NORFOLK, Va. – The Pride of ODU Collective has reached its six-month anniversary and the group has exciting new updates on the collective.
The collective has launched a new membership called The 757 Club. A monthly subscription service, it provides exclusive content for ODU fans for $7.57 a month. Members are invited to increase their monthly rate, as all membership contributions support the collective and ODU student-athletes. This exclusive membership opportunity will help further the mission of The Pride of ODU collective: to maximize the power of Old Dominion University alumni and fans to equip ODU student-athletes with the tools and resources necessary for them to excel both during and beyond their time in Norfolk. Fans are still able to make one-time gifts to the Pride of ODU collective.
The collective raises money and helps to facilitate deals that will compensate ODU student-athletes for their Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), such as personal appearances, social media promotions or launching an entrepreneurial effort.
The collective already has negotiated NIL deals with more than 30 ODU student-athletes.
The NCAA began allowing student-athletes to earn money from NIL agreements more than two years ago, but because of rapidly changing NCAA rules and state and NIL guidelines, ODU alumni and friends were hesitant to form a collective.
The Pride of ODU is not directly affiliated with ODU athletics or the Old Dominion Athletic Foundation (ODAF), the University's fundraising organization for athletics, but will work to help promote the goals of Monarch athletics.
Student-athletes can still directly negotiate deals with the private sector, subject to NCAA rules and University approval. The Pride of ODU Collective will raise money and help facilitate deals to provide ODU student-athletes with NIL compensation opportunities.
The Pride of ODU's Executive Director is Jay Haeseker, director of investor relations and operations for Continental Capital Partners, a commercial real estate firm in Virginia Beach. Haesker used to work for the ODAF.
Alex Mitchum, senior vice president with C&M Industries in Chesapeake, is the founder of The Pride of ODU.
Mitchum is on The Pride of ODU Board of Directors along with Ed Amorosso, Hampton Roads market leader for BDO Norfolk, an accounting and services firm; James S. Somers, managing partner for The Somers Group, a Virginia Beach wealth management firm; Russ Turner, owner and chairman of TST Companies of Norfolk; and Scott Taylor, who is the executive director of Taylor Construction of Virginia Beach.
The Pride of ODU partners with Student Athlete NIL (SANIL), a group that helps 31 other colleges and universities raise money and facilitate NIL deals. SANIL also works with collectives at Georgia Tech, Oklahoma, Syracuse, UAB, Wake Forest, Notre Dame and Vanderbilt.
For further information on the Pride of ODU, CLICK HERE.