Jackets NIL Club joins crowded Georgia Tech collective market
A new YOKE player-led NIL collective has been announced, this time coming with the Jackets NIL Club. The football-driven collective becomes the third organization to join the Georgia Tech market.
Multiple Yellow Jackets players made the news public Thursday, with quarterback Zach Pyron, wide receiver DJ Moore and cornerback Jalen Huff posting announcements on Twitter. Other players appeared in videos publicizing the launch of Jackets NIL Club. This move by Georgia Tech players joins a growing list of YOKE collective that now numbers in the 40s.
YOKE’s website describes the company as the “premier web3 company providing technology for athletes to build community and receive equitable compensation” for NIL.
The Yellow Jackets NIL Club has started off with a monthly goal of $5,000 through donations. While earlier versions of YOKE collectives sold access passes, recent iterations have switched to the donation system. When fans make a contribution to the Jackets NIL Club fund, they will receive access to online to meet-and-greets with the team, members-only tailgates and an online community where they can interact with players.
As of Thursday afternoon, the recently launched NIL club has raised $830.00. Donors are allowed to sign up to donate on a monthly basis, with a minimum monthly commitment of $5.
YOKE uses a machine learning algorithm based on a multitude of factors to determine each club’s monthly goals. Website visitors, rolling seven-day conversion rate, aggregate followers of participating athletes are all taken into account.
Georgia Tech collective market
The Jackets NIL Club becomes the third market to support Atlanta’s ACC team, joining Swarm The ATL and Jackets for Atlanthropy.
Swarm the ATL was launched in May 2022 by Georgia Tech alumnus Stephen Weitzel with the support of NIL agency Dreamfield. Fees from subscribers will go to Georgia Tech athletes in exchange for their participation in meet-and-greets (in-person and virtual), online chats and youth sports camps and clinics. Price points range from $10 to $500 per month.
And Jackets for Atlanthropy formalized in July, with a board of directors that includes Georgia Tech alum Bo Stapler, former running back Dorsey Levens, former women’s basketball player Niesha Butler, former cheer captain Jim McLaughlin and former cheerleader Chelsea Dixon. The collective’s website says donations are 100-percent tax deductible.
YOKE, NIL clubs still in startup mode
Mick Assaf and Nic Weishar are two of the three co-founders of YOKE. Assaf, the 24-year-old CEO of YOKE, walked on as a running back at Notre Dame. He roomed with New Orleans Saints quarterback Ian Book in college.
Players are not forced to join. Instead, they can sign a non-exclusive agreement, so players can still engage in other NIL activities, too. Athletes profit from YOKE by selling fans access to in-person and online events. Each NIL club website also has an online forum where athletes and fans can connect. Merchandise is coming soon, too.
“I would think of each NIL Club as a startup business that is run by college athletes,” Assaf said. “Our company provides business tools, technology, and best practices based on what we’ve seen across 30-plus clubs but we are not driving the ship.
“Athletes are deriving real entrepreneurial experience from their clubs — sometimes things fly out of the gates and sometimes you have to adjust your strategy and make some changes. This is a valuable lesson in business and in life.”
YOKE’s platform fee has decreased from 25% to 18% as the company’s scale has grown. Assaf told On3 there are plans in place to expand fan engagement.
If an entire roster signed up for the service, 105 players, and they wanted to each earn $1,000 a month, fans would have to invest nearly $1.5 million — $1,486,800 to be exact — annually. That number would factor in the 18%, or $226,800, YOKE will take to service and support the club. Plus, YOKE clubs are typically the second or third collective to join their NIL market.
Every YOKE NIL club will have an app available for iOS and Android, which is launching this fall. The platform does not plan on stopping with FBS schools. YOKE previously told On3 it has plans to expand past football and Division I.