Colgate Athletics has announced the launch of the Colgate Athletics NIL Directory to further support student-athletes interested in pursuing opportunities related to their publicity rights (i.e. name, image, and likeness). Since the adoption of the NCAA's Interim NIL Policy in July 2021, Colgate Athletics has focused its efforts on education and support programming that enriches an already robust student-athlete experience. The goal has, and continues to be, full integration of these efforts into existing models of academic exploration, career development, and student-athlete development already offered at the University. 

In the inaugural year of implementation, this has been accomplished through a Patriot League-wide partnership with INFLCR and by strengthening relationships with campus partners like Colgate Career Services and Shaw Wellness Institute. In Fall 2021, Athletics published Colgate's NIL Policy and provided comprehensive education for Athletics staff and student-athletes on the regulatory aspects of this new policy. Now the department is focused on broadening the tools available to student-athletes and building their skills to successfully navigate NIL opportunities. The aim is to both benefit those student-athletes pursuing NIL activities during their time at Colgate, and to expand on personal and professional development programming to better prepare all student-athletes to achieve their post-graduate and professional goals once their sport participation comes to an end. 

Vice President and Director of Athletics, Nicki Moore said, "I am very pleased with what our team has accomplished thus far. In anticipation of NIL taking effect in July 2021, Toni Rogers led a cross-disciplinary and cross-campus team of colleagues that included coaches and administrators, along with staff from Career Services and Colgate's Thought into Action Program to develop our policy and plan for NIL activation. Some excellent foundational work is in place, and Colgate student-athletes are already leading the Patriot League in total value of transactions and average value of transactions. Colgate student-athletes are smart, and many aim to pursue careers in business or as entrepreneurs. I am glad we've been able to support their early NIL efforts, and look forward to how we will continue to advance their development through this program." 

Colgate's NIL Directory
Colgate's NIL Directory is a new opt-in feature of Colgate's NIL program to benefit both student-athletes and the community. This Directory, maintained by Colgate Athletics, is intended to provide a centralized location with information on how to connect with student-athletes directly to explore potential NIL opportunities. Through the directory, student-athletes are now able to more broadly publicize their social media platforms and in turn, open more channels to connect with interested entities and community members. 

The Colgate community is encouraged to carefully review the institution's NIL Policy and FAQs ahead of entering into any deals with Colgate student-athletes. 

Financial Literacy Series & Personal Branding 
During the spring of 2022, the department has collaborated with campus partners to provide foundational programming for student-athletes through a financial literacy series and personal branding workshop. These are offered as optional sessions, but can fulfill existing, annual student-athlete development requirements. 

The "Financial Literacy to Wellness" series, offered in partnership with Shaw Wellness Institute, is the first of its kind at Colgate and is offered to all students. This four-part series focuses on financial wellness, with each session building upon one another through the topics of budget and savings, debit and credit, investing, and taxes. Men's tennis student-athlete Mike Thomas '24 was able to participate in the first session and reflected,"I was initially attracted to the financial literacy series because I realized that this was the perfect opportunity to educate myself on the topic of money, which I went in knowing very little about. [The first] session helped me understand finance much more clearly, and I think that Meghan Kovac did a great job leading the seminar." 

Kovac, Assistant Athletics Director for Student-Athlete Development, has collaborated closely with BK Taylor, Director of Shaw Wellness Institute, who has led the efforts in planning this series. Kovac is joined by other campus staff, like Jason Shumaker (Director of Student Accounts), and Colgate alumni, in leading individual sessions. Taylor ultimately hopes to grow this series and build in even more specialized sessions, such as one targeting student-athletes and name, image, and likeness. 

The personal branding workshop will be hosted by Shae Labbe '19, a former women's ice hockey student-athlete who serves as Colgate's Associate Director of Creative Services and Multimedia, with support from Kovac. The workshop is intended to actively engage student-athletes as they better understand their own personal brand, while introducing social media best practices, recommended do's and don'ts, and strategies to more effectively engage with their audience. Student-athletes will be able to apply these concepts directly to their own social platforms, and use the INFLCR app to analyze their own account content, metrics, and engagement. 

INFLCR
Student-athletes have been utilizing INFLCR Verified over the past eight months to access content produced by the Athletics Department and to disclose NIL activities. Reported transactions represent participation across more than 12 men's and women's sports, with most activities relating to social media promotions and brand partnerships. 

The partnership with INFLCR also offers additional educational resources for student-athletes to explore through the Storyteller Playbook, in addition to access to an NIL marketplace through INLFCR Exchange. The Storyteller Playbook primarily focuses on brief educational videos from industry experts and professional athletes, touching on topics such as business basics, brand building, budgeting and taxes, and many others. The Exchange offers opportunities for student-athletes to directly monetize their NIL by partnering with companies collaborating with INFLCR - such as Obsesh, a sports marketplace platform that allows individuals to sell personalized training videos to consumers, or Vantage Sports, a platform that helps student-athletes host their own training sessions and pair them with interested participants in their region. Transactions completed through the Exchange platform also streamline and simplify the disclosure requirements of student-athletes, automatically reporting earnings in a compliant way. 

As Colgate Athletics looks ahead to the future of name, image and likeness, the importance of being responsive to the changing regulatory landscapes at all levels, while also responding to the needs and interests of Colgate's student-athlete population are priorities. 

Regarding the future of NIL, Moore said, "We are experiencing a period of rapid and significant change in Division I. Our commitment to understand and adapt to these changes is matched by our commitment to remain true to our values and to align our efforts with the expectations of a Colgate education. Where NIL can help us amplify our strengths, such as the passionate and successful network of Colgate alumni and supporters, we will seek to provide the education and infrastructure to do it the right way."