Q&A with Purdue collective Boilermaker Alliance CEO Dave Neff

Dave Neff has been CEO of Purdue’s exclusive collective, The Boilermaker Alliance, for the past three months. He sat down for an interview for the March 2 edition of Saturday Simulcast/Gold and Black LIVE.

Neff has served in various business capacities in the Indianapolis area, including most recently as chief growth officer for Indianapolis-based growth firm Prolific. He previously was the CEO of Edge Mentoring in Indy and was a member of the 2024 NBA All-Star Host Committee. Neff also worked with Pacers Sports and Entertainment from 2011-15. 

Here’s our interview which has been edited for length and clarity.

GoldandBlack.com: How have the first three months on the job gone for you? 

Neff: It’s been fast and furious, but I think we’re making some good headway and are excited to share some updates with your audience.

GoldandBlack.com: Purdue’s basketball season has served as an important backdrop to raising awareness of The Boilermaker Alliance.

Neff: Well, it’s an exciting time, especially for a newcomer like me, to be joining Boiler Nation. There’s probably not been this level of anticipation any higher for Purdue fans. Purdue’s NCAA path could be from Indy to Detroit and then (hopefully) Phoenix. A big March and, hopefully, April could translate into great visibility for our work at the Alliance.

GoldandBlack.com: Let’s address the basics. Why does the Collective exist, and what is its purpose?

Neff: It exists to support the advancement of NIL (name-image-likeness) opportunities for Purdue student athletes and, and like it or not, it’s it’s part of the equation right in today’s landscape of, of college athletics.

I live outside Purdue, I’m not a Purdue athletics employee. However, with Boilermaker Alliance, the exclusive collective of Purdue athletics, I feel like I’m an extension of the team. We collaborate closely with John Purdue Club and other sports administrators inside athletics. That level of trust and alignment is key for moving the ball down the field, whether it’s fundraising or raising the brand and the visibility of Boilermaker Alliance.

GoldandBlack.com: In his interview with Tom Dienhart, Ryan Walters did a good job outlining the need for a strong collective. How have things gone for football?

Neff: Many people have stepped up and we have seen significant growth year over year. We have also appreciated our partnership with Gold and Black as we continue to grow the membership model.  Our work is both charitable and for-profit, and we have a couple of different lanes to utilize.  We raise funds in the 501c3 charitable space as the student-athletes go into the community to lift organizations like the Boys and Girls Club, Versiti Blood Bank, and reading at elementary schools. That’s a neat opportunity for them to have as part of their experience at Purdue. We look at the for profit side in NiL deals for student athletes.

GoldandBlack.com: You had an anonymous donor come forward to support the membership model.

Neff: The membership model starts as low as $25 a month. An anonymous donor has pledged to match up to $2 million in new memberships. So, we want to grow the membership model and would love to have 3000 to 4000 members eventually. I think it’s feasible with a living alumni base of 600,000. 

A strong membership model allows us a more sustainable, recurring revenue stream than just writing big checks yearly. Many people have already contributed to the success, and we’re working daily to create creative ways to drive revenue.

GoldandBlack.com: What role has exclusive content played in the membership model?

Neff: For example, the Walters interview (at the top of the page) is 25 minutes of content that I think any Purdue football fan would love to see. We’ve also interviewed all the transfer portal players we picked up in the last few months. We will continue to invest there to have exclusive content that goes above and beyond the great content you guys already provide to GoldandBlack.com subscribers.

Note: GoldandBlack.com subscribers joining the Boilermaker Alliance monthly membership program will receive the same GoldandBlack.com content, Knucklehead Central premium message board content, and access to exclusive Boilermaker Alliance videos and more.

GoldandBlack.com: How has it been for you working with the coaches, especially in football?

Neff:  My experience is that the coaches will bend backward to make this work. They’ve been great partners regarding whether it’s the student-athletes getting out and serving, which is part of their contract with the Alliance. My staff colleague, Mady Daddario, does a great job coordinating with the charities and the student-athletes. There’s a lot of busy schedules to navigate. The coaches and their staff are great partners and are trying to help us capture videos of how NIL (has positively) impacted student-athletes and their families. It shows how it’s enabled them to use some of that money so that their parents or family members to attend games (flights, hotels, etc). Things that add up are certainly well above and beyond the scholarships that they receive. There are a lot of bases to cover, but that level of cooperation and collaboration is key.

GoldandBlack.com: The story of Lance Jones and how NIL funds helped him during a family crisis has been well documented. 

Neff: The (BTN’s) Journeytold the story well, but when Lance transferred, his father passed away suddenly. The Purdue men’s basketball team was able to attend the funeral, which lifted his spirits. Some of his NIL funds allowed his family to watch him play in the Maui Invitational. It was a huge plus for him in the most difficult of times. 

GoldandBlack.com: Boilermaker Alliance also seeks other marketing deals to help the collective.

Neff: We have a deal with Homefield Apparel, a great retail company out of Indianapolis. Purdue fans can support the collective by going to their site and using the code BoilerUp24, which will help support BA. 

We also have an NIL store in West Lafayette, currently outside the collective, but that’s a great way for student-athletes to monetize their name, image, and likeness directly. They get a cut of every T-shirt sold, and the funds go directly to the student-athletes. We will probably continue to see more of these sorts of marketing partnerships. There are a lot of other categories where I think we can get creative.

GoldandBlack.com: Where do you see this collective world going?

Neff: This is a popular question. There are legal matters in the news every other week, but for us, we need to push forward.  We will relentlessly pursue creative revenue ways to drive revenue through charitable dollars, our membership revenue, and potential corporate deals. That’s our focus. We won’t get too swept up in what it may look like a year or three years from now.  Will it look different? More than likely, yes. But in the near term, we want to focus on what we can control because there’s a lot out there that we can’t control. 

GoldandBlack.com: What have been your impressions of Ryan Walters having had to work so closely with him and his staff? 

Neff: Much of what he has to do wasn’t in the job description a couple of years ago. He’s been a great partner in saying, “Hey, Dave, who can I call?’ He’ll make those calls. He’s not just saying, ‘Hey, where’s the money!’ He’s willing to be a partner, and having those conversations and casting and laying out his vision for supporters of Purdue football He’s been a fantastic partner, This is a big priority of his in the spring as he laid out in the interview with you guys.

GoldandBlack.com: What else is on the radar for other sports?

Neff: We have always prioritized men’s basketball, women’s basketball, football, and volleyball. We haven’t touched on all those in this interview, but that’s our priority. We can receive funds for any varsity sport beyond those four. 

My encouragement would be to get on the Boilermaker Alliance website. Become a member, and you’ll get access to this exclusive content. Again, we’ve got a generous, anonymous match for up to $2 million towards new membership. That’s the best way to engage with the collective right now.

We’ve got to get this flywheel going.

Neff’s interview on Saturday Simulcast begins at the 18-minute mark in the YouTube clip below.