Clemson Launches 110 Society: The "One-Stop NIL Shop"
Clemson Athletics has officially partnered with 110 Society, the newly launched one-stop shop that will facilitate NIL initiatives for Tiger student-athletes.
110 Society was named in reference to legendary Coach Frank Howard's infamous saying, "If you're not going to give 110%, keep your filthy hands off my rock."
C.D. Davies, the former NIL Coordinator for Clemson Football and longtime executive in the banking industry, will serve as the General Manager for 110 Society. Through its partnership with Clemson Athletics, 110 Society will create opportunities for businesses, donors, and fans to engage in NIL deals with student-athletes.
“110 Society is the next evolution of Clemson NIL that will be a difference-maker for our student-athletes," shared Graham Neff, Director of Athletics. "Creating this ‘one-stop NIL shop’ that’s aligned with IPTAY, our corporate partnerships team and our community makes it clear and simple to engage in NIL with our student-athletes who are in high demand. We believe this is a critical piece to helping our programs continue to win championships in this new era of college athletics.”
110 Society posted a video announcing the partnership on its new Instagram account.
Football coach Dabo Swinney - who has previously been critical of NIL - shared his thoughts on 110 Society: “Empowering our student-athletes to be successful with NIL opportunities is a priority for our program and we’re excited our fans can utilize 110 Society as a vehicle to enjoy the experiences that NIL creates. Our fans give us an advantage in Death Valley and we know they’ll do the same with 110 Society.”
Wealthy donors will help fund 110 Society's efforts, but it will also seek contributions through memberships that allow fans to access events such as "meet-and-greets" with the student-athletes.
Additional money will be earned by the student-athletes through social media or in-person appearances and endorsement deals with businesses. 110 Society plans to contract with Clemson student-athletes across every sport.
Notably, 110 Society is a for-profit entity. This is a smart move, given that the IRS released a memo in June 2023 concluding that many NIL collectives do not qualify as tax-exempt organizations under Code Sec. 501(c)(3).
Clemson has also led the NIL industry with the creation of the Clemson Athlete Branding Institute (the "CAB").
The CAB is a 12,000-square-foot building that includes an audio studio, editing space, and two video and photo studios. The building is an NIL dedicated space with resources to help the student-athletes engage in sponsorship opportunities, content creation, and NIL education.
Expect other schools to follow suit by opening similar on-campus NIL facilities.
