What is Arkansas Edge?
Arkansas announced Tuesday that it is officially partnering with Blueprint Sports (BPS) to launch Arkansas Edge as the premier NIL Collective supporting all 465-plus University of Arkansas student-athletes.
Blueprint Sports is partnered with plenty of universities around the nation such as Penn Stat, Kansas, Tennessee, Kansas State, Stanford and others.
"Founded in 2020, Blueprint Sports (BPS) powers the industry's leading name, image, and likeness (NIL) collectives for alumni, supporters, and businesses, connecting them with student-athletes at their favorite university," the UA statement read.
Arkansas Edge is the official Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) collective for the UA, replacing OneArkansas. The collective is asking for financial support from fans and alumni to create "opportunities for student-athletes to build their brands and engage with the community."
The three ways to get involved on the collective's website are corporate partnerships, memberships and charitable contributions.
Here is what the UA statement said about each of those categories of giving...
Charitable Donors: "Make a tax-deductible donation to Arkansas Edge through a partnership with the BPS Foundation, a national 501c3 nonprofit. Student-athletes will partner with a local nonprofit to work on charitable causes and commit to community service hours."
Fan Membership: "Become a member of Arkansas Edge and receive exclusive member benefits, like meet-and-greets with student-athletes, autographed merchandise, and more."
Corporate Sponsors: "NIL allows local and national sponsors to partner with Razorback student-athletes for endorsement deals, marketing campaigns, appearances, and other projects."
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So what is Arkansas wanting to raise? It is seeking 5,000 Razorback fans to become $50/month members, plus an addition 5,000 to join at $100/month. By doing some quick math, that comes out to $750,000 in month for Arkansas Edge.
There is also a "generous donation" that has been made for $1 million that will match the first $1 million raised by Arkansas Edge to total $2 million for the athletes.
Arkansas Edge will be staffed by a full-time, local team of dedicated professionals to manage the daily operations of the collective.
"The staff will work throughout the region to proactively fundraise from supporters, work with local non-profits who want to engage with student-athletes and engage with businesses who believe that working with student-athletes can help boost their business and brands," the statement read.
OneArkansas had three staff members listed on its website, so it will be interesting to see how many will be on the Arkansas Edge staff.
Arkansas Edge and NIL activities do not replace traditional athletic funding. According to the Arkansas Edge website, it operates in compliance with NCAA guidelines and state laws.
“As we continue to strategically position our programs to compete and win championships within the SEC and nationally, Arkansas Edge is the optimum way for Razorback fans to support our student-athletes through NIL,” said Hunter Yurachek, University of Arkansas’ Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics. “NIL is integral to the success of our program and is reshaping the future of athletics at every major university nationwide.
"Arkansas Edge and its innovative team will work hand-in-hand with us to continue to connect our student-athletes with NIL opportunities that also serve our community, state and region. We encourage every fan, company, alumni and all those who support the Razorbacks to contribute to Arkansas Edge as we work together for the present and future success of Razorback Athletics.”
