When it comes to NIL rights, Nebraska football has a claim to fame when it comes to being a pioneer in unique ways to use the ability to get athletes paid. However, in a business like this, those who are at the front of the pack can quickly fall behind if they are changing and innovating quickly.
That’s why the Nebraska football program should borrow a page from a future rival’s playbook in at least one instance. The USC Trojans have set up an NIL collective that is affiliated with the school called BLVD LLC. This collective has several purposes but one is that it can be used to help recruit talented players, especially if they aren’t from right next door to the program.
One of the big moves BLVD LLC has done is announce a program that will fly more than 50 families of Trojans players around the country to watch USC games. The NIL collective will offset travel and lodging costs in exchange for social media promotion by the players.
It’s not hard to imagine how a similar approach would benefit the Nebraska football program. The Huskers are struggling in part because they’re finding it hard to recruit in certain parts of the country where they used to have a foothold, like Texas.
BLVD, the official NIL collective of USC, will fly 50+ Trojan football families to games this season.
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) September 2, 2022
In exchange for social media promotion from the athletes, BLVD will offset travel and accommodation for their families ✈️ pic.twitter.com/mohs4an0m6
It’s hard for the Huskers to find that foothold again since they no longer play Texas, or Texas A&M, or even Oklahoma and Oklahoma state on a regular basis. While the kind of NIL collective that USC is using wouldn’t solve the problem entirely, it sure feels like it would mitigate it to some degree.
There’s also the fact that this is the kind of innovative move that grabs attention across college football. Husker fans might remember that when Decoldest Crawford’s air conditioner ad dropped, it was the talk of social media for several days.
The sad truth is that until the Nebraska football team starts winning on a regular basis again, it’s going to need every arrow in its quiver to play with the big boys. Following in the footsteps of USC’s BLVD NIL collective should be one of those arrows.