Georgia State athletes now have an opportunity to create income thanks to a new collective that debuted today.
The All Blue, All NIL Collective has been established by two men with deep ties to the school. It is the official source to link fans, donors and businesses to GSU athletes who want to take advantage of their name, image and likeness opportunities.
The idea behind the collective began in November and originated with Mike Holmes, a former GSU associate athletic director for sports communications, and Gabe Mobley, a four-year starter on the school’s football team and now an attorney in the Atlanta area. The two got serious about the idea in March, formed an LLC and began to get their papers in order.
The All Blue, All NIL Collective was created to help level the NIL playing field with some of other teams in the Sun Belt Conference, including Georgia Southern, which launched its collective in July.
“Georgia State Athletics continues to look for innovative and transformational ways to support our student-athletes and maximize their NIL opportunities,” athletic director Charlie Cobb said. “While many have talked about the need for a collective, I’m genuinely appreciative of Mike and Gabe for actually doing the work and making the investment to create one. My hope is their example leads others to positively express their support for our student-athletes in tangible ways.”
The All Blue, All NIL Collective will operate within NCAA, Sun Belt and State of Georgia parameters to increase opportunities for the nearly 400 athletes who compete in the school’s 16 sports.
The collective gives coaches more flexibility and leverage when it comes to recruiting players via the transfer portal or by enticing them to stay.
The collective will help enable athletes to participate in a variety of income producing opportunities, from in-kind promotional deals, social-media endorsements, appearances, meet-and-greets, autographs and digital content. The collective also will educate the athletes about paying taxes and other legal requirements.
“For those who want to see Georgia State grow bigger than we ever could have thought, even just a few years ago, now is the time and supporting our student-athletes is the best way to do it,” Holmes said. “I hope that all fans, donors and alums will rally around this cause and all the great initiatives underway within the athletics department.”
The NCAA approved its NIL policy two years ago, and it has been transformational, especially for football. Opendorse, an NIL marketplace, projects $1.875 billion will be spent on NIL in 2023-24 across all college sports. The immediate impact was felt by the Power Five conferences, but has filtered down. Texas State, one of Georgia State’s fellow Sun Belt members, added 36 football players through the transfer portal thanks to its NIL arrangement and defeated Baylor in the season opener.
The Georgia State collective already has established a social-media presence on X (formerly known as Twitter), Instagram and Facebook. Details are available online at AllBlueAllNIL.com.
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