BYU’s NIL Collective Launches Team-Wide Deal For Women’s Volleyball Program
Sep 22, 2023, 8:01 AM
The BYU women's volleyball team has a team-wide NIL deal through the Royal Blue Collective. (Abby Shelton/BYU Photo)
(Abby Shelton/BYU Photo)
PROVO, Utah – BYU has one of the top programs in women’s volleyball on the court. Now, they can say they are also among the top programs off the court.
That’s because BYU women’s volleyball has landed a team-wide NIL deal through BYU’s NIL collective, The Royal Blue.
Similar to the team-wide mentorship program for BYU football, each member of the women’s volleyball program will receive financial compensation. It’s a multi-year deal that is, at a minimum, for four years.
The value of the deal is just under $700,000. That money will be spread out among all players in the women’s volleyball program.
BYU women’s volleyball lands team-wide NIL deal
BYU women’s volleyball has consistently been among the elite in the NCAA. Entering the 2023 season, BYU ranked third in all-time wins with 1,376. BYU is a top-10 team this season as they navigate their first year in the Big 12 Conference.
First Big 12 win at home was memorable💙 Thank you Cougar Nation! pic.twitter.com/dqM781sCO4
— BYU Women’s Volleyball (@BYUwvolleyball) September 21, 2023
BYU donor Casey Adams and his wife, Angela Adams, led the move for a team-wide endorsement for the women’s volleyball program. Casey Adams is Maersk’s Head of E-commerce Logistics Strategy in North America. The Adams have been involved with BYU athletics since 2015.
Angela Adams is a former volleyball athlete.
“We love the women who play volleyball at BYU and want to assist them on a path to personal development during and after their time as athletes,” said Adams, Advisory Board member and Head of the Women’s Volleyball Committee at The Royal Blue. “Their training makes it nearly impossible for them to take internships and other programs that develop students’ professional skills and knowledge, so we decided to bring the internship experience to them through a holistic mentoring program.”
The Adams are looking to give opportunities to what they feel are elite performers in athletics, the tools necessary to be elite in their professional lives away from the volleyball court.
They informed the BYU women’s volleyball team on Thursday night that this program was launched immediately.
“The Royal Blue is providing our young women with incredible resources. Giving these women access to industry leaders and the networks created by those leaders over decades in business fosters an environment of growth and development unrivaled in women’s volleyball,” BYU head coach Heather Olmstead said in a written statement.
What is the BYU NIL Collective?
The Royal Blue has stated that they’ve worked extensively with BYU Athletics to ensure alignment with the mission and ideals of the athletic department. BYU Administration responded favorably that although the TRB’s initial focus is on NIL opportunities for the BYU football and men’s and women’s basketball student-athletes, ultimately, TRB hopes to engage with student-athletes from every sport at BYU.
The Collective’s efforts have been focused on leveraging the unique opportunities NIL presents to create a program that will position teams to excel athletically while preparing each student-athlete for life beyond sports.
In August, the Royal Blue Collective joined The Collective Association (TCA), a group of Power conference collectives looking to create guardrails and better support for athletes in the NIL space.
Last week, members of The Royal Blue Collective and TCA were in Washington, D.C., for the ninth congressional hearing on a potential bill from Congress setting laws for NIL. There were no new advances from the hearing.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X and Threads: @Mitch_Harper.
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