502Circle: Louisville’s New NIL Collective

502Circle, a new independent NIL (name, image and likeness) collective for student-athletes at the University of Louisville, has launched. The third-party organization went live at midnight on Aug. 29, 2022, and it has already drawn support from the community. Partnered with Opendorse, 502Circle strives to help UofL student-athletes facilitate many NIL deals such as autograph signings, appearances, camps, commercials, and more while making sure athletes follow NIL guidelines from the NCAA and UofL. 

[Related: New Basketball Recruiting Ranks for the Class of 2023]

Foundation

The organization was founded by Marc Spiegel, a UofL alumnus and founder of recycling digital marketplace Rubicon. It has a seven-member Athlete Advisory Board, and also a Business Council which has one member with more to come. UofL sports legends Angel McCoughtry, Chris Redman, David Padgett, Jake Smith, Larry O’Bannon Jr., Mallory Comerford, and Shae Beckwith make up the Athlete Advisory Board, while Tendai Charasika, a Louisville native and former UofL football player, is the sole member of the Business Council.

McCoughtry is Louisville Women’s Basketball’s all-time leading scorer and former WNBA All-star. Redman is Louisville Football’s all-time passing leader with over 12,000 yards and played 11 years in the NFL. Padgett was an All-Big East selection and was team captain for three seasons for Louisville Basketball. Jake Smith is a former lineman for Louisville and was a multi-year all-conference member and champion of the Sugar Bowl. O’Bannon Jr. was a member of the 2005 Final Four team under Rick Pitino and played overseas for many years after graduating. Comerford, a swimmer, was a 4x NCAA Champion, multi-time ACC Swimmer of the Year recipient and gold medalist during her time at UofL. Lastly, Beckwith was a softball player for Louisville and was on the inaugural softball team for Louisville in 1999. You can read more about the Board members here. 

Memberships

According to 502Circle’s website, “The members of the collective were the first to contribute to the fund and their contributions more than take care of the minimal expense to operate currently.”  However, 502Circle will have public funding for athletes through memberships people can join, and all contributions go to the student-athletes. There are five levels of memberships: Red, White, Black, The Trust, and Circle. Each membership level has a different monthly or annual cost, along with items within the membership that contributors receive. Annual memberships get one month free in the purchase. Here are the various membership costs: 

Red: $10/month | White: $30/month | Black: $75/month | The Trust: $200/month | Circle: $500/month 

In a partnership with FanJolt, 502Circle brings a very unique item to the memberships: FJ Tokens. FanJolt is an interactive site that allows athletes to connect with fans and supporters while getting compensated. Tokens are FanJolt’s form of currency that customers use to get the experience they want with the athlete(s) they want. There is a different amount of FJ Tokens members receive based on their membership. Amounts range from 5 FJ Tokens in the Red and White memberships to 75 FJ Tokens in the Circle membership. If you’d like to read more about the memberships and their benefits, you can do so here. 

A First of its Kind

This will be the first NIL collective for athletes at the University of Louisville, and it will hopefully become something a lot of the fanbase can get around. The NIL era was officially here for a majority of states on July 1, 2021, and now UofL student-athletes of the present and future will have an outlet to help them with their NIL endeavors, and fans who wish to support and feel connected to their favorite UofL teams and players can now do so through this collective. “It’s important for the Louisville community to have an outlet for support. 502Circle will utilize the latest technology to engage UofL athletics supporters, businesses, and charitable organizations.” Spiegel said.  “We want being in the ‘Circle’ to mean something special. We want to engage every supporter and we know that begins with creating a brand that people want to associate themselves with.” 

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