Big Red Fan Club set to debut as first Nebraska player-led NIL group | Football

Such is the message being delivered by more than a dozen Nebraska football players on social media this month promoting the newest group in the ever-expanding space of name, image and likeness.

They call it the Big Red Fan Club, a place that will connect the Huskers and their fans this season and — potentially — well into the future.

The idea is barely 4 months old, conceived and executed by senior Nebraska business students Rob Khorram and Zach Molzer along with walk-on receiver Elliott Brown.

Fans purchase yearlong passes that directly support participating players. Those players in turn provide exclusive content — early plans include monthly online Q&As, videos to fans, meet-and-greet sessions, raffles and giveaways.

“Everyone wins,” Khorram said. “The Nebraska ecosystem is getting strengthened. The fact that this started in Nebraska and is staying in Nebraska is what keeps us going, that we can contribute to this never-ending cycle of giving back. Players giving back to the fans. We’re giving back to our community. And the fans engage with these players.”

The Big Red Fan Club is a player-led entity in the sense that student-athletes are in direct control of what they contribute and when they are available.

It could fall into the category of a collective — generally defined as a group that pools funding from fans and donors that is distributed to players through NIL activities — but is different from Athletes Branding and Marketing (ABM), which is primarily financed by boosters and businesses and known as the program’s largest NIL supporter.

Of the 24 players already part of the Fan Club, nearly all are also ABM clients. At least half are likely starters this season including edge rushers Garrett Nelson, Ochaun Mathis and Caleb Tannor, defensive backs Quinton Newsome and Myles Farmer, offensive linemen Turner Corcoran and Teddy Prochazka, linebackers Luke Reimer and Nick Henrich and running back Jaquez Yant.

“We can’t wait to meet every last one of you,” Yant tweeted.

Tweeted Nelson: “Come hang out with the boys!”

Exactly where the Fan Club goes, Khorram said, is limited only by imagination. Maybe a member fan wants a player to attend a birthday party. Or to take a few Huskers out to dinner to talk football. A player could submit a signed jersey for a giveaway.

“We’re here to create something that is long-lasting and can provide benefits for all parties,” Khorram said.

A week of social-media promotion — including a chance to win a football signed by Tom Osborne — has netted 1,500 on a waiting list for fan passes that will be capped at 5,000, Khorram said. Each pass is good for everything the club offers, with a cost yet to be announced. Passes will go on sale soon, with nearly all of the proceeds to go to Nebraska players.

“I think fans are starting to realize that the more we focus on NIL the better the program is going to be,” Khorram said. “Now that there are opportunities for NIL, there is a direct correlation with it and the strength of our university and the talent that decides to go there. The fact that we’re able to be a component of that is big to us.”

The story of the club’s formation is itself a reminder of the still-greenfield nature of the NIL frontier.

The 21-year-old Khorram (from Mount Michael) and Molzer (from Leawood, Kansas) began working on the idea last spring from backgrounds in social media and tech. They connected with Brown who communicated the opportunity to teammates and whose father runs an events company, GSD 14 Events.

The club will be run through FanPassU, a platform co-founded by Khorram.

“This wasn’t created to be a cash cow or profitable business,” Khorram said. “We wanted to make sure that above all else, the most important thing is getting these athletes the money they deserve and also providing an over-the-top fan experience.”​