NIL collective association elects leaders at first summit

As The Collective Association gathers in Orlando for its first-ever summit this week, the organization has elected its first batch of officials.

Launched in July with seven founding members, the association has since grown to 32 collectives in the last six months. The organization was formed last summer in the wake of the NCAA continuing its full-court press on Capitol Hill for NIL reform and more signs pointing toward athletes eventually earning employee status.

Hunter Baddour, the co-founder of the Tennessee-driven sports marketing agency Spyre Sports, has been elected as chairman. His vice chairman will be Walker Jones, the executive director of the Ole Miss-focused Grove Collective. Jones has emerged as a leader in the NIL space, testifying in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in October.

Russell White, the president of the marketing agency Oncoor, which manages and builds NIL collectives, has been elected to the role of president. White will be in charge of handling the day-to-day duties of the association.

Mackenzie Mulvey, who works with Baddour at Tennessee, will fill the role of treasurer. Ingram Smith has been elected to the role of secretary. He currently serves as the executive director of The Battle’s End, the main NIL collective at Florida State.

Georgia’s Matt Hibbs, Rob Sine the co-founder of Blueprint Sports, and South Carolina’s Jeremy Smith will serve on the board of directors.

The elections come after the NCAA launched an investigation into potential NIL violations at Tennessee earlier this week. The New York Times reported the search centers around Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava flying on a private airplane to Knoxville as a recruit, paid by Spyre Sports and its collective.

Sources at collectives have reacted to the news with anger, citing the frustrations of the NCAA trying to govern a part of college sports in which everyone is participating. The attorneys general of Tennessee and Virginia have since filed a lawsuit challenging the NCAA’s ban on NIL in high school recruiting. The NCAA recently levied sanctions on Florida State and is also investigating Florida for the Jaden Rashada saga. 

The collective association met with the NCAA and SEC in separate meetings this past summer to discuss a potential revenue-sharing model.