Ohio State Collective Raises Big NIL Money in a Week
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It’s been a big week for Ohio State athletics, and the official collective of OSU capped off the week with a big announcement on social media.
THE Foundation announced that it had raised $500,000 in the past week. The figure likely includes the donation made by former Buckeyes quarterback C.J. Stroud, an unspecified donation that THE Foundation announced shortly after Stroud and the Houston Texans lost to the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Divisional Playoffs on Sunday.
Stroud was announced as a “platinum donor,” meaning he donated between $50,000 and $100,000.
That’s a significant number, even for a large athletic program like the Buckeyes. But the news got bigger as THE Foundation’s board announced they were matching the figure, meaning that the collective raised $1 million in a week.
“Thanks everyone for your support! We raised $500k from Buckeye Nation over the past week & our board matched it! We will be doing another match soon focused on recurring & Founders Club donors.”
With the release came a list of the athletes the donations would support in football and men’s basketball.
Of course, the week wasn’t all about NIL at Ohio State. The athletic department announced that former Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork would take over for Gene Smith as the Buckeyes’ athletic director. Bjork will start on July 1.
Bjork aided NIL efforts at both Texas A&M and in the state of Texas. With the Aggies he oversaw the creation and implementation of AMPLIFY, which provided student-athletes with education and resources related to finance, personal branding, networking and media training.
He also provided input and guidance to leading in the Texas legislature in its development of an NIL law.
Bjork’s experience should come in handy as the Buckeyes expand NIL efforts, which likely proved helpful in the recruiting of star transfers like Will Howard, Caleb Downs, Seth McLaughlin, and Quinshon Judkins.
