Hoops HD

The marketplace for college athletes to engage in Name/Image/Likeness (NIL) deals was created last year after the NCAA v. Alston case and now it seems like every college is ready to start spreading the wealth. There are already more than 100 “collectives” either in operation or being formed. They allow alumni/fans/whoever to donate money to assist a specific school in creating opportunities for student-athletes to make some money off of their celebrity. We have reached out to many collectives and will try to interview representatives from as many of them as possible to see how each of them operates. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our coverage with Frances Reimers, Chief Creative Officer of Pitt’s NIL Collective, Alliance 412, who discussed what her group is about and what it has accomplished so far.

Chris Bickell founded an NIL collective called “Alliance 412” last April: how complicated was it to create (if at all), and why did he do it? Creating the infrastructure for a business model that did not technically previously exist is no easy task. Every day we are making decisions for our company in an industry that has not even plateaued, let alone fully matured.

To manage the day-to-day operations and fiscal growth, Chris hired his trusted friend Jeff Goldberg, who has years of organizational development experience. Chris and Jeff later added me to manage internal and external marketing and public relations.

Like many alums, Chris is passionate about Pitt athletics and developing and maintaining a winning culture. He has created and sold multiple businesses so he knows precisely what that success requires. To that end, Chris was willing to put his name on the line and invest significantly to create Alliance 412. He wanted current and future student-athletes to have the assurance that Pitt means business regarding NIL.

Your title is “Chief Creative Officer”: what does that entail? My role as Chief Creative Officer has both internal and external components. Internally, my role is to create, manage, grow, and protect the Alliance 412 brand. This role is very similar to a marketing/communications director. Externally, I work with our student-athletes and corporate/nonprofit partners to create and execute events or marketing or public relations campaigns developed through Alliance 412. Additionally, I provide brand education to athletes and programs who are interested.

How much of your focus is on basketball compared to football? We have had an equal focus on football and men’s basketball. We currently have Nelly Cummings (www.instagram.com/ambition__0), Greg Elliott (www.instagram.com/ge3._), and John Hugley (www.instagram.com/hugleyiv) as part of our team. We are expanding our focus to women’s basketball as well as other sports at Pitt. We have a lot of exceptional student-athletes at this University and we want to show them off in the community and nationally.

What kind of connection (if any) will your group have with people like Coach Jeff Capel/Athletic Director Heather Lyke? We have maintained an open line of communication with both the men’s and women’s basketball programs. We have found that consistent two-way dialogue is necessary for us to properly serve our student-athletes and provide the individual coaches and programs what they need to be successful and compliant in this space.

People are obviously free to do whatever they want with their hard-earned money…but do you ever have any second thoughts about whether you should be encouraging your donors to do something else like fight cancer/reduce homelessness? We have had conversations with individuals who would rather contribute to causes like cancer and homelessness and we strongly encourage them to follow their conscience. That said, statistically, those open to contributing to one organization or cause are likely to give to another. We strongly believe there is room at the table for everyone – including Alliance 412.

In August you announced a “Two Teams, One Cause” fundraiser to generate donations for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Pittsburgh and Morgantown: you must REALLY be committed to community service if you are willing to partner with your rival from West Virginia?! Nothing drives donation dollars like a good old-fashioned rivalry! Alliance 412 is here to serve the entire Pittsburgh community— and we seek student-athletes who share our vision. So together, even if it involves our direct rival, we aim to give back as much as we can. Creating the campaign with Ronald McDonald House Charities and Country Roads Trust was a lot of fun, and I know that the student-athletes involved truly enjoyed themselves.

Last month a former top high school prospect was arrested after sheriff’s deputies found a gun in a car he was driving (note: the felony charges will be dropped this week and his college has ended his suspension): how concerned are you about entering contractual relationships with teenagers who might end up behaving badly? As with any business relationship there is a certain amount of risk. We have taken our time to get to know our student-athletes and those who support them (i.e., coaches, agents, and family). Additionally, we have a morality clause as part of our contract, so the student-athlete is aware upfront that illegal or inappropriate behavior will not be tolerated.

What kind of cool stuff do people get if they became 1 of your top donors? At this time, we have elected not to create a membership structure where a person receives a list of benefits in exchange for a certain level of contribution. Each Alliance 412 contributor gets an individualized experience that is mutually beneficial for them and the programs or student-athletes involved. Like many collectives, that could mean an appearance by a student-athlete, their logo on event signage, social media content, earned media mentions, etc.