The Players’ Lounge Adds Six Schools and 52 Student Athletes

In January, The Players’ Lounge launched with University of Georgia as its initial focus, going on to sell out its NFTs in 3 hours. UGA football players involved in that launch divided $305,000 in profit, which amounted to $28,000 each. On the heels of that success, NIL Newsstand reports The Players’ Lounge is expanding its NFT communities to six additional schools: Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Oklahoma, Texas and UNC.

Two of the group’s founders, UGA football alums Aaron Murray and Ty Frix, joined me on the Business of College Sports podcast in January to talk about their initial concept. We even discussed how their concept could be duplicated for other fanbases, and a little over two months later, here we are. Six new communities forming and 52 student athletes signed to NIL deals.

The concept is simple. The Players’ Lounge creates NFT collections and then gives the NFT owners access to exclusive real world experiences. Student athletes help publicize the NFT launches and the communities, and in exchange they receive 50% of the profits.

Murray says the idea behind The Players’ Lounge goes beyond the NFTs, however.

“An important aspect for us is building the community. When you just have player trading cards, that’s all it is. Anyone can have it, and you’re just trading a card on the internet. We’re creating an atmosphere and a community where you get to interact with former players. We have a great Discord channel with a ton of fans that we’re interacting with right now. We’ll have signed memorabilia, whether it’s current or former athletes, and we’re going to be having meetups in the spring and fall. So, exclusive stuff that you can only attend if you have one of these NFTs.”

Currently, The Players’ Lounge has more than 7,500 active members on Discord, the digital platform they use to facilitate discussion between fans and student athletes.

Murray told me on the podcast in January that it’s all about helping current players do something he saw his own teammates be punished for under the old NIL rules.

“For us to find a way to put some money back in these players’ pockets, I think it’s great. I lived through two times when two of my teammates were hurt by [previous NIL rules]. AJ Green my freshman year was suspended for four games because he sent some money home to mom and dad. He got in trouble for signing a jersey. Todd Gurley got in trouble for signings and memorabilia too, and he gets suspended four games. It frustrated the heck out of me, so when Ty brought this to me, I said, ‘I want in.’”

The 52 new student athletes signed to NIL deals span the six schools being added to The Players’ Lounge’s portfolio.