IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa Swarm Collective CEO Brad Heinrichs was the guest on Wednesday’s Hawk Fanatic radio show and podcast, and based on what he said, there still is plenty of work to do in attracting members.

Heinrichs said Swarm membership has dropped from approximately 2,900 members to 2,700 members.

He blames the drop mostly on two things based on the feedback from former members; the first being financial concerns and the second being the fallout from the Kadyn Proctor situation.

Proctor, a former five-star recruit from Southeast Polk, played his freshman season for Alabama where he started every game at left tackle last season.

He then he transferred to Iowa for the 2024 spring semester, and shortly after former Alabama head coach Nick Saban had announced his retirement.

However, just several weeks later, Proctor announced that he would transfer back to Alabama.

It was widely assumed that Proctor received a massive NIL payment from Iowa, but Heinrichs said that isn’t true, and that no Swam money from fans was used to pay what Proctor did receive.

Heinrichs also talked about the ever-changing landscape in college sports, and how NIL will be impacted moving forward.

He wonders if a salary cap will be created for NIL, similar to what is used in professional sports.

Heinrichs remains optimistic despite all the challenges and obstacles that he faces as the Swarm CEO.

He likes that the Swarm works closely with charities and that it tries to reward student-athletes for staying at Iowa.

It costs either a minimum of $20 a week to be a Swarm member or a one-time minimum payment of $200 for a year membership.

Heinrich’s interview starts about 10 minutes into the podcast and lasts for about 30 minutes.

We appreciate Brad giving us some time to talk about an important topic.