Athletes at the University of South Florida will now be able to receive compensation via the launch of the Fowler Ave Collective — the university's first and only name, image and likeness (NIL) collective.
Dreamfield Sports, an Orlando-based tech startup that works to help collegiate athletes to profit from their NIL, announced the launch of the Fowler Ave Collective Friday.
The collective describes itself as a "private fan club" to support players by crowdsourcing fan contributions. For monthly membership fees between $10 and $200, the collective offers fan engagements with current players, who are then paid by the collective.
"Fowler Ave is groundbreaking because it is an experience platform where fans can tap into a unique network all while compensating athletes for the use of their name, image and likeness," Dreamfield external affairs director Corey Staniscia said in a statement. "Fowler Ave will be powered by the USF fanbase, not a handful of wealthy mega-donors."
According to a news release from Dreamfield Sports, Fowler Ave Collective wants to build on the already established USF community. By supporting more fan engagement, the collective expects higher ticket and merchandise sales for the university, and an overall better athlete experience.
"This support group is so imperative to the future successes of our student athletes and athletic programs in this new world. Fowler Ave is a perfect way to get to know the faces of USF on all teams, not just football. It is also a perfect opportunity to merge the bold history of USF with the new age. Everything we do at Dreamfield is about compliance and player safety — it is our number one priority," Staniscia, who is also a USF Alumni, continued.
Fowler Ave Collective has already announced their first ambassador in Bulls quarterback, and Baylor transfer, Gerry Bohanon. USF Alumni and Bulls legend Matt Grothe will host the Twitter Spaces and members only virtual meet and greets.
"I couldn't have been more excited about this opportunity to help our current USF athletes when Corey and I first reconnected after all these years with our friend and my former tight end, Andrew Ketchel," Grothe said in a statement. "The Fowler Ave Collective is a network I wish I had when I was on campus, but now it is our turn to step up and support our USF Bulls in a new way … and I am happy to do my part."
USF is just the latest university to join the recent trend of NIL collectives, with Florida State University announcing a similar program back in March.
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