIL, you can now directly impact the lives of our K-State student-athletes through Name, Image and Likeness,” Tang says in the spot. “It doesn’t matter if you have $5 or $500,000. We need everyone to join in. NIL is how we ensure K-State is successful. It will take the entire K-State family.”

K-State Family – tune in to @CoachKli and @CoachJTang talking about the importance of NIL @KstateAthletics!! It’s going to take EVERYONE to ensure we that we have the best NIL program in the Big 12!

Learn more at https://t.co/VkjqdyOZqn pic.twitter.com/NMtAPW2MJs

— Wildcat NIL (@WildcatNIL) November 4, 2022

Donations to collectives ‘game-changing piece’ of NIL puzzle

Since then, athletic officials and coaches across the country have rallied boosters to donate to collectives – including at schools that are going through coaching changes.

This includes Colorado interim coach Mike Sanford, who urged Buff fans to donate to the recently launched Buffs4Life NIL Collective.

“We’re in deep with a recruit, or a transfer, and even sometimes a personal connection to that transfer,” Sanford said. “We’re on the phone, everything’s good, there’s going to be an official visit and then all of a sudden it goes completely silent. You can’t get a text back, you can’t get any phone calls back.”

Sanford said CU coaches have been beaten out time after time by “literally $300,000 or $400,000” NIL deals on the recruiting trail.

“This is real,” Sanford said. “This is where we are stepping into this space as a football program. So, I’m calling on former Buffs players, I’m calling on people in the CU community that support football and want us to have a great product on the field. This is where we have to go. It is not something that’s just going to happen.

“This is going to be a game-changing piece of the puzzle for our program going forward.”

Even Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh joined the fray, announcing support of The Varsity Collective. At the forefront of McIntosh’s announcement were several mentions of charitable activity by the collective and Wisconsin student-athletes.

Additionally, Oklahoma president Joseph Harroz Jr. has spoken out in support of Crimson and Cream’s recent fundraising push.

“College athletics is changing right before our eyes,” Harroz said. “Our approved NIL collectives are primed to deploy resources to ensure that we are SEC-ready and that our student-athletes are on a level playing field and prepared to be great university ambassadors.”

Dam Nation becomes preferred Oregon State collective

Another area where we’ve seen movement since the clarification by the NCAA is that schools are officially tapping collectives publicly as the ones they want boosters to donate to and do business with.

Take the news last Thursday out of Oregon State.

Dam Nation Collective announced it received the designation as “The Preferred Collective of Oregon State Athletics” through a sponsorship agreement with LEARFIELD’s Beaver Sports Properties.

Through its sponsorship agreement with Beaver Sports Properties, Oregon State Athletics’ multimedia rightsholder, Dam Nation will have visibility across numerous official OSU platforms. The sponsorship initiative is separate from any activity related to funds associated with Dam Nation that may be allocated to student-athletes and teams as part of NIL opportunities.

Yet, it’s a clear sign that this Dam Nation is the collective that matters in the Oregon State NIL ecosystem.

“Our team has the opportunity of working with local, regional and national businesses that want to align with Oregon State Athletics and reach OSU’s passionate fans,” said Lucas Motta, Beaver Sports Properties’ general manager, said in a news release. “The mission statement behind Dam Nation showcases their passion for the student-athletes, and we can collaborate with them to bring the right NIL solutions to our brand sponsors to maximize their overall partnership in this NIL era while working with them to tell their brand story and connect with Beaver Nation.”

‘We have to be out front’

Even schools, such as Kentucky, that have been behind SEC rivals from full-on support of NIL collectives have changed their tune. Wildcat athletic director Mitch Barnhart released a statement on last week that included links to three collectives that are supporting UK athletes’ NIL opportunities, including the soon-to-launch 15 Club being operated by Athlete Advantage.

“In this new era of college athletics where athletes can take advantage of their Name, Image and Likeness, the landscape is constantly shifting,” Barnhart said. “We wholeheartedly embrace our athletes’ ability to earn from their NIL and continue to do everything we can to empower them to succeed.”

New Auburn athletic director John Cohen also gets the importance of supporting NIL – especially the school’s On To Victory collective.

“Certainly, now that it’s started, much like the space race in the 60s, we have to be out front,” Cohen told On3’s AuburnLive earlier this week. “We have to be aggressive and it’s the way of the world. We’re going to jump in with both feet. An incredible foundation has been laid at Auburn University, and it really speaks to the passion for Auburn University to see what’s already been done in this space. I’m excited to jump in and lock shields with the people that are part of the NIL process at Auburn.”

More collective support on the way

NIL experts say what we’ve seen over the last three weeks is a sign of what’s to come, as the walls between the athletic department, coaching offices and NIL collective operators have quickly deteriorated.

“I’m actually surprised we haven’t seen more coaches and ADs make these types of public statements since the NCAA issued its new guidance,” Winter said. “I expect we’ll see many more public statements of support for collectives in the coming weeks.”

Dan Greene, a NIL expert and associate attorney at Newman & Lickstein in Syracuse, N.Y., agreed.

“The latest NIL guidance from the NCAA essentially gave collectives the green light to go all in and sort of lifted the taboo surrounding them prior to the guidance,” Greene said.

“Since this guidance was released some college officials have started to officially promote their school’s collective since NIL and the longevity of major athletic programs are now tied together, which is something that the school’s biggest supporters need to know and embrace. These forward-thinking and proactive officials know that their ‘NIL program’, which includes its collectives, needs to be strong in order to compete. There is a danger for athletic departments that don’t embrace NIL that they’ll get left behind in this new era of college sports.”