Arkansas Collective Aims to Bend Law Allowing Gambling for NIL Fundraising

Calling the University of Arkansas’ NIL standing resource-poor would be an incredible mistake. It has been reported that a large part of the Razorback’s poaching of long-time Kentucky coach John Calipari was his close relationship with the Tyson Chicken family and the promise of over $5,000,000 in annual NIL funds at his disposal. However, in the current collegiate system, it appears that no amount of money is ever enough. Without the presence of a player’s union, there is no pathway to a salary cap within collegiate sports, leading to boosters continually throwing money at problems, expecting to buy their way to a national championship. 

Creative minds at the University of Arkansas’ NIL Collective, Arkansas Edge, have formed a partnership with local casino Saracen Resort to leverage existing mobile wagering technology to create a 50/50 raffle for Razorback fans to play and by extension, benefit NIL capabilities –– a 50/50 raffle is a common fundraising effort seen at many sporting events that pool raffle entries and distributes half of the total pool to the winner and the other half of the pool, often, to a charitable organization. Different state laws across the country regulate such raffles, but they often impose regulations on entry methods and what entities are allowed to engage in such an event.