NIL, Tennessee and Spyre Sports

[SNAFU]

“If you would have asked us four to five months ago, we might have said we want to try and raise $3 (million), $4 (million), $5 million annually. Now, the goal is $25 million annually. Or more. And we think that goal is absolutely attainable,” said Hunter Baddour, president and co-founder of Spyre Sports, a Tennessee-centric college sports collective. “We’ll have to work hard, which we will. If this is how the game is played, then game on.”

“We’re prepared to invest a substantial amount of resources into the 2023 recruiting class,” Baddour said. “When you add all that together, it’s well into the seven-figure category.” Baddour and CEO James Clawson co-founded Spyre Sports in 2020 and quickly found fertile ground in name, image and likeness. It has become one of the sport’s most organized and advanced collectives, a new catch-all term in college sports for groups of fans with varying budgets set aside to help aid players in monetizing their name, image and likeness. Money is pooled from a variety of sources and distributed to players according to their value, while players are responsible for providing deliverables such as event appearances, social media posts or autographs.

"..... collectives across the sport such as Spyre are making players aware of their value and, once they arrive on campus, following through with money that reflects it. “We’ve had so many different area businesses step up to be able to help us with this kind of package. Whether it’s apartments, condos, car dealerships, free places to eat. It can be as simple as tires. Car washes. We’ve done all kinds of stuff,” Clawson said.

The recruits in the Class of 2023 will be the first ones who will be able to pursue NIL deals throughout their decision-making process. Collectives around the country are preparing, and in Spyre’s case, it’s focused on building a Tennessee-centric war chest.

David Ubben, The Athletic

 

[csprig9]

Finally starting to see the rewards after hearing about all the rumors

 

[cncchris33]

What this tells me is that we were, in fact, woefully behind in regards to NIL.

 

[jvols1999]

What this tells me is that we were, in fact, woefully behind in regards to NIL.

 

[livefaith]

Somebody tell him there's no point.
"ATM, Bama, and UGA will have $10mil available to every recruit. TN is just a bunch of poor hillbillies that don't have a program that anyone care$ about." - VN Stereotype

 

[BigOrangeVols]

What this tells me is that we were, in fact, woefully behind in regards to NIL.

Way better to be late than never here I'd say

 

[Theshag]

FCS is doomed. Literally going to be playing against pro teams.

 

[cncchris33]

Way better to be late than never here I'd say

Oh, I definitely agree. Hopefully we get in the act and start making more and more compelling pitches to prospective recruits. It sounds like the resources and the infrastructure are now soundly in place.

It just makes you wonder where this level of investment and organization was a year ago when NIL was being legislated and implemented.

 

[BigOrangeVols]

Oh, I definitely agree. Hopefully we get in the act and start making more and more compelling pitches to prospective recruits. It sounds like the resources and the infrastructure are now soundly in place.

It just makes you wonder where this level of investment and organization was a year ago when NIL was being legislated and implemented.

We canned Pruitt for it and then it's essentially legal the year after. I wonder if that played into us being slow to get into it.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Oh, I definitely agree. Hopefully we get in the act and start making more and more compelling pitches to prospective recruits. It sounds like the resources and the infrastructure are now soundly in place.

It just makes you wonder where this level of investment and organization was a year ago when NIL was being legislated and implemented.

The only school ahead of Tennessee is A&M imo.

Auburn - a guy that's a lawyer is running their NIL as a 2nd job.
Alabama - has a team in place, but they're still doing most of recruiting the old fashion way.
UGA - no NIL program as of recent, still dropping bags.
A&M - Solid group in place that's raising a lot of money. With Texas at the top of NIL.
Arkansas - group in place, but not as forward thinking as Spyre and behind in fundraising.
Ole Miss - working on it, but mostly still doing it the old way.
LSU - no idea what their situation is.
Kentucky, Vandy, SCar, Florida, Miss St, Missouri - lol

 

[Geaux_Vols]

Just finished this article. Holy cow. I initially thought NIL wasn't going to be such a vital aspect of recruiting for a majority of prospects. It appears I was very wrong, for now.

We do seem to be ahead of the curve, according to the article, and it seems like we're as well-organized and funded as anyone right now (they Spyre guys say the next two years will be crucial to keeping it that way). The line that stuck out to me:

"If you go out and replicate the season Hendon Hooker just had, there's no reason why at the end of the day in deals we do and other companies do or national brands, the quarterback at Tennessee shouldn't make seven figures a year."

 

[cncchris33]

The only school ahead of Tennessee is A&M imo.

Auburn - a guy that's a lawyer is running their NIL as a 2nd job.
Alabama - has a team in place, but they're still doing most of recruiting the old fashion way.
UGA - no NIL program as of recent, still dropping bags.
A&M - Solid group in place that's raising a lot of money. With Texas at the top of NIL.
Arkansas - group in place, but not as forward thinking as Spyre and behind in fundraising.
Ole Miss - working on it, but mostly still doing it the old way.
LSU - no idea what their situation is.
Kentucky, Vandy, SCar, Florida, Miss St, Missouri - lol

That is fair. In light of recent impropriety, Tennessee has to do things on the up and up, though, so the UGA/Bama method isnt an option. I'm just happy to see that it is becoming more organized and publicly mentioned and recognized.

 

[sjt18]

What this tells me is that we were, in fact, woefully behind in regards to NIL.

There is nothing... nada... in that article to suggest that. UT is likely being more careful but who knows how far behind the Vols are... if at all?

 

[sjt18]

FCS is doomed. Literally going to be playing against pro teams.

It is probably time to take the top 64 programs and create a new division in CFB that is not allowed to play the others. Could be a vehicle to institute a real playoff system too.

 

[cncchris33]

There is nothing... nada... in that article to suggest that. UT is likely being more careful but who knows how far behind the Vols are... if at all?

“If you would have asked us four to five months ago, we might have said we want to try and raise $3 (million), $4 (million), $5 million annually. Now, the goal is $25 million annually. Or more."

This is the quote I was referring to. It seems to imply that around the early part of the 2021 season they wanted to try and raise (future tense) $3-5 million. What were they doing before that? This began in July, right? And again, I mention the increased publicity of it. Maybe we just didn't know what they were doing, but publicizing the activities of this organization makes me more comfortable with where we are and where we are going.

 

[RiseToTheTop]

Can’t wait to see the 23 class when it’s final. Gonna be good.

 

[overseasorange2]

In and out: The SEC's biggest winners and losers in the Transfer Portal

 

[sjt18]

This is the quote I was referring to. It seems to imply that around the early part of the 2021 season they wanted to try and raise (future tense) $3-5 million. What were they doing before that? This began in July, right? And again, I mention the increased publicity of it. Maybe we just didn't know what they were doing, but publicizing the activities of this organization makes me more comfortable with where we are and where we are going.

I think the more realistic reading of that comment is that they were wildly more successful than anticipated. Five million would have been a good haul. They would have had probably $4 million after costs to distribute. If they divided that sum between the scholarship players it comes to almost $50K each. They appear to know exactly what they're doing but underestimated how Vol fans would respond. Some of us... didn't. I have believed from the start that UT being clearly the flagship school in TN plus a very large national appeal provided some opportunity better than some schools currently considered top tier.

Take Arkansas for instance. They're the top program by far but have a smaller population and much less wealth than TN.

Consider the situation of UF. Miami and FSU are on par from an image standpoint plus several G-5 schools with recent success and fan loyalty. Add two NFL teams with long histories and fanships in FL... and there's not a ton of air left in that room.

Look at USCe and Clemson. Clemson has some national appeal but a state with relatively small population will be split between the two.

Bama's best play IMO is their national appeal. If they have to depend on the state of Alabama donors alone to create an NIL collective like Spyre then it may be the change that knocks them off that perch.

 

[Rizzo924]

I thought Ubben was no longer on the Tennessee beat - def not going back to The Athletic now.

 

[Southeastern VFL]

Somebody tell him there's no point.
"ATM, Bama, and UGA will have $10mil available to every recruit. TN is just a bunch of poor hillbillies that don't have a program that anyone care$ about." - VN Stereotype

Yep because that what we have allowed people to believe. That is why the last 10 years of Tennessee football is truly a total disgrace. If this program ever uses all of it's resources to the absolute fullest we will be elite again no doubt. We have always been up there with Georgia and Alabama on and off the field but over the last 10 years we have not acted like it. Hopefully we now have the management and people in place to use everything we have always had the way it is supposed to be used.

 

[Mr French]

This is the quote I was referring to. It seems to imply that around the early part of the 2021 season they wanted to try and raise (future tense) $3-5 million. What were they doing before that? This began in July, right? And again, I mention the increased publicity of it. Maybe we just didn't know what they were doing, but publicizing the activities of this organization makes me more comfortable with where we are and where we are going.

Tells me that there is more donations than they originally templated due to the football programs current situation. Tells me that fan donations have increased and 25 million is an attainable target.

 

[Devo182]

FCS is doomed. Literally going to be playing against pro teams.

When were they not? And FCS teams only play 1 FBS team a season anyway and it's usually a joke already.

Don't see the difference. ETSU or Chattanooga vs UT has never been anything more than a doomed game for them.

 

[Orange_Crush]

This is the quote I was referring to. It seems to imply that around the early part of the 2021 season they wanted to try and raise (future tense) $3-5 million. What were they doing before that? This began in July, right? And again, I mention the increased publicity of it. Maybe we just didn't know what they were doing, but publicizing the activities of this organization makes me more comfortable
Before the NIL was announced? They were probably making preparations just like everyone else.

 

[DaddyChad]

We canned Pruitt for it and then it's essentially legal the year after. I wonder if that played into us being slow to get into it.

It’s playing into it. Think about where Pruitt’s illegal budget was coming from.

Some big money people are still keeping their heads down right now.

 

[butchna]

I thought Ubben was no longer on the Tennessee beat - def not going back to The Athletic now.

He’s not. Just picks and chooses nowadays. When there’s an opportunity to take a shot at Vols fans he takes it.