Johnnie Athletes launched a name, image and likeness (NIL) collective to benefit Saint John's University student athletes. Fans can buy a membership that will go directly to compensate athletes.

The collective, formed and launched by former Johnnie player Dan Smith '79 - basketball, John Soma '00 - football, and Tom Connell '84 - basketball, aims to work with SJU athletes to provide compensation for use of their name, image and likeness. Johnnie Athletes will coordinate engaging fans, boosters, businesses and anyone who follows Saint John's University athletes to support them financially, and gain access to exclusive content, fan engagement opportunities and partnerships.

NIL has come to the forefront of college athletics with schools working to find ways to compensate current athletes, and in recruiting high school athletes. Most NIL collectives support NCAA Division I schools and provide student athlete compensation most commonly as part of bidding wars to recruit star athletes pursing careers as professional athletes. Johnnie Athletes aims to change that model and is one of the first NIL collective focused exclusively on a NCAA Division III school, focused on using NIL to support athletes pursuing an education AND wanting to compete athletically at the top of NCAA Division III.