NIL: What can you do for Syracuse athletes?

As the college sports world has been turned around with Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL). Fans of the Syracuse Orange have felt that the school has been too slow to react to this change but we’ve got some recent developments that allow fans to get involved.

The “SYRACRUZ Tailgate” has partnered with Orange offensive lineman Enrique Cruz, Jr. to be the recipient of their donations and merchandise sales. Cruz and teammate Chris Elmore will receive a portion of the profits from merchandise to be sold. In addition the tailgate group will be welcoming other Syracuse athletes as guests at tailgates.

These athletes will be doing meet and greets with fans who RSVP in advance to the tailgate. They will also be selling autographs and those who cannot attend can find information at the Syracusefan.com tailgating forum. Right now the schedule of attendees looks like this:

Olivia Owens (WBB) - September 3 vs. Louisville

Joe Girard III (MBB)- September 23 vs. Virginia

Benny Williams (MBB)- October 1 vs. Wagner

Dyaisha Fair (WBB) - October 15 vs. NC State

Photo by John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Syracuse also has an official collective- the 315 Foundation and that collective just got a 500k donation from a local businessman. The collective will require Syracuse athletes to perform community service in exchange for getting paid, which was described by one of the founders like this:

“The donor wins because they’re going to get a tax deduction. The players win because they’re going to get paid, and the community is going to win because the players are going to do something for other 501 (c )(3) non-profit organizations,” DeSorbo said. “They can do appearances, clinics, camps, speak to a group. That would add value for local not-for-profits and help them potentially raise money for themselves or further their mission.”

This group just got a big boost to start this mission but the details are pretty sparse and the group’s website is not operational, so we can’t direct you to much at this point. It will be interesting to see if this group focuses on more than basketball athletes and how Syracuse balances raising money for the Lally Complex while competing for the attention of donors with these NIL collective efforts.

At least there are now some options for Orange fans who want to get involved in supporting athletes.