UConn/D'Amelio NIL Collective Officially Launched

[aburks41]

Marc tweeted a few weeks ago that advertisers were already flooding his DM's wanting to work with the collective once it got started. Very good news for our current athletes, and perhaps most importantly, our recruiting efforts.

 

[aburks41]

 

[Tenspro2002]

I hate that this is what it takes these days, but this is terrific news for the program.

 

[ctchamps]

No surprise. Big positive for UConn. We are in a good position to put the hurt on some of those programs where cheating has occurred or is suspected.

 

[MexicoHusky]

I'm happy about NIL. Long overdue. At the same time I can't believe this is happening. Boosters openly organizing funds for athletes. Seems a bit surreal

 

[fatlucy]

Maybe if we played a few games in BGPT, the big dogs in Ffld County would throw some weight around.

 

[aburks41]

Maybe if we played a few games in BGPT, the big dogs in Ffld County would throw some weight around.

The fairfield county finance millionaires aren't UConn alumns. They're Ivy league, Duke, Michigan, UVA, etc. Why would they donate money to UConn NIL collectives? They have zero affiliation with us

 

[huskymedic]

-> The collective is a unique name, image and likeness (NIL) opportunity for UConn athletes. At least one athlete from each men’s and women’s sports at UConn will get the chance to be a part of it. Student-athletes will submit their information such as age, grade, sport, position and interests on the website. After a student-athlete is picked, D’Amelio would be a personal mentor to them in helping athletes create their own personal brand and advising them on brand deals. <-

-> Based on their interests, D’Amelio will match the student-athletes with companies with similar interests for brand deals. D’Amelio started his career in the sports-licensing business and is currently a partner with Mitchell & Ness.<-

-> D’Amelio said he has been in constant contact with UConn about the idea, and the school has given him the blessing to make the collective. D’Amelio is making sure the collective is NCAA compliant throughout the entire process. “This isn’t about someone else’s money and diverting it to a student-athlete,” he said. “It’s about using the name and likeness to help generate revenue for them.” <-

 

[BackAftaThis]

The fairfield county finance millionaires aren't UConn alumns. They're Ivy league, Duke, Michigan, UVA, etc. Why would they donate money to UConn NIL collectives? They have zero affiliation with us

Correct. Even if we look at someone involved in sports like Steve Cohen, he went to Wharton. Why would he ever give money to UConn?

 

[Guapo]

Glad to see something get off the ground wrt NIL and glad to see something like a coordinated PR roll out with the Courant article etc.

 

[Yankees32123]

I don't think we realize how impactful this will be for the current generation of high school players coming up. The D'Amelio's ARE gen Z. It's so huge to have their name aligned with UConn.

 

[wheelerdog]

 

[Sportsman5]

The fairfield county finance millionaires aren't UConn alumns. They're Ivy league, Duke, Michigan, UVA, etc. Why would they donate money to UConn NIL collectives? They have zero affiliation with us

One example that's plausible is that over the decades the children of ultra wealthy people in Fairfield county grow up in Connecticut and are UConn fans. These children inherit the money and then give some to UConn athletics. Also, some people will genuinely use the endorsements of UConn athletes to help their businesses since the popularity of UConn is huge in the state. This is very valuable compared to colleges with less general support from the local community.

 

[UCDaveD]

Marc is a fantastic ambassador for the program regardless of what you think about social media in today’s day and age.

 

[fatlucy]

The fairfield county finance millionaires aren't UConn alumns. They're Ivy league, Duke, Michigan, UVA, etc. Why would they donate money to UConn NIL collectives? They have zero affiliation with us

That’s a big “They”. I work with many FFC people and many of them are UCONN fans.

 

[8893]

If this is what it takes to get my daughter to UConn, I'm all for it.

 

[3rdbass]

It is the new world we live in. Good thing we hav a rich well known donor to help.

 

[YearoftheHusky]

This is huge, I think. I just asked my 10-year-old daughter, who doesn’t have social media, if she’s heard of them. She laughed and said everyone has. Just shows me how big of a deal they are.

 

[bendm]

At least one athlete from each men’s and women’s sports at UConn will get the chance to be a part of it.

not one to look a gift horse in the mouth but i hope the implication here is that while at least 1 athlete from each sport will be a part of it, every men's bball player will be a part of it.

that would be a lot for just marc to handle on his own tho, he needs a team.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

not one to look a gift horse in the mouth but i hope the implication here is that while at least 1 athlete from each sport will be a part of it, every men's bball player will be a part of it.

that would be a lot for just marc to handle on his own tho, he needs a team.

Purely a guess but I imagine that the language "at least one athlete from each sport" was intentional and designed to prevent someone from claiming this is in violation or is unfair as it is merely a means to filter money to athletes in revenue sports.

 

[McLovin]

The marketing for the UConn brand alone being associated with this family (specifically among teens) is invaluable. This NIL collective puts that relationship over the top.

Marc is a smart business man too.

Might have to rename the XL Center the TikTok Center and change Gampel Pavillion to D’Amelio Pavillion.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[Huskybass]

Genius.

 

[LIuconn]

Take that SEC oil barons!

 

[rayrayfor3]

One example that's plausible is that over the decades the children of ultra wealthy people in Fairfield county grow up in Connecticut and are UConn fans. These children inherit the money and then give some to UConn athletics. Also, some people will genuinely use the endorsements of UConn athletes to help their businesses since the popularity of UConn is huge in the state. This is very valuable compared to colleges with less general support from the local community.

Fairfield county might as well be a different state. They consider themselves NY not New Haven or Hartford. They actually refer to anywhere in CT not in Fairfield county as “the upstate” and think it’s all back country. They don’t have any association with UConn unfortunately. Obviously a few exceptions, such as Marc, but overall it is not UConn country, sad to say.