A message from Gator Jen with the Collective......

Heisman Gator 1 · Dec 23, 2022

I hesitate to make a post like this since we obviously don't want our rivals to know the details of our operations but we also know that fans make this thing work, and you have questions so I'll try to provide some insight into things.

Right now Gator Collective has approximately 2600 members. That's not a lot! There's 450K living alumni. 90K pack the Swamp on gamedays. We need more. It's a tough message to get out.
During this past season, GC had 20-plus football players under contract. Names like AR, V. Miller, Gervon, Torrence, Marshall...all the top names. The member dollars can't possibly cover that. That's where the boosters have stepped up, allowing GC to offer deals and maintain talent.
Other schools absolutely try to poach UF's top talent with the promise of NIL. Last offseason it was Gervon who was being heavily pursued. This offseason it's Shemar and Kamari we're hearing chatter about. Your member funds help maintain that talent. If you think about it, UF hasn't lost its top young players. They are the foundation of what Napier is building. And the rumors about "character guys" is true. Different culture being built.
The issue is getting more fans on board.
The average fan doesn't understand NIL (possibly has never heard of it), or hates it ("I'm not paying kids who get a free education, meals, etc"), or is completely ambivalent ("I just want to go to the games with my family.")
The difficult piece has been to reach the masses. We don't have booster lists, season ticket holder lists, or other means to spread the word. (Despite asking) UF was hesitant to get involved, but the new NCAA guidelines issued in October eased the hesitation. Last month was the first time UF promoted GC from its account. Two promotions. It moved the needle but not enough. We need increased messaging and more urgent messaging. We need opportunities on ticket renewals and game day purchases to contribute. Little things that make a difference. Those tweaks are on the list to try to implement.
Complicating things is the structure of UF. It's not just one entity. There's UF, UAA, Gator Boosters and UFAA (Alumni Assn...Gator Clubs). I've drawn the analogy to a neighborhood with a bunch of separate houses. Everyone is so worried about maintaining or improving their own house that they don't want to help build the new one (NIL), despite the fact that it would increase the value of the entire neighborhood.
UAA is (getting) on board. Boosters and UFAA are hesitant. GC even received a directive not to communicate with Gator Clubs. In our opinion, Gator Clubs would be the ideal partner -- Club members become GC members and GC can provide signed merchandise, athlete appearances and events. Nope. We're working through this. A definite obstacle.
On the UAA side, there are "Support Clubs" for specific sports. Those support clubs have been advised in the past month that they can work with GC and in the NIL space. We are providing them with unique weblinks and QR codes for their members.
And of course the law is new and things are gray. Some schools deal with gray better than others.
GC continues to work with UAA to improve and get more fans on board. We need a consistent message from everyone in "the neighborhood." Boosters are confused on whether it's important or it's not. Quite frankly, we need an URGENT message. Do this now, or we won't win.
Why isn't GC a 501(c)(3)? Because it doesn't have a charitable purpose. Also, keep in mind that just because a business is structured as "for profit" doesn't mean it or anyone associated with it is making a profit. It's not. Nearly ever penny goes to athletes.
GC isn't the only NIL group. There is a nonprofit group for larger donors. GC works collaboratively with that group. Gator Guard is still operating and provides a large check every month to help with contracts. Amazing partnerships exist for UF NIL.
There are message boards talking about how GC expenses can’t be that high since they only need to cover Twitter Spaces and questions about where the money goes. That completely ignores things like the Learfield contract for the ads on the Jumbotron, the facility rentals for live events, the tailgate tent at every game (along with the marketing materials), the cost of the footballs/helmets/merchandise that we have signed and give away. There are costs for a bookkeeper to ensure compliance, issue payments, track payments for tax purposes, and issue W9s. These are actual and necessary expenses. Not every dollar can go to athletes. There's a cost to administering the contracts.
There are also comments about hiring a full time staff. That would be awesome. But costs money. A capital infusion to cover that would be amazing. But most fans would rather have a capital infusion cover NIL deals not administrative costs. Chicken and egg. But, this is being addressed.
There is a difference between NIL and "bags." GC has nothing to do with the latter.
There's a global spreadsheet that tracks the NIL deals across all football players across all NIL groups. It's reviewed by the relevant groups and also provided to staff and UAA admin. Each week a report is provided to UAA as well about membership, revenue, and expenditures.
The ultimate decisions on the team and recruiting remains with UF. GC is not involved in that.
Currently GC funds roughly are spent 97% football, 1% basketball, .5% track, .5% baseball and 1% other sports. (don't have the exact figures in front of me right now, but that's an estimate)
There will be changes upcoming to UF NIL to try to address and combat some of these issues. The infrastructure at UF exceeds that at most schools. Can we provide the revenue in that infrastructure? Remains to be seen.
There will be changes for GC coming up. Those will be announced soon.

Appreciate your support. As always, Go Gators

Jen G
@GatorJ17

@EH @HalleyGator44 @bblake08 @STL-INSTA-GATOR @HulkGator @NavyNukeGator @Jag31

@SRGators @kcflagator

Ldgator · Dec 23, 2022