Kyle May replaces Chris Bauer as head of the Razorbacks NIL Collective

Kyle May is the new executive director of Arkansas Edge, the name, image and likeness collective for athletes at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

May will replace Chris Bauer, the collective’s first executive director, who announced his resignation for personal reasons. Bauer was originally hired in January and will remain with the collective in a part-time advisory role.

In November 2023, the university announced that Arkansas Edge would operate in partnership with Las Vegas-based Blueprint Sports. Under the collective agreement, supporters can donate to the university – or become a member of the collective – and the collective will then pool the money to distribute to the university’s athletes.

May comes to Arkansas Edge after a decade of serving as a fundraiser for the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville and the Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion in Rogers. For the past two years, he served as director of development at the Walmart AMP, helping to raise $18 million for the AMP’s expansion in 2019-2020.

“So much incredible work has been done so far with Arkansas Edge to help the Razorbacks recruit and retain top talent, and I’m excited to hit the ground running to continue that work,” May said. “Through NIL, Razorback student-athletes have the opportunity to leverage their personal brands in ways that can be life-changing, not only for themselves, but for the broader community, organizations and businesses they serve. I’m thrilled to be a part of that change as the leader of the Arkansas Edge team.”

Arkansas Edge also named Alex Harper as the collective’s director of corporate partnerships. Harper spent the last five years as an account executive for Arkansas Business Publishing Group in Little Rock.

“Corporate partnerships are a critical component of a strong NIL collective,” said Harper. “Working with Razorback student-athletes is a great way for a company to build brand awareness. I look forward to exploring new opportunities for student-athletes to maximize their NIL potential.”