Wisconsin relaunches Varsity Collective with major alumni backing

Wisconsin has relaunched its Varsity Collective, with a plan to provide NIL opportunities with a focus on life experiences.

When the collective initially launched earlier this summer, it had plenty of support. Former Wisconsin quarterback Brooks Bollinger and mega-donor Ted Kellner were main supporters of the first initiative, and they will be major names on the relaunch.

They won’t be the only ones, though. Russell Wilson, JJ Watt, Meghan Duggan, Joe Thomas and Sam Dekker are just a few of the former Wisconsin athletes who have committed to helping the collective in the re-launch. Coaches from across Wisconsin athletics also attended a press conference Thursday.

Varsity Collective will focus on achieving two goals: maximizing NIL opportunities while also equipping Wisconsin student-athletes with lifelong experiences for their post-athletic careers.

“From our perspective institutionally it was important to have a group that wanted to affiliate with us that was also aligned to what we view ourselves to be all about here,” said Brian Mason, Wisconsin’s Director of NIL Strategy told On3. “And that’s holistic support of the student-athlete. From everything that we’ve come to understand about The Varsity Collective and what their model is, I think that fits the bill. They have the good intent of supporting student-athletes not just in the NIL space but also helping prepare them to take advantage of everything that comes along with NIL deals.”

Wisconsin alum and outgoing Unilever executive Rob Master will serve as the collective’s executive chair and help oversee day-to-day operations. Varsity Collective’s programming will based off its “four-pillar playbook” of NIL support, NIL branding support, fundraising and networking with Wisconsin alumni.

“How do we understand that this is a temporary moment in time for the student athlete of playing for four years?” Master said to On3. “And if you think about it, 98 percent of these student-athletes are going to be professionals in something else that’s not sports. So how do we help prepare those athletes for life after they are students. So, we built an entire programming around student development to really help kind of shepherd and support the student-athlete, in addition to working with them on NIL.”

Putting Varsity Collective NIL playbook into action

The Varsity Collective’s NIL programing with student-athletes will be centered around the Rep Yourself Program. Athletes will work with Wisconsin alumni, such as Meta’s Kevin Hein and David Yurman vice president of marketing Rachel Goldflam, on personal branding and navigating NIL contracts.

The second program will be Life Currency. Former Wisconsin athletes will speak to current student-athletes about their experiences and act as mentors. The collective also plans to focus on building its own brand, with podcasts launching with notable alumni.

• “The Varsity Beat,” hosted by former Badgers basketball star Sam Dekker
• “Badger Bigs,” hosted by former Wisconsin football star Joe Thomas and his wife, former Wisconsin women’s basketball player, Annie Thomas

Wisconsin joins the NIL collective scene late, though. The Varsity Collective is the only NIL collective working to bring Badgers athletes deals. At last glance, the On3 NIL Collective database had more than 150 organizations at Division I schools.

The collective scene has also played a major role in pay-to-play in NIL. There’s the infamous story of the class of 2023 five-star prospect who signed a multi-million deal with a school’s NIL collective. More and more blue-chip recruits are signing contracts before they enroll.

That is something Master and the Varsity Collective know they need to combat.

“This is about balancing this moment in time to make sure that we are maximizing NIL for our student-athletes and all the opportunities,” Master said. “And then raising them up in other ways. So I think we’re going to be very competitive as a collective. If you just just think about Wisconsin, our footprint, our 400,000 plus alumni base, you know, we have large concentrations in markets like Chicago, New York, LA, Dallas, Houston, Milwaukee and Minneapolis. Our focus is on making Wisconsin fans and alumni proud.”