With Kyle Bjornstad, Pat Casey and Mitch Canham on Dam Nation and the NIL scene

Peter Mazzocco, who serves as “vice president/community and vibes,” assists Kyle Bjornstad, executive director and co-founder of Dam Nation (courtesy Kyle Bjornstad)

Updated 9/28/2024 11:45 AM

A couple of weeks ago, Oregon State athletic director Scott Barnes implied to The Oregonian that the university would be operating its own Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) collective.

“Given the runaway train that NIL has become, I believe the only way to bring any sort of consistency and tamp down the improprieties is to bring it in-house and regulate it more,” Barnes was quoted as saying. “It doesn’t mean we won’t still have an outside collective, but we will have inside NIL. We’re adding staff as we speak to help manage NIL.”

But what does “in-house” mean? Does it mean to compete with Oregon State’s existing collective, “Dam Nation,” currently operated by co-founder Kyle Bjornstad?

Nope, Bjornstad says.

“Oregon State won’t necessarily have its own collective, but they will certainly have more involvement with ours,” says Bjornstad, who co-founded “Dam Nation” in November 2022. (Co-founder Dick Oldfield is no longer involved with the collective).

“What Scott was speaking to is the landscape is changing,” Bjornstad says. “The NCAA is allowing universities to have more NIL involvement. You are still going to have outside collectives. Certain things go that route. When they talk about revenue-sharing with athletes, that does go through the school. But there is a lot of gray area on the subject now because of the court case.”

The reference is to the May settlement of the House vs. NCAA class-action lawsuit filed by former athletes against the NCAA for violating antitrust law and preventing players from profiting from their NIL. In the proposed agreement, which has yet to be approved by a federal judge, the NCAA agreed to pay out $2.78 billion over 10 years. For athletes who competed in the five years prior to the NIL era — 2016-21 — between 80 and 90 percent of the back pay would go to football and basketball players.

In early September, Judge Claudia Wilkes ordered attorneys for both sides to “go back to the drawing board.” Not because the athletes were in line to get too much out of the deal, but because she had concerns about how it would limit the way in which boosters can provide money to athletes.

Imagine that.

In the proposed deal, The NCAA would use its reserve fund to pay roughly 40 percent of the $2.8 billion. The other 60 percent comes from the conferences.

“As far as I know, the fall of ’25 is when it will likely be implemented,” Bjornstad says. “Every school will have the opportunity to pay up to X amount in total (to its ex-athletes). Let’s assume every school pays up to the maximum amount across the sports. You still have NIL that has to be separate and plays a part in the way it does now. The universities are going to be more involved in terms of the fund-raising piece as a priority. There will be more synergy (between the athletic departments and the collectives).

“For now, I’m operating as normal. It’s business as usual, until things change for sure.”

Bjornstad served as Barnes’ chief of staff for five years at OSU. They have been in communication about NIL, “but not in great depth,” Bjornstad tells me. That would ostensibly change if the House vs. NCAA case settlement is approved by a court of law.

Keep in mind that revenue-sharing is in addition to NIL deals. An April ruling allows schools to directly facilitate those deals, so they can be an intermediary between athletes and collectives.

The settlement would also include an enforcement program to regulate NIL deals. With that, the NCAA hopes to ensure that NIL payments represent the athlete’s true market endorsement value, rather than enormous payouts to entice recruits and transfers.

Yeah, sure.

“Wherever it lands, the way (Dam Nation is) set up with the connection I have with the school and its administrators, we will be nimble and make it work,” Bjornstad says. “We have the relationships in place. (If the settlement is approved), the athletic departments can be more hands on in helping raise money, helping educate student-athletes about NIL and so on.

“There will be a lot of things with which they can assist in-house. To me, the more involvement the school can have (with NIL funding), the better. It makes what I’m doing stronger. I wouldn’t be able to say that if I didn’t have such a strong connection to the school.

“Within a month, we should have some sort of resolution. I want to see the dust settle. I believe with 99 percent certainty that we will have more clarity on the picture sooner than later.”

Bjornstad offers a hypothetical example of what could happen. Oregon State is affiliated with Learfield sports marketing company and Dam Nation has a corporate sponsorship with Learfield.

“Learfield could come up with NIL opportunities for athletes,” Bjornstad says. “Can they facilitate the deals, and then hand them off to me, and then I make sure that they happen? In that case, that helps me tremendously. They would be helping get the deals to the one-yard line. All I would have to do would be to execute them and get them done.

“It’s still very early, with a lot of things to shake out. I appreciate that Scott is looking at all of this. We — I mean Oregon State — need to be aggressive. I take it as a positive.”

The availability of NIL dollars plays a role — sometimes big, but often to a lesser degree — in retention of athletes in a college program. Last fall, Dam Nation kicked off its campaign with a “Mission to Million” drive that netted $2 million for its overall program. “Ninety percent of that went to football, as it is important to understand that folks who contribute to Dam Nation dictate what program, or programs, their dollars support,” Bjornstad says. All well and good, but it didn’t help with retention of athletes in most sports.

The OSU football program got hammered in the transfer portal last winter, losing 11 of its top 12 returning players to the portal. Some of those players received more money than they would have gotten at Oregon State, but the reasons for the exodus were 1) Jonathan Smith’s flight to Michigan State and 2) the disintegration of the Pac-12.

Running back Damien Martinez, who reportedly received $300,000 as a sophomore at OSU in 2023 and was in line for a larger payday this season, left for Miami and is getting a reported $615,000 to play for the Hurricanes. Quarterback DJ Uiagalelei got a package of a reported $483,000 to transfer to Florida State.

(According to On3.com, 23 college football athletes are “valued” at $1 million or more in NIL money. Two Ducks in top 10 — junior wide receiver Evan Stewart is seventh at $1.3 million and senior QB Dillon Gabriel ninth at $1.2 million. The Ducks have three others listed among the nation’s top 100 — senior offensive tackle Ajani Cornelius No. 48, $626,000; senior wide receiver Tez Johnson No. 83, $526,000, and senior cornerback Jabbar Muhammad No. 91, $486,000.)

OSU men’s basketball lost its top two players, Jordan Pope and Tyler Bilodeau, to Texas and UCLA, respectively. Reports had Pope getting $500,000 and Bilodeau $300,000, but those figures may be high. They were being offered nearly that much by Dam Nation to stay at OSU. They left to take their talents to programs with which they felt could have more success.

Conference affiliation cost OSU women’s basketball their top seven players from last year’s Elite Eight team. The Beavers’ entry to the WCC for the 2024-25 season seemed almost the sole reason why Talia von Oelhoffen, Raegan Beers and company departed for parts spread throughout the nation.

Baseball, however, did well. Despite the demise of the Pac-12, the Beavers lost none of their premier returnees from the 2024 team that reached the Super Regional, one step below a trip to Omaha.

“We were very involved with baseball,” Bjornstad says. “We did a fund-raising push and met with all the athletes (who were in line to return). We did well, but (Dam Nation) shouldn’t get the credit. It comes down to (coach) Mitch Canham and the culture that program has forged since the Pat Casey era.

“That program is an anomaly. We are going to support them across that roster, for sure, but I don’t want it to appear that Dam Nation saved the day for Oregon State baseball. Their culture is a value to itself.”

Casey confirms Bjornstad’s assessment and adds another factor.

“The culture of the program is a big part,” says Casey, who coached the Beavers to three national championships before retiring after the 2018 season. “We have the environment for which players want to play. That’s a tribute to Mitch (Canham), his staff and the program in its totality, and to the people who support the program.

“Goss Stadium is the best (facility) on the West Coast to play college baseball. Our place is electric on game day. Kids want to play here. They want to be in that environment. And our fans travel. Go to a game at USC or UCLA, they will have 50 of their fans and 500 Beaver fans in the stands. Washington quit selling tickets (to UW-OSU games) online because Oregon State fans were buying them up.”

Casey said when he was coaching, Michigan coach Tracy Smith called him to say, “Oregon State owns Arizona for two weeks (in February, when the Beavers traditionally play early-season games in Surprise).”

“I want to do that at Michigan,” Smith told Casey.

Casey says the NCAA “has totally failed student-athletes by not providing a blueprint for how NIL should be legislated.”

“If we offer a kid $100,000, LSU is going to offer him $150,000,” Casey says. “And Oregon is on an island. (The Ducks) give more than anybody. We are not trying to be Oregon. We are pretty competitive (in baseball NIL funding) with most schools, but we can’t get into the money game.”

In June, Dam Nation netted $250,000 in a fund-raising drive for baseball.

Dam Nation’s “Diamond Challenge” raised $250,000 for baseball funding

““We actually went beyond that,” Bjornstad says. “And we are continuing to raise funds on (baseball’s) behalf. We want to and need to do way more than that for our baseball program.”

Canham isn’t sure what to believe in terms of amounts of NIL dollars being offered around the country.

“There are some loud numbers being thrown around,” says Canham, beginning his sixth year as Oregon State’s coach. “I’ve heard stories about players getting offered certain amounts and not receiving them. It’s a tricky space out there.

“We’re not giving out crazy figures, but we are making sure we take care of our guys. Oregon State’s program is built off of character and relationships. When you come in as a freshman, it takes a while to get comfortable and start to build relationships. If you jump to another school, you have to start that over again. We have developed a trust with our players, who know we are going to treat them well while continuing a program that wins games and vies for championships.”

On its website, Dam Nation lists 50 athletes who have signed agreements with the collective and fulfilled an obligation, including 26 football players, six men’s basketball players, five women’s basketball players, nine baseball players and gymnast Jade Carey.

“Those numbers are fluid and will grow with each week this fall and throughout the academic year,” Bjornstad says.

Carey is an outlier. The multiple Olympic gold medalist returns for her senior season with the Beavers as a Toyota spokesperson and with several other endorsement deals outside of Dam Nation.

“She has good (outside) representation, and they are great to work with,” Bjornstad says. “We are going to be doing a lot more with her this year. With her coming back from Paris, it’s going to be a fun year to work with her.”

All Oregon State athletes have responsibilities to fulfill in order to receive NIL money, such as autograph signings, meet-and-greets, community events, social media and helping with radio commercials. Bjornstad says he is working on multiple Corvallis Boys & Girls Club events this fall.

Dam Nation has partnered with Cascade Lakes Brewing in Bend, which has created a “Dam Nation” beer.

“We are already in 30 restaurants and bars and also some grocery stores in Oregon,” Bjornstad says. “With every beer sold, we get a percentage.”

The collective has an agreement with Tailgater Supply, which has branded an Oregon State Yeti cooler, for which Dam Nation gets 25 percent of every purchase.

Announcement of a collaboration with Portland Gear for a Dam Nation-branded hooded sweatshirt and T-shirt is forthcoming.

“I expect that one to be really good for us,” Bjornstad says.

Is Dam Nation doing all it can to help Oregon State athletics? With one person doing the bulk of the work, probably so. Bjornstad — who takes no salary for his work with Dam Nation — has hired Peter Mazzocco as its “vice president/community and vibes.” He handles marketing, social media and branding through graphic design and promotional work.

“When I am on the road, I can be late to learning things or miss things altogether,” Bjornstad says. “Peter takes the pressure off so I can meet with partners, work with athletes and get the timing of everything together.”

Bjornstad has also hired a pair of student interns to help with graphics and video. But some believe he still needs more help.

“A collective has to have more than one or two people running the operation,” says an OSU insider who asks to remain anonymous. “It needs to be organized like a small company. You need a social and digital media expert, a chief fund-raiser, a person in donor relations, another in athlete relations.

“The schools adding inside staff are going to get a leg up on the others, working with the coaches and administrators to target who they can entice as a donor. It has to work together like that. That needs to be more in the open now. Oregon State tradition is that financially they can’t do that, but they need to do it as soon as possible.”

Bjornstad has always maintained he is on top of things, that he prefers being connected to every aspect of the collective. But he doesn’t disagree that the time is coming for getting himself more help.

“We do have to get to the point of more hands on deck, where we can be more far-reaching in every area,” he says. “It is happening slowly but steadily.”

Bjornstad expects the landscape to continue changing. He awaits the judge’s decision on the House vs. the NCAA suit.

“There is still a lot of gray area,” he says. “I think there will be some clarity rather quickly with its resolution. There will be things that only collectives can do, but there will be some synergy between us and the university. Right now we don’t know what that is.

“But outside collectives won’t go away. We are going to continue to be a player, and I know we have a big job to do.”

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