STORRS, Conn. – UConn announced Monday that it has launched a number of new initiatives designed to give its athletes the benefit of image and likeness to their name.
Players will receive support from the school’s new “Championship Labs” at the Worth Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which will help students create personal branding plans and guide them to implement those plans with business training and other support.
UConn also said it would work with the so-called collective, UConn Boosters, which pool their resources to identify money-making opportunities for players.
The school is already working with Opendorse, a company that specializes in helping organizations and players navigate NIL rules and regulations. UConn said it would partner with its media-rights partner, Learfield, Opendorse to create a “branded marketplace” that would help connect athletes with the opportunity to use the UConn name.
UConn said Learfield is committed to hiring dedicated staff members to facilitate sales and deals for Northeast athletes.
“There are plenty of resources on campus that will help us navigate the zero landscape as we strive to provide our students-athletes with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed in this space,” said David Benedict, director of athletics.
The new law was partially made possible by state law enacted on July 1. This will allow athletes to use school names and logos in NIL deals, which were previously banned in Connecticut.
Benedict has hired Jason Butikoffer, a former athletic director from Southern Utah, to take on the new position as a liaison between students and Learfields, openers, the Worth Institute and collectives.
The athletics department said it also plans to work with their international student and scholarly services to help international athletes, many of whom are prohibited from making money through zero transactions under the terms of the student visa.