The Grove Collective, an Ole Miss-based for-profit LLC serving to benefit student athletes financially, is joining four other universities’ name, image, and likeness (NIL) organizations in Washington, D.C. this week to lobby Congress to create uniform NIL laws.
From Tuesday through Thursday, spokesmen from NIL Collectives at the University of Tennessee (The Volunteer Club), the University of Georgia (Classic City Collective), Clemson University (TigerImpact), and the University of Washington (Montlake Futures) will attend a summit on “The Future of College Athletics” at the U.S. capitol.
The representatives will work to establish congressional legislation seeking to adopt a regulatory structure and create uniformity with respect to NIL and collectives. Collectives presently operate under a patchwork of state laws.
As part of this discussion, Walker Jones will speak on the panel, “NIL, What is the state of play?” Jones, who played on the Ole Miss football team from 1996-1999, is the executive director of the Grove Collective.
“We are honored and excited to take part in this very important conversation around the future of Name, Image, and Likeness with the various stakeholders in collegiate athletics,” Jones said. “It is a critical time in the evolution of NIL and we are confident that the perspective from our group of collectives can help add value and direction towards a sustainable model for all parties.”
With college athletics generating several billion dollars in annual revenue from television, ticket sales, corporate sponsorships, media rights fees, and merchandising, the collectives’ spokesmen look to engage in discussions surrounding these topics with regard to how revenue will be distributed in the future.
In furtherance of the ideals presented in the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in NCAA v. Alston, 141 S. Ct. 2141 (2021), the congressional meetings will work towards a new model for NIL in college sports.
