FAQs

Q: Does the historic House Settlement case eliminate the need for The Ram Collective?

A: No, while the settlement to allow schools to directly pay athletes will eliminate or drastically reduce the roles Collectives have played since the inception of NIL in 2021, this has little to no effect on the operation of The Ram Collective. Our primary role continues to be connecting former players with each other as well as current CSU student athletes to help provide them with networking and mentoring opportunities.

Q: Doesn’t Colorado State already have a Collective? Why would be need another one?

A: Yes, to date The Green & Gold Guard has been the only officially recognized Collective for CSU. However, with the House Settlement agreement in place the primary role The GGG has filled will be vastly reduced if not eliminated altogether.

Q: Will The Ram Collective continue to offer NIL opportunities to CSU Student Athletes?

A: Yes, we will continue to offer traditional NIL deals on a selective basis to CSU Student Athletes as well as continue with programs that facilitate Direct Donor contributions to specific individuals or groups. All of this will be in compliance to the new rules set forth in the House Case settlement.

Q: I’m not a former player. Can I still be involved in a tangible way?

A: Yes! Absolutely! You can contribute to any of our current Direct Donor campaigns and/or help sponsor new ones. Additionally, you and/or your business can work with us to broker specific student-athletes for advertising, promotion, product development, or any other legitimate business purpose to meet the compliance requirements the athletes need to follow.

Q: Is The Ram Collective a Non-Profit?

A: No, we believe we are best positioned to provide value to both former and current players operating as a limited liability corporation.

Q: What percentage of contributions goes to the student athletes

A: This can vary by the mechanism each NIL deal employs so the range is 75-95%. The Ram Collective’s overhead costs are very low however, much of the work to establish it, including necessary legal work and costs related to engagement with Colorado State student-athletes and third parties, is being done pro bono. In order to continually service its student-athletes, The Ram Collective incurs expenses for accounting, website hosting, content creation, credit/debit card transaction fees, events, and legal fees along other routine costs associated with operating a web-based NIL collective.

Q: Is The Ram Collective officially affiliated with Colorado State?

A: No, other than having attended and played there ourselves we have no official affiliation with the University or Athletic Department at this time. However, we fully support their efforts and highly recommend all our members and supporters to give to The Ram Athletic Fund for the betterment of all our programs