Alliance 412 and Jaster Athletes have come together to provide Pitt athletics with a brand-new NIL marketing initiative.
“Oakland Originals” is the first NIL marketing initiative that will help student-athletes navigate NIL, provide athlete entrepreneurial development and content creation and personal branding opportunities — with both personal branding and brand partnerships.
It will provide Pitt student-athletes, from every sport, with the opportunity to build their own personal brand through the Oakland Originals brand — through YouTube shows, clothing brands, etc. — with full NIL support and money-making potential. It also gives Pitt fans, alumni and supporters the chance to donate to the NIL collective.
Alliance 412 launched Oakland Originals Tuesday by bringing in LeSean McCoy to narrate a video that features Pitt legends like Hugh Green, Tony Dorsett, Rickey Jackson, Sam Clancey, DeJuan Blair, Kenny Pickett and LeSean McCoy, who are all on board with the initiative.
The team — led by Alliance 412 founder Chris Bickell, COO Jeff Goldberg, and Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer John Pelusi — joined forces with Jaster Athletes, an athlete marketing agency launched by CEO Jordon Rooney, to launch the idea. The group has plans to bring resources to Pitt athletes that it claims cannot be found anywhere else across the college athletics landscape.
“There are big-time boosters in college football who make it all about them,” Rooney said. “This (Bickell) is someone who is just as powerful as all of them and doesn’t make it about him. Chris is someone who is like, Jordon, how can we do this in a way that actually puts the athletes first. That is the way of Coach Narduzzi’s philosophies on things. He doesn’t want to get into the pay players, buy players type of game. It’s very much like, how can Pitt as a university do more for their players? Chris approached, and we talked in a similar manner. How do we do this in a way where we give them more resources? I’m like, well that’s exactly it.”
“Sure, it’s nice that players can be able to get paid due to NIL, but how do we give them more resources? In doing so, we were like, Ok, let’s develop this concept that no one else is doing right now,” Rooney continued. “How can we help them where NIL isn’t just transactional, it isn’t just a one-time thing or something while they’re in college.”
Those interested in supporting Alliance 412 and the Oakland Originals marketing brand are able to subscribe via a multitude of monthly tier packages that range from $10 a month to $500 a month.
The options include a student tier for $10 a month, a 1976 Society tier for $19.76 a month, a 412 Club tier for $41.20 a month, a Royal tier for $100 a month, a Gold tier for $250 a month and an Alliance Premium tier for $500 a month. Of course, each tier offers its own package of content and opportunities that reflect the monthly price.
Alliance 412 will be releasing more information throughout the next week or so about Oakland Originals and its future plans and content.
Someone needs to come up with an NIL org that’s non-profit so people can get a tax deduction for contributing.