On Thursday, the Swarm Collective, a non-profit entity set up to take advantage of local name-image-likeness (NIL) opportunities for Iowa athletes, announced that it was expanding its operations to all Hawkeye athletes. Previously, the Swarm Collective had been reserved for football players and men's and women's basketball players.
According to the University of Iowa, individuals who make a one-time gift of $1,000 or more, or commit to monthly gifts of $100 or more, will be able to direct their NIL support to any of the Hawkeye athletic programs.
“NIL is a wonderful tool that provides student-athletes with opportunities to build and enhance their personal brand while also serving local charities and nonprofits." said Swarm CEO Brad Heinrichs. "We are thrilled to be able to expand this opportunity to athletes in all 22 Hawkeye sports programs at Iowa and continue to contribute to their success on and off the field of play."
“NIL support has become critically important to Hawkeye Athletics," said interim athletic director Beth Goetz. "We are fortunate to have such a passionate fanbase who continues to be generous in so many areas, and we don’t take that for granted. We want to support the donor interest whether it is in purchasing tickets or contributing to scholarships, facilities and NIL.”
The Swarm Collective facilitates support for local charities and businesses by Iowa athletes, as donors can contribute to the fund which pays out for work done on behalf of the organizations partnering with the Collective. According to the news release, the Swarm Collective participated with over 40 nonprofit organizations in its first year, totaling nearly 1,200 in hours of service by Iowa athletes.
Adding wrestling (both men's and women's), baseball and field hockey to the mix should only increase the amount of participation from both partners and athletes.
“Brad’s leadership of the Swarm Collective, with the support of [Executive Director/COO Scott Brickman] and [VP of Events and Engagement Jayne Oswald], has been incredible," Goetz said. "We truly appreciate those who have contributed to the Swarm Collective and are excited about the opportunity for all Hawkeye student-athletes to benefit from NIL.”
Also on Tuesday, Iowa announced that it would be opening an official store to sell merchandise for its NIL-affiliated athletes.
The NIL Store, which is owned by the Mark Cuban-backed Campus Ink, will launch a complete NIL merchandise platform for Iowa athletes featuring officially licensed NIL apparel and fashion jersey options.
The NIL Store network of schools spans most of the Big Ten Conference, with stores at Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, Penn State, Maryland, Nebraska, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State and Rutgers.
