When Syracuse Orange athletics director John Wildhack said not too long ago that he plans to streamline the NIL organizations that support 'Cuse student-athletes, two thoughts immediately popped into my head.
Number one: this is a sound strategy.
Number two: what might this streamlining ultimately look like?
Currently, there are three entities that work with Syracuse Orange players on name, image and likeness deals. They are Orange United, SU Football NIL and Athletes Who Care.
Wildhack, in a recent interview on ESPN Radio Syracuse, said that effective July 1, not all three of these NIL organizations will exist. He didn't provide many additional details, although Wildhack did note that SU Football NIL will continue to exist and could expand into basketball.
Over the past 18 months or so, I've talked to various experts in the NIL space, and one thing they've noted is that it's a better overall strategy to have one main NIL organization supporting student-athletes at a specific school, rather than two or three.
So I do think that Wildhack is making the right move by streamlining things on the Hill. That being said, if SU Football NIL is remaining in operation, what's to be of Orange United and Athletes Who Care?
The NIL strategy surrounding the Syracuse Orange is evolving.
Orange United, a commercial NIL collective, launched in September of 2023 to support players in all 'Cuse sports. When it launched, Orange United signed a deal with multi-media rights company LEARFIELD to be an official partner of, and the preferred collective for, SU Athletics.
The operator of Orange United, the Atlanta-based Student Athlete NIL ("SANIL"), was recently acquired by the Las Vegas-based Blueprint Sports. I'm hoping to catch up with executives at Blueprint Sports soon.
SU Football NIL, as its name suggests, is focused on name, image and likeness deals with Syracuse football players. Its president, Joe Burton, was on the board of directors at Orange United when it commenced operations.
Athletes Who Care, formed during the summer of 2022, "identifies and empowers Syracuse University student-athletes who are passionate and committed to charitable work and matches them with charitable organizations in the Syracuse area which can benefit from their services," according to this 501(c)(3) organization's Web site.
Okay. So I requested some clarity on Wildhack's comments from an SU Athletics spokesperson not too long ago. I didn't hear back. I also recently sent a message on X to SU Football NIL and didn't get a response.
I certainly understand if all three of these NIL entities don't want to say anything public at this time. I imagine Wildhack and his staff will meet with the three NIL organizations sooner rather than later.
If SU Football NIL is going to remain in operation, that's fine. But what about all other Syracuse Orange sports? Even if SU Football NIL did, potentially, expand into basketball, there are plenty of other 'Cuse sports out there that need support.
That's why merging SU Football NIL, Orange United and Athletes Who Care together might be the way to go. Then again, I don't know how eager any of these groups might feel about such a proposition.
To me, though, the most important thing is for NIL efforts in Central New York to keep on supporting all Syracuse Orange players, not just those in football and basketball, even if those sports generate the bulk of revenue year in and year out for SU Athletics.
John Wildhack has some important decisions to make coming up. I'll be curious to see how this all shakes out.