The company that has represented the most University of Nebraska athletes in the name, image and likeness market on Friday made public its most extensive information to date and unveiled several new initiatives, including an effort to get fans and companies more directly involved in financially supporting Husker athletes in several sports.
Athlete Branding & Marketing, founded last summer and run by former NU football chief of staff Gerrod Lambrecht, said in a Friday news release that it has “secured gross payments of more than $850,000†for more than 90 NU athletes across five sports since its first athlete earned money on Aug. 22.
ABM so far has worked with dozens of companies and donors around the state to raise more than $3.5 million and partner with athletes — the rise of so-called donor collectives has been one of the most talked-about elements of the NIL landscape in college athletics since the change first happened on July 1 — including Allo, Sandhills Global, Hausmann Construction, Olsson and more. On Friday, ABM announced a new program that opens the door for a wider set of companies and individuals to get directly involved.
The N100 program and N250, launched Friday on ABM’s website, are each aiming to generate up to $1.2 million annually in contributions that would go toward paying athletes for use of their likeness. The N100 is seeking 100 companies and individuals to commit to $1,000 a month. In addition to that, ABM is making available the option for anybody to contribute $250 per month directly to any of three subsets of football players — skill players, trenches and power (think tight ends and linebackers) — or to volleyball players.
Lambrecht said in a statement that N100 members "will receive access to exclusive content, events and interactions with our student-athletes. Businesses who participate can utilize ABM clients in marketing campaigns and sponsored events."
“Nebraska fans support us and follow us in a lot of things that we do, and with these initiatives, I believe there will be support,†junior outside linebacker Garrett Nelson told the Journal Star. “Honestly, it’s new to everybody, NIL is. So reading, researching, looking it up, knowing what it is, it will probably grow in that aspect as people have a knowledge base with it. Like I said, it’s new to me, new to you, new to everybody. So people figuring out what it is and being comfortable with supporting an initiative or knowing what it is might take some time, but the support will always be there.â€
To date, ABM has worked with athletes in football, men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball and wrestling. NU athletes have also negotiated deals on their own, and Lambrecht has said in the past that ABM's arrangements aren't exclusive, meaning an athlete could work with ABM and also conduct other NIL business on his or her own.Â
Lambrecht served as Frost’s chief of staff for his two seasons at UCF and then the first four years at Nebraska before leaving his post over the summer to help start ABM. The Wood River native spent more than 15 years helping to run health care companies before joining Frost, his high school football teammate, when Frost became a head coach. ABM’s principals also include former state Attorney General Jon Bruning and Carson Wealth Management managing partner Paul West.
“I love Gerrod. He’s made it so simple and easy for me and the other athletes he sponsors,†Nelson said. “He wants us to take care of, obviously, the sport we play. He doesn’t want us overwhelmed with, 'Hey, I need you to do this and this and this,' and it stacks up on your plate. You already have a really full plate. He makes it super simple for us, super easy. He cares about us as an athlete and a person. Bad things can happen in business transactions, and he doesn’t want that to happen to us.â€
Coaches can’t be directly involved in the NIL process, but NU volleyball coach John Cook said he thinks all of his volleyball players are signed with ABM and that he’s been impressed with what he’s observed so far.
“He’s been, I think, a step ahead of everybody else in terms of how he thinks,†Cook said. “I saw it during COVID. We were trying to do the same thing (as football), but I was studying what they were doing. … He was really, really trying to be ahead of the game on all of that, and I think it’s carried over to ABM."Â
Lambrecht and ABM primarily help secure business deals and moneymaking opportunities for NU athletes, but they also have helped arrange charitable events and had financial professionals, including former Husker defensive back Lane McCallum, into the office to educate athletes on taxes, saving for retirement and other personal finance lessons.
“His main goal isn’t, 'I’m going to get (transfer quarterback) Casey Thompson for this deal,'" Cook said. “His goal is to cover everything. He’s going to make sure they pay their taxes. If they have to set up an LLC or some type of business, he’s going to help with that. He’s also counseling them on how to do this businesswise. I see this every year with our players because we pay them for camps. We send them the 1099 forms and they say, ‘What do you mean I have to pay tax? I thought I got everything.'
"Because he was with football, he was around it, so he understands the student-athletes and what they need and he’s thinking ahead for them so that they don’t get caught because, typical kids, they’ll get money, spend it and a tax bill comes and they don’t have any money."
ABM is also partnering with FanArch to facilitate NU athletes’ apparel creation ideas and on Friday launched a foray into the world of nonfungible tokens with a project featuring junior wide receiver Trey Palmer.
In addition to the current services, the company is angling to have a program up and running this summer that would help financially support walk-ons across all sports at NU.Â
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Nebraska players including Garrett Nelson (44), Caleb Tannor (left) and Nick Henrich (42) celebrate a recovery of an Iowa fumble on Nov. 26, 2021, at Memorial Stadium.