Wednesday, July 6, 2022
A year into the NIL era, ‘collectives’ bring new opportunities to student-athletes at OSU PJ Tikalsky Staff Reporter
File Photo Financial oppourtunities have been soaring for student-athletes since NIL rules were allowed by NCAA a year ago.
ing 55 universities across the country according to Business of College Sports, with more expected in the coming months and years. “It’s investing in players just like you invest in brick and mortar and facilities to have a competitive advantage,” says Hunter Baddour, co-founder of Tennessee NIL collective Spyre Sports in a profile with The Athletic. “Now you can invest those same dollars and put it to that defensive back that you can see on the field every Saturday.” Pokes with a Purpose “Pokes with a Purpose” was created in February 2022 by the Reiberts, a family of OSU boosters who own a metal distribution facility in Tulsa. After merging with “Unbridled,” a proposed collective by OSU alumnus Joe Eastin, the collective launched its website on May 27, with their first promotional tweet posted on June 8. In addition to the Reiberts and Eastin, several notable alumni of OSU sit on the board of directors in the form of former football players Brandon Weeden and Kenyatta Wright, along with longtime OSU donor Claudia Humphrey. The collective is also one of only three in the country to have obtained 501(c)(3) nonprofit status on their website, which “helps student-athletes partner with their community in ways that benefit everyone involved.” The collective is also unique in that it provides NIL opportunities to all Division 1 athletes regardless of whether or not they have scholarships, and that athletes receive 100% of all profits from NIL licensing. “Pokes With A Purpose” confirmed that three individuals have already signed on with the collective, and that the Cowboy football team was expected to join “very soon.”
Last July, the NCAA adopted rules allowing athletes to profit off of their own Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL), ushering in a new age in the history of college athletics. A year since the policies took effect, a series of “NIL Collectives” have recently formed with hopes of bringing increased financial opportunity to Oklahoma State studentathletes. What is an NIL Collective? While still loosely defined, an NIL collective can be described as a fund formed by a group of boosters, alumni, or even a private agency whose goal is to provide opportunities for student-athletes to get paid for having their name, image, or likeness used by the fund itself or a third party. Collectives often partner with local businesses or charities to seek promotion by student-athletes in the form of appearances or other marketing material, as well as creating their own products or content involving student-athletes partnered with the collective. Athletes are then compensated by the collective itself for their work. NIL collectives cannot be directly affiliated with a university’s foundation or athletic department, but they must have the express mission of supporting prospective and current student-athletes of an NCAA institution. This guideline places them under “booster” status as defined by the NCAA in an advisory document issued in May 2022, allowing for existing NCAA policies regarding boosters to apply to NIL collectives in addition to the NCAA interim NIL policy. Since the beginning of the NIL era, over 73 collecSee NIL on 3 tives have formed represent-
Common, an Emmy, Grammy and Oscar winner, aims higher: 'I want to provide inspiration to people' the Belafonte award. The first, presented in May, was given to voting rights champion — and current Georgia gubernatorial candidate — Stacey Abrams. The award was also One of the most person- partly in recognition of Comally meaningful awards Com- mon’s multiple movie and TV mon has received is also the credits. His film work culleast known. But that doesn’t minated in the Oscar he and bother this dedicated hip-hop John Legend won in 2015 for star, actor and social activist, “Glory,” the rousing song they who is the first rap artist to co-wrote and performed for the ever win an Oscar, a Grammy civil rights drama “Selma,” in and an Emmy. which Common co-starred. His On June 15, at the 2016 album, “Black American Tribeca Film Festival in New Thought,” serves as a powerYork, he received the Harry ful musical throughline from Belafonte Voices for Social the civil rights era of the 1950s Justice Award. It was a heady and ‘60s to the rise of the honor for Common, whose Black Lives Matter movement most recent albums, 2020’s over the past decade. “Beautiful Revolution Pt. 1” Presented by Robert De and last year’s “Beautiful Niro, the Tribeca Festival’s coRevolution Pt. 2,” were made founder, the Belafonte Award (in his words) to “uplift, heal “recognizes individuals who and inspire listeners dealing have used storytelling and the with racial injustices as well as arts to enact change in their other social injustices.” communities.” That the honor “Harry is one of my is named for a pioneering greatest guiding lights and in- American artist who is a longspirations,” said Common, who time champion of social justice is only the second recipient of makes it even more significant
George Varga The San Diego UnionTribune
for Common, who turned 50 on March 13. “Harry Belafonte is about truth and caring about people, and he’s about sacrificing and never giving up,” said Common. Art and social justice Common was specifically honored at the Tribeca Festival for the time he has dedicated to social justice and advocacy work focused on mass incarceration, mental health and voting. He was also celebrated for his efforts to empower high school students in underserved communities to become future leaders. He has pursued these goals in part through his nonprofit organizations, Imagine Justice and the Common Ground Foundation. Both build on the legacy Belafonte created decades earlier as a pioneering artist for whom entertainment and activism go hand-in-hand. “I feel like Harry is that mentor I can go to and ask: ‘OK, where should I be? What should I be doing?’” Common said.
“Having a conversation with him and hearing him talk is a reminder of what I’m supposed to do and aspire to, how I’m supposed to live, and what I’m supposed to sacrifice. Harry’s heart and mind, his voice, spirit and actions are the things I aspire to. And, obviously, he made music and was an actor. But, truly, he was an activist, and I feel like I fall into all those categories.” Belafonte, 95, is a Kennedy Center Honors recipient. He is also a Grammy, Emmy and Tony Award winner whose album sales in 1957 topped those of both Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. Belafonte’s 1956 album, “Calypso,” was the first by any artist in any genre to sell a million copies in the U.S. A longtime civil rights crusader, Belafonte exemplifies how much a dedicated artist can accomplish — and how much they can lose by strongly voicing their beliefs. In an October 2002 interview with San Diego radio station KFMB, Belafonte leveled harsh criticism at the
foreign and domestic policies of then-President George W. Bush. Belafonte compared Bush’s secretary of state, Colin Powell, to a “house slave” for promoting Bush’s claims that Iraq was manufacturing and hiding weapons of mass destruction. Those accusations fueled the invasion of Iraq by American forces in March 2003. Although no weapons of mass destruction were found, Belafonte received severe criticism. Attendance for his annual U.S. concert tour that same year plummeted by 50% or more. By 2004, Belafonte’s touring career in this country was effectively over because of the backlash he had received. “As you were talking abut Harry just now,” Common said, “I was wondering: ‘Man, could I do that? Could I give up a lot of what I’ve achieved — and be pretty much ostracized from the work I do — because of what I stand for?’ See Common on 2