NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — ODU alumni and other backers have started a collective to help compensate ODU student-athletes for their name, image and likeness (NIL).
ODU announced “The Pride of ODU” on Thursday, but says the group’s not directly affiliated with ODU athletics or the Old Dominion Athletic Foundation (ODAF), but will work closely with the university to “help promote the goals of Monarch athletics.”
It’s headed by Jay Haeseker, director of investor relations and operations for Continental Capital Partners in Virginia Beach, as well as Alex Mitchum, senior vice president with C&M Industries in Chesapeake, who started contacting other donors earlier this year about forming the collective.
So far it’s already negotiated NIL deals with more than 30 ODU student-athletes, ODU says, and has a goal of getting 3,000 fans to join. Membership starts at just $10 a month.
“ODU must be competitive in the current and future NIL space, and in an effort to compete, we worked tirelessly to build The Pride of ODU collective into a stable and efficient organization,” Mitchum said.
Other members of The Pride of ODU board include Ed Amorosso, Hampton Roads market leader for BDO Norfolk; James S. Somers, managing partner for The Somers Group in Virginia Beach; Russ Turner, owner and chairman of TST Companies of Norfolk; and Scott Taylor, the executive director of Taylor Construction of Virginia Beach.
You can read more about the new collective and sign up here.
