SMU student-athletes are the latest to benefit from the new era of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals in college sports.
Boulevard Collective is a new NIL collective launched over the weekend, comprised of SMU alums and donors but not associated directly with the college. The collective expects to pay all SMU football and men’s basketball players $3,000 per month, or $36,000 annually, amounting to a total commitment of roughly $3.5 million annually.
Sports industry veteran Chris Schoemann will serve as executive director of the collective.
“At a time where an athlete’s access to brand and marketing opportunities is more valuable than ever before, we are excited to leverage DFW’s integrated network of corporate, philanthropic, and athletics leaders,” Schoemann said in a press release. “For a city and alumni base as relationship-oriented as Dallas and SMU, it seems only fitting that the community has come together in this way.”
Dallas businessmen and SMU alums Chris Kleinert, CEO of Hunt Realty Investments, and Kyle Miller, president and CEO of Silver Hill Energy Partner, are credited as creators of the collective.
Kleinert said the collective plans to expand the compensation package to other sports in the future.
“This is just the beginning. The purpose of the Boulevard Collective is to create opportunities for SMU athletes that enhance their athletic career, while preparing them for wherever their professional aspirations might take them at SMU and beyond,” said Kleinert. “Our goal is to ensure this Collective becomes the gold standard for NIL efforts across the country.”
Boulevard Collective will be the second NIL collective working specifically with SMU student-athletes. Pony Sports DTX has already provided over $1 million in NIL deals since its inception.
Collectives, which must be independent of a university, can serve various purposes. Most often, they pool funds from boosters and businesses to help facilitate NIL deals for athletes and create pathways for athletes to monetize their brands.
Opendorse, a popular NIL marketplace that works with 20 other NIL collectives across the country, will operate the newest SMU collective.
“The Boulevard Collective will be in elite company in terms of its commitment to student-athletes,” Opendorse CEO Blake Lawrence said in a statement. “With our unrivaled insight into NIL transactions and the industry at large, it’s clear the Boulevard Collective is initiating one of the most substantive, sustainable efforts nationwide.”
The Boulevard Collective is set to be one of the “largest” in the NIL marketplace, according to the press release. The Matador Club, a Texas Tech collective, unveiled plans to pay each football player $25,000 a year last month.