Here's How 1Oklahoma Will Work with Oklahoma Athletes for 'a Win-Win-Win'

CEO Scott Williams and attorney Kelli Masters describe the process and the timetable by which OU players will get paid NIL money for aligning with a new nonprofit organization.

Between the University of Oklahoma’s announcement last month that it is partnering with Altius Sports Partners for a “best in class” NIL platform and Friday’s revelation that OU student-athletes can earn up to $50,000 annually by leveraging NIL opportunities through nonprofit 1Oklahoma, there’s a lot for OU fans to navigate in the world of name, image and likeness.

The bottom line, though, is this: how will Oklahoma student-athlete get paid? And when?

1Oklahoma — fronted by Hall of Fame coach Barry Switzer — has partnered with various other nonprofit organizations in the state. Student-athletes will choose the nonprofits they align with best and will work directly with those charities. They will essentially be compensated for their time and effort by 1Oklahoma.

Switzer explained in a press release last week that it will be football, basketball and softball players at first, with an eye on eventually getting all OU athletes involved.

And earning opportunities for a few on the vanguard are expected to begin later this week.

“We do everything from appearances, autographs, virtual appearances (to) a combination of things that they will be doing that would allow them to be able to earn those funds,” 1Oklahoma CEO Scott Williams told SI Sooners on Monday. But that’s not all.

“There are things I would say that are in line with the spirit of the Oklahoma Standard of serving to make a difference in the community,” Williams said. “It’s one of those things that they get the opportunity to select a nonprofit they're passionate about.”

NIL collectives basically take private donations and disburse funds to the student-athletes. NCAA regulations have been largely non-existent, so fan bases at some schools aren’t overly concerned about pushing any NCAA envelope.

Kelli Masters is an Oklahoma-based sports agent and attorney. She’s also a decorated OU alumna who cares about her school and its athletes. She works with 1Oklahoma in an effort to adhere to all sorts of compliance rules.

Masters wants to get OU athletes compensated a fair sum for their name, image and likeness, but she wants to make sure it’s done the right way — and ends up serving the athlete beyond their bank account.

“As I looked around the country at other collectives and nonprofit collectives,” she said, “I think Oklahoma is going to have the best one, to be honest. And we've heard that from a lot of people.”

Contrary to popular belief, Masters said, nonprofits do have to make money because they have to pay employees and vendors as well as any fundraising expenses or other overhead.

So nonprofits accept tax-deductible charitable donations. That’s where the players’ income will derive from. Fans donate to the collective, the collective arranges athletes’ partnership with other nonprofits, athletes do the work, and the collective pays the athletes.

“Payments to the players are to carry out the exempt functions of the foundation and of its charitable partners,” Masters said. “Basically we've had to create a system where players … have to raise so much money, they have to do so many things on this checklist for the various nonprofits that are supported by 1Oklahoma in order to be paid.

“So they can't just get paid for doing nothing. They actually have to earn it by doing a variety of activities, fundraising and awareness activities, and advancing the the exempt causes of both 1Oklahoma collective and its charitable partners.”

Masters said Altius itself has given its unofficial approval to 1Oklahoma’s efforts, and that’s important because 1Oklahoma can’t partner, sign with or otherwise align itself with the university, and vice versa. That part actually is an NCAA rule. No one who works for the school is allowed any involvement with the athletes’ NIL ventures.

“I think that's the crazy thing with all this whole NIL world is, it became the Wild, Wild West immediately,” Masters said. “But I think the groups and the opportunities that are going to stand the test of time are those who actually are taking the time to do it right from a regulatory standpoint. So that’s what we're trying to do.”

Masters expounded on what types of activities OU athletes can take part in to receive up to $50,000 a year.

“They can't just be paid that,” Masters said, “they actually have to earn it by providing specific things for the charities that partner with 1Oklahoma. So whether it's doing an autograph signing, posting on social media, helping raise awareness, raise money, helping them carry out their purposes, participating in their programs, those types of things — the players actually have a checklist of what they're required to do each month.

“1Oklahoma will be engaging in more than that. There will be a gala, there will be football camps, there'll be trainings, like training provided for student-athletes on the financial side and the philanthropy side and those types of things. So a lot is going into it. Yeah, I feel like it's a pretty significant undertaking.”

Masters said although the timing may have seemed rushed as it bumped up against Saturday’s annual Red/White spring game, the launch of 1Oklahoma was months in the making and “well thought out” — and, away from anyone at OU, intentionally timed up with the spring game, with its high visibility (a record 75,360 fans showed up) and massive recruiting outreach (an estimated 70-90 recruits were in attendance).

“You know, (to) let the coaches know what's happening,” Masters said. “Obviously, they'll want to be able to present this to athletes in the right way as part of recruiting: ‘This is what's possible.’ Not that they can promise anything, but it’s, you know, ‘This is what would be available to you,’ and really educating everyone involved.”

Athletes and prospective athletes aren’t the only ones who need educating.

“Something that I discovered,” Masters said, “I called quite a few nonprofits around the country that have already announced their programs, and discovered that a lot of them hadn't even started the approval process and hadn't even started raising money. Some that we've heard a lot about already, still haven't even filed their paperwork (as a nonprofit) with the IRS.”

Masters was born in Oklahoma City and raised in Tahlequah. Williams grew up in Claremore and has lived in Edmond most of his life. They and others on the 1Oklahoma team are Oklahomans who are personally invested in the state.

Williams said “the saddest thing” is that “so many of these (NIL) deals that you hear about and see are fake. So many deals are not real. Some of these athletes are getting approached with deals that are scams.”

Athletes should approach any new deals with caution. That’s another reason why Williams thinks the nonprofit sector is a good approach. Pairing with Switzer provides instant brand awareness, and that has opened doors. When 1Oklahoma announced its plans on Friday afternoon, its website listed three nonprofit partners. As of Monday, there were officially six — with more on the way. The website and phones have been blowing up, Williams said.

One of the founders is “one of the most significant fundraisers in the state of Oklahoma, both in the political and nonprofit space,” Williams said.

“After some conversations and peoples’ interest, we really felt like that it was a model that we could move forward with,” Williams said. “So yeah, we had to do a lot of due diligence, first of all I think, to get it to work. Coach (Switzer) was super excited about it, and then he's been ready to go ever since.”

Not every OU athlete has to sign up. And OU athletes who do sign up will still be allowed to pursue their own outside NIL opportunities. So in addition to the potential for a $50,000 salary, the premier athletes can still get premier bucks.

And Masters pointed out that not all their nonprofit endeavors will be made to produce a paycheck. The usual good work OU athletes do at food banks or on their usual mission to Haiti will still be available.

“They'll still be doing volunteer work,” she said. “They're not going to get paid for every charitable thing they do. That'll be certainly part of it, but they’ll still be volunteering and doing work that just gives back to the community.

“Student athletes will have the opportunity to make some money and make a difference,” Williams said.

“The student-athletes are excited, their parents are excited, and the nonprofits are excited. So that's really it. We were going for a win-win, but I think we have a win-win-win.”