Navigating NIL: Utah Partners With INFLCR On Elevate U Exchange
Jun 13, 2022, 1:48 PM
(Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY- Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) has been a major buzz term in college athletics. In June of 2021, the NCAA passed that student athletes could start making money off their persona. Since then there has been a mad scramble for schools, their athletes, and the fans to understand the dos and don’ts of NIL. With three “guidelines” given by the NCAA, it has mostly been up to the people who want to be involved with NIL to interpret what exactly the “rules” are.
#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/3efFjM0Tsr
— Utah Athletics (@utahathletics) June 13, 2022
Some have taken a “better to ask for forgiveness than permission” approach. Others took their time to research state and federal law on the matter. Whether your school took a more guarded approach or went all in, one thing is for certain; NIL is here to stay and it only works if everyone understands it and buys in.
ᴇʟᴇᴠᴀᴛᴇ ᴜ ᴇxᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇ ɪꜱ ʜᴇʀᴇ 📈
Learn more about our one-stop NIL Marketplace that will power our student-athletes' NIL activity. https://t.co/TC52Z80lFH#GoUtes | @INFLCR pic.twitter.com/l4DGttrBDm
— Utah Athletics (@utahathletics) June 13, 2022
If you’ve missed our previous articles about NIL for the Utes you can check out this one about the LockerRoom Collective and this one about local business C.W. Urban. However, today’s focus is on Utah’s announcement about partnering with INFLCR on Elevate U Exchange.
Who Is INFLCR?
While INFLCR may not sound familiar to most, Teamworks may. Teamworks is a platform used through the sports world to help players, coaches, and administrators to keep track of schedules and communicate throughout the day among other things. INFLCR is a Teamwork product designed for athlete brand-building and NIL business management.
Read more about our expanded partnership with @INFLCR & our announcement of Elevate U Exchange#GoUtes https://t.co/pyZ9gEWvw5
— Utah Athletics (@utahathletics) June 13, 2022
Part of what has been hard about the emergence of NIL for student-athletes and school administrators alike is determining what fits within rules that are open to interpretation, while also making sure the athletes have the knowledge they need to make sound business decisions for themselves. INFLCR’s aim is to take away some of the question marks and provide education to those involved with NIL to make the safest and most compliant decisions possible.
INFLCR includes a feature (Local & Global Exchange) for sourced local and national businesses as well as fan collectives and individuals to be able to find and contact student-athletes or sports teams they are interested in doing an NIL deal with. INFLCR also has the ability to to facilitate automated NIL transaction compliance, payments, and tax reporting for both businesses and student-athletes to keep everyone on top of the paperwork necessary to be compliant with NCAA rules.
What Is Elevate U Exchange?
Elevate U Exchange has been a tool in the Utes’ pocket to help connect interested businesses, collectives, and individuals connect with student-athletes for NIL purposes. The partnership with INFLCR takes Elevate U Exchange to the next level with a more streamlined process for both the business/collective and the student-athlete while also providing necessary education along the way.
Are you a business that wants to get involved in NIL with our Student-Athletes?
Register for Elevate U Exchange now: https://t.co/p6fa7KH6fi#GoUtes | @INFLCR
— Utah Athletics (@utahathletics) June 13, 2022
INFLCR’s technology will allow a business, collective, or individual to register with Elevate U Exchange and have access to a database of Utah student-athletes that can be filtered to their desired interests.
The partnership between Elevate U Exchange and INFLCR will also provide businesses and student-athletes with an upgraded redesign of the Elevate U website, enhanced student-athlete bios, and more tools and training to better take advantage of NIL opportunities.