David Ubben wrote a revealing article in the Athletic detailing how the NIL rules are being used to assemble recruiting classes, specifically in this case at Tennessee.
Cars, apartments and ‘six-figure packages’: Inside the new, money-fueled frontier of the college football arms race
For those that don't have a subscription, Ubben goes in depth with the Spyre Group out of Knoxville. The gist of it is they solicit donations from fans and boosters into a collective fund for distributed to players and used to entice recruits. All the players have to do is sign some memorabilia or go to a meet and greet with fans. The going rate for a recruiting class is targeted in 8 figures - which is what the rumors were saying about TAMU this past year. The article also indicates that the NIL rules were utilized to incentive Hendon Hooker to stay for his final year, with deals indicated to be worth 7 figures.
I think this is how we all saw the NIL unfolding eventually, but seeing it in reality is a little depressing as college sports officially morphs into a pseudo professional league without a salary cap. As far as Vanderbilt fell behind in the facility arms race, I can only imagine they'll fall farther behind in the NIL race.
Cars, apartments and ‘six-figure packages’: Inside the new, money-fueled frontier of the college football arms race
For those that don't have a subscription, Ubben goes in depth with the Spyre Group out of Knoxville. The gist of it is they solicit donations from fans and boosters into a collective fund for distributed to players and used to entice recruits. All the players have to do is sign some memorabilia or go to a meet and greet with fans. The going rate for a recruiting class is targeted in 8 figures - which is what the rumors were saying about TAMU this past year. The article also indicates that the NIL rules were utilized to incentive Hendon Hooker to stay for his final year, with deals indicated to be worth 7 figures.
I think this is how we all saw the NIL unfolding eventually, but seeing it in reality is a little depressing as college sports officially morphs into a pseudo professional league without a salary cap. As far as Vanderbilt fell behind in the facility arms race, I can only imagine they'll fall farther behind in the NIL race.
