A Collective is a pool of money raised and used to provide financial NIL opportunities to student athletes. This term may apply in the collegiate or high school space.
Kristi Dosh, founder of the Business of College Sport, has said this about Collectives:
“… [T]he basic premise of most (Collectives) is that an alum, or group of alums, band together to form a company whose goal is to provide NIL opportunities to student athletes of that institution. How they fund or provide those opportunities is where the models really differ.”
Presently, the role of Collectives – and how they operate in American amateur sports – are hot topics of debate. One thing seems clear: the national NIL landscape needs to be reformed. And soon.