Reports say UConn football raised over $1 million in NIL funding for this season with plans to double that by next year.
The opportunity to compensate college athletes through name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals has led to massive upheaval in college sports. The competitive landscape has evolved as a school’s recruiting success is now dependent on the ability to facilitate moneymaking opportunities for the athletes.
In the past, a school’s history, existing roster, coaching staff, and conference affiliation were the best determinants of recruiting and on-field success. Before the open transfer rules, we didn’t see as much change from year to year on rosters.
Today, players can transfer freely and pursue the best available compensation. Now that the institution of college sports has partially caught up with the rest of the working world, it’s experiencing some “market fluctuations” in the competition for talent. Schools can punch above their weight in high school recruiting and make compelling offers to experienced college players to bolster their roster every year. Total transformation can happen in one offseason—it’s happened at other schools.
This is the opportunity that existed for UConn in 2022, but the initial approach was modest. Reports from Hearst say the budget was around $100,000 for 2023. That offseason, UConn lost running back Nate Carter, wide receiver Keelan Marion, and a handful of starting or rotational defensive backs to the portal. They mostly brought in transfers with some FCS production or minimal experience at the FBS level.
For 2024, the budget grew to over $1 million, according to Hearst. This offseason, UConn brought in Wisconsin quarterback Nick Evers, two receivers who were in the rotation and productive at Big Ten schools, an offensive lineman from Syracuse, and a linebacker from one of the best G5 defenses at Troy as part of a 27-person incoming transfer class that has a lot more experience and production to its name than the previous one. The major transfer departures were limited to tight end Justin Joly and center Yakiri Walker.
On Tuesday, in his first pre-game press conference of the season, Mora indicated that the NIL situation has improved significantly.
“There’s a number of people that did an amazing job in helping us acquire players and retain players,” Mora said, crediting a few donors by name. “That’s the world of college athletics right now…you’re so dependent on people having a passion for the university and a belief in your program.”
“I think we’re growing,” he continued. “We’ve got a long ways to go, but there’s been a tremendous amount of commitment to helping us get where we need to be. I think the people that matter right now see the vision…They understand it’s a process and it’s going to take a while. We’ve been climbing out of a hole here now for a couple of years and we’re just going to keep trying to dig our way out.”
Athletic Director David Benedict told Hearst he plans to more than double the budget next year and expects to be a top-five NIL spender outside of the power conferences:
“We’re going to pour gas on it. We’re going to win in football. I’m tired of being disrespected as a brand, nationally, because of football. And I get it…the difference as we sit here today is we have NIL and revenue sharing now. And before, when we were a BCS affiliate with the old Big East, we could recruit differently. When that went away, it really impacted this university in a way that is probably unique because of the location. There are very, very good recruits here. But there are a limited number… all of them are going to power [conferences]. Whether NIL and revenue sharing will help us keep some of those kids will be determined, but we can recruit in a totally different way.”