Announcement comes on heels of unanimous U.S. Supreme Court decision
By HANNA MORDOH
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
As of Thursday, college athletes can make money from their name, image and likeness (NIL). Now, Indiana University is one of the first schools to announce it is updating its policies to help student-athletes profit from sponsorship opportunities.
The NCAA policy is in an interim status while the NCAA works with Congress and states to come up with a national framework.
The IU Athletics Name, Image and Likeness Policy will help guide and govern the NIL opportunities for Indiana University student-athletes as of July 1, 2021.
IU Athletics is among the first intercollegiate athletic departments to publicly announce a comprehensive NIL policy.
Players can now be contacted directly to discuss agreements. The new policy encourages athletes to work with agents to find endorsements.
IU student-athletes can be contacted directly in a variety of ways to arrange or discuss potential NIL agreements, including through Opendorse Deals or by connecting with them through their social media accounts, many of which are listed on the IUHoosiers.com roster pages for their respective sports.
The school said already 95 percent of their current student-athletes use Opendorse, which is an endorsement app that helps athletes “understand, build, protect and monetize their brand.”
The school said it has been preparing for this moment for about a year, after creating a task force last August.
IU Athletics also announced a partnership with NIL advisory and education firm Altius Sports Partners. Altius will provide IU Athletics with ongoing strategic guidance, consultation and educational support in the rapidly-changing NIL ecosystem, providing its student-athletes, coaches and the department with the resources to thrive in this new age of intercollegiate athletics.
IU’s head men’s basketball coach Mike Woodson tweeted in response to the new policy early Thursday morning, which said in part, “I think the young men and women who represent Indiana will have the opportunity to be at the forefront of this legislation and will benefit greatly.”
“Dating back to the creation of the IU Athletics NIL Task Force last August, our department has been laser-focused on being at the forefront when it comes to preparing for and supporting our students’ NIL opportunities when this day arrived,” said IU Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Scott Dolson. “Now that it is here, this comprehensive policy is our latest step and provides a roadmap for our students to maximize their opportunities while also protecting their eligibility to compete in intercollegiate athletics.”
The new interim policy move from the NCAA to allow students to profit comes after the Supreme Court unanimously decided last week that student-athletes could receive education-related payments.
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas have laws that go into effect designed to open up the markets for college athletes. Currently, Indiana does not have a law like this.