Pitt Football Launches Steel City NIL Club

A new "player-led fan community" staffed by Pitt's football players will allow fans to compensate athletes directly.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers are jumping into the NIL arms race in college sports by adopting a medium that has been used by many Power 5 teams across college football. Players helped introduce the Steel City NIL Club (SCNC) on social media Tuesday afternoon. 

Different than a NIL collective, the SCNC will allow Pitt fans to interact with and compensate athletes directly. The fans pay a monthly fee so that they can interact with and pay for content created by the players.

"The SCNC is a player-led fan community that benefits members of the Pitt football team," the online community's website says. "Through the Steel City NIL Club, these members of the team provide fans with digital content and experiences such as digital meet-and-greets, player-recorded content, and much more throughout the year. The SCNC generates revenue through fans subscribing to the club."

Panthers players will be able to participate in meet-and-greets and interviews plus any exclusive content that they are willing to offer to members. The site is powered by YOKE, a software platform created in part by two former Notre Dame football players. High major college football schools like Arkansas, LSU, Michigan State, Texas and Oklahoma are already using it. YOKE takes an 18% platform fee from the profits.

All players can access the club and the proceeds of each activity are pooled and then divided equally among the participating athletes. Fans can join the online community for an initial commitment of five dollars or more per month. 

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