Hartford Business Journal

18 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JUNE 24, 2024 ProCamps, an event management and sports marketing company, and $165,375 paid to Opendorse, the NIL marketplace platform used by UConn. Bleeding Blue has partnered with ProCamps on hosting basketball camps around the state that have featured UConn players. Bleeding Blue at the end of 2022 listed $86,398 in assets and $30,728 in liabilities. In addition to Bleeding Blue, there is also the D'Amelio Huskies Collective. Founded as a for-profit entity by UConn alum Marc D'Amelio, who has a background in the apparel industry, his collective also was formed as a way to educate UConn athletes, though with a focus on brand building. D'Amelio, whose daughters Charli and Dixie are social media influ- encers, founded Madsoul Clothing Co. in 2000, and sold it six years later to former NFL player Drew Pearson. He and Pearson later founded Level 4 Collective, which represents licensed apparel companies, including Mitchell & Ness, owner of throwback sports jersey licenses for former players like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. With that background and business knowledge, D'Amelio believed he was well-suited to help college athletes understand the business of branding. "For me, it's never been just about trying to stockpile money," he said. important for businesses to see there can be a strong return on their invest- ment when they contribute to NIL. He cited a charitable effort in the past year on behalf of the Connecticut Red Cross, which was conducting a blood drive and had just 12 people signed up to donate. Once Bleeding Blue agreed to have men's and women's basketball players attend to sign auto- graphs and take photos with donors, "within 12 hours, every single slot was filled." Unlike for-profit businesses, which have marketing budgets to compen- sate athletes for appearances, Bleeding Blue paid UConn's athletes on behalf of the Red Cross, which Thomas said is essentially an "in-kind donation" to the nonprofit organization. He declined, however, to say how much money Bleeding Blue has raised and paid to UConn athletes over its two years. Thomas did say his organization spends 10% or less of the money raised to cover its expenses, in part because he is the collective's only paid employee. According to Bleeding Blue's 990 tax form filed with the IRS, the orga- nization in 2022 reported $579,204 in revenue from grants and contributions. It also disclosed $523,534 in expenses, including $181,500 paid to Ohio-based Jared Thomas Marc D'Amelio Murky future While the educational aspect of NIL won't change for UConn, the business landscape of college sports is expected to shift again in a major way. In May, the NCAA reached a $2.8 billion settlement agreement with former college athletes who had filed an antitrust class action lawsuit demanding compensation that had been denied to them. A judge still has to approve the deal. A condition of the settlement would permit school athletic departments to directly share revenue from ticket sales and TV contracts with athletes. It sets the amount to be shared at 22% of that revenue to start, or roughly more than $20 million annually per school. "It's starting to look like rather than using NIL money to retain athletes and give them some spending money, it will be used to recruit athletes," said Brown, the labor attorney. Schools being allowed to pay athletes could put smaller colleges in conferences that don't demand the largest TV contracts — like UConn, which plays in the Big East, a non-Power Five conference — at a competitive disadvantage. But Benedict, UConn's athletic director, says there's always been an uneven playing field between college sports programs. "Before it was facilities" that schools would compete over, "and then it was all the additional things," he said. "It's how you travel and how much swag you give them, so there's always been this effort and compet- itiveness with trying to one up your peers and your competitors." He added that, in his opinion, NIL "is going to probably die down or be eliminated once you get to a place where there's revenue sharing." The NIL Era Continued from page 17 UConn Athletics Director David Benedict. HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER HARTFORD BUSINESS JOURNAL CALLING ALL EXCEPTIONAL HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS! The Health Care Heroes Awards recognizes leaders in healthcare who embody heroism. Join us in honoring their outstanding contributions to serving others. Nominations close 7•30•2024 Go to Hartfordbusiness.com/HBJ-Events or scan the QR Code to Nominate PRESENTING SPONSORS SUPPORTING SPONSOR MAJOR SPONSOR

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