How Missouri's 'off and running' NIL collective represents next step for Mizzou athletics

The state of Missouri on Thursday took its next step into the future of college athletics.

Dennis Gates, Robin Pingeton, Eli Drinkwitz and Desiree Reed-Francois gathered around Gov. Mike Parson's desk as he signed SB 718 into law.

That law now allows "postsecondary institutions and associated employees to assist with opportunities for student-athletes to earn compensation for their name, image and likeness," part of the bill states.

Away from Jefferson City, Advancing Missouri Athletes Chief Executive Officer Greg Steinhoff made another step. AMA opened publicly for fans. Missouri athletics now has its own NIL collective.

More: Mizzou notebook: MU athletics evolves its NIL program after statewide bill signed Thursday

That represents the next step for MU in the ever-evolving topic of NIL, even if the school has no direct part in the collective. Now, fans can personally contribute to the Tigers' football and men's basketball athletes.

This all happened in a span of a few hours Thursday, as Parson signed the bill, MU announced its own enhancements to its NIL policies, and AMA officially went public for Tigers fans.

The bill signed allows MU coaches and employees to be more engaged with NIL opportunities. AMA operates aside from that, as Steinhoff understands there are still more steps to take in terms of rules and regulations.

What mattered Thursday is that he understands the rules at hand.

"Like most new ventures, there's very little regulation," Steinhoff said. "The states have established the collectives. The NCAA has two primary rules that we all have to make sure that we're abiding by, but they operate independently of the university as required by state statute."

The collective is a private entity formed in 2021 after the state's original legislation allowing student-athletes to benefit from their own name, image and likeness. Since then, Steinhoff said AMA has worked with organizations, partners and business leaders to create NIL opportunities.

This runs different from the law passed Thursday. Just as Steinhoff is figuring out the law in regards to the collective, MU coaches are figuring out the parameters of the law.

"The key piece is that there's a little bit more freedom there for me to have discussions with leaders," Drinkwitz, entering his third season as MU head football coach, said June 2. "But we're still trying to figure out exactly what that law allows us to do."

The NCAA does not allow Drinkwitz and other coaches to directly engage with players on NIL opportunities. However, MU and its coaches can endorse collectives like AMA.

For AMA, that's a chance to allow the public to level the playing field for MU.

"There's not a more competitive league than the SEC," Steinhoff said. "When one sees their team not doing something that other teams are, they get after it. And so there's certainly a push on everyone to get us to a point where we could really compete."

Much of AMA isn't shared publicly, such as how much money it has raised for athletes or how many athletes are benefiting. That's where being a private entity comes into play.

Next steps could also include other sports.

As of now, AMA is only working with MU football and men's basketball. It's not for a lack of interest in other sports, but Steinhoff said AMA is starting where the support will be consistent with how other collectives have begun.

"We would sure look forward to the day when we could reward or work with athletes across the spectrum," Steinhoff said. "They're all worthy of it. It's just that we're starting with the two sports that seem like everyone else is that give us the broadest appeal of the fan base, therefore the broadest opportunity to attract support."

Steinhoff made sure to note it isn't a Title IX violation to only support football and men's basketball, as AMA is a private entity as opposed to MU being a public university.

The chance to support women's sports and other men's Olympic sports will come. That's the next step for AMA down the road.

More: What Missouri football coach Eli Drinkwitz had to say about QBs, NIL and SEC scheduling

For now, it's focusing on two coaches actively looking for an opportunity in NIL.

Steinhoff said Drinkwitz was the first coach to take note of NIL opportunities and to actively make others aware that MU needed to get some form of NIL engagement going.

There was also an NIL venture started for the men's basketball team. However, that was just folded into what AMA has now become.

"We're kind of rolling all that into one," Steinhoff said. "We'll have one NIL for basketball and football, and coach Gates is certainly aware of NIL. And so we're excited to work with him as we go forward."

With MU's two biggest programs on board, Steinhoff is looking boldly into the future.

While more rules and regulations likely will pass in the near future, AMA represents a new arm in the SEC's NIL race.

"We are off and running," Steinhoff said.

Chris Kwiecinski is the sports editor for the Columbia Daily Tribune, overseeing University of Missouri and Boone County sports coverage. Follow him on Twitter @OchoK_ and contact him at CKwiecinsk@gannett.com or 573-815-1857.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: How Missouri's NIL collective represents next step for MU athletics