Column: NIL is short for 'We Need You'

Murray State's 'Blue & Gold Standard" collective hopes to raise $300,000 for MBB

Saturday is the six-month anniversary of the introduction of the Blue & Gold Standard — Murray State’s NIL collective — to the Racer Nation.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from these last few months, it’s that many of you still have a ton of questions about NIL. I’m going to try to briefly summarize those answers for you before we get into some brass tacks.

What is NIL?

NIL is short for Name, Image and Likeness. In the real world, anyone — you, me, and the mailman — is allowed to make money off their name, image and/or likeness. Until recently, “anyone” did not include college student-athletes. For example, while playing at Murray State, Popeye Jones couldn’t do a commercial for a car dealership. The Murray State bookstore might sell an Isaiah Canaan or Ja Morant jersey, but the players didn’t see any cut of the profits. In 2021, the NCAA changed the rules on NIL to where players can now earn money for the use of their name, image and/or likeness.

How does a player make money off NIL?

Some of you may remember when my wife and I owned The Murray Flower Company, we had a small NIL deal with former Racer legend Rod Thomas. Rod did some social media advertising with us that we paid him for, and then we also gave him a cut of sales that came directly from him. It can also include being paid for appearances, autograph sessions, corporate endorsements or running their own camps — just to name a few of countless examples.

What is a collective?

A collective, such as Murray State’s Blue & Gold Standard, is a 501c3 non-profit organization that is not officially affiliated with the university. Although student-athletes are now able to profit off of their name, image and likeness, university representatives and coaches are restricted from directing these athletes to any type of NIL opportunity, and that is where the collective steps in. The collective has two main purposes when it comes to helping the student-athletes. First, it helps facilitate NIL contracts between individual businesses and the student-athletes. Secondly, the collective provides opportunities for the student-athlete to participate in a number of activities with non-profit organizations that they are compensated for.

Is NIL the same as “Pay for Play?”

The short answer is no. Yes, the players will receive money, but it is part of their contract with either an individual business or the collective. The contract explains what services the student-athlete will provide to a business or entity. Like any job, a service is provided and then the player is paid.

OK, I think those cover the basic tenets of NIL and collectives and provides a bit of a glossary of terms to help explain this next part.

The tricky part about this new NIL world we live in is it’s a nearly non-negotiable component of college basketball if you want to be successful. I get that some people are hesitant when it comes to “paying players.” I can respect those concerns, and fully acknowledge there are many other helpful ways to contribute to a basketball program that don’t include NIL or donating to a collective.

With that said, the NIL toothpaste is out of the tube. If Murray State doesn’t provide NIL opportunities for players they are trying to recruit (and retain), I promise you, other schools will. That’s simply a fact of life right now in the sport.

I’m sure you’ve heard some crazy numbers getting thrown around from the bigger schools in the country in terms of what they can offer in NIL for their team. One report said Kentucky had $7,000,000 in their war chest to bring in players for the 2023-24 season. It is difficult to confirm how much the NIL collectives give out each season due to the fact those collectives are independent from the universities and therefore their information is private. With some common sense, it’s not hard to surmise that most all of the Power 5 basketball schools have collectives that are dishing out millions of dollars each year.

For Murray State and other mid-major schools, their collective needs are much smaller. Would it be wonderful to have millions of dollars to help bring in recruits to Murray? Of course! Is it realistic right now? Of course not! Murray State doesn’t need to worry about competing with the deep pockets of the SEC, but more just focusing on their Missouri Valley neighbors.

Again, nailing down specific numbers is difficult, but so far the rumor mill has been pretty accurate in giving us a ballpark amount Missouri Valley collectives have raised. The belief right now is that to compete with the top collectives in the conference, The Blue & Gold Standard will need to raise roughly anywhere from $300,000 to $500,000 annually. Here are a pair of reported examples of what collectives in the Valley are ready to spend:

• Indiana State reportedly had $200,000 for this past season, and was hoping to get to $300,000 for next season. The $300,000 was to help keep their starting five intact coming off their championship season — but those hopes were dashed quickly. With Head Coach Josh Schertz leaving for Saint Louis, all five of ISU’s starters entered the transfer portal. Just before Schertz left Terre Haute, the belief was that quintet could command up to a total of $2,000,000 on the open NIL market for next season.

• Bradley’s ‘Home of the Brave’ collective is preparing to enter it’s third season in operation. HOTB raised $150,000 for the 2022-23 season, and then pushed that number to $300,000 this past year. They are reportedly looking to increase that dollar amount again for 2024-25.

This is the challenge Steve Prohm and Murray State are facing as they attempt to compete against conference rivals in this NIL space. Simply put, Indiana State and Bradley, among others, have had collectives that have been in operation for a couple of years. The Blue & Gold Standard was just unveiled to the world last October with an opening nest egg of $75,000. While that number has continued to steadily grow in the last six months, there is still work to be done to get the collective in the same fundraising neighborhood as the top-spending teams in the conference.

As we prepare to celebrate the 100 years of Murray State Basketball, The Blue & Gold Standard is sponsoring a pledge drive where they’re asking Racer fans to donate $100 a month. 100 years, 100 dollars — it’s some nice numerical symmetry. If 300 people would donate that amount, that would quickly raise $360,000 for the upcoming season. If that number could be met, it would be an incredible success for the collective by any metric.

Here’s a video Steve Prohm posted on X/Twitter in hopes of rallying the Racer Nation:

Some of you have already made incredibly generous donations outside of the ‘$100 for 100 years’ campaign. The one part I want to stress about fundraising for the collective is that this is truly an inclusive exercise among Racer fans. I know we all want to support Racer Basketball in any way we can. I also know financial commitments come in all different shapes and sizes — but every last donation, unquestionably, is not only important, but incredibly appreciated.

If you can give $100 a month — wonderful!

If you can give $5 a month — wonderful!

This new NIL world is a difficult landscape to navigate, and it’s one that needs all the help we can provide. The Blue & Gold Standard has a donation page on their website that allows you to donate to any specific sport you’d like at Murray State, for any dollar amount. The link to donate to Men’s Basketball can be found here.

You will also likely notice in the coming months that certain events that are tied to the basketball program will now be fundraising arms for the collective. In June, there will be a “Behind the Scenes” night where fans, among other things, will have a chance to get an inside look at recruiting and scouting. In July or August, we’ll have the annual RacerHoopalooza weekend that includes the banquet and golf tournament. In September, there are plans for a “Community Night” to allow the Racers to engage with the greatest fans in the country.

If you are a business that wants to get involved with the NIL side of things, you can reach out to The Blue & Gold Standard so they can help facilitate those relationships for you. They can be reached by going to this link.

My final point about NIL is you have to keep your head on a swivel with this stuff. The rules from yesterday are not the rules of today. This is an ever-evolving world, so we’ll all need to adjust when the next rule change occurs.

I run this website because I love Murray State Basketball. You’re on this website right now because I know you love Murray State Basketball too. I know we all want the Racers to hang another banner from the rafters of the CFSB Center sooner than later, and donating to the collective gives all of us a tangible way to pitch in and be a part of something special.

Go Racers!