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NJBIZ has exclusively learned that the Knight Society collective, founded by beloved former Rutgers University athletes Geo Baker and Eric LeGrand, has agreed to a strategic partnership with MOGL, a leading innovator of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) technology that was founded by a pair of Notre Dame graduates – Brandon Wimbush (2019) and Ayden Syal (2017) – who have some Jersey ties of their own.

Knight Society launched last May as a way to enhance business opportunities for Rutgers student-athletes, fans and local businesses – capitalizing on the potential of NIL, a new space that Baker pioneered during his time as a Scarlet Knight when he spearheaded the #NotNCAAProperty movement calling for athletes to be able to profit off their NIL.

MOGL was founded in 2019 by Syal and Wimbush, who grew up in and each graduated from New Jersey high schools before attending Notre Dame. Wimbush was a football standout at St. Peter’s Prep before going on to play quarterback for the Fighting Irish. Syal graduated from Seton Hall Prep. Their company is an athlete marketplace and NIL operations software provider that enables college athletes to connect with monetization and sponsorship opportunities with brands, employers, and fans. MOGL boasts that it gives universities, collectives and their student-athletes the technology to manage their NIL endeavors in an organized and compliant manner. It is used by more than 10,000 student-athletes across the country.

Some highlights of the strategic partnership between Knight Society and MOGL include:

• Knight Society student-athletes will receive access to MOGL’s 2,000 participating businesses and brands, including NBC Sports, Toyota, Under Armour, DoorDash and more.
• Automatic university disclosure communication capabilities so athletes can report all NIL activities to university compliance.
• Safe and secure payment processing.
• Ability to onboard new businesses and brands interested in working with Rutgers Athletics all in one secure location.

Baker said that the partnership with MOGL will help the communication, coordination and efficiency of Knight Society’s efforts.

“I think MOGL makes it a lot easier for us to identify student-athletes that fit our needs for a brand,” Baker told NJBIZ. “It makes it a lot easier for the communication side of things. It’s just going to keep us a lot more organized, and it makes it faster as well. So, we’re able to do more on our side in terms of actually finding brands.”

He believes the partnership with MOGL will increase Knight Society’s capabilities.

“At the end of the day, our goal is to help every student-athlete at Rutgers. But obviously it’s hard without a platform like MOGL,” Baker explained. “This is just another step in the right direction where it makes us more efficient and we’re able to help more student-athletes. I think that’s the biggest thing – is we really want to be able to connect with everybody.”

“What we do at our core is we connect college-athlete influencers with brands and fans for monetization opportunities through a tech-enabled marketplace,” Syal, MOGL chief executive officer, told NJBIZ.

Syal noted that as the NIL landscape started to initially take shape, he was working in private equity in New York City while Wimbush was still competing at Notre Dame and preparing for the NFL when they decided to put a potential venture together.

What we do at our core is we connect college-athlete influencers with brands and fans for monetization opportunities through a tech-enabled marketplace.
– Ayden Syal, MOGL CEO

“In October 2019, we really wrote a business plan for a marketplace that would seamlessly and compliantly connect athletes to these brands – recognizing having gone to a school like Notre Dame in a community like South Bend, how much value inherently these student-athletes provide both at the local level and to large national brands looking to engage for an influencer marketing opportunity,” said Syal, who pointed out that the process played out quicker than anticipated, with the NIL rule established nationally in the summer of 2021. “We started as a marketplace solely focused on just connecting the two parties and streamlining that opportunity, and obviously, driving value for brands as they look to build awareness for their products and services.”

Since then, Syal said that MOGL has launched software solutions to help athletic departments and collectives, such as Knight Society, to manage their entire programs, monitor their compliance disclosures in real-time, and ultimately, support student-athletes as best as possible.

In June, MOGL was selected by Rider University as its exclusive NIL solution and marketplace.

Pivoting and partnering

Syal spoke further about the benefits and potential of the MOGL and Knight Society partnership.

“From a software perspective, what MOGL enables collectives to do is really manage their deals and their deal flows for student-athletes, send communications to those athletes, and manage it one ecosystem,” he explained, noting a function that verifies fulfillment of tasks. “And then, the most important part is they automate the disclosures to the athletic department, and they automate the tax documentation for student-athletes. And this is what MOGL’s software enables them to do.”

And Syal said that what MOGL brings to the table that nobody else in the landscape does is that aforementioned network of some 2,000 national brands to support collective’s initiatives and build a pipeline of sponsors for organizations, such as Knight Society.

The announcement also marks the latest chapter of Baker’s business journey, which NJBIZ has been chronicling. He noted some of the early lessons he had already learned as a business owner — especially in a new space like NIL.

“It’s been a rollercoaster. I feel like I have learned a ton. I’ve made a lot of mistakes and I’ve found a way to get the right people around me who have been able to help me through those mistakes and help me on this journey. When we first started Knight Society, it was very different than what it looks like now,” Baker explained. “We started out as a membership program and we were exploring into the Web3 space and it was a mess. It was a mess. It honestly was. It was too complicated. Maybe just a little bit ahead of its time honestly.”

He said that led to a pivot.

“We completely pivoted to an event-based type of company as well as partnerships with brands,” said Baker, who stressed that brand partnerships are central to the collaboration with MOGL.

Evidence of the changeup in both aspects have been on display in recent months in stories NJBIZ reported on, including Knight Society’s partnerships with Atlantic Physical Therapy Center and Beacon Wealth Management, as well as a successful inaugural Scarlet Open held in July at Topgolf in Edison. The event drew nearly 200 attendees, including full participation from the current Rutgers’s Men’s Basketball players and staff as well as alumni who connected with businesses, fans and more.

“We are more focused on just throwing great events for the Rutgers community, inviting and paying student-athletes to show up at these events,” Baker explained. “And just giving fans something tangible that they will say, ‘this was a really well-run event.’”

Baker said it also offers a chance to create unique memories of getting to meet and interact with players and businesses in a small, intimate setting, such as the golf outing, which featured an elimination-style tournament with players and coaches participating on attendees’ teams as Newroads Financial Group took home the inaugural crown.

He explained that the event went beyond financials for the athletes as well – and that it was just such a great environment where people were having fun and networking.

“Whenever anybody talks about NIL, it’s always about, ‘how many dollars are you getting,’” said Baker. “But these kids, the Rutgers Basketball team, they were able to connect with wealthy and successful Rutgers alumni who already like them on the court. Now they get a chance to interact with them off the court. They get to learn about what they do for their profession and get to ask questions that maybe they wouldn’t have gotten a chance to ask before. So, I think the connection aspect was really the best part about it for me.”

“And the other side is the brand partnerships where we focus on the relationship with the brands and making sure that we are giving them the proper marketing from student-athletes, social media appearances, different stuff along those lines,” Baker continued. “And that same mindset of, ‘okay, we want to give these brands tangible evidence that the student-athletes are actually boosting sales, boosting marketing, boosting their socials.’”

Overall, he said that the collective has concentrated on purely simplifying everything and just explaining to brands that athletes are rock stars in their home state.

“Rutgers Basketball players, Rutgers Football players are some of the biggest influencers in New Jersey,” said Baker. “I know from experience going around campus – people know who the basketball team is. People know who the football team is. So, if you’re a business and you want to just be seen more, overall, in New Jersey – if you’re a local business, it’s really a no-brainer that they will be able to help boost the awareness of your brand, of your business, your restaurant, whatever it may be.”

As Knight Society charts its next steps as an organization in this still nascent space, Baker believes that they have figured out the recipe on the events side and that MOGL can be that final piece of the puzzle on the brand partnership side.

“As I said, when we pivoted, those were our two main focuses,” said Baker. “So, I think we have one focus pretty down. We have an events team that basically runs everything. And now we are trying to figure out how we can best proceed with the brand partnerships. And I think this is a step in the right direction.”

“It’s a new partnership,” said Syal. “We just got Knight Society set up on the software. If you go to their website, there’s a new landing page for the student-athletes to create accounts on MOGL – where they’re ultimately going to be sent their deals. I think there’s 150 or so Rutgers student-athletes that we’re expecting to sign up within the next week. So, that’s really exciting. And then once they are in there, it’s really on Knight Society and MOGL to create the NIL opportunities, send them to the athletes, and really streamline the whole process.”

And of course, with Rutgers Football off to an exciting start and basketball season not too far behind, there should be no shortage of opportunities for Knight Society to continue that aforementioned pivot into a focus on events, partnerships and unique experiences.

Since football season has kicked off, the collective has already been hosting tailgate events, ticket giveaways and more — with plans for a Knight Fest this fall revolving around Homecoming Weekend.