The cornerstone: Tennessee's NIL collective setting the curve with new brick-and-mortar retail store

In the ever-evolving NIL space, the Tennessee collective is hoping to plant perminant roots and gain an edge by offering fans a new experience Aug 26, 2026 at 3:03 pm ET • 6 min read In the ever-evolving NIL landscape, Tennessee's collective leaders have come up with an idea they believe will continue to keep it at the forefront: a retail store.A brick-and-mortar merchandise store may not scream innovation in 2026, but when you consider how drastically the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) collective business has changed since 2021, it is. The brains behind Spyre Sports Group and The Volunteer Club believe it is the first of its kind in the college sports NIL collective space."If you're not willing to listen, learn, read, adapt and change in the NIL world, in three to six months, you can be a dinosaur," says Spyre Sports Group co-founder Hunter Baddour. "The NIL landscape changes constantly and, as a business, we're constantly looking at new revenue streams and one of them was starting a retail store."Says co-founder James Clawson, "We've had some great advice from some of our donors that in the middle of uncertainty in a market, you've got a lot of opportunity." The Volunteer Club retail store is expected to officially open on the Friday before Tennessee's home opener against Furman on Sept. 5th. The nearly 800-square-foot store on Kingston Pike in Knoxville will sell a mix of limited-edition memorabilia and exclusive clothing not found anywhere else. Think a mix of Homefield Apparel and Barstool Sports t-shirts that can be a bit bolder and more creative than what the bookstore may sell. Anyone can walk in and buy a hat or t-shirt, but there will be unique opportunities for members of the collective's Volunteer Club, including meet-and-greets with current and former Tennessee players. The hope is that the store can not only generate new revenue but also raise awareness and ultimately drive more members to subscribe to its Volunteer Club. Spyre Sports co-founder Hunter Baddour in the company's new Volunteer Club retail store. Joseph Nother Ahead of the gameIt's a fascinating evolution in a time when many other NIL collectives have gone by the wayside. In the early years of NIL, new collectives seemed to sprout by the day, with many universities having more than one collective. But as the years went on, they started to disappear, whether disbanding on their own or being rolled into the university's efforts. The passage of the historic House settlement, which allowed universities to directly pay athletes for the first time in July 2025, only accelerated that development. That hasn't been the case in Knoxville, however. From the advent of NIL, the Spyre Sports Group has been aggressive and creative in trying to help Tennessee win in every sport it competes in. Launched 10 months before NIL went into effect in July 2021, Spyre Sports Group was originally intended as a traditional sports agency before it pivoted to NIL. In the early days, Baddour and Clawson weren't afraid to be brash about their bold intentions -- they were prescient back in 2022 in predicting the need to raise $25 million or more annually. They played an important role in landing five-star quarterback recruit Nico Iamaleava. They recognized early on that while brands were important, athletes would largely pick their schools based on their NIL opportunities. While rival programs slow-played their NIL efforts, Tennessee gained an early advantage by embracing the new era. "It was just obvious to us that having a strong NIL program was critical and it was going to be big business," Baddour says. Offering return on investmentEarly on, improved on-field results were enough of a return on investment for Tennessee supporters. After years of watching the Tennessee football program wander in the wilderness through the Derek Dooley, Butch Jones and Jeremy Pruitt eras, fans just wanted to watch a winner again. Making the College Football Playoff in 2024 was a crowning achievement for Spyre and the fanbase's efforts to build a winner.Over time, though, the demands changed. Spyre didn't want to have to keep going back to the same three or four boosters every time it needed more money. It had to build something sustainable that could incentivize a huge and passionate Tennessee fanbase. Fans wanted more bang for their buck. It couldn't just be watching a better Tennessee football team; they wanted something more tangible. "We knew we could get a lot of people to do a little bit," says Spyre Sports partner Brandon Spurlock. "We listened to the market. We started a membership subscription. We did a tailgate. We started selling merchandise which led to the store. Now, we're looking at our ecosystem to see how people cross-pollinate across everything we're doing."Spurlock and Will Crockett, two University of Tennessee fundraising veterans, surveyed members and non-members about what they were looking for. What they learned was their base broke down into three buckets: 1) those who just wanted the Vols to be successful, 2) those who loved the tailgates and 3) those who wanted something in return for their financial contributions. They offer home and away game tailgates, which have been hugely successful. They have multiple subscription tiers: $35 a month for one new autograph from a current or former Vol, $100 a month for an autograph plus two season tailgate passes and $500 a month for VIP tailgate and early event access. It's been a seven-figure business for The Volunteer Club, as has its business program that works with local businesses. There were flashpoints along the way that made the group question whether a retail store might be feasible. Tennessee's run to a College World Series title in 2024 was hugely successful and spoke to strong demand for memorabilia. After talking about it for a couple of years, Clawson finally pulled the trigger and said it was time to do it. "For us, it's creating a space that Tennessee fans know is very intentional," says Crockett. "This is done by Tennessee fans. It's unique. It's different. You don't see it anywhere else."In addition to launching a unique retail store, the Tennessee collective has created an exclusive speakeasy-style club for select members. The space, not far from its retail store, is meant to give top supporters a private space to enjoy a drink with like-minded boosters and get away from the crowds on a busy Friday or Saturday night during the football season. The club will also hold exclusive events, though the details are still being worked out. What comes next?It's all part of the Volunteer Club's efforts to stay ahead of the curve in an industry that can change by the day. There was a time when collectives were painted as the bad guys, especially amongst college sports leaders and elected officials, as player compensation steadily rose. Those narratives have died down somewhat. Player salaries continue to skyrocket even as the number of collectives have dwindled, but one never knows what threat is lurking around the corner. Even with the recently proposed Protective College Sports Act, there were days when it looked favorable to collectives and other days when it looked negative, depending on the proposed amendments. The Spyre Sports Group leaders want to continue to lead in the space. They don't believe federal legislation is the answer -- like Tennessee AD Danny White, they prefer collective bargaining and believe they could play a role in helping in that area -- and aren't afraid to say so. But more than anything, they want to survive so they can continue helping Tennessee compete successfully in as many sports as possible. Roster costs continue to rise, with recent CBS Sports identifying three SEC teams with $40 million or more in football rosters. "Every year we've projected (on roster spending), we've projected too low," Spurlock says. It's more imperative than ever to find every possible revenue source to keep up with the exploding costs of building a winner. A retail store and private club are just the latest creative efforts to do so."It may remain the wild, wild west for another three years, another five years, but we don't want to find ourselves in the situation Blockbuster found themselves in, where they ignored market trends and all of a sudden they're out of business," Baddour says. "That's why we're constantly looking at what we're doing internally and trying to find different revenue streams."When the day comes that there are guardrails, we still have a profitable business."