Ohio State NIL Collectives Realign Sport Focuses

The Ohio State Buckeyes are continuing to navigate the Name, Image and Likeness landscape and have streamlined specific sport assignments to each of the three collectives.

The Ohio State Buckeyes' three main Name, Image and Likeness collectives will have a few changes to their structure and focus moving forward, the athletics department announced in a release Thursday.

The 1870 Society will take charge on supporting Ohio State football, THE Foundation will focus on supporting men's and women's basketball and The Cohesion Foundation will handle deals across all 36 varsity sports, the release stated.

"Our collectives have done a tremendous job in the Columbus community and with our student-athletes," Executive Associate Athletics Director Carey Hoyt said in a release. "We want to make [NIL] as simple as possible for people who want to contribute to a collective or work with a student-athlete on a marketing campaign."

The 1870 Society was founded in April as the first for-profit Ohio State NIL collective, and is led by President Todd Markiewicz, Vice President of Operations Drew Esler, Director of Player Engagement and former Buckeyes safety Tyvis Powell, Aidin Aghamiri, Jason Priestas and Mark Stetson.

The 1870 Society produces regular content, such as "The Ryan Day Podcast" and "Tyvis Tries" segments that are behind membership paywalls to help raise money. Membership prices range from $1 to $5,000 per month, according to its website.

"It is my pleasure to introduce The 1870 Society as the premier NIL collective for Ohio State football," athletics director Gene Smith said in a video on X. "The 1870 Society is dedicated to creating NIL success for our student-athletes through education, empowerment, business opportunities and community engagement all while meeting the high expectations of integrity and compliance we've always maintained."

THE Foundation and The "O" Foundation announced a merger Feb. 9 and are led by former Ohio State quarterback and co-founder Cardale Jones, co-founder Brian Schottenstein, former Buckeyes basketball player Ron Stokes and other board members that consist of Urban Meyer, J.T. Barrett, Terry McLaurin and D'Angelo Russell among others.

THE Foundation is a non-profit organization that helps partner student-athletes with charities and Columbus community organizations who serve as "brand ambassadors," according to its website.

"THE Foundation has helped more than 40 football and basketball student-athletes monetize their Name, Image and Likeness," Smith said in a video. "This is critical to our success of creating an environment where our programs can compete with our peers. We need your continued support. We embrace Name, Image and Likeness as a great platform for our student-athletes to earn money, but also educate themselves on financial literacy, taxes, brand management and a number of other benefits."