Williamsburg, KY – In February 2022, the University of the Cumberlands athletic department became the first NAIA school to take advantage of Opendorse full NIL offering and last week representative from Opendorse came to campus to meet with UC student-athletes, coaches, Sports Information staff and UC corporate sponsors.

Opendorse Director of NIL Education, Bri Cassidy and Opendorse Account Manager, Katie Wilkins visited Thursday and Friday and held individual sessions over the two days discussing all things Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) with each group learning about personal branding, NIL education and compliance, and ways that student-athletes are able to pursue NIL deals.

"We felt like it was important to get a head start in this new NIL landscape at the NAIA level," said Athletic Director Chris Kraftick.  "We also knew the importance of having Opendorse meet with our administration, coaches, and student-athletes face-to-face to learn more about Opendorse as a company and to have a better understanding of NIL. Opendorse has been a tremendous partner and we're excited about the opportunities our student-athletes have to pursue compliant NIL deals."

In July 2022, UC Athletics launched the University of the Cumberlands Opendorse Marketplace, which assists UC student-athletes in their NIL opportunities. The UC-branded NIL Marketplace allows companies, corporate sponsors, fans, and vendors access to browse UC student-athlete profiles who are interested in pursuing NIL deals. The Marketplace also allows every student-athlete the autonomy to negotiate their business inquiries individually.

Sponsors can view the UC Opendorse Marketplace here.  So far this year Patriots student-athletes have accumulated 50 NIL deals. 
 

Opendorse monitors the entire lifecycle of the NIL process, individual deals and student-athletes' social media accounts to ensure compliance within NAIA NIL regulations.

Founded in 2012 and based out of Lincoln, Nebraska, Opendorse has partnered with players across several professional sports leagues, as well as NCAA Division I schools to aide student-athletes with their ability to market and generate NIL deals.

For the latest and most up-to-date information on University of the Cumberlands Athletics. Please visit www.cumberlandspatriots.com. Follow us on Twitter- @UC_Patriots and @UCPatsGameday, Instagram- @UCPatriots, TikTok- @ucpatriots, Youtube- Cumberlands Patriots, and Facebook by searching University of the Cumberlands Athletics.