photo by: Contributed photo

Keon Stowers is the newly appointed executive director of the Mass St. Collective.

Keon Stowers may have been a student-athlete for the Kansas football team in the early 2010s, long before the rise of name, image and likeness money in college athletics, but he saw the seeds being planted even then.

He remembered that people would discuss the O’Bannon vs. NCAA case — a lawsuit that contested the NCAA’s use of college athletes’ likenesses without compensation — and the Northwestern football players’ efforts to unionize their team in 2014.

“We were one (team) that they were able to sort of send some material to, and we wore some bands during a game, and we would write stuff on our gloves,” Stowers recalled. “We were activists then. We knew that there was value in what we were doing.”

Now, as the newly appointed executive director for the Mass St. Collective, Stowers is experiencing “a full-circle moment, to be back here fighting and clawing and giving the blood, sweat and tears in this manner, for our student-athletes to get their due share, and their due value. And they’re getting it.”

In his role, Stowers will manage the day-to-day operations, communications, strategy and revenue generation for the NIL collective while working as a liaison with KU Athletics. He has worked with KU Endowment in recent years fundraising for the KU Alumni Association.

In an interview with the Journal-World last Thursday, he discussed the growth of Mass St. — which in November became part of a nationwide family of collectives operated by Blueprint Sports — and the challenges it faces.

“I am who I am today because of KU, and I owe this university everything I have,” he said, “and so I think for me, what you’re going to get out of this role and what you’re going to get out of me is someone who will work to really give these student-athletes and give this university what they deserve, which is a first-class and viable NIL collective.”

Organizational structure

In the wake of Stowers’ hiring announcement on Feb. 6, a spokesperson for Blueprint Sports told the Journal-World that Matt Baty and Dan Beckler, the previous CEO and COO of Mass St. Collective, would no longer serve in those roles but would remain in an advisory capacity. Stowers elaborated on this arrangement.

“They essentially will help me in transitioning and educating me on really the relationship with KU Athletics and the Blueprint Sports team,” Stowers said. “They will also provide strategic guidance and just partnership advisory. I think they have a ton of historical knowledge on our partnerships, our business proposals and just things like that.”

In terms of the relationship with Blueprint, Stowers noted that he is employed directly by Blueprint “because they obviously have bought out the collective.” He said that “the full back end of all of our operations is supported by Blueprint and their company and their technology,” as the organization also oversees communications and national and local sponsorships on Mass St.’s behalf.

Partnering with an organization that oversees high-end collectives at schools like Arizona, Arkansas, Penn State and Utah allows Stowers and his team “to really understand where Mass Street lies across the national landscape and really have insight to real-time data, real-time market analysis and understanding where our collective should be going day to day.”

The ‘Wild West’?

The go-to (and even trite) reference point for NIL in its early months and years was the “Wild West,” and indeed that was how Stowers characterized the landscape at the time that Baty and Beckler were initially building up Mass St.

But even if the industry is standardizing somewhat, it is still subject to daily challenges. Some athletes are seeking employee status and to unionize. There are legal questions about how Title IX might come into play with NIL payouts. Stowers also alluded to the states of Tennessee and Virginia and their ongoing legal battle to prevent the NCAA from enforcing its NIL rules.

“All of us are just really hanging on to the edge of our seat to really see where NIL is heading after some of these legal challenges,” he said.

Working closely with the Kansas Athletics legal and compliance office is key to staying ahead of the curve, Stowers said, and he added that legal principles will continue to lead Mass St. in its approach, as “we’ve never been in the enticement game, I think we’ve always been ‘Do it first class, do it right and protect the brand of this great university.'”

photo by: Mark Kuhlmann/TBT

The Mass Street bench calls out to the floor as members of the current Kansas basketball team, including Kevin McCullar Jr., KJ Adams Jr., Nick Timberlake and Justin Cross, celebrate in Wichita on July 22, 2023.

TBT

Shortly before the Blueprint deal, Mass St. made one of its most prominent public-facing moves so far when it sponsored a team of KU alumni to compete in The Basketball Tournament last summer.

It was just the second time TBT had featured a Kansas-themed team in nearly a decade of existence, as Mass St. became one of a growing number of collectives to join the competition.

“My early assessment is it’s a great opportunity to engage with our former student-athletes and really provide a great marketing opportunity for the collective as TBT grows its audience,” Stowers said.

He did offer the caveat that “I do think there’s value there, but there’s also understanding we have a duty for our current athletes and our current programs and potential student-athletes.”

A party of current KU basketball and football players did travel down to Wichita to support the Mass St. TBT team last summer.

Donor fatigue

Stowers said that the key to prevent donors from being overwhelmed by donation requests from both KU itself and its partner Mass St. is to target “the fan that may not be able to give the big donation or may not have the company to partner with these student athletes. But they can join as a member.” He added that he believes “the common fan has been sort of forgotten in this NIL world.”

The collective currently offers five levels of monthly or annual contributions that provide “access to exclusive member benefits and events,” per its website. Stowers said one of his biggest challenges early on is defining the extent of that access.

“That five dollars, that ten dollars, that twenty dollars you can give, I’m telling you, man, it’s power in numbers,” he said.

Cooperation or competition

One significant development in the KU NIL scene has been the recent emergence of the Legends of Kansas Collective, a football-specific group led by former players that has arranged an upcoming event in Kansas City featuring a discussion with KU coach Lance Leipold and Kansas State coach Chris Klieman, and also — as JayhawkSlant reported in October — has provided NIL opportunities for walk-ons.

Stowers said his approach to the new entrant was “the more, the merrier,” as they share the goal of promoting KU athletes.

“It’s an opportunity for us, if we can partner in areas, if we can support them in any of their endeavors, I think we would be more than happy to do that,” he said.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas defensive lineman Keon Stowers looks up at the scoreboard during the third quarter on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma.