The NIL Shadow Trail: How an Oregon State Official’s LLCs Moved in Sync with Blueprint Sports Deals [REPORT]
Public filings from four states reveal a network of LLCs tied to Oregon State’s former COO of Athletics, created in striking proximity to Blueprint Sports’ takeovers at both Arizona and Oregon State.
The Blueprint Connection Nobody’s Talking About
When Oregon State University Athletic Director Scott Barnes told former Dam Nation Collective founder and owner, Kyle Bjornstad, “we’re moving forward with Blueprint with your blessing” on June 15, 2025, it marked a pivotal paradigm shift for Beaver Athletics. The university’s “preferred” NIL collective’s operations were to be officially handed off from local, Beaver-grown leadership to private NIL operator Blueprint Sports, the same private operator who once ran University of Arizona’s Desert Takeover Football Collective.
At the same time, the university’s own Executive Deputy Athletics Director/Chief Operating Officer Brent Blaylock, was filing new limited-liability companies across multiple states.
The Timeline: Public Records Don’t Lie
August 29, 2013: Winston, Duke & Associates LLC files Articles of Organization in Ohio.
July 20, 2023: The University of Arizona announces the Desert Takeover Collective, to be operated by Blueprint Sports.
July 27, 2023: Just seven days later, Winston, Duke & Associates LLC registers in Arizona as a foreign LLC, listing Ohio as its home state. Brent Blaylock is the sole agent and member.
June 14–15, 2025: On June 14, as first reported by John Canzano, Bjornstad emailed AD Scott Barnes a proposal from another NIL platform, Lockerverse. Barnes rejected it the next morning, writing:
“This doesn’t come close to the deal we have. Not worth exploring at all from our perspective. We would like to move forward with Blueprint with your blessing.”
June 25, 2025 - A Statutory Agent Update is filed for Winston, Duke & Associates LLC in Ohio, with Northwest Registered Agent LLC listed as the new Agent, and Brent Blaylock now named as a signatory representative of the LLC.
July 11, 2025: An entity by the name 4072 Tangara LLC files in Arizona as a domestic LLC in Arizona through Northwest Registered Agent LLC. Winston, Duke & Associates LLC is listed as Manager and Member in the listing. The place of business for Manager is listed as Sheridan, Wyoming.
July 14, 2025: An entity by the same Winston, Duke & Associates LLC name (and registered agent) files in Wyoming as a domestic LLC through Northwest Registered Agent.
The same day, the original Winston, Duke & Associates LLC, registered in Ohio, is dissolved.
The flurry of activity wasn’t finished, however. A new Oregon LLC named 1703 Pinehurst LLC also appears on this day. Articles of Organization show that Northwest Registered Agent is the listed Agent and Organizer, with Winston, Duke & Associates is listed as the sole Member, and Brent Blaylock listed as 1 of 2 Individuals With Direct Knowledge.
July 15, 2025: Blueprint Sports officially completed its acquisition of Oregon State’s Dam Nation Collective from founder Kyle Bjornstad, according to multiple sources and confirmed publicly by BeaversEdge reporter Ryan Harlan (via X).
Sources with knowledge of this have told me that Dam Naton was acquired officially on July 15th, the day after Blaylock refiled. https://t.co/WNHi1j4c6J
— Ryan Harlan (@Ryan_Harlan7) November 12, 2025
Earlier negotiations and signatory records on the Blueprint Sports <> Oregon State Services Agreement obtained by Belligerent Beavs indicated the transition process had been under way since mid-June.
August 20, 2025: Blueprint’s control of Dam Nation was publicly formalized through a joint press release with Oregon State University.
The Timing Problem
Public property records show both properties (1703 SW Pinehurst Pl in Corvallis, OR and 4072 E Via De La Tangara in Tucson, AZ) remain personally owned by the same purchasing individuals, not by any LLC of similar naming.
The LLCs use the properties’ street names, despite no corresponding transfer of title.
That doesn’t make them illegal! But it raises a fair question: what business purpose do the entities serve, if not real estate asset protection?
If the purpose of these LLCs were real estate asset protection, the dates don’t line up.
4072 E Via De La Tangara (Tucson, AZ): purchased on April 22, 2021.
The matching 4072 Tangara LLC wasn’t formed until July 11 2025, over four years later.
1703 SW Pinehurst Pl (Corvallis, OR): purchased on December 13, 2024.
The matching 1703 Pinehurst LLC wasn’t form until July 14 2025, over seven months later, and just one day before Blueprint Sports finalized its Dam Nation purchase on July 15, 2025.
As of November 2025, both properties remain personally titled to Brent Blaylock and not to either LLC.
Across Two Universities, the Same Playbook
The same NIL operator. The same university athletic department staffer. The same filing patterns.
Days apart from major Blueprint milestones.
Arizona, 2023: Blueprint begins managing Desert Takeover. Within a week, Winston, Duke & Associates registers there as a foreign.
Oregon State, 2025: Blueprint assumes Dam Nation. Within a few weeks, 1703 Pinehurst LLC registers there as a domestic.
And according to filings, both LLCs are associated with now Wyoming-based Winston, Duke & Associates.
All records are verifiable through public Secretary of State databases linked in the timeline above.
Why It Matters
No one is alleging evidence of wrongdoing.
But when a public employee in charge of NIL operations forms multiple companies in lockstep with a private vendor expanding into those same universities, appearance alone warrants public explanation.
If these filings were ordinary estate planning, the timing would align with the purchase of assets worth protecting. At the very best, the timing would be arguably random.
Instead, they track precisely with Blueprint’s contractual movements. Twice. At two different schools. In two different states.
Again, I want to reiterate, it’s entirely possible there’s a benign explanation to this. It’s possible that it’s merely coincidental. But public trust in college athletics depends on full separation between those steering university contracts and those profiting from them.
And when the same pattern repeats this similarly? It’s not a coincidence worth ignoring.
Blueprint’s private contracts aren’t public. But their contract with Oregon State is now. And public filings are too.
And public records don’t require spin to tell a story.
Editor’s note (Nov. 12, 2025): We have reached out to Oregon State Athletic Director Scott Barnes for comment regarding OSU’s NIL oversight process and any applicable disclosure/review procedures.
We will add his response here if and when it is received.
Update (Nov. 12, 2025): This story was updated to reflect that Blueprint Sports closed its purchase of Oregon State’s Dam Nation Collective on July 15, 2025, according to multiple sources and confirmed by BeaversEdge (On3) reporter Ryan Harlan.