For the time being, Syracuse's third-party name, image and likeness ("NIL") strategy doesn't have a major collective supporting sports beyond football. Experts say that's concerning.
Earlier this month, Orange United closed up shop, the result of its parent company, the Atlanta-based Student Athlete NIL ("SANIL"), shutting down immediately. Orange United launched in September of 2023 to support 'Cuse athletes in all SU sports, just like other SANIL collectives.
SU Football NIL works with Syracuse football players on name, image and likeness opportunities. Athletes Who Care, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization formed in the summer of 2022, has linked up Orange athletes with charitable opportunities.
But in sports beyond football, the major mechanism for third-party NIL support of Syracuse Orange players has been Orange United. With it no longer in existence, I've asked an SU Athletics spokesperson several times in recent weeks if, moving forward, there will be a third-party NIL collective for 'Cuse sports besides football, such as men's and women's basketball, the lacrosse programs and others.
The SU Athletics spokesperson hasn't responded to these questions. The spokesperson did provide me with a copy of an e-mail that was recently sent by SU athletics director John Wildhack to Orange United subscribers. The e-mail said in part that despite SANIL's ceasing operations, "we remain committed to working closely with our donors and supporters to recruit and retain champion-caliber student-athletes. Syracuse Athletics is deeply appreciative of your continued support of our student-athletes and your investment in the short- and long-term success of our athletic programs. We will work with SANIL to apply the remaining existing funds to their allocated purpose."
Wildhack is encouraging fans to support Syracuse players through the SU Athletics' $50 million fundraising campaign, called Champion ’CUSE, that was announced earlier this year. More specifically, Wildhack writes, the Athletics Competitive Excellence Fund within Champion ’CUSE "centers around the same mission as prior contributions to Orange United: maximizing revenue-sharing opportunities for Syracuse University student-athletes and strengthening our programs' ability to recruit, retain and develop elite talent and build championship winning programs."
Syracuse's third-party NIL strategy needs to be refined, experts say.
Still, the question remains. What is the third-party NIL strategy for SU Athletics moving forward? Is the intention not to have a commercial collective in Central New York supporting basketball, lacrosse and other sports besides football?
I recently caught up with one of the country's top NIL experts, Darren Heitner, who is the founder of the Heitner Legal PLLC law firm in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He said to me via e-mail: "It’s not common for a school the size and stature of Syracuse to have a collective focusing on one sport. More common would be attention paid to multiple sports with an emphasis on a single sport."
Several other industry experts echoed Heitner's sentiments. One source, who asked not to be named directly, said that there needs to be a third-party NIL collective in place sooner rather than later that will support SU athletes in sports beyond football to help ensure that Syracuse remains competitive in the Atlantic Coast Conference and around the country amid the new revenue-sharing era.
On July 1, the result of the multi-billion-dollar House settlement going into effect, Syracuse could start paying its athletes directly. SU Athletics has said that for the 2025-26 sports season, it will share the maximum allowed, roughly $20.5 million, with the predominant amount going toward football and men's/women's basketball.
In the spring, Wildhack said that given revenue-sharing on the horizon, third-party NIL deals would be "very important" to supplement the school's direct payments to its players, particularly in football and men's basketball, to help keep Syracuse competitive in the ACC and nationwide, related to retaining players while also recruiting in the transfer portal and at the high school level.
Earlier this week, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported that Kentucky men's basketball is expected to have a payroll of around $22 million for the upcoming 2025-26 season, and that figure includes revenue-sharing and third-party NIL deals. Surely, comparing Kentucky, a blue-blood hoops program, to Syracuse is not entirely an apples-to-apples comparison.
However, if the Orange hopes to be on par with its peers in that sport, Syracuse will likely need substantial third-party NIL support, in addition to revenue-sharing, for that to occur, some experts said.
Now, if fans, wealthy alumni, businesses and others continue to provide ample funding for 'Cuse athletes by providing direct donations to Syracuse through its Champion ’CUSE campaign, then perhaps all will be well and good.
But the experts whom I talked to cautioned that not having a third-party collective in place to focus on basketball, lacrosse and other sports besides football could prove problematic for Syracuse Athletics in the long run. "Yes, it would appear they are behind in that sense," one industry executive told me.