Athletes.org, Hotty Toddy, Michigan & Peloton, + ICYMI | NIL Newsletter #176
Welcome to the NIL Newsletter by Optimum Sports Consulting - providing valuable, actionable NIL resources for athletes, administrators, agencies and other sport professionals.
Quick Hitters:
Jim Cavale and Brandon Copeland Launch Athletes.org
Cavale, the founder and former CEO of INFLCR, and Copeland, a former Penn and NFL linebacker, launched Athletes.org on Wednesday morning.
The non-profit organization aims to provide “on-demand support to athletes […] while providing a platform to speak on the future of college sports.”
The organization is open to high-school student-athletes currently committed to play in college, college student-athletes, and current and former professional athletes.
“For a long time, there have been a lot of organizations and associations for everyone else, except for the athletes,” Cavale said. “I mean, the NCAA has been the association for college athletics programs for over a century. The AFCA has been the association for head football and assistant football coaches for a long time, and I can keep going right back to ADs, etc. There’s never really been an association for college athletes.”
The website is available HERE.
The Grove Collective’s Massive Fundraising Effort
The Grove Collective’s “Grove Collection Week” began on Monday, and raised $1.7 million nearly instantly, over half of the week’s $3 million target.
“It was the first day of school [Monday],” The Grove Collective executive director Walker Jones. “So we had athletes on campus for the first day. We had coaches running around, making sure their team, their roster and their athletes were getting to the right classes. It was kind of a crazy day but that was the magic. We wanted to do something to kick off the start of school, the first day back.”
The Ole Miss athletic department, as well as Football and Basketball coaches Lane Kiffin and Chris Beard, campaigned and promoted the Collection Week.
More information on their efforts is available HERE.
Michigan Announces Partnership with Peloton
On Tuesday, through a partnership negotiated by Learfield, Michigan announced that Peloton would be the official Connected Fitness Partner of Michigan Athletics.
Co-branded Peloton Bikes will appear this season on the Michigan sidelines and in the training facilities.
Perhaps most significantly, this partnership allows Michigan student-athletes an opportunity to participate in NIL deals. Peloton plans to integrate Michigan student-athletes into an “expanded name, image and likeness campaign.”
More on the partnership is available HERE.
ICYMI
Cal, Stanford, and SMU are “under serious consideration” by the ACC. LINK
San Diego State University Basketball student-athletes launched a social media campaign in partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to promote fentanyl awareness and prevention. LINK
Reggie Bush filed a defamation suit against the NCAA comments relating to “pay for play.” LINK
Tennessee QB Joe Milton signed an NIL deal with Beats by Dre, gifting headphones to his entire team. LINK
Have you checked out OSC’s website?
Head to www.OptimumSportsConsulting.com to find important resources and features relating to all things NIL. These resources include State by State Resources for Admins, Agents and Athletes, including our initial “OSC Summaries” for over a dozen states coming soon.
More to come too, including links to helpful state information- agency laws and information about school policies, as well as seminar/congressional notes, worksheets, and much more!