Five separate Texas-related NIL collectives, each with a focus on different sports, have joined forces to create the “Texas One Fund,” which also announced in its launch that it “will seek to maximize community impact and be the preferred NIL fundraising collective for Texas student-athletes.”
The Clark Field Collective, Horns With Heart, the baseball-focused Occupy Left Field, the basketball-centric 40 Pack, and the golf-oriented National Championship Golf Foundation are the five collectives.
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The stated goal of the fund is to “create positive community impact, through a one stop fund, that assists Texas athletes in cultivating and facilitating NIL opportunities and ensures collegiate athlete success year after year.”
“We are very pleased with the formation of Texas One Fund,” Texas Athletics Director Chris Del Conte said in a statement. “As a 501(c)(3) organization, it provides our fans, donors, and supporters a way to contribute to NIL opportunities for our student-athletes and for our student-athletes to support important community programs. We believe this is the best way to bolster NIL initiatives for our student-athletes and support the meaningful interactions they can make in the charitable community.”
Those involved with the collectives were seemingly happy with the moves being made.
“After executing numerous NIL deals, we were able to see the need for a bigger positive community impact and a streamlined setup,” said Nick Shuley, founder of Clark Field Collective. “Texas has the luxury of having so many organizations that want to help, but we quickly saw the need to get everyone in the community together. We wanted to make giving easily accessible to everyone and create a bigger connection to the athletic programs, athletes, and community. Whether you are giving $5 or $5 million, we want to make this something for every Longhorn.”
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Patrick Smith, an Austin-area attorney, will be president of the Texas One Fund.
“This is a huge win for the contributors and donors as it will create a simple streamlined process for everyone and all sports,” said Smith, the former head of the 40 Pack. “We aim to do this the ‘Texas Way’ and to make NIL opportunities available for every student-athlete at the University of Texas.”
