MGoBoard NIL Program - let's do this
With the entire Michigan fan base in full recruiting BPONE (I am trying to stay optimistic but am starting to waver), maybe it's time to put our time and money where our mouths are.
I am proposing that we start an MGoBlog NIL program for Michigan athletes. Someone pointed out on the Board that we have been able to raise substantial amounts for causes in the past - this would allow us to help Michigan and would be a pretty fun exercise.
So what would this look like - I am sure that it could go in a hundred different directions. A few brainstorming ideas:
1. We come to terms with four athletes (one football player, one football recruit, one basketball player, one hockey player).
2. We can have them answer mailbag questions, participate on the MGoBlog podcasts / HTTV (if Brian and Seth are interested), sign autographs, etc... I think this fits in well with what Manuel and Harbaugh's vision of NIL.
3. This is something we can do in conjunction with Valient Management, Champions Circle, MGoBlog (if Brian and Seth are interested) or we just set up an LLC and do it ourselves.
I don't have time to do this myself (although I would love to) but I can certainly be part of a management team and of course would be happy to contribute.
Do people think this is a good idea? And who would be interested in participating? @ Brian / Seth - is this something that sounds interesting for you?
Nope. Best we can do is increase our offer of one transformational experience to two transformational experiences. You'll transform into a Michigan Man, and you'll transform into the least wealthy player in the Top300. The Michigan Difference.
"I don't have time to do this myself (although I would love to) but I can certainly be part of a management team"
If memory serves I think I might've worked for you once.
Ha! I love it. I am going to need you to go ahead and come in this weekend to update your TPS report.
Unfortunately, work is insane right now and I would certainly want to be a big part of something like this but I would need at least a couple of other people to help out. Besides it would be a lot more fun with a group of people.
I can't be the only person responsible - it would fail.
I actually laughed out loud when I read that in the OP hahahaha
Good idea fairy strikes again
Yeah, hold on there, Rockefeller. I'm not one of those rich Michigan grads like Stephen Ross and Mr and Mrs Ira J. I just got two kittens, and man do those little fuckers eat and poop! That is a serious drain on my ability to fund an NIL.
What about supporting a female athlete?? It’s 2022, bro.
I was literally just spit balling my initial thoughts on something that doesn't exist and your first comment is to criticize me for not being comprehensive. I also didn't include baseball or soccer - not to mention that I didn't specify men's or women's basketball.
How about next time you say something like "Hey, we should make sure to include a female athlete as well. I'll kick in $250 a year for that deal"
Blue,
I was giving you a hard time because I have lingered around here long enough to know that someone would make that comment. I don’t think you are a raging sexist, fwiw.
On your actual idea- I appreciate your optimism but IMO we don’t have enough money to make a dent. This site raises about 50k for a preview magazine. To think we could get to 20k for an annual NIL deal would be unlikely. Then spread that around 3 or 4 ways and it’s just not a lot of money to the athletes. We would be better off using the MGO community to raise money for a food bank or toy drive once a year. Again, just one man’s thoughts.
This board was able to raise over $100k when Ace got sick and couldn't work a few years back - so I was using that as a benchmark in my mind.
Divide that by 4 and you get $25k per year - I think that is a pretty good chunk of change for an 18-22 year old. In some states, that is the median salary. I mean, I am not trying to compete with John Ruiz or Nike, just looking to do my part and allow some others on the board to help out if they are interested.
The food bank and toy drive are good ideas regardless of the NIL program - there is a Magic of Christmas that is promoted by WTKA that I would recommend people donate to.
100,000 will probably buy us a few 2 star tight-ends.
Or--hear me out--we could fund some extra pretzel days.
Well someone has a bit of a short fuse. Def snippy management material.
This is a great idea. Maybe we could get more info about a non-rev sports. I'd love an insider's perspective on the water polo team.
I realize many are in a melt-down when it comes to UM's 2023 recruiting, but there's more than just NIL money factoring in. Let this sink in - MSU has 10 commits with and average / recruit of 89.45 on the 247 Composite while UM has 6 commits at an average of 87.28. And take a look at the other B1G programs that have an average close to ours. Many of them are not rich in NIL money. PSU is way above us. Like it or not, coaching stability also factors in and JH looking at the NFL last year HURT.. You don't think opposing coaches are using this against us in recruiting
Didn't OSU lose/change their staff as much we did?
I believe - could be wrong - that OSU replaced their whole defensive staff minus their DL coach and also fired their OL coach. But Day is still the HC and looks to be there awhile (at least he's saying that now) - unless we stomp his ass a few more times
It’s not about who the coach is anymore. It’s about where they can make the most amount of money. Who knows if these kids will go pro. Getting offered millions to play college football is a huge security blanket.
What will be interesting is what happens to the huge NIL-money kids that flame out with their college teams. That's why I think - eventually - we'll see this NIL stuff come down to less-crazy levels
Dunno, there are plenty of busts in the NFL and salaries are still what they are.
FOMO is a powerful factor, teams won't want to risk missing out on the next hot QB that could make their team a contender.
Prepare for lots of "meh we'll be fine, right?" and "who cares if the school falls behind on NIL, at least we hold the moral high ground!" from the crowd of people burying their head in the sand.
How much money is Will Johnson pulling in? Based on reports I have read in some other locations it's high six figures to low 7 figures. This is not exactly awful.
What I don't get then is why Michigan is not leveraging whatever that guy is getting up to in recruiting.
There are a million threads already discussing the reasons for our slow recruiting this year.
Let's try to keep this thread on whether MGoBoard posters would be interested in putting a NIL program together.
You don’t want to point out the optics of the head coach basically begging for an NFL job on this website. You will be negged to death.
Lol, he wasn’t begging for a job on this website. Before you use my mistake as a defense, I recognize my mistake.
I'm in if we call it "The Michigan Money Cannon" and use this logo
The issue is not $$$ as much as it is the policy approach. We can't come to "terms" with anyone. AFAIK It's currently set up that NIL allocation still gets approved & funneled through the Department. Ends up looking like this...
I don't think that is correct - in fact, the whole point of Michigan's approach is that the AD does not get directly involved in the NIL program and funneling to players.
Signing a deal is the easy part, Valient Management is doing that for players already. The hard part is raising the money and then deciding which athletes you would like to work with.
There is definitely a NIL review and approve process by the university none of which includes "inducement" which is clearly prohibited @ Michigan...that's the main point of being severely handcuffed in the recruitment process...These folks are donating 100% of their money to current student athletes if approved by the university, and not enrollment enticing activities that other universities are clearly spending freely on. Michigan's policy is rigid and restrictive.
Eligible current student athletes (themselves or collectives) also have to register and go through approvals.
If the University identifies a conflict between the student-athlete’s proposed opportunity or
contract and any existing agreements of the University, the University shall communicate that
conflict to the student-athlete so that the student-athlete may negotiate a revision of the
opportunity or contract to avoid the conflict. That revision is subject to additional review and
approval by the University.
https://mgoblue.com/documents/2021/7/1/name_image_likeness_policy.pdf
There may be other language out there that I am not aware of so this is my understanding of the NIL policy.
These are not A-C transactions. It's more aligned with an A-B-A-C structured business deal.
This exactly. Also, FWIW, I'm a small business owner and would like to work with an athlete for an advertising spot. I've tried to wade through the NIL system with Valiant and the Athletic Department and it's not easy. I submitted for approval over a month ago and haven't heard any response - including to multiple status request inquiries.
Nope. I actually think it's fucking pathetic to ask fans to chip in, especially how much damn money is already in the sport as it is.
Our country is kind of perverse when it comes to sports fandom. I'm in a state where literally one of the biggest "policy issues" that has been blasting in campaign ads lately is about Lia Thomas and "keeping boys out of girls sports"...as if that is some sort of important topic that our country needs to fix urgently, and not the zillion other things that actually affect our lives everyday.
I love Michigan sports. I'm not freaking out about NIL because...well, I have no control over it. Michigan will either get with it or get left behind. I won't stop rooting for them, regardless...my Michigan fandom is for life. I don't like how NIL right now means "just bribe recruits to come to the school", and I think a lot of people aren't really thinking through the repercussions of such a setup...I doubt the current landscape lasts more than another year or 2. But that's just my completely uninformed opinion, man.
You made some good points. I'm not sure if bribe recruits is a good term, given the new landscape of NIL. Maybe it's more like, pay a recruit what you think he may be worth. It's certainly a gamble because many of these recruits won't actually pan out and essentially you've threw away good money. I think the latter is what will make the transactional part of this fall into line with what these unproven players are actually worth. The pay will probably go down but some may even go up. I agree, it may be two or three years before that happens or the NCAA steps in and attempts to make the rules clear and fair for everyone in all states but in the meantime, is it a good idea to sit back and wait? Probably not. So many teams are paying at this point that the NCAA probably wont sanction anyone, when it does decide to step in. That's why we need to get in there and fight with two hands, like all the top tier teams are doing until the NCAA says you can't do it anymore.
Nah, I am actually curious to see what Michigan can do with a roster of all 3 stars.
Im happy to throw on a few bucks, and have some thoughts on the name of our collective:
Bolivia Sports Mgt
Tacopants LLC
Those Who Stay will be Rich
We are working on this at MGoDAO - come join us.
website: mgodao.io
twitter: @mgodaonft
We are working with a star male and female athlete to become the face of Season 1. We also have an LLC set up with tailgates at MGoPatio. Seth like us. Join our discord, help us build the future of NIL at Michigan.
Oh wow - I hadn't heard of this before (and apparently not too many others have since nobody else mentioned it yet).
I just checked it out and the NFT stuff is a bit over my head but I will buy a season pass.
Can you set something up with MGoBlog? Maybe a weekly interview or mail bag type thing?
Awesome! I would love to, Seth is in our discord and we've been talking a bit. He actually mentioned us briefly in the last Unverified Voracity, we are definitely working to get the word out more. Will try to set something up with him.
I thought about this earlier: would mgoblog want money from their sales or directed to their nil fund?
This whole process is depressing.
I like the idea - question: is it legal in Michigan to offer money to a recruit that's contingent on committing and signing? For some reason I thought that was a hold up, but I hope that's incorrect.
It's the NCAA so it's more like a "guideline" than a "rule". Rules get enforced.
It's not the NCAA.
It's state of Michigan law
Good question. Ultimately that's what we're really talking about. Anything short of that would be duplicating what's already in place. Not to discourage potential supporters, just wanted to know?
I've got a sack of returnables and whatever loose change I find in the couch to pitch in.
[Ed-S: This was a message board thread moved here]
I don't make a lot of post but I thought this was worth sharing. In a discussion I had with my son I came up with this idea...
I have a solution for michigan football not wanting to flat out buy recruits that also solves the fear of kids thar have already been on the team getting jealous. So you get big boosters to put yp 8.5 million a year. Every scholarship player gets 100,000 a year. If you wat to tie it to academics you say you get 50,000 per semester but you have to stay eligible to receive it. If you stay 5 years you have earned half a million If you never start a game. Anything you make from NIL on top of that is your business!
[Ed-S: This was too]
Why don't we start an NIL Group called the Michigan Legacy Management?
Here is the structure
Independent non-salaried players, referred to as agents (variously called "associates", "independent business owners", "independent agents", etc.), are authorized to distribute the program's products or services. The players are then awarded their own immediate NIL profit from other players plus commission from the program, not downlines, through a multi-level NIL compensation plan, which is based upon the volume of products sold through their own NIL efforts as well as that of their downline organization.
The players develop their organizations by either building an active fan network, who buy direct from the program, or by recruiting a downline of recruits who also build a base, thereby expanding the overall organization.
I call it, the Michigan Legacy Management.
With the entire Michigan fan base in full recruiting BPONE
Not me. I don't follow recruiting. I can't be upset that a player isn't coming to Michigan or decommitted from Michigan if I never knew who that player was.
The games are enough of a BPONE for me, I don't need it on the recruiting trail also.
If recruiting doesn’t get better, the games are gonna get way worse