Eleven Warriors starts new “for-profit” NIL collective

Submitted by Blue@LSU on April 12th, 2023 at 11:46 AM

11 Warriors has started The 1879 Society (or is it THE 1870 Society?), a for-profit NIL collective. 

INTRODUCING THE 1870 SOCIETY

Here are some of the “perks” of donating:

So how does this all work? Ohio State has been a great partner as we've planned this out, and they've stepped up to provide a series of extraordinary perks and rewards for members, whether you're a fan, you own a small business, or you're a decision-maker at a Fortune 500 company. And it was important to us to get this right because our goal is to assist in bringing NIL opportunities to all Ohio State student-athletes across all sports.

First, every member will receive access to unique and exclusive content at The 1870 Society, and we have some great ideas in store for you. I'm excited about The Ryan Day Podcast, a new podcast that will dive deep into football topics and give you a chance to know the man away from football better, which will be exclusive to members.

From there, depending on what you're comfortable contributing, everything from a virtual film session with a coach and/or athlete and access to watch football practice to a football autographed by the freshman class and participation in the team walk to the Shoe for a game is available.

Personally, I really like the idea of “Hail! Impact” where players are expected to give something back to society. I haven't looked into the 1870 Society enough to see what players are doing to earn the money.

Questions from someone that has the business sense of a newborn:

  • how does a for-profit model differ from a not for-profit model?
  • what are the benefits of the for-profit model?

And a bonus question:

  • how long before your Average Joe at 11W believes they should have input into game day decisions in return for their $10 donation?

NeverPunt

April 12th, 2023 at 12:19 PM ^

Look in order to save the children we need to get and keep the best people, so our ED makes $600K a year and our overhead is like 70% of our annual budget. We have to be where the donors are you see - need to run in those circles in order to raise money. For the children. Or cancer. Or the children with cancer. Or whatever it is we're mission-driven about. Not all Non-Profits are corrupt but plenty of people make plenty of money in the non-profit world and sometimes it's not even close to doing what they say they're doing.

los barcos

April 12th, 2023 at 12:57 PM ^

Didn't have the nonprofit bashing on my bingo card today for Mgoblog. Paying people a salary commensurate with their experience - yeah, what a crime.  Let me guess, you want people to work for free because of the "mission"?

Best part about nonprofits - you can choose to support whichever one you want.  And the 990s and financial information is all publically available.  So, feel free to donate to your local volunteer based children nonprofit and see what type of impact you have :)

UMForLife

April 12th, 2023 at 12:58 PM ^

I am not sure if you are joking. There are many examples of bad ones but there examples of good ones as well. Just saying. If you really want to know, look at their tax filings. I think the website is GuideStar. You should be able to see the top people's salary. If it is way off, then shy away from them. At least, that is how I determine if I want to help out. 

FLwolvfan22

April 13th, 2023 at 8:55 AM ^

Also, when corporations ask you at point of sale if you want to add a dollar (or whatever) to donate to such and such, don't donate anything, they just bundle all that and use it as a corporate write off and then use it to crow about how much their corp donates to charity.

Donate directly to the charity or cause of your choice.

FreddieMercuryHayes

April 12th, 2023 at 1:33 PM ^

I mean, the NFL as it exists now hasn't been around for 70 years right?  I believe the NFL, is in the corporate Roger Goddell office, is a trade organiziation that acts on behalf of the individual companies, the individual teams.  My history may be wrong, but I believe the NFL was granted whatever 503c status they had in the 60s when the leagues merged to avoid antitrust legal issues.  Other trade organizations are also non-profits as well since they themselves make no to little money.  At least technically.  Anyway, I think they dropped it several years ago amid predictably bad publicity, but operationally very little changed.  Wonder if they are paying extra taxes now.  I know they now no longer need to disclose salaries of NFL executives now that they are no longer a non-profit.

Amazinblu

April 12th, 2023 at 1:50 PM ^

I haven’t looked into this, but - I assume there is no “NFL stock” as publicly traded companies offer.

And, if they aren’t - what SEC Governance / oversight, or other regulatory requirements exist?

Publicly traded companies report their financial performance - and, issue 10-K’s, 10-Qi’s, Proxies, etc - which state their operating performance, Balance Sheets, Income Statements, Executive Compensation, etc…

KRK

April 12th, 2023 at 12:34 PM ^

I worked in banking and a local credit union touted their non-profit status all the time in marketing.  They paid their tellers and branch staff minimum wage, but the execs made 3-4x what other local and regional bank execs made.  The money has to go somewhere, and they either buy real estate, or pay the execs a boatload.

The funny part was, no one in the banking community thought any of their execs were very good.  Most had been fired or asked to leave after working at other banks in town.  Or they weren't good enough to get promoted at a bank and went to the CU because it's an easy gig.

GoBlue96

April 12th, 2023 at 2:28 PM ^

A for profit business can pay the profit (revenue less expenses and salaries) to the owners of the business as a dividend.  A not for profit has to reinvest the profit in the not for profit activity.  As noted above, a key area where not for profits get in trouble is what is a reasonable, market based salary for the people doing the work.  The Kwame Kilpatricks of the world use not for profits to give friends/family/associates cush jobs to receive payoffs.

los barcos

April 12th, 2023 at 5:03 PM ^

That's a funny distinction to single out.  Your example isn't so much a nonprofit as it is a shell company for bribes.  You and I aren't donating to that.  

The vast majority of nonprofits do good work for far less resources than private companies or government funded entities - it's why they exist, to fill in a socially important gap at a cheaper rate.  

People complaining about nonprofit salaries probably are not actually donating to nonprofits.  Unlike corporations, executive salaries of nonprofits are publically available.  If you think it's too high - don't support it.  

maizerayz

April 12th, 2023 at 2:22 PM ^

Texags, Texas A&M's main fansite has been doing it for a couple of years now.

I hate to say it, but this is a win win for everyone

  • Players get NIL
  • That school down south gets a bit more competitive in recruiting
  • 11W makes extra money
  • Fans get extra content, which I guess is questionable.
  • Doners also get some kinda icon/widget on their posts, which is nice if you're into that kinda stuff I guess

If Brian set one up here I'd happily donate, wouldn't mind some of that going to him and the staff

FauxMo

April 12th, 2023 at 11:59 AM ^

Typically, “for profit” means that organization intends to generate a profit (revenue - fixed costs + variable costs + taxes + depreciation) on some venture. You’re welcome. 

S.D. Jones

April 12th, 2023 at 12:07 PM ^

how long before your Average Joe at 11W believes they should have input into game day decisions in return for their $10 donation?

Eleven minutes ago. 

Seth

April 12th, 2023 at 12:08 PM ^

I was hoping 11w would address the worsening signal to noise ratio and creeping loss of objectivity in their main content channels, but this is definitely a direction.

Brhino

April 12th, 2023 at 1:44 PM ^

Care to elaborate on this a little?  I don't spend enough time on 11W to judge if the quality of their content is trending.  I mostly just go for the meltdowns when we (or someone else) beats them.  From what I've seen, they have some reasonably objective writers, but I think they're contractually obligated to do some non-analytical sniping every third paragraph or so.

The Deer Hunter

April 12th, 2023 at 10:00 PM ^

Totally agree. They've become subjectively worse @ being objective. Snarky comments in almost every article. 

Just my opinion, I like the idea if MGoBlog did something similar to this. I gave to the NIL "Corum etc. fund" and have no issues if a cut of that went to MGoBlog.   

Dennis

April 12th, 2023 at 12:26 PM ^

I've worked for both for-profit and non-profit orgs and the biggest difference, from a logistical perspective, is there are just more barriers with a non-profit structure and you have to do routine reporting on your financials to maintain your 501(c)(3,4,5,6) status, with 501(c)(3) being the most scrutinous. 

A fundraising organization that's for-profit is a huge red flag because they have little to no obligation to reveal their financials to enhance their own credibility with prospective donors. I personally would never give to an organization that I can't go look up how they spend their money on their annual 990 filing.

Furthermore, a member-based association doesn't have as much oversight if they filed as a 501(c)(4) and this would give them more credibility, so unless there's a reason other than lining one's own pockets that I'm not seeing, this "1870 society" is sketch af and I wouldn't be surprised if we see a leak in the news about a corruption scandal regarding this grifting scheme. Then again, Bucknuts are notoriously undereducated and blissfully loyal. 

Naked Bootlegger

April 12th, 2023 at 12:43 PM ^

Your move MGoBlog.   I'm thinking something like exclusive interactive sessions with Al Borges to dissect game film, but where the lines get dangerously blurry between breaking down film and an OnlyFans site.

Fitz

April 12th, 2023 at 1:15 PM ^

I haven't looked into the 1870 Society enough to see what players are doing to earn the money.

They're playing football, just like every other NIL collective regardless of what nominal activities are involved. Also, every collective should be for-profit, you shouldn't get tax benefits for giving money to athletes.

Eye of the Tiger

April 12th, 2023 at 1:22 PM ^

Here are the similarities between for-profit and non-profit:

  • Both types of organizations can do things that produce revenue
  • Both types of organizations can compensate their officers

 

Here are the differences:

  • For-profit organizations exist to produce a margin between top-line revenue and bottom-line cost (i.e. profit), which may either be invested in the company or distributed to the ownership (family, founders, investors). 
  • Non-profit companies do not generally try to produce profits; if they do, it must be invested in the organization and/or its services or placed in an endowment for future investment in the organization and/or its services. Non-profits are exempt from certain types of taxes as a result of this.

 

For NIL:

  • A for-profit NIL collective can distribute some of the money it raises, outside and beyond salaries, to stakeholders
  • A non-profit NIL collective cannot, outside and beyond salaries


 

Amazinblu

April 12th, 2023 at 1:53 PM ^

So, this new entity wants to “give back” to its stakeholders, and those who invest in it.  Whereas, the alternative (not for profit) is structured to give back to the student athletes - or - save their monies to distribute to future student athletes.

I wonder if Coach Third Base will be a Director of the 1870 Society.