OSC Exclusive | A Conversation with Harry Geller—Founder of Turtle NIL
Welcome to an Optimum Sports exclusive feature, where we talk with Turtle NIL Collective Founder Harry Geller.
Background
Harry Geller is the current Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the University of Maryland, and has founded, owned, or managed fourteen multi-million dollar businesses.
Four of his businesses have been named to the INC. 500 list of fastest growing companies, and in 2014, he co-founded Grip Boost, a brand of football gloves known for their longevity.
In August 2021, Geller founded Turtle NIL, a Maryland Men’s Basketball-focused collective
Q&A
Geller first spoke on how his background in entrepreneurship benefitted the launch and development of Turtle NIL:
“When forming Turtle NIL, we looked at it from a business approach. The first iteration was a direct marketing agency that would find name image and likeness opportunities for the Maryland men’s basketball players.”
“So, my vast start-up experience was undoubtedly beneficial. As an Entrepreneur in Residence at the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, one of my lectures is how to start a business in three days with less than $1000 using web-based tools and we applied this with Turtle NIL.”
Geller founded the Turtle NIL collective in only three days after a conversation with then Maryland Head Coach Mark Turgeon.
The collective’s biggest challenges include sourcing deals and navigating legal requirements:
“Our more considerable challenges have included finding deals for the student-athletes in an area—College Park, Maryland—that is 30 minutes from seven professional sports teams comprising hundreds of athletes also looking for marketing deals.”
“Other challenges have included navigating the state and NCAA regulations to make sure we are compliant in our dealings. Lastly, an ongoing challenge is developing a sustainable funding model that doesn’t just lean on a few handfuls of high-net-worth boosters.”
Maryland not only has an NIL law regulating deals for collegiate student-athletes, but also one for high-school student-athletes.
Although Geller does not envision Turtle NIL expanding to encompass other sports, he has assisted in the creation of other Maryland-focused collectives:
“[Turtle NIL] was structurally set up to be easily duplicated and I have worked with women’s soccer and men’s lacrosse to help them set up collectives.”
Hard Shell, the Maryland Men’s lacrosse collective, launched in October 2022.
Finally, Turtle NIL places a heavy emphasis on charitable events, as evidenced by Geller’s most memorable deals with student-athletes:
“The most rewarding deals have been sending players to speak with underprivileged school-age children in our surrounding communities like Washington D.C., Prince Georges County, and Baltimore City.”