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Message: [QUOTE="UConnJim, post: 4766412, member: 1559"] That is not how NIL works. No large public corporation is going to donate to a slush fund to pay athletes. Who are the NIL backers? Generally, rich individuals who may own a company who are fans/alumni of the university. And, Dave Benedict is not out there directly raising money for NIL. Generally, there are collectives that are raising money and directing NIL money to players with some sort of collaboration with the school even though that is not allowed today, but it seems will change soon. NIL was originally expected to be for mega stars like Paige Bueckers, as she can get promotional deals with Gatorade, Nike, etc to PROMOTE their products. NIL now includes paying players for playing for the school which is kind of mission drift, but it is the reality. What about UConn NIL collectives? To my knowledge, there are 2: 1) Bleeding Blue for Good: Connects UConn athletes with charities and pays the athletes for their time. 2) D'Amelio Huskies Collective: Provides financial opportunities for athletes. We probably need a 3rd collective that raises money and basically pays players. I think for a football team like UConn, we need $1.5 million in NIL per year: $100k for a QB, $30k for starters, $10k for back ups, $5k for rest of roster, $300k pool for special players. [/QUOTE]