New nonprofit aims to help Iowa student-athletes profit from their name, image, and likeness
Swarm, a nonprofit organization, dedicated to helping student-athletes profit from their name, image, and likeness was unveiled on Monday night. Coaches Kirk Ferentz, Fran McCaffery, and Jan Jensen gave their takes.
Iowa Swarm Collective President and CEO Brad Heinrichs during a press conference for the Iowa Swarm Collective, a name, image, and likeness group partnering with Hawkeye student-athletes, at the Heights Rooftop in Iowa City on Tuesday, July 19, 2022. Heinrichs doesn’t know how much money this NIL will bring in, but he said it depends on how much the Hawkeye community wants to provide.
July 19, 2022
A new nonprofit has emerged to gain Hawkeye athletes profit from their name, image, and likeness.
The Iowa Swarm Collective was formed to equal stipends by participating in events to raise money or serve local nonprofits and charities. Swarm, to start, will be working with the Iowa football and basketball teams.
Brad Heinrichs, president and CEO of Swarm, said this program will allow fans to have more access to the Hawkeyes than ever before. As an example, Heinrichs mentioned the upcoming men’s basketball game between Duke and Iowa, set to take place later this year at Madison Square Garden.
“For fans that want to contribute, there’ll be a spot on the team plane to travel to New York to Madison Square Garden. They’ll get to watch the kids warm up from courtside … I can tell you I would never have had that opportunity ever before,” Heinrichs said.
Heinrichs said donors will also get a subscription to a service that will allow them to watch interviews with student-athletes on a weekly basis.
Heinrichs said he didn’t want to put a number on how much money was needed but did say the collective is looking to raise millions of dollars.
“Ohio State needs $13 million, or something for their football program. I don’t have that big of a number in mind. But I do think that we’re going to need several million dollars to help us go where we want to go,” Heinrichs said.
Fran McCaffery, Iowa men’s basketball head coach, said he wasn’t too concerned about keeping up with schools like USC and Ohio State when it comes to name, image, and likeness money.
“There are schools already who spend two and a half times what we spend, so that’s no different,” McCaffery said.
Kirk Ferentz, Iowa football head coach, was similar in his thinking. He said he’s not concerned about keeping up with the funding bigger schools receive because Iowa has never matched their funds.
“We’ve beaten Ohio State, and since ‘07 we’ve had good games with them,” Ferentz said. “We haven’t won as many as I’d like, but we’ve been there fighting against them and competing with them, and had some great games.”
Ferentz said he’s confident in Swarm and what they’re bringing to the table. He said it’s been a well thought-out process and he thinks it’ll be sustainable for the future.
The one concern Ferentz has, he said, is that it will be one more thing for athletes to juggle.
“You’re a college student, you’ve got a lot of things on your mind. And there’s only so much time to get your schoolwork done, get your rest, [and do] the things that you need to do,” Ferentz said.
Jan Jensen, Iowa women’s basketball associate head coach, said Swarm will give women’s basketball players the same compensation as men’s basketball and football players.
“They have the example that a women’s program is included in that top three to start. I think it makes a statement nationally that you can do it and care about your women’s sports,” Jensen said.
