Advertisement

Header Utility Menu

  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Events

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram Get Our App

  • Login

Virginia Business

Mobile Menu

  • Issues
  • Industries
    • Banking/Finances
    • Law
    • Real Estate
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Energy/Green
    • Federal Contracting
    • Government
    • Healthcare
    • Hotels/Tourism
    • Insurance
    • Ports/Trade
    • Small Business
    • Startups
    • Technology
    • Transportation
  • Regions
    • Central Virginia
    • Eastern Virginia
    • Northern Virginia
    • Roanoke/New River Valley
    • Shenandoah Valley
    • Southern Virginia
    • Southwest Virginia
  • Reports
    • Best Places to Work
    • Business Person of the Year
    • CEO Pay
    • COVID-19
    • Generous Virginians Project
    • Legal Elite
    • Most Influential Virginians
    • Maritime Guide
    • Site Locator
    • The Big Book
    • Virginia CFO Awards
  • Company News
    • For the Record
    • People
  • Opinion
  • Lists
  • Awards/Events
    • 2022 Virginia Business Political Roundtable
    • Women in Leadership
    • Diversity Leadership Series
    • Virginia 500
    • Legal Elite
    • CFO Awards
    • Big Book of Lists
    • 100 People To Meet
    • Best Places To Work
  • Virginia 500
    • Read The Issue
    • Power Up Virginia 500
    • Buy an award plaque
    • Suggest execs for 2023

Advertisement

Header Primary Menu

  • Issues
    • January 2023
    • December 2022
    • November 2022
    • October 2022
    • September 2022
    • Issues Archive
  • Industries
    • Banking/Finances
    • Law
    • Real Estate
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Energy/Green
    • Federal Contracting
    • Government
    • Healthcare
    • Hotels/Tourism
    • Insurance
    • Ports/Trade
    • Small Business
    • Startups
    • Technology
    • Transportation
  • Regions
    • Central Virginia
    • Eastern Virginia
    • Northern Virginia
    • Roanoke/New River Valley
    • Shenandoah Valley
    • Southern Virginia
    • Southwest Virginia
  • Reports
    • Best Places to Work
    • Business Person of the Year
    • CEO Pay
    • COVID-19
    • Generous Virginians Project
    • Legal Elite
    • Most Influential Virginians
    • Maritime Guide
    • Site Locator
    • The Big Book
    • Virginia CFO Awards
  • Company News
    • For the Record
    • People
  • Opinion
  • Lists
  • Awards/Events
    • 2022 Virginia Business Political Roundtable
    • Women in Leadership
    • Diversity Leadership Series
    • Virginia 500
    • Legal Elite
    • CFO Awards
    • Big Book of Lists
    • 100 People To Meet
    • Best Places To Work
  • Virginia 500
    • Read The Issue
    • Power Up Virginia 500
    • Buy an award plaque
    • Suggest execs for 2023

Home News Regions NIL no longer nil for college players

NIL no longer nil for college players

Published November 29, 2021 by Ryan McKinnon

Virginia Tech football center Brock Hoffman Photo by Natalee Waters
Virginia Tech football center Brock Hoffman Photo by Natalee Waters

Now that the NCAA is allowing student athletes to make sponsorship deals and capitalize on their fame, Virginia Tech is working to ensure its students don’t get left behind or taken advantage of.

The NCAA rule change, which went into effect July 1, allows athletes to profit from the use of their names, images and likenesses (NIL), which means college athletes who were once forbidden from accepting compensation can now snag paid gigs promoting products.

To help players navigate this new entrepreneurial landscape, Virginia Tech in June launched a program called JumpStart, which offers a mix of business training, brand development, mentorships and career preparation.

“We are thrilled to launch JumpStart in order to connect our student athletes with the tools and knowledge to expand the impact of their personal brand,” Virginia Tech Director of Athletics Whit Babcock said in announcing the initiative.

Tech is also working with INFLCR (pronounced “influencer”), an app that helps connect student athletes to brands hiring athletes for social media marketing.

While a handful of collegiate stars can attract big-time sponsors, there are plenty of smaller opportunities for lesser-known athletes. For example, Virginia Tech football center Brock Hoffman helped arrange a deal with Mission BBQ restaurant in Christiansburg, where the entire offensive line now eats once a week.

“As an offensive lineman, I am assuming I am not going to sign some $30,000 deal, so I am going to take what I can get,” Hoffman says. “It’s a consistent meal and it’s a good meal.”

Hoffman says many of the deals he saw on INFLCR ranged from $200 to $1,000 for making a certain number of social media posts per month.

But it’s not only about players making money. Hoffman also struck a deal with Wytheville-based Bob Huff Chevrolet Buick GMC and Huff Ford to donate 325 book bags emblazoned with his “BH” logo to kids in Wytheville and in his hometown of Statesville, North Carolina.

At Tech, school officials can’t arrange deals for athletes, Associate Athletics Director of Strategic Communications Pete Moris says, but under the new NCAA rules, a third-party agent can help negotiate deals.

As money-making opportunities for student athletes evolve, high school recruits will begin evaluating colleges based on the business possibilities. The impact on recruitment is inevitable, so schools like Tech are refining their pipelines for students to tap into the newly established sponsorship deals.

Subscribe to Virginia Business. Get our daily e-newsletter.

Related Stories

Virginia Business logo

Tech names president, CEO for Corporate Research Center

Brett Malone created his first company in the business research park

Tech names VP of campus planning, infrastructure, facilities

Christopher H. Kiwus has been with the university since 2014

A rendering of Virginia Tech’s Data and Decision Sciences building Rendering courtesy Virginia Tech

Va. Tech complex to house biz programs

Trending

$100M donor gift to launch U.Va. biotech institute

Dollar Tree CEO resigning; former Dollar General CEO to replace him

Amazon Web Services to invest $35B in Va. data center campuses

Report: Capital One cuts 1,100 jobs

Rivers Casino Portsmouth opens to big crowds

Sponsored Stories

In the New Year, Aim for Better Cybersecurity

4 innovative ways to create capacity

WHERE IS THE SUPPLY CHAIN WHEN YOU NEED IT?

P.A.I.N.T. Your Financial Mountain

5 Benefits of Treasury Management Services from Atlantic Union Bank

Blazing trails in the digital landscape

Advertisement

Advertisement

Trending

$100M donor gift to launch U.Va. biotech institute

Dollar Tree CEO resigning; former Dollar General CEO to replace him

Amazon Web Services to invest $35B in Va. data center campuses

Report: Capital One cuts 1,100 jobs

Rivers Casino Portsmouth opens to big crowds

Sponsored Stories

In the New Year, Aim for Better Cybersecurity

4 innovative ways to create capacity

WHERE IS THE SUPPLY CHAIN WHEN YOU NEED IT?

P.A.I.N.T. Your Financial Mountain

5 Benefits of Treasury Management Services from Atlantic Union Bank

Blazing trails in the digital landscape

Get Virginia Business directly on your tablet or in your mailbox!

Subscribe to Virginia Business

Advertisement

Advertisement

Footer Primary Menu

  • virginiabusiness.com
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Footer Secondary Menu

  • Industries
  • Regions
  • Reports
  • Company News
  • Events

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Sign Up

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram Get Our App

Privacy Policy Cookie Policy

Footer Utility Menu

Copyright © 2023 Virginia Business. All rights reserved.

Site Maintained by TechArk