First Ever Fan-Driven NIL Platform Seeks to Even Playing Field in College Sports

While the NIL deals for top college football and basketball stars dominate the headlines, the majority of student athletes aren’t inking lucrative contracts.

Naturally, that correlates with top Power Four schools dominating the resources needed to compete in the landscape while smaller programs struggle to have a seat at the table—particularly in the transfer portal.

Rather than accept that bleak outlook, FanStake, a fan-driven NIL platform, is offering fans a chance to change the game.

FanStake CEO Greg Glass spoke exclusively with NIL Daily On SI about the first-of-its-kind platform and how it highly resonates with fans of smaller college sports programs who are capitalizing on the chance to fight back.

FanStake Is a Chance for Fans To Compete With NIL Top Dogs

FanStake’s mission is at the heart of many name, image, and likeness debates: how can the landscape be evened?

While it can’t achieve true parity, the fan-driven platform allows fans to participate in the recruiting process to make their favorite teams more competitive.

Fans can pledge money to a certain athlete in the transfer portal or allocate it to stars they want to retain. They have the flexibility to select a whole team or a specific player, including high school recruits.

“The bigger idea for us has always been, it's not stake as a verb, as in, I'm going to put money on the athlete,” Glass said. “It's stake as a noun in terms of, I have a stake in my team. I can participate in a way that will be impactful.”

What’s unique about FanStake is that fans contribute on a contingent basis.

Tennessee Volunteers men’s basketball recruit Nate Ament was one of the top prospects in the country. The star received $88,000 from the Louisville Cardinals fanbase and nearly $50,000 from the Kentucky Wildcats.

He declined those offers in favor of a smaller endorsement of $13,000 from Volunteers fans, which he will receive once he is enrolled and on the roster.

Cardinals and Wildcats fans will receive a full refund of their contributions.

“It's low risk for the fans,” Glass explained. “You're either getting a better team, or if it doesn't convert, it gives you the opportunity to invest in someone else.”

As fans, it can be demoralizing to continue donating to a school’s NIL funds without seeing any payoff. The money does not return to the fans, which can lead to bitterness and ultimately stop their contributions.

“It’s difficult today as a fan to just give money and not have any insight as to what the impact is and who it went to,” Glass said. “Fans have very strong opinions, and they feel like they have a sense for what their team needs and who they want to keep.”

While Ament posed an extreme example, Glass finds that the platform resonates best with Group of Five schools and smaller programs.

“They tend to be a little more desperate in seeking ways to be competitive,” Glass said. “While big school names and athletes do well on the platform, it's the smaller fan bases who are just as passionate that are trying to figure out how to stay afloat. We’re seeing a lot of those schools figuring out, If we could tap into our 50,000 to 100,000 fans, this is a way for us to compete with some of the big dogs in the ecosystem.”

Fans of Duke Blue Devils men’s basketball star Cooper Flagg have pledged over $95,000 to retain him.

However, the better stories are the ones like Montana State football, whose fans raised over $60,000 for their athletes in just weeks.

“It’s hugely impactful because they know that they're being poached by some of the bigger schools out there,” Glass said. “Everyone is trying to figure out the portal as well, but if you can keep the core squad together, it gives you an opportunity to see continued success.”