Context on Auburn collective On To Victory shift, Playfly role in NIL efforts

AUBURN — There will be a slight change in the operations of Auburn’s NIL collective On To Victory following recent news surrounding the College Sports Commission and its new guidance around collectives.

The university issued an official release on Thursday afternoon saying this…

Auburn Athletics and Auburn Sports Properties unveiled the reimagined WarEagle+ subscription platform on Thursday, combining the popular WarEagle+ Content Network with the former On To Victory (OTV) membership platform.  

This combination creates a premier subscription experience for Auburn fans, while continuing to provide a competitive edge for the Tigers by directly supporting the name, image and likeness of Auburn student-athletes.  

All former On To Victory monthly and annual subscribers will automatically begin receiving the full suite of expanded benefits available through a new WarEagle+ subscription. No additional action is needed from existing On To Victory members to begin receiving the extensive suite of new benefits associated with each tier. 

“Auburn Athletics is pleased to partner with Auburn Sports Properties to continue the incredible work that On To Victory Board of Directors began three years ago in launching a monthly subscription service,” said Brett Whiteside, Auburn’s new Senior Associate Athletic Director for Player Management, and former Executive Director of On To Victory. 

“As On To Victory continues their hard work of supporting Auburn student-athletes through events, fan experience opportunities, fundraising and gifts, the transition of the monthly subscription platform to Auburn Sports Properties will continue providing incredible support to Auburn student-athletes – while now also providing an expanded suite of benefits to our valued supporters,” said Whiteside. “Additionally, the introduction of the new Playfly MAX team at Auburn Sports Properties will work diligently to connect Auburn student athletes with businesses for NIL partnerships across the region.” 

What does it mean for Auburn fans and OTV?

Speaking with knowledgeable sources at Auburn regarding the news, here’s the gist of what Tigers’ fans need to know…

OTV will remain an entity.

Brett Whiteside, who led OTV’s charge since its inception, now works for Auburn University managing revenue sharing and rosters. Kendra Short, who also worked for OTV, now helps manage PlayFly partner services. Sam Ahlersmeyer, another former OTV employee, has also transitioned to working for Auburn, will handle a variety of NIL roles.

Acting OTV Executive Director JJ Arminio and the original OTV Board of Directors remain in place, running operations for the collective.

Auburn has developed a strategic partnership with PlayFly (10-year deal announced in April) to maximize and grow true third-party NIL deals with existing sponsorship partners (part of Auburn’s contract announced earlier this summer – thinking this would likely be a mechanism to come). PlayFly running the collective subscription service now is a part of an intentional effort for them to be able to play a bigger role in NIL GO deals to athletes.

For OTV – based on the ruling that came out this week, they can now compensate athletes directly for appearances at their own events. It will still be critical for fans to support OTV through gifts and also events (this will be like Friday football luncheons, golf tournaments, etc.) as they will then be able to submit valid NIL deals through NIL GO for athlete appearances and participation.

Basically, Playfly will take over handling the connection of student-athletes and businesses for NIL deals, while OTV will handle events and continue to raise money that can be directed towards Playfly for NIL purposes. Playfly will send NIL deals to student-athletes through NIL GO to increase revenue share cap space.

The goal will be to increase the amount of deals going to student-athletes that have offsets in the contracts (where NIL deals can replace revenue share and free up more revenue share on Auburn’s end), thus increasing Auburn’s revenue share cap. The more cash going to Playfly via subscriptions and local companies doing deals with Playfly, the more Auburn’s revenue share cap increases. Playfly will play a significant role with Auburn’s current rosters, working to offset revenue share cap numbers and allowing for more revenue share offers to go towards prospective student-athletes.

Essentially, the more dollars towards Playfly, the more potential dollars Auburn can increase their revenue share cap.

College Sports Commission statement and context

CSC CEP Bryan Seeley released this statement on Thursday...

“The College Sports Commission will enforce the settlement as written. Pay-for-play will not be permitted, and every NIL deal done with a student-athlete must be a legitimate NIL deal, not pay-for-play in disguise.”

The Collective Association added this statement..

“This agreement moves us closer to treating NIL collectives like every other legitimate business operating in the college sports ecosystem.”

On3 Sports reporter Pete Nakos added this regarding the news..

“Roughly 3 weeks after the CSC released guidance that would have brought an end to NIL collectives, updated guidance allows the donor-driven organizations to operate as long as they conform to “valid business purpose” requirements.

“Bottom line: Collectives will still be able to help top programs provide a competitive advantage and pay for the $25m+ rosters. They will just have to make sure deals are approved through the clearinghouse, which will be a storyline to watch.”

And attorney Mit Winter, who has been heavily involved in the NIL space and keeping tabs on the latest moves, said this regarding the CSC’s new guidance...

“Bottom line for collectives after the revised CSC guidance: You need to attempt to make a profit from the sale of goods/services. And then (a) utilize an athlete’s NIL in the goods/services (ex: tshirts/merch) and/or (b) use the athlete’s NIL to promote the goods/services.”