TCU athletics and business school partner to strengthen university’s NIL program
.JPG "TCU has embraced the NIL era with the latest partnership being between the athletics department and business school.")
TCU continues to position itself for success in the NIL era.
The latest development from the athletics department is forming a partnership with TCU’s Neeley School of Business. That partnership will be formally announced Wednesday night at an NIL open house event with local business leaders and TCU coaches including Gary Patterson and Jamie Dixon.
“This has become the new arms race,” said Kyle Seay, TCU’s associate athletic director for digital brand strategy.
“The No. 1 question coaches are getting these days in recruiting, especially from parents, is what’s your NIL (name, image, likeness) program? What we’re doing here I really feel it separates us.”
The athletics department and business school will work together to support, guide and advise student-athletes. There will be optional workshops that student-athletes can attend as well as a three-hour summer class that counts toward an entrepreneurship minor. The program is being branded “Scaled to Succeed.”
This is another extension of the school’s NIL engagement along with its affiliation with Opendorse. Opendorse is a company that works with student-athletes to help build their brands and social media presence to optimize earning potential.
The business school partnership provides more educational opportunities for student-athletes. The operations of this partnership will be housed in the Moncrief Club located in the south end zone of Amon G. Carter Stadium. The room is located directly above the performance athletic dining room.
Ike Ukaegbu, TCU’s senior associate athletic director overseeing compliance who spearheaded the project with Seay, feels the location is “a game changer.” Being located close to the dining room makes it easily accessible for student athletes compared to if it was in a different part of campus.
At the end of the day, TCU is trying to provide the necessary resources to remain a top-level athletic department in the NIL era. The school has spent time educating student-athletes on different NIL policies and is doing similar measures with local business leaders.
A number of athletes have already reached NIL deals since being allowed to do so this summer. Among the latest athletes to “endorse” a company is women’s basketball player Lauren Heard, who reached an agreement with Fort Worth-based clothing boutique MOVE Athleisure.
Heard posted on her social media about the partnership, writing in part: “Thank you so much (to MOVE Athleisure owner Kara Baker) for this amazing opportunity and partnership to endorse these amazing and unique brands in store! All while promoting women entrepreneurship and body positivity.”
TCU is not able to facilitate or negotiate deals for student-athletes or business partners. But the university wants to provide the necessary education to both parties to ensure everything is done within the rules and regulations.
“Finding permissible ways to help our student-athletes in the NIL era is important,” Ukaegbu said. “Ultimately this will continue to help the product on the field and help maintain all of this [TCU’s facilities].
“It is exciting to see the student-athletes profit off their NIL and see them in this space. We just need to make sure moving forward that we guide them appropriately so that they don’t make bad decisions that will affect their eligibility or their futures.”
This story was originally published September 15, 2021 at 4:00 PM.
