How Classic City Collective is helping organize NIL at a national level

More than 18 months into the NIL era, Classic City Collective CEO Matt Hibbs has seen vast changes across this still new sector of college sports.

“It changes every week, almost every day,” Hibbs said.

That rapid change was most evident in early June when Classic City Collective was among those on Capitol Hill trying to advocate for athletes with federal legislators. He says having that face time with lawmakers was long overdue.

“There has not been a voice of collectives in these conversations, which is sad because we are dealing with it every single day,” said Hibbs. “We see what the issues are. We are not blind to the issues of NIL. No one was asking our opinion on that.”

Similar to the united front shown in D.C., these collectives are organizing to bring some stability to NIL in national discussions.

Seven collectives have formed The Collective Association, or TCA. The seven collectives are:

· Classic City Collective (University of Georgia)

· Spyre Sports Group (University of Tennessee)

· The Grove Collective (University of Mississippi)

· The Battle’s End (Florida State University)

· House of Victory (University of Southern California)

· Champions Circle (University of Michigan)

· Happy Valley United (Penn State University)

“We all realized that if we fight the same fight on different fronts, it is not going to end up well for all collectives,” said Hibbs. “I think we are doing a lot of good in college athletics and it is overshadowed by a few of the negative reports. We wanted to build this platform and come out with a unified voice.”

With seven different states represented in the founding members of the Collective Association, Hibbs acknowledged the challenge in navigating the variance state laws for NIL. However, he says TCA is beginning as a “fact-finding group” so each collective can work with others to navigate similar issues and learn from differences.

UGASports asked Hibbs about what he has learned after the first 18 months of NIL at UGA via Classic City Collective.

“I think the interest level is much higher than I expected at this point in NIL,” Hibbs said. “I thought the interest from businesses and donors would be there in year three or four to be where we are right now. I’ve been very surprised, very happy with the interest from Georgia fans and businesses in the region.”

He says athletes are growing more comfortable with the responsibilities of NIL, including a noticeable increased comfort with being interviewed or representing a branding in a professional manner on camera. Hibbs says UGA athletes understand finances better, from the basics of opening a bank account to the sometimes-complex world of tax filings.

While many headlines about NIL are filled with sensation, or even blame for subsequent misconduct, Hibbs says the reality of NIL looks much different on a daily basis.

“Some guys on the football team are helping their siblings,” said Hibbs. “They are giving them an opportunity that they might not have had otherwise. Everybody has heard about a guy helping with family medical bills — that is more than one guy. There are multiple people doing that.”