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- Sports Court #75 | Small schools taking advantage
Sports Court #75 | Small schools taking advantage
The fastest 3 minutes in name, image and likeness
Tariq Ahmad
September 18, 2023
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Today’s Case
Kentucky-based collective launches first female-focused NIL program for Division III athletes
The 1926 Collective logo (Photo Credit: The 1926 Collective website)
Most NIL Collectives support Power 5 conferences for football, men’s basketball, and in some cases, women’s basketball. The general reason for this is because these sports generate the most revenue for schools and their respective student-athletes.
The 1926 Collective is here to change that narrative.
Focused on supporting female athletes at Centre College in Danville, KY (approximately one hour south of Lexington), they have become the first female-focused NIL collective in Division III athletics. Named in honor of the transformative year Centre College welcomed its first female students, the group prioritizes three main resources; brand partnerships, educational workshops, and community networking. The collective is founded by mostly former Centre College student-athletes.
Additionally, two current student-athletes associated with the collective have recently signed NIL deals:
Senior soccer player Maggie Corbett signed a deal with Lexington accounting firm Besten and Dieruf, PLLC.
Corbett’s teammate Lindsay Carr inked a partnership with Finn’s Ice Cream and Centre Field Lofts in Danville.
The Verdict
Focus on Division III is significant
This is a good step to prompt other D-III schools to start (or at least research the viability of) NIL collectives.
Knights Table Collective, which supports Southern Virginia University and is managed by my colleague Conner Schenk, are doing great work in this space and setting a standard for collectives in D-III.
Does every D-III school need a collective? Not necessarily - but doing the legwork for its potential value is a good start.
Focus on only women’s athletes is also important
With a greater proportion of deals (both in quantity and monetary value) going to male student-athletes, having a collective that solely focuses on female athletes - and at one specific Division III school - is a great way to prioritize empowerment and gender equity.
Not only can these women earn NIL deals during their playing days, but can build relationships off the field/court and set themselves up for success post-graduation.
There might not be big money in these specific collectives - and that’s ok
While every collective wants to have a surplus of cash, having enough money to properly operate and provide opportunities to these athletes is a significant advantage - one that athletes at these schools should leverage.
Additionally, these collectives should build relationships and strengthen ties with local businesses to create a pipeline of NIL deals for current and future athletes.
Johnny Football and NIL
Manziel’s recent Netflix documentary got me thinking how much money he would have made in the NIL era. Check out this video for my breakdown!
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