BLVD strikes season-long partnership with The Rex Steakhouse
With just one day until kickoff, USC‘s BLVD collective has announced its final partnership of the week.
The collective has struck a season-long deal with The Rex Steakhouse. The Redondo Beach restaurant will act as the official steakhouse of BLVD and feed select offensive and defensive linemen weekly throughout the season. As part of the deal, meals will be provided to the linemen before each game.
To kickoff the deal, offensive lineman Brett Neilon and defensive lineman Nick Figueroa headed back to the kitchen to cook meals for their respective position groups on Sunday night.
“This partnership is a win-win combination for The Rex Steakhouse and our beloved USC football players,” Rex owner Dan Nguyen said in a release. “Having the incredible DLine and OLine players like Andrew Vorhees, Brett Neilon, Nick Figueroa, and Tuli Tuipulotu promoting our business, there is no doubt that The Rex Steakhouse will benefit from it and the support from The Trojan Family.”
The exclusive partnership will not end with just feeding USC players. BLVD plans to use the steakhouse to create exclusive experiences for members of the collective. The restaurant has two levels of hospitably space above the kitchen, which could create opportunities for the collective to host member-only events.
“We’re going to have the chef bring a meal down to that group every single Thursday before the game,” BLVD senior account manager Spencer Harris told On3. “It’s going to be cool. We could do away game donor-watch parties, things like that.”
The organization announced Thursday night it will fly more than 50 families to games this season. No details of the plans were released, but the collective will cover the cost of both travel and accommodation. Families will have the option to choose which games they will use tap into BLVD’s resources.
BLVD launches donor program, content series
Starting with “Run it Back,” a show dedicated to talking video games with USC athletes, BLVD is launching a content series across its platforms. Thanks to having the backing of Stay Doubted, a third-party media agency, BLVD has the structure and resources to film and produce the videos.
“Run it Back” is only the first series. Other series will include content based on cooking, music and fashion. Every participating athlete will receive NIL compensation, all while promoting and building their brand.
Distributing through BLVD social and digital outlets, each will focus on different athletes’ passions while blending the unique culture of Los Angeles. New shows and episodes will drop every week.
Since the collective launched in June, more than 90 members of the USC football program have signed on with BLVD and will receive compensation this season. In under three months, the collective has dished out seven figures in deals. More than 33% of that cash has gone to offensive and defensive linemen.
On its new website, BLVD details the membership options fans have. There are five donor levels: Exposition BLVD ($50 monthly or $600 annually), Abbot Kinney BLVD ($100 or $1,200), Santa Monica BLVD ($250 or $3,000), Hollywood ($500 or $6,000) or Sunset BLVD ($1,000 or $12,000).
The organization also has plans to secure official partnerships for the Trojans student-athletes with a goal of raising $75 million in five years — a number that appears to be within reach early on. The collective has eight figures of cash in the bank through donations and other ventures.