Report: New third-party NIL collective coming to USC as BLVD LLC alternative
A third-party NIL collective is coming to USC.
According to The Los Angeles Times’ Ryan Kartje, a group of “deep-pocketed USC donors and diehard fans” are moving forward with the creation of an NIL collective dubbed “Student Body Right,” designed to provide payments to current USC football players in exchange for charitable work and local community service. According to Kartje, that third-party collective will launch at odds with the university.
USC announced its own Name, Image, and Likeness arm back in June—BLVD LLC—designed to insulate the program from issues that could arise from a third-party collective like potential NCAA scrutiny. The Trojans hoped to have a de-facto collective with more oversight. To do so, they partnered with the media company Stay Doubted to create a subsidiary that would represent USC athletes seeking NIL deals.
According to The Athletic, BLVD LLC began operations this month, but there’s growing concern among boosters and fans of the program that it won’t be able to do the things necessary to keep USC competitive in today’s recruiting world. Though NIL is not supposed to be used as an inducement tool in recruiting, schools throughout the FBS ranks aren’t exactly playing by loosely-enforced NIL guidelines.
According to The Times, “Student Body Right” hopes to offer an NIL alternative for fans “who want to contribute to the football program without any connection to USC at all.” But the new entity would be born in opposition of the university, as USC could be held liable for any dealings the NCAA rules prohibited.
From Kartje’s report:
Details regarding how payments will be distributed to players have yet to be finalized, but (Dale) Rech said the collective’s intent is to provide “the equivalent of a base salary” for every member of USC’s football team who is academically eligible. To receive those payments, players would perform community service and take part in charitable work with local organizations.
How that charitable work will be valued or how payments would be divided among players is still up in the air. Student Body Right has filed for 501(c)(3) status as a charitable organization, which would make certain donations to the group tax-deductible. BLVD is not a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
The leadership group for the new entity told The Times it has no intention of being involved “with recruiting or anything involving prospective Trojans athletes.”