UCF collectives Mission Control, The Kingdom NIL announce merger

One of the biggest focuses of Year 2 of NIL is the consolidation of collectives throughout the country. That trend continued Monday with the announcement that the top two collectives at UCF were merging.

An announcement posted on social media said Mission Control is combining with The Kingdom NIL. As part of the announcement, Mission Control encouraged all of its members to “now support The Kingdom” and said more details would be released soon.

Collective is a catch-all term for various organizations that facilitate NIL opportunities. When NIL became a reality in July 2021, there was a race to start groups at schools across the country. That race resulted in a number of schools having representation by multiple different collectives, which is something that complicates fund-raising opportunities.

Consolidation can be a win, though. With a one-stop shop for fans to donate, it can streamline the process of raising funds. That’s largely why we’ve seen collective mergers all over the country, including at top programs such as Ohio State, Oklahoma, Florida State and Texas.

UCF latest market where collectives merged

Mission Control was co-founded by former star UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton in February 2022. The collective was powered by Dreamfield, which offers a platform for brands and student-athletes to conduct NIL deals. Mission Control had been extremely active in signing players since its inception, including as recently as in early February when it announced multiple new student-athlete ambassadors.

The Kingdom was founded in May 2022 by Tom McNamara with more than $1 million in funds pledged from donors. Mission Control worked with student-athletes in a number of different sports. The Kingdom has been mainly focused on NIL deals with the football program. Additionally, the collective received official recognition from UCF athletic director Terry Mohajir in January.

“The Kingdom NIL is an official sponsor of UCF Athletics and was founded by a group of trusted and passionate alumni and Varsity Knights to improve the lives of UCF student-athletes during their college careers and into their professional lives,” Mohajir said at the time. “The Kingdom NIL’s mission is to enrich, enhance and empower the lives of UCF student-athletes.”

Proud to be an official sponsor of UCFAA and support our student athletes with NIL. #kingdomNIL #ChargeOn pic.twitter.com/nbz8ZUULwa

— The Kingdom NIL (@KingdomNIL) January 13, 2023

More mergers expected

Several observers told On3 they anticipate more collective mergers in the future. The experts say consolidation makes sense and helps the collectives build a larger war chest for recruiting and retention efforts.

“I think it’s better for everyone involved,” Peter Schoenthal, CEO of Athliance, recently told On3. “One of the issues with NIL is that confusion leads to inaction. When fans, boosters and student-athletes have too many places to go or don’t know where to go, they tend to not get involved. Furthermore, every collective at a school tends to specialize or do one thing well that the others do not.

“By merging and coming together, you are removing the fog of confusion and creating a unified front that allows everyone to get involved and therefore succeed. Collectives at universities should not be competing where ultimately they share a common goal.”