Montana State's Bobcat Collective utilizing Fanstake for new way to impact NIL

BOZEMAN — When it comes to Name, Image and Likeness, also known as NIL, Montana State's Bobcat Collective has recently partnered with Fanstake, a fan-driven recruiting platform that is trying to change the landscape of raising money for student-athletes.

The platform allows fans to directly influence athlete recruitment and retention by pledging money towards their NIL deals.

The stake a fan gives to an athlete only converts when that player is officially on the roster and enrolled at the school.

Andrew Phillips, the Vice President of Parternships for Fanstake, broke down what makes this company so unique to the NIL landscape.

"The things that we’re offering to fans, we feel like there’s an element of transparency and control that just hasn’t been there before, and it’s really not the fault of collectives, it’s not the fault of any of the parties," he said. "We see ourselves as really complimentary. The partnership we have with the Bobcat Collective is really exemplary of that."

Phillips explained how the company was inspired by fans, especially at the FCS level, who wish they had more of a tangible ability to 'show the love' to players.

With Fanstake, they can do just that.

"Feeling that material support to show up in a very specific way has been a big factor," Phillips said about the Montana State players and the Bobcat Collective appreciating how the fans have shown support to them.

MSU coach Brent Vigen noted that this organization is unique because fans can impact exact players they want to.

"Fanstake is this separate arm of anything else we’re doing," Vigen explained. "I know it was aligned through the (Bobcat) Collective. It’s obviously more devoted to one person at a time, but I do think it shows there’s a real willingness to support our student-athletes."

The amount of money a player receives is based on their engagement with the fan base on the platform. The more content they create, the smaller the percentage Fanstake takes from the player — which varies from 3% to 17%, according to Phillips.

"If (a player) wants to, say, do a piece of weekly content or do something that’s a bit more engaged, or in some cases we might propose sending a content team to a player or to an athlete or do something that’s a bit more specific," Phillips explained of when an athlete retains more stake.

"But, if at the most, they say, 'Hey, I’ll post once. I’ll do a quick video,' then there will be a higher percentage of Fanstake cut that comes with that."

Three percent of every stake goes to a pool for the entire team as well. An athlete also has the choice to forgo the maximum payment from the team pool.

"OK, well I don’t really need this in terms of material endorsement, I feel like I’m okay," Phillips said about players that might want to give more stake to their teammates. "Cool, he can defer that to his teammates. He can defer that to the Montana State football pool."

Phillips also said that they hope to expand their partnership with Montana State eventually. They hope to add sports unique to MSU like rodeo.

When the upcoming football season does come around, Fanstake hopes there’s tangible evidence that fans have a positive impact on their favorite team.