Iowa’s Swarm Collective gains momentum although still not close to fundraising ‘finish line’

IOWA CITY — Iowa’s Swarm Collective had quite the day last week.

Last Wednesday alone — the same day former Alabama offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor entered the transfer portal — Iowa’s name, image and likeness collective raised more than $100,000.

“If we could just have 364 more (days) just like that, we will be dominating the NIL landscape,” said Brad Heinrichs, the CEO and founder of the Swarm Collective, on The Gazette’s Hawk Off the Press podcast last week.

Despite the fundraising momentum following Proctor’s decision to enter the portal — he committed to Iowa over the weekend, by the way — Heinrichs believes “we haven’t come close to the finish line yet” of how much funding the collective needs to be successful.

“The market for some of these high-caliber, elite student-athletes is north of that in a year,” Heinrichs said. “This certainly helps us tremendously. We cannot fund a roster on $100,000 alone.”

Heinrichs is hoping to raise $1 million annually for men’s basketball and “probably closer to $3 million for football,” he said on the podcast.

Swarm has more than 3,000 paying members, resulting in more than $1.2 million in revenue. Corporate revenue, which includes the sales of Swarm-branded beer and vodka, makes up about "another million-plus.“ Private donors provide another chunk of revenue.

Heinrichs’ goal is to increase the paying membership total to 5,000 people by the end of 2024. He is especially confident in reaching that goal considering only about 400 football season ticket holders are paying Swarm members so far.

“I think that we can compete against the elite schools and their NIL programs,” Heinrichs said. “Hopefully, that will translate to results on the field and on the basketball court.”

When looking across the Big Ten, Heinrichs believes Swarm is near the top of the “next tier” of NIL programs behind Ohio State, Michigan and Nebraska.

“We’re certainly competitive relative to your Minnesotas and Illinois and those types of programs,” Heinrichs said. “Comparing us to Ohio State — they’ve got a pretty big war chest there.”

Oregon and USC are likely to jump into that top tier of Big Ten teams from an NIL infrastructure standpoint when they join the conference later this year.

“We don’t have a Phil Knight,” Heinrichs said, referencing the Nike founder and well-known Oregon booster.

Heinrichs has gotten creative with other ways to fundraise. Last year, Swarm partnered with Des Moines-based Exile Brewing Company to make Swarm Golden Ale. The collective also has Swarm Vodka and will soon have Swarm Water.

“They don’t have to be an alcoholic to support us like they used to before,” Heinrichs said jokingly. “Hey, drink water. Or maybe they drink the beer and then the water.”

Another of the newer ventures is Swarm Travel. By booking through the collective’s website, fans (regardless of whether they are a paying member of Swarm) can find travel discounts while Swarm receives a commission for any travel booked.

“If I can save Hawkeye fans money, maybe they’ll want to donate some of that savings to the Swarm,” Heinrichs said.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com