The Name, Image and Likeness era has had different ways of showing itself over its one year of existence. Donors at SMU have shown a willingness to engage with each of them. The latest engagement might be the biggest.
Boulevard Collective, a NIL collective with alumni and donors but not associated directly with SMU, launched over the weekend. The group, operated by longtime compliance expert Chris Schoemann, expects to pay football and men’s basketball players $3,000 per month and $36,000 per year — according to three school representatives with knowledge of the deal — amounting to a total commitment of roughly $3.5 million per year.
Schoemann didn’t go into details on the financial agreement, but he did say, “with what we have looked at in terms of a budget for Boulevard, I feel comfortable saying this puts SMU student-athletes on par or exceeding their Power Five contemporaries.”
