Name, image and likeness deals with college athletes offer potential opportunities for promo products companies.
NIL merch is a recent phenomenon. And an in-stadium retail store for selling such swag at a program as storied as Alabama is a significant development.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) formerly barred players from profiting off their name, image and likeness. But following a 2021 Supreme Court ruling and subsequent change of policy by the NCAA, college athletes can endorse products and create/sell their own merch.
NIL merch is a recent phenomenon. And an in-stadium retail store for selling such swag at a program as storied as Alabama is a significant development.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) formerly barred players from profiting off their name, image and likeness. But following a 2021 Supreme Court ruling and subsequent change of policy by the NCAA, college athletes can endorse products and create/sell their own merch.
Many are taking advantage of it, including Crimson Tide players.
The Authentic is part of a broader major merch deal involving the University of Alabama and sports merchandise retailer Fanatics.
The NCAA’s policy reversal allowing NIL profits offers potential opportunity for promotional products distributors and apparel decorators with experience in the collegiate market.
Earlier this year, for example, Campus Ink, an Urbana, IL-based apparel decorator, got an investment from billionaire Mark Cuban to boost its nascent NIL division. At the time, Campus Ink had already helped University of Illinois student-athletes earn tens of thousands of dollars in merch sales through its NIL Locker Room launched last September. The decorator planned to share its model with athletes and universities around the country.
Opportunities for NIL merch are also emerging with popular high school athletes.
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