NIL collectives embrace the spirit with Halloween events

Halloween is on Monday and several NIL collectives recently facilitated NIL opportunities with college athletes to embrace the holiday spirit. The NIL activities ranged from handing out candy to children to walking through a haunted trail.

The phrase NIL collective is a catch-all term for various organizations, including marketing agencies and nonprofit organizations. They typically operate independently of the universities whose athletes they support through the facilitation of NIL opportunities. Here you can view the On3 database of NIL collectives.

Last weekend, Virginia Tech wrestler Mekhi Lewis and several of his teammates went to Hexed Haunted Attraction in Elliston, Virginia, as part of an NIL opportunity with the attraction.

Lewis signed with the Virginia Tech-focused marketing agency Triumph NIL in September.

“Everybody is really nervous here,” Lewis says, while filming a selfie video that’s part of a compilation that was posted on Triumph NIL’s Twitter account. “I’m not nervous, you know.”

The video shows Lewis lifting his hat so one of the employees can mark fake blood on his forehead in the haunted trail.

“When they scream at me, I’m a scream back,” he said.

An employee screams and Lewis grabs as teammate’s arm as he steps backwards.

“You got me. See, I knew it!” Lewis said.

One of the last scenes shows an employee at the haunted trail who’s wearing a mask and with a chainsaw in hand chasing after Lewis.

“I do not play when it comes to chainsaws,” Lewis says, out of breath, at the end of the video.

Last weekend #TriumphAthlete @m_lewiss22 and several of his #VTWrestling teammates visited the @hexedhauntedattraction in Elliston, #VA. If you are in the #Blacksburg area and looking to have a good scare this #Halloween, be sure to visit Hexed before it ends! pic.twitter.com/CKkU7bUiY8

— Together We Triumph (@Triumph_NIL) October 25, 2022

NIL collectives at Florida State, UNLV arrange trick-or-treating opportunities

On Friday, numerous Florida State athletes attended “Trunk or Treat” at Sabal Palm Elementary in Tallahassee. The opportunity was facilitated by Rising Spear, a Florida-State focused NIL collective.

The athletes in attendance included football and softball players, plus Florida State cheerleaders.

UNLV athletes participated in a similar event earlier in the week.

UNLV quarterback Doug Brumfield II, EDGE Adam Plant Jr. and linebacker Elijah Shelton participated in a trick-or-treating event with the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation. Friends of UNLV, an NIL collective powered by Blueprint Sports, helped facilitate the opportunity.

The players handed out candy in front of the open trunk of a car, which was decorated with fake cobwebs and spiders.

Trick or Treat! 👻🍬

We had a spectacularly spooky time with @NVCCF helping make sure every child has a safe and fun Halloween 🎃#BeARebel | #FriendsofUNILV #NIL pic.twitter.com/AgeemKDjOc

— Friends of UNILV (@FriendsOfUNILV) October 26, 2022

The trick-or-treating opportunities are some of the latest examples of how NIL opportunities can be used to help athletes give back to their communities.