San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
AZTEC LINK CONNECTS PLAYERS TO NIL CASH THE SDSU WAY
The big bucks for name, image and likeness deals grab all the attention.
Like Heisman Trophy-winning USC quarterback Caleb Williams getting $2.6 million in NIL money.
Or Oregon’s Bo Nix and North Carolina’s Drake Maye, the quarterbacks who squared off in last year’s Holiday Bowl, each looking at $1.5 million.
Or Ohio State intending to generate eight-figure sums to keep its roster intact.
This ain’t that.
San Diego State’s Aztec Link collective — the football cousin to the SDSU men’s and women’s basketball teams’ Mesa Foundation — has more modest goals.
“Our base is not going to be 10 or 15 multi-millionaires that all decide they’re going to cut a check for $250,000 and figure out how to use it,” Aztec Link Executive Director J.R. Tolver said. “It’s just not San Diego State’s culture. At least not at this point.”
SDSU coach Brady Hoke told the Union-tribune last month “the guys who have been in this program are the guys I would like to reward.”
Hoke is concerned about the potential of losing developing standouts — like right tackle Josh Simmons (Ohio State) and defensive back C.J. Baskerville (Texas Tech) this spring — to other programs.
“That’s why the Aztec Link is something that has to be a part of who we are and the program,” Hoke said. “We need Aztec Nation. We need them to help.”
The space Aztec Link intends to occupy is making sure players get a little something for the effort, as they say.
Tolver estimated players could potentially make $10,000 to $30,000 a year, depending on their level of involvement.
“That’s probably going to be 10 or 15 engagements over a 12-month period,” Tolver said. “Our mission is to give the San Diego State
coaching staff the confidence to say, ‘Hey, listen, if you come here, you could have NIL opportunities.’ ”
Tolver is an Aztec Hall of Famer from Mira Mesa High who has remained closely tied to the program ever since becoming SDSU’S career leader in receptions (262) and yardage (3,572) at the turn of the century.
He was compelled more than ever to be involved at such a critical time.
“What’s happening, I think, in some of the other programs,” Tolver said, “is ‘Hey, if you come here, we’ll make sure that you make $50,000 or $100,000 or $200,000.’
“Coach Hoke doesn’t want to go out and offer kids money to play at San Diego State. He wants kids to come to San Diego State, blue-collar, hard-working, hard-nosed kids who want to play football and want to get a degree.
“He still wants those kids to come to San Diego State, but he also understands that he can’t ignore the NIL conversation.”
Athletes are still prohibited from receiving NIL money directly from schools. That is why collectives — which aren’t directly tied to athletic departments but work closely with them — have popped up.
SDSU recently hired Brenden Hill as its NIL coordinator. Hill most recently had been involved with the Triumph NIL he co-founded to benefit Virginia Tech.
“My goal here is to help each and every student-athlete capitalize on their name, image and likeness,” said Hill, a former Virginia Tech linebacker who will work to facilitate the relationship between athletes and collectives. “External fund-raising will be a big part of building a sustainable NIL ecosystem, and by donating to Aztec Link, fans can directly impact the student-athlete experience here at SDSU.
“Our fan base support of Aztec Link is a signal to current and future Aztec student-athletes that we plan to be competitive in the NIL space.”
Those who go to azteclink.com will find a variety of ways to participate.
Fans can make monthly donations of various amounts for packages that include “premium live and in-person events” and interactions with athletes like video shoutouts and birthday greetings.
Businesses can engage athletes to help with marketing at events, acting as influencers through social media or any of a dozen other ways.
The most public promotion last year was with Sonic.
“All the senior football players got paid to promote Sonic,” Tolver said. “Each one of those guys got paid $1,000 to $2,000.
“They had to go to Sonic, buy some food, take a picture with the food and shout out Sonic as a supporter, posting once on Instagram and once on Twitter in backto-back weeks.”
More recently, SDSU linebacker Cooper Mcdonald and running back Kenan Christon benefited from NIL opportunities.
“I was able to connect Cooper with a company that helps players, mainly student-athletes, launch digital collectibles,” Tolver said. “I connected Kenan with a company where he ended up basically dropping coffee off at a school that this company supports.”
Tolver said players typically make anywhere from $500 to $2,000 per engagement.
Among email inquiries are those from the Donjoy brace company and the Good Feet Store, both looking for SDSU players to act as brand ambassadors.
Tolver said players don’t have to rely on companies to come to them. They also can, in effect, start their own businesses by conducting camps or giving private lessons.
Aztec Link was created last summer, nearly a year after NIL was approved. It was a late start compared to some schools.
“Another six months out, we’ll have a better hold on it,” Hoke said.
The collective lists a dozen people on its advisory board. More than half of them are former Aztecs football players, including Akbar Gbaja-biamila, Freddy Keiaho and Mike Malano.
“I tell them two things — I want their phone book and their wallet,” Tolver said. “I want them to participate financially, but I also want them to help spread the word. Leveraging football players to pull the rest of the community in.
“I do know there’s a lot of people who care about Aztec football. We have more than 300,000 alumni that still live in San Diego County. So we have a big base of people that care about the school and the program. My goal is to build out the base of that community as much as possible.”