Massachusetts athletics officially endorses pair of NIL collectives

Massachusetts recently endorsed The Massachusetts Collective and GoMassNIL as official collectives for the school.

The Massachusetts Collective was founded by Patrick MacWilliams in October 2022. MacWilliams operates a successful moving and storage company in Massachusetts called Five College Movers. MacWilliams has been involved with NIL since the 1st day it was allowed, signing 2 men’s basketball players and 1 men’s hockey player back in July of 2021.

The collective is mainly basketball-oriented but hopes to expand into other sports eventually. MacWilliams has stated that he plans to sign “3 to 5” players per season to NIL deals.

GoMassNIL is the other official collective and is run by a “group of passionate Massachusetts school alumni.” While the collective “exists exclusively for the benefit of UMass student-athletes and fans,” it is not affiliated with the university. The GoMassNIL website features a list of all teams and allows fans to pick a subscription level to support the team. The subscription plans start at $10 and go all the way up to $500. Each tier provides benefits to the donator, ranging from a t-shirt to exclusive tailgate events and signed merchandise.

UMass is clearly embracing NIL as a way to stay competitive. With the school officially endorsing collectives, this puts them in a larger spotlight and encourages participation.

The plan has already provided opportunities for student-athletes like Sam Breen. Breen, who stars for the women’s basketball team, launched a line of basketball-shaped dog treats called “Turbo’s Treats”, named after her dog. This is an example of the type of activity that the school is encouraging for its student-athletes.

While some schools have chosen to essentially ignore NIL, props to UMass for embracing it.