Football players launch Ann Arbor NIL Club
See free article above.
The football players have released an NIL group funded through fan membership fees. Donations start at $5 a month, and will include a Hutchinson jersey for those in the $25/mo tier and a steak dinner with players for the $100/mo tier. There will also be player generated content and digital events (such as member only video calls with players) available to all members. It looks like the platform takes 18% of the donation and another portion to cover credit card fees (guessing 2-4%), but the remaining will go to 100+ football players.
Time for some to put their money where their mouth is.
https://www.annarbornilclub.com/
August 22nd, 2022 at 8:19 PM ^
Looks like they have a $50k/month goal. I'd like to think that could be met pretty easily. This is probably the best way for individual small dollar donors to contribute to the success of the football team.
August 22nd, 2022 at 8:29 PM ^
There is currently no maximum monthly amount. May also be a way for some larger donors to pay all the players
August 22nd, 2022 at 11:43 PM ^
Sounds like the best way to combat the money cannons being used by Texas A&M, Alabama, etc. Also looks legit instead of continuing to do things "under the table" like those institutions.
August 22nd, 2022 at 11:53 PM ^
Is it though? If you're a top-level recruit is a few hundred a month going to mean anything to you when you're looking for high 6 or low 7 figures out of endorsement deals and focused on schools who are facilitating said deals? I don't know man, maybe? Yes? No?
August 23rd, 2022 at 2:15 AM ^
May be not for a top.level recruit, but teams cannot just get top level of players. Also, if changes are made at UM, this may not be the only NIL.
August 23rd, 2022 at 7:56 AM ^
This doesn't seem to be for, or about, the big name players that will get their own NIL deal. It appears to be a way for those players to help their "100+" teammates get something each month. I mean, nobody is going to want to video chat with a 4th string redshirt freshman, but chatting with Cade or JJ for 15-20 minutes could get that 4th stringer a few hundred $$/month that he otherwise wouldn't sniff unless his parents sent it. It's also a good way for people to donate without a need for ROI, regardless of how much they can afford to spend. Joe Car Dealer won't throw advertising money into it, but that's okay - he can sign a player directly.
I like this idea! I hope they have a really strong management plan/group to administer it, though...
August 23rd, 2022 at 8:29 AM ^
People talked about how big of a deal Ishbia's $500/month for all players was going to be for MSU, but then discount the significance of this when UM does it...
This isn't get a 5* money, but it may be "keep a 5th yr senior from transferring to the MAC to start instead of being in the 2-deep at UM" money.
August 23rd, 2022 at 11:12 AM ^
I think your math may be off a little.
There are over 100,000 people who visit this blog everyday. There are far more fans than that.
Picking one public donation reference point. NPR averages $15/month per donor.
For easy math.
100,000 people sign up.
The average donation is $15/month.
That's $1,500,000 a month.
That's $18,000,000 per year. I included this because it is a monthly subscription.
Take 22% off of that for all of the processing fees.
You are left with $14,040,000 per year through this one NIL platform.
Divide that by 125 players.
That's an average of $112,320 per player per year. FOR EVERY PLAYER ON THE TEAM!
That basically becomes the entry level earnings for agreeing to play football at Michigan for everyone. That's a pretty good team focused story.
Add on to that the real NIL money for the guys who earn it and the Michigan NIL story becomes pretty good.
August 23rd, 2022 at 12:48 AM ^
With a more than 20% rake, I would think large donors should go through a collective or directly to make sure more of their proceeds get to the players. But this is a good solution for high volume, low contributions.
August 23rd, 2022 at 6:58 AM ^
Also a way for everyone on the team to get a taste. Not everyone is going to get "the bag" but if you want to avoid a completely divided locker room I think you start with everyone that is busting their ass to make the team better getting at least some of the pie.
August 23rd, 2022 at 10:45 AM ^
This is true and I agree it's a great way to reward the unsung heroes on the squad but let's not lose sight of the fact that they are getting a first class education for free. Which they are more likely to actually use.
August 23rd, 2022 at 8:59 AM ^
How much do you think the 247, On3, etc. paywall websites make per month off Michigan fans?
The blog side of this could be a chance to takeover that business. Instead of "leaking" info to insiders, the AD can now directly control what info is released, and those subscription fees go to the players instead of companies that run the sites.
August 22nd, 2022 at 8:23 PM ^
I have never heard of this before but I like it!
August 22nd, 2022 at 8:33 PM ^
It's new. Launching tomorrow apparently. Notre Dame and Purdue have similar setups in place with the same company.
August 22nd, 2022 at 8:43 PM ^
I really like this but an 18% platform fee seems pretty high. Wish the players were able to negotiate a better deal for themselves
August 22nd, 2022 at 8:56 PM ^
Good point. Wonder if we could find something better.
August 23rd, 2022 at 12:52 AM ^
I can't believe the community here hasn't done a GoFundMe yet. We raised like $80k in a weekend for Ace. And that only costs 2.9%.
So yeah, 18% + transaction fees seems crazy high for this platform.
August 22nd, 2022 at 9:12 PM ^
If you think about it, this company will take $1.1M a year to run just the Michigan site. That platform DOES NOT take that much to run, and the players will be doing all the marketing for club member acquisition.
they shouldn’t be taking more than 10%.
August 22nd, 2022 at 10:47 PM ^
What are you basing 10% on? Pulling it out of your ass? Why not 5%!?
August 23rd, 2022 at 6:45 AM ^
Based on my knowledge of SGA and Managed Services Organizations in other industries. Also, I did the math on a $50k per month number and realized this was way too many FTEs.
August 23rd, 2022 at 11:21 AM ^
As a real reference point, the United Way averages around 14.5% nationally for administrative costs taken out of donations. They benchmark this closely with other non-profits.
18% for a for-profit org seems about right. I believe they are running their own software platform which they have to maintain as well as manage all of the user and subscriber data. Looks like the actual subscription processing & data management is being done by a third party.
In total I'm guessing about 22% is going to administrative costs. It's a hell of a deal for those companies, but it does not seem extravagant.
August 23rd, 2022 at 10:47 AM ^
I mean, yes. Private companies will seek to maximize their profits for investors. If they're one of the only companies offering this service right now and/or one of the best (which I'd bet they are) then I'm not surprised they're taking a generous cut of the donations. Ideally competition will arise in this space and competition will drive this down to a more reasonable cut
August 22nd, 2022 at 11:52 PM ^
I would guess that the platform handles legal and accounting responsibilities for the players. That is potentially why this is appealing to players.
August 23rd, 2022 at 12:57 AM ^
Ehhh, the only thing from a legal and accounting perspective that matters is that the platform actually pays out what they're supposed to pay out. And then issue 1099s. That's it. And there are platforms that will do this for like $6/month per player.
Would be pretty easy to offer the kind of transparency necessary to make sure they're comfortable they're getting paid for less than 20% percent. Someone is definitely going to come away with pretty good money on this.
August 23rd, 2022 at 8:01 AM ^
"Someone is definitely going to come away with pretty good money on this."
The key point here is that person is actually doing it - and he is allowed to make a profit. If it bothers you that much, you are more than welcome to start a competing company and only charge $6/month/player.
August 23rd, 2022 at 8:37 AM ^
I think the point is that GoFundMe, PayPal and dozens of other platforms charge 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. It’s been awhile since I’ve looked into it, but there are higher enterprise tiers with slightly better pricing.
If this company is paying for the Hutchinson jerseys and setting up the zoom calls etc the 18% might not be too bad, but if it is just the e-commerce part the players and fans are getting ripped off.
Did the players negotiate this themselves? I hope there is. BD person helping them out.
August 23rd, 2022 at 5:18 PM ^
It doesn't bother me. I don't know why you would suggest that.
I'm just saying this is a very high price right now, so I would expect enterprising people (or even those that would be willing to donate some of their time to give the players a better deal - and I ain't got the time) to come in and compete this down pretty significantly.
To my point above, this community collected $80,000 for Ace at a 2.9% transaction fee and a few hours of volunteer time. I'm surprised we haven't seen drives like that around here but it's probably only a matter of time.
I mean, people spend A LOT of time just on this blog. Redirect that to a GoFundMe and boom, we could have bought Dante Moore (for example).
August 22nd, 2022 at 8:50 PM ^
I want to see every fan who has endlessly bitched about NIL NIL NIL for the previous 2 years post selfies with their donation receipts to this thing. Now, that's a money cannon!
August 22nd, 2022 at 9:44 PM ^
I do too. Now is your chance to put up or shut up
I would totally do this but money is tight right now so I’m going to waittilnextyear.
August 22nd, 2022 at 10:36 PM ^
Seriously? You can’t afford $5 month? Pathetic.
August 22nd, 2022 at 10:54 PM ^
Dude, life can be difficult. We all have our own cross to bear.
August 23rd, 2022 at 10:48 AM ^
I'm sure he can afford to spend $5 a month on something, but if your budget is tight then perhaps it's wise to not spend $5 a month on funneling money to college athletes. They'll be alright
August 23rd, 2022 at 12:03 PM ^
If you can’t imagine it, you have privilege
August 22nd, 2022 at 10:53 PM ^
I feel for you brother. A lot of us are in rough times. I hope things get better for you. Ask friends for help if you need it. Friends are happy to help carry a load. Go Blue
August 23rd, 2022 at 10:49 AM ^
Now, that's a money cannon!
I've been here long enough to have seen the first deployment of the term "money cannon" and in virtually every instance I can think of, it's been in reference to high net-worth, very successful U-M grads funneling large amounts of money to the Michigan athletic department and its various programs, not average Joe Wolverine putting in $10 per month.
August 23rd, 2022 at 12:44 PM ^
To be fair, we also have crushed the charity fundraiser competitions with the smaller average Joe contributions that you mention. Probably not the money cannon that will beat out TAMU money, but good for the kids.
Especially if this is intended for the average player and not just the superstars, it would be cool to see it expanded to all sports. If I donate $25/mo., maybe I could allocate $10 to football, hockey or men's basketball, but split the other $15 among some of the women's sports or non-revenue men's sports that don't usually get paid as much. They might not rake in the big funds, but it can help support those players and grow their teams as well.
In my really ideal world, we could earmark some of the funds to establish a women's varsity ice hockey team.
August 23rd, 2022 at 4:23 PM ^
It would be particularly cool if you could pay exactly as much as you want to any specific athlete.
August 23rd, 2022 at 6:03 PM ^
I attended a ministerial college which had large donors building various buildings just as some do for their favorite colleges. I later became friends with one of those donors. The man gives millions per year spread out over various causes. He does it because his heart is in these causes. Foundations aside, some successful people who may have donated to university programs, will redirect funds to sports.There are many who love Wolverine Athletics. We will no doubt see big money come in for the student athletes. NIL,s sponsorship will soar over the next few years. It will need to be regulated just as the NFL has salary caps for the sake of fair completion. Just as scholarships were regulated and revenue is shared across conferences some kind of oversight will be requited for NIL’s. The only question is when?
August 23rd, 2022 at 1:37 PM ^
August 23rd, 2022 at 4:24 PM ^
Agreed! A solution that allows large individual checks, as well as the small money one-offs and subscriptions!
August 22nd, 2022 at 8:58 PM ^
Nope. Good luck to them, but if If I'm giving money to college students I'll give it to those that actually need it (e.g. those that don't have scholarships, no free room/board, no family money, difficult access to financial aid, having to work two jobs or more after classes to be able to get by - real living expenses, not alcohol and video games).
For example: https://www.affordablecollegesonline.org/college-resource-center/donation-programs-students/
I also don't buy pro merchandise with player names, likenesses, etc. That's not why I watch sports anyway.
August 22nd, 2022 at 9:17 PM ^
Good on you!
August 22nd, 2022 at 10:07 PM ^
Food insecurity is a huge issue across all college campuses and even at Michigan where it affects a shocking 30% of our student body. This is a cause near and dear to my heart and if you can help please do so....
August 23rd, 2022 at 10:21 PM ^
I applaud the maize and blue cupboard, but it is not possible to believe that more than 10,000 M students are going hungry. Something is off with that statistic.
August 22nd, 2022 at 10:27 PM ^
This is a great cause - do you donate money to them?
I donate to the scholarship programs of private schools that focus on kids with special needs that aren’t served by the public schools in their area. My son fit into that category when he was younger - he now goes to a public high school but we are eternally grateful to the schools and teachers that helped him when he needed it.
Back to the discussion on hand, I don’t see these as mutually exclusive contributions. One is a charitable donation to those in need and the other is an investment in your favorite college program.
August 23rd, 2022 at 3:32 PM ^
Thank you for saying this and glad to see the upvotes. The thought of directing one's disposable giving income to NIL is difficult to digest. I love UM football and want us to continue to compete. But, I put a lot of thought into my giving, and it's hard to think about "donating" to NIL at the expense of many other worthy causes. That said, if I had Stephen Ross money, I'd be all over this!
August 22nd, 2022 at 9:17 PM ^
So their goal:
$50,000 x .8 (18% site fee + ~ 2% credit card fee) = $40,000
÷ ~100 (players) =
~ $400 per player per month.
~ $470 (@ 85 scholarship players)
Anyone have any idea how much the Notre Dame or Purdue program is pulling in now?!
So say $450 per month/per player... a start.
Or as CarolinaBlue says below: $350 conservative.
August 22nd, 2022 at 9:20 PM ^
There are only 85 scholarship players
August 22nd, 2022 at 9:47 PM ^
Cheers, adjusted
August 23rd, 2022 at 8:54 AM ^
I haven't seen any of Cade, JJ, Corum, etc. tweet out the announcement yet. I wonder some of the star players that make "enough" on other deals are taking themselves out of this one so their teammates can have a bigger salary.