The Massachusetts Collective made a splash with the UMass women’s hoops team.
On Wednesday, the collective announced that every player on the team signed a group licensing merchandise deal ahead of March Madness.
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“We’re excited to be working with the entire roster in a first of its kind deal at UMass,” Patrick MacWilliams, The Massachusetts Collective Director, said in a statement. “We presented the idea to the team Friday, and here we are five days later with a unique approach that directly benefits all players. Getting a deal done with 14 people normally isn’t easy, but this was, which speaks to how tight knit and in lockstep this team is.”
ENTIRE MASSACHUSETTS WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM SIGNS GROUP LICENSING MERCHANDISE DEAL @UMassAthletics @UMassWBB #UMass 🏀📈 @NILNewsstand @On3NIL
— The Massachusetts Collective (@TheMassCo) February 22, 2023
Buy here 👉 https://t.co/PX6j7F0UAO 100% of proceeds go to #UMass WBB Athletes #MarchMadness 🏀📈 pic.twitter.com/6pl4BWhimR
The collective stated in the press release that it worked with a local artist to produce caricatures of all the players. Through the NIL deals, t-shirts, crewneck sweatshirts, and posters will be available online for purchase.
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According to the press release, 100 percent of the proceeds will go to the 14 student-athletes.
“This is another example of the power of NIL to create something the school can’t, while producing income for players and unique items for fans,” MacWilliams added. “We don’t want to be cookie cutter in our approach. So far the Collective has focused on finding ways to have fun, share team spirit and benefit the players. We hope fans will support us by purchasing these items that help support the players. We want everyone — students, alums, fans of all sorts — to get involved by engaging with the team and the Collective.”
