Louisville's 502 Circle Named a Top-10 NIL Collective

The official NIL collective of the Cardinals has "one of the most robust budgets in the country."

Mar 26, 2023; Seattle, WA, USA; Louisville Cardinals mascot Louie gestures in the first half against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Climate Pledge Arena. / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - In this day and age of collegiate athletics, few things are as important as a strong NIL collective. With athletes being able to freely transfer as much as they please, while also being able to profit off of their name, image and likeness, having an large NIL war chest is tantamount to on-field success among the revenue-generating sports.

Since its inception, the 502 Circle - which is the official NIL collective of the Louisville Cardinals - has been at the forefront of innovation and fundraising in the NIL sphere. Because of their efforts, they are starting to gain a fair amount of national recognition.

On Thursday, the folks at On3 ranked the top 15 NIL collectives in collegiate athletics. On that list, the 502 Circle was able to crack the top-ten, landing at No. 9 overall. The NIL collectives from Ohio State, Tennessee, Texas, Oregon and Miami rounded out the top five.

"Louisville has emerged as one of the most well-funded NIL collectives in the country over the past year," On3's Pete Nakos wrote. "Led by former Cardinal Athletic Fund staff member Dan Furman, 502 Circle has between 125 and 150 athletes under contract. That includes the entire men’s and women’s basketball teams.

"The 502 Circle collective has one of the most robust budgets in the country – sources indicate it to be in the $20 million range for football and men’s basketball combined."

502 Circle has played a crucial role in talent acquisition for the Louisville football and men's basketball programs. In football, the Cardinals secured the No. 2 portal class over the 2023 offseason, then followed that up with the No. 1 class heading into this season, per On3. Over on the men's basketball front, On3 tabbed Louisville's 2024 portal haul as the top transfer class in the sport.

On top of having a war chest that can go toe-to-toe with most programs in collegiate athletics, fundraising is not the only thing that 502 Circle has been on the cutting edge off.

Earlier this summer, they launched "Floyd Street Media," which is an " athlete-driven media network designed to drive new NIL revenue." FSM introduced content such as "Keep it 100," a show hosted by current Cardinals Kasean Pryor and Noah Waterman, and also streamed Louisville MBB's two summer foreign tour games in the Bahamas completely free of charge.

(Photo of Louie: Kirby Lee - USA TODAY Sports)

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