NIL & Recruiting

[NUdiehard]

I mentioned this in the McGowens thread, when I saw that Georgia was our competition for Bryce, I worried that $EC money bags would win out as they have so many times before.  But with the commitment of Bryce, I wonder if the fact that NIL rules go in effect next year helped "even the playing field" for dear ol' NU.  Reading between the lines, it sure seems that Moos, Frost and Fred are developing "strategies" to make sure the players NIL pays "dividends" once implemented.  We all have read the articles about how Lincoln's own Opendorse is working with pro athletes across the nation already, and it poised and ready to work with college athletes as soon as the NIL rules are implemented.  From what I've read, it seems that the potential earnings a player can earn (by tweeting or posting about certain products or companies) is directly linked to the number of followers the athlete has.  For instance, Adrian Martinez has about 40,000 follower, so he will earn more than Dedrick Mills who has about 7,000 followers.  

 

I personally have never followed any Nebraska athlete on any social media platform (Twitter, Instagram, etc.).  Frankly, it's just not my thing, as I am sure many of you feel the same.  But.  But, if I can play a small role in helping this program get more 4* and 5* recruits in the future (and more money in their pockets) simply by pressing that "follow" button, then it seems it behooves me as a fan and season ticket holder to to so.  Nebraska is not a large state, but we do have 1.7million people, most of whom are supporters and fans of Nebraska football and basketball.  I may not know much, but I know that 1 million followers is a lot more than 10,000, or even 40,000.  If we spread the word to everyone we know to "follow" our athletes (especially basketball because there are only 13 at any one time!), and that leads to these athletes getting more NIL money than they could get at other schools, this could finally put the "money" factor to our advantage.  And it doesn't cost any of us a single penny.

 

With all this said, I could be wrong in my understanding of how this all works.  If anyone knows more about how this works, please chime in.  But if I am right (or even close), then how can we, as diehard Nebrasketball fans, spread the word to "follow" in support of our players and recruits.

[49r]

There may only be 1.8 million people in the state, but I guarantee there is a multiple of that in Husker fans around the country and world.  Maybe an order of magnitude.

 

We have one of the biggest, most loyal fan bases in the country, and that will be to our advantage in the NIL era.

[Vinny]

Can’t wait for the first school to get nailed for creating bots to follow their athletes. Feels like something a small school with a big head and a history of bad behavior would do. Probably a school with a bird mascot. In a city on I-80. Located west of the Missouri and east of the Rockies.

[jimmykc]

I'm guessing our new Japanese recruit could develop a huge following with some success here when he becomes eligible.

[49r]

20 minutes ago, jimmykc said:

I'm guessing our new Japanese recruit could develop a huge following with some success here when he becomes eligible.

 

You bring up a good point.  Kesei has by far the most twitter followers (over 18k) of anyone on the team including the 2021 recruits.

[NUdiehard]

1 hour ago, Vinny said:

Can’t wait for the first school to get nailed for creating bots to follow their athletes. Feels like something a small school with a big head and a history of bad behavior would do. Probably a school with a bird mascot. In a city on I-80. Located west of the Missouri and east of the Rockies.

 

The University itself using Bots as followers may be a violation.  But I can't see any reason why true fans can't work the system to their players/recruits advantage by strategically following them.  What if every Nebraska fan created a burner account (or two, or five or ten) and use that account just for following all Nebraska athletes.  

 

Does anyone know how exactly the algorithms work in valuing the number of followers of an athlete.  Do they just check the number of Twitter/Instagram handles "following"" the athlete? Or do they also check to see how many others are following the followers (so, for instance, if a follower retreats an advertisement by an athlete that retweet connects to more handles"?  If yes, then someone should create a site where everyone that creates a "Nebraska Burner Account" can find the handles of all others who created "Nebraska Burner Accounts" and then they could all follow each other as well.  This would make it appear as though every follower of the athlete had numerous followers themselves, thereby enhancing the value of the followers.  

[lefty_g]

I think Lexi Sun has been projected to have the highest income from NIL due to the number of followers she has.

[Ashfan]

3 hours ago, lefty_g said:

I think Lexi Sun has been projected to have the highest income from NIL due to the number of followers she has.

 

I was one of her followers until she got that restraining order.

[hhcmatt]

I don't think Nebraska has some meaningful advantage in terms of revenue from endorsements. Sure we work with Opendorse but so do and will other schools.

In terms of someone looking to 'Elbert Robinson' their college experience at no point is a 10 minute pitch about earning potentials going to outweigh a duffel bag with some cash in it because why not both?

 

I put this stuff in the shiny arena/practice facility stuff that is more of a secondary selling point for the majority of guys.