For many decades the NCAA, athletic conferences, and universities have made millions of dollars from college athletics with no ability for the amateur athlete to make money or even get a meal from a booster without jeopardizing their eligibility. “Well, they were getting a free college education, weren’t they?” Some athletes are getting a “Full Ride,” which covers tuition, books, and a living stipend, but most athletes are getting something much less than that, or in many cases nothing. There are approximately 400 student athletes at Nevada. 189 full scholarships are shared among those athletes. Even full ride athletes are out of pocket every month at Nevada due to the local cost of living.

NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) is a concept intended to help spread the wealth others were making based on the physical work of college athletes. The idea was important because only a small percentage of athletes go on to becoming professional, and before NIL, athletes could make no money from all the work they put into their sport. However, the concept has been turned into a questionable tactic used by boosters to recruit and retain athletes. Boosters form collectives to pool money to provide athletes with NIL deals. At bigger colleges, collectives are offering some athletes hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars in NIL deals to sign letters of intent at their school. The perception that these deals are “pay for play” is prevalent, and since most details of the deals are kept secret, there is little to dissuade that thought. NIL deals are more abundant for male athletes than female athletes. According to Opendorse, a popular marketplace for NIL deals, as of September 2022, 68.5% of all NIL money is going to men’s basketball and football players. According to an article from bestcolleges.com, there are several female athletes who are making good money from NIL deals, but only 9 of the top 100 NIL deals have been made by women.

Title IX is requirement of public institutions that receive federal funding, not a mandate on private people or businesses. A private person or business can offer any deal they wish to whomever they wish. If a person wants to support only male athletes, they can do that. Title IX only affects NIL when federally funded institutions provide athletes education and information about NIL. If the university is offering guidance to male athletes in regard to NIL, they must offer the same to female athletes.

The EmPOWER Collective was formed with the emphasis on POWER: Providing Our Women Equitable Resources. We formed this collective to fill a need female athletes have with life skills and NIL opportunities. We envision a NIL collective that helps every female Wolf Pack athlete equally with real life education and financial assistance. We feel equal resources across the board maintain team dynamics and unity among the female athletes. We are a non-profit entity and more than 80% of every dollar directly supports the athletes in the form of financial assistance and life skills resources.