Blue A Collective supports USU Athletics
When the NCAA permitted student-athletes to engage in Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) activities in 2021, it was no longer just about the sport or the school. Many athletes left dedicated fans to chase fiscal opportunities.
NIL deals may include traditional endorsement opportunities, event appearances, social media promotions, memorabilia signings and more. It provides student-athletes an opportunity to make money while still in school.
Athletes left starting positions and successful small-town schools to chase a paycheck, while others felt they were missing out on something more.
Some schools made it a priority to help student-athletes find deals and make money, but Utah State University has not assisted its athletes in NIL deals until now.
The Blue A Collective was co-founded in May 2023 by Eric Laub and former Utah State head football coach Gary Andersen. According to its website, the organization’s goal is to “Empower student-athletes to capitalize on their Name, Image, and Likeness by providing opportunities to promote worthy charitable causes and make positive contributions to the Cache Valley community.”
“When it first came out, I was kind of the mindset that it’s just going to be something that happens at the big schools and it’s never really going to impact the Utah States of the world,” Laub said. “We sat and watched from a distance and over time it became apparent that it was going to be extremely relevant at this level.”
Laub said it’s important to stay relevant in athletes and to provide those opportunities for student-athletes.
“At the end of the day, all your good players are going to leave. I love Utah State, but if I was an 18-year-old kid and a really good football player, and I could go to Utah State and make no money or go to Boise State and make $50,000, it’s tough. It’s tough to justify that, no matter how much you love the school,” Laub said.
The collective takes donations and pays participating student-athletes for working with local charities.
One hundred percent of donations go towards Utah State student-athletes. In exchange for compensation, the student-athletes help promote and raise awareness for charitable causes.
The collective has applied with the IRS to become a public charity. If approved, donations to the collective would be tax deductible.
The organization has three different membership levels. Fighting White ($27.20 per month) commemorates Utah State football’s 27-20 win over Utah in 2012. Aggie Blue ($59.56 per month) commemorates Sam Merrill’s game-winning 3-pointer to beat San Diego State 59-56 in the championship game of the 2020 Mountain West Tournament. Ultimate Aggie membership includes all donations over $1,000.
Each monthly membership level gives donors access to exclusive benefits including memorabilia, newsletters and video messages from student-athletes.
Blue A has selected various charities in Cache Valley and beyond, including RODS Heroes, Common Ground, CAPSA, Pure Living Family and Sunshine Terrace Foundation.
The collective isn’t the only of its kind in Cache Valley. The Light It Blue collective has a similar mission statement but instead of working with charities, Laub says they manage deals between businesses and athletes while taking a percentage of the earnings.
The Laub family contributed financially to Light It Blue before launching the Blue A Collective. Laub says they changed their minds after feeling not enough of the proceeds were going to the athletes.
“More money went to fees than went to a lot of the players, and that was frustrating,” Laub said. “Earlier this spring, I was just talking with my dad and said, ‘If we’re going to give the majority of the money to this thing, why don’t we just start one ourselves and run it?’ He said, ‘Well, I’m talking to Gary Andersen tomorrow about potentially doing it,’ and the rest is history.”
Board members include former Aggies, long-time supporters and professional athletes.
All board members volunteer their time and do not receive compensation.
“I am excited to be a part of the Blue A Collective and to help in any way that I can to support its growth and reach,” Jordan Love said in a statement to the Blue A Collective. “I am thrilled to be able to combine my passion for Utah State with my professional knowledge and experience to make an impact.”
Blue A was named in honor of the tradition of Old Main’s “A” being lit blue after athletic victories.
The collective s a separate entity and has no affiliation with Utah State University. The university announced a partnership with the collective after it signed a corporate sponsorship with LEARFIELD, Utah State’s exclusive multimedia rights holder.
They are the first collective to sign with LEARFIELD, a partnership that affords branding opportunities, trademark rights and advertising across USU’s platforms.
In a press release on Sept. 9, USU Athletics spoke of their support.
“We are excited for our new partnership with the Blue A Collective,” Diana Sabau said. “The Blue A Collective will be the collective for Utah State University Athletics and the primary source of NIL opportunities for our student-athletes. The landscape of college athletics continues to evolve and the Blue A Collective gives our student-athletes another important resource to help them reach their full potential.”
While the university supports the collective, it does not provide any funding. The Blue A Collective, and others, are asking for money from the same donors as the athletic department does for their needs.
“It creates an interesting dynamic, but I think everybody agrees we need it, and we’re just going to keep adapting. At the end of the day, everyone that’s involved just loves Utah State, and we’re going to do right by Utah State,” Laub said.
Currently, the collective supports student-athletes in football, men’s basketball and volleyball.
“I’d love to expand into more sports if people were interested in supporting,” Laub said. “It’s really been fun to support volleyball. They’ve had so much success and that one feels the most satisfying to be able to give back and help them out a little bit.”
Andersen believes students not only deserve more, but need more to continue being students and athletes.
“Things have changed, rules have changed, time commitments of athletes in the summer have changed,” Andersen said. “They don’t have the opportunities in the summertime like they used to have to have summer jobs, and it goes all year long.”
Andersen says his top priority is allowing students to have what they need and to be able to achieve academic, social and athletic success.
“If we don’t have a quality collective that’s in the top third in this league of the Mountain West, for the sports that we decided to sponsor, we’re putting our student-athletes at risk of failing, and I don’t want them to fail in any of those three areas,” he said.
Laub and Andersen are hopeful for the future of the Blue A Collective.
“We have fantastic kids at Utah State, and they want to be involved,” Andersen said. “We just need to make sure we give them that avenue and through our charities and through our efforts with the collective, we’re able to do that and give back to the community but yet help grow and develop these young men and women.”