Thomas Thomas Jr. is the co-founder and CEO of Basepath, whose software is used by student athletes, collectives, and universities to automate name, image, and likeness operations. Thomas joins the show to discuss: How Basepath started, the work they currently do, and how they work with collectives The first steps they take when onboarding a collective and its athletes The ways they help partner with universities to bring clarity to the financial complexities of student athletes How Basepath’s services differ between for-profit collectives and nonprofit collectives The NIL Collectives Consortium - what it is, who it’s for, and how it has benefited collectives . . . and much more! For more information about Basepath, visit basepath.co.You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

In this episode, I’m joined by Ksenia Maiorova and Amy Maldonado. Ksenia and Amy are very accomplished immigration attorneys who work with international athletes seeking to take advantage of NIL. They've been able to secure O-1 visas for several athletes and are sharing with us both their successes and the challenges.Topics we covered include:The limitations on a student visa and how it complicates an international student’s NIL possibilitiesThe types of visas that are available to international student athletes beyond student visas, including O-1 VisasWhen a student athlete might consider pursuing an O-1 visaWhy some sports are easier than others for getting other types of visasPotential passive income opportunities for international student athletesCompleting NIL activities out of the countryThe potential consequences of failing to adhere to visa requirements/guidelinesKsenia Maiorova can be reached on Instagram at @sportsvisalawyer.Amy Maldonado can be reached on her website at amaldonadolaw.com. You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

This episode, I am joined again by Wesley Haynes, President and Founder of The Brandr Group. If you missed the first episode from last year, it's available here.The Brandr Group remains one of the leaders of the group licensing sector of NIL, with more than 70 schools signed to group rights partnerships. In this ever-changing NIL scene, Wesley gives updates on: The Brandr Group’s growing list of partners and licensees A breakdown of group licensing categories and trends and how these have changed over time How royalty rates are determined for jerseys and other merchandise Potential relationships between NIL collectives and group licensing Future opportunities within the group licensing sector How universities and their athletic departments unite to embrace group licensing and the benefits for both the university and the student athletes Check out some of the latest news on Business of College Sports involving The BrandR Group:New NIL Deal Provides Flights for the Families of Student AthletesThe Brandr Group and AJS Collective Partner to Create NIL Opportunities for Female AthletesMore Player Apparel and Jerseys Coming Thanks to The BrandR Group Partnering with FollettSubscription Box for UNC Tarheel Fans Latest Creative NIL IdeaYou can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

This episode, I'm joined by Jordan Acker, the Immediate Past Chair of the Board of Regents at the University of Michigan and a partner at Goodman Acker in Detroit.A lifelong sports fan, Jordan was an early advocate of allowing student athletes to monetize their name, image and likeness. We chatted about the role of the Board of Regents relative to athletics issues and opportunities and where he seems college athletics heading from here.Some of the things we discuss include:The process of being elected to the University of Michigan Board of RegentsThe benefits of having younger RegentsThe impact a successful athletics program can have on the universityWhen the Board of Regents should defer to the athletic director or president on decisionsHow the Board of Regents participates in processes and decisions regarding the Big TenThe biggest developments he sees coming in college athleticsHow the Board of Regents at Michigan prepared for NILHis thoughts on how Michigan has approached NILIssues facing college athletics such as athletes becoming employees and revenue sharing...and more!You can follow Jordan on Twitter. You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

I'm joined this episode by Chris Giles, co-founder and CEO of FanRally, a platform that replaces traditional season tickets with a tech-enabled subscription service.  Members pay a monthly subscription fee instead of paying for tickets and can reserve seats directly on their phones, finding games that work best for their schedules.FanRally is aimed at modern consumers, including younger fans, who are comfortable with subscription services. Also, the seat reservations can't be resold, so it helps teams identify the fans attending games and to build more direct relationships with them.The company was founded in 2020 after Chris had served as COO of the Oakland A's and VP of Sales & Strategy for the San Francisco 49ers.  Backed by Capital One, it has already partnered with more than 20 teams across the NCAA, NBA, MLB, MiLB and NHL.In the episode, we discussed:How university partners have used FanRallyHow FanRally can replace season tickets in a way that benefits both fans and the athletic departmentIntegrating an existing point-based system into FanRallyHow FanRally allows athletic departments to reclaim revenue currently going to third-party resellersThe data available to departments using FanRallyWays professional sports teams are doing ticketing better than college athleticsUsing FanRally to increase student attendance at gamesHow sponsors can benefit from FanRallyHow FanRally increases a team's yield from a revenue perspective on premium seatsYou can follow FanRally on Twitter and LinkedIn.You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

We're joined this episode by Marty Ludwig, Director of Trademarks and Licensing at University of Cincinnati, where he is responsible for managing all internal and external relationships regarding the commercial use of the university’s brand (including its name, identifying marks, and still and moving images) to protect and promote the goodwill and reputation of the university, ensure the university receives appropriate value, and to actively enforcing the university’s rights to prevent the unauthorized use of its brand.In this episode, we discussed:How licensing is typically divided between University operations and the athletic departmentHow university and athletic administrators work with sponsors that want to use marks from both sidesThe biggest issues facing licensing administrators todayHow university and athletic administrators can collaborate better How Cincinnati is handling requests from athletes who want to use school marksExamples of current sponsor campaigns that involve student athletesMarty's thoughts from a licensing perspective on NCAA President Emmert's idea on compensating athletes as university ambassadorsHow group licensing is working so far for student athletes and universities, including examples from CincinnatiMarty's career path to working in university licensingTrends in licensing to watchMarty is a member of the University's Brand Review Committee, Communicator's Cabinet, Marketing Advisory Committee, International Working Group, and Chair of the Institutional Sponsorship Committee. An active member of higher education trade groups, Marty was elected to serve as the first President on the Board of Directors for the University Partnerships Community of Practice (UPCoP) and is also an active member and Past President of the International Collegiate Licensing Association (ICLA). Under Marty’s leadership the Cincinnati licensing program has been recognized as one of the top licensing programs in the nation including recognition as the 2021 Institutional Marketing Program of the year by the Collegiate Licensing Company, and the 2016 Licensing Program of the year by ICLA.  Marty is frequently asked to consult, contribute articles, and give presentations on various topics related to branding, contract and relationship management, licensing, marketing, strategic planning, and trademarks. You can follow Marty on Twitter.You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

This episode I'm joined by industry veteran Steve Hank, currently an Executive Vice President at Affinaquest, to talk about how athletic departments can leverage the data they already have to increase fan engagement and revenue for the department. We discuss:The main revenue struggles he sees over and over again in college athleticsHow pro teams have done a better job creating a personal connection with fansOvercoming silos in athletics and higher educationHow to collaborate better with the universityThe opportunities and challenges conference realignment brings for engaging with fansEngaging fans who might consider staying home or out at the tailgate instead of going to the gameLeveraging data to give fans a better experience while also making more moneyHow NIL might play a role in the future of fan engagementHank also shared about his career journey in college athletics. In his current position, Hank oversees the collegiate athletics market at Affinaquest and strategies for clients with a focus on business intelligence, fan engagement, revenue outcomes.Prior to joining Affinaquest, Hank worked as the Chief Revenue Officer at the University of Texas at Austin where he led the sales, marketing, and revenue operations of the nation’s largest collegiate athletic department.  Prior to Texas, Hank was with at Arizona State University for twelve years, where he led the revenue generating areas of Sun Devil Athletics, including marketing, ticket sales and operations, branding, licensing, contract negotiation, and sponsorship relations. He also led the rebranding of Sun Devil Athletics culminating with the launch of the Pitchfork logo in April 2012.You can follow Affinaquest on social media: YouTube | Twitter | LinkedInYou can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

On Friday, September 9th, I was joined on campus at the University of Florida by NCAA President Mark Emmert. Special thanks to the UF Institute for Coaching Excellence for hosting this, which was an interview for both of the NIL courses I teach at UF in the Sports Management and PR departments. Students and athletes alike were invited, and I appeared in my capacity as a professor. Although this was not a media interview, the NCAA has granted me permission to share it.In our nearly 90 minutes together, we discussed:How Year 1 of NIL played outBiggest challenges ahead for NILWhether Congress will pass a bill to regulate NILThe debate over student athletes becoming employeesCompensating student athletes as ambassadors of universitiesThe challenges of student athletes unionizingWhere NIL goes from hereThere were so many great nuggets in this conversation, but especially the concept of student athletes as brand ambassadors, which comes up several times throughout the interview.You can read a summary of the parts of this discussion that interested me the most on Business of College Sports.You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

I'm joined this episode by Rob Seiger, a partner in Archer & Greiner P.C.’s Sports Law Group, who has joined us once before to talk about issues international student athletes have been trying to navigate in order to take advantage of the NCAA's new name, image and likeness rules.   Rob represents college and university athletic departments in immigration and related compliance issues for their foreign athletes. If you didn't hear our first episode, listen to it here. In this episode, we're taking a look at a few specific instances where international student athletes have attempted to take advantage of NIL without violating the restrictions of their student visas. Are these situations good examples of how international student athletes can take advantage of NIL opportunities? Or, will we see the government make an example out of them for violating visa laws?This is an important topic that still has more questions than answers, unfortunately.You can follow Archer & Greiner on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

Former UGA quarterback Aaron Murray joins the podcast to chat about his new venture, The Players' Lounge. This NFT community was built by lettermen to empower relationships within the collegiate sports community through connecting current and former athletes with their respective fan bases while providing opportunities for student-athletes to monetize their individual brands.Aaron joined the podcast back in January to talk with us ahead of their first NFT launch. That launch ended up generating $305,000 for the student athletes involved, a total of $28,000 each. Now Aaron is back to tell us how they've expanded their concept beyond NFTs and taken it beyond UGA to other schools.We discuss:How The Players' Lounge got startedThe ways in which college athletes are engaging more with fansHow NFT drops are translating to in-person eventsTheir relationship with the UGA athletic departmentThe pursuit of licensing agreementsExpanding the model to additional universitiesBig picture goals for the futureYou can follow The Players' Lounge on social media: Twitter | Instagram | FacebookAre you a collective or thinking about starting one? Check out the new NIL Collectives Insider!You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

In this episode, I'm joined by Gary Veron, Associate Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Experience at BYU. BYU has been very proactive in its approach to name, image and likeness, so I invited Gary on to discuss what's going on in Provo. We dive into:How Gary's position morphed from compliance to an NIL focusWhy BYU took a more proactive approach toward NIL right off the batThe overwhelming response from Provo and alum to NILWhy BYU has seen so many team-wide and group NIL dealsHow the story of the BYU athlete is differentThe course the athletic department created around NILThe Shark Tank-style competition they hosted for student athletesWhat student athletes have said they want more education onThe role public speaking has played in NILHow collectives are impacting NIL and recruitingThe letter of inquiry they received from the NCAA'You can connect with Gary on LinkedIn or Twitter.Are you a collective or thinking about starting one? Check out the new NIL Collectives Insider!You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

In this episode, I'm joined by Eddie Rojas, the founder of the Gator Collective. Eddie was a former baseball player at the University of Florida and was one of the first to start an NIL collective to support student athletes in their name, image and likeness endeavors.The Gator Collective's success is marked by it's more than 2,000 members and $500,000 in annualized revenue, in addition to numerous one-time gifts. It was also the first collective to sponsor the athletic department it supports, which has allowed it access other collectives are missing.In this episode, we discuss:The idea behind the Gator Collective and how its model worksThe in-person events and activations the Gator Collective has stagedHow they've mobilized Gator NationWhat the formal sponsorship arrangement looks like with Florida's athletic department and how it benefits both partiesHow the Gator Collective built the relationship with the athletic departmentBig upcoming goals for the Gator CollectiveYou can follow the Gator Collective on Twitter and Facebook. Are you a collective or thinking about starting one? Check out the new NIL Collectives Insider!You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

There is so much creativity and innovation happening in the NIL space right now, and Oklahoma State's The Brand Squad is a terrific example. If you aren't on a campus, you might not realize the level of interest non-athlete students have in being part of NIL. I've heard from law students, accounting students, PR students and all sorts of other students on campus who are trying to help their student athlete friends or siblings.Well, at Oklahoma State, they've found a creative way to allow their marketing students to get hands-on experience in a way that benefits their student athletes. Today, I have Dr. Maribeth Kuzmeski on the podcast to tell us all about The Brand Squad she created in Stillwater. Through this innovative program, marketing students are getting certified to work with student athletes who opt in to get additional help with personal branding, working with brands and more.We chat about:How the The Brand Squad was formedThe training The Brand Squad goes throughThe ways The Brand Squad is working with student athletesHow other schools could implement this ideaHer new NIL textbook and coursewareDr. Maribeth Kuzmeski is a professor in the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University. She teaches marketing including Personal Branding: Name Image & Likeness. Maribeth is also the President of Red Zone Marketing, an award-winning marketing consulting firm with clients throughout the United States. Maribeth started The Brand Squad at Oklahoma State, a select group of business students who have been trained and certified to assist student athletes with their NIL efforts. She also has a unique perspective and understanding of student athletes as her son played D1 hockey, nephew just signed to play football at Wisconsin, and she has nieces playing D1 volleyball and soccer. Maribeth has a bachelor’s degree from the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, an MBA from The George Washington University, and a PhD in Business Administration from Oklahoma State University. Here links to some of the things we mentioned in the episode:Textbook and Courseware: https://www.stukent.com/higher-ed/name-image-likeness/The Brand Squad: www.BrandSquad-OSU.comMaribeth's marketing agency: www.RedZoneAthletes.comConnect with Maribeth: https://linktr.ee/mbkuzmeskiYou can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

I'm joined this week by Porter Grieve, CEO of Mercury, a white-label NFT platform that focuses on helping universities and sports teams to create one-of-a-kind digital fan experiences.Mercury recently partnered with Kansas Athletics (read my piece on the deal) to create a new NFT platform. What I thought made this deal really interesting was how it was being combined with an NIL deal for the Kansas men’s basketball team.The Kansas men’s basketball team will have a personalized NFT platform called Rock Chalk where fans will be able to buy, sell and trade Jayhawk collectibles. The first NFT drop is available on February 19.Porter joined me to chat about:How the deal with Kansas came to beNew revenue possibilities with NFTsHow athletic departments can work with their student athletes on NFTs and allow them to benefit financially thanks to the new name, image and likeness rulesThe benefits of creating a community within your NFT platformHow much time and effort it takes an athletic department to create an NFT platform like the one at KansasThe benefits of pairing in-person experiences, tickets, products and more with NFTs Creative ideas for using NFTs to drive fan engagementAnd so much more!Previously, Porter co-founded Trace Innovations, a biosecurity and contact tracing software company he started in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, which delivered Bluetooth- based health and safety technology solutions to private middle and secondary schools and small businesses nationwide. Prior to that, he founded Sage Wellness (acquired by Bearn), a holistic wellness app and engine that provided customized recommendations based on data ingested from fitness apps and wearables.Porter also was Special Projects and Digital Development Manager for Italian soccer club AS Roma, actively shaping club and brand-wide strategy across digital media, communications, and PR, as well as managing all technology partnerships and third-party integrations for the digital team. Porter graduated from Washington and Lee with degrees in Economics and Philosophy.Porter: Twitter Mercury: TwitterYou can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

This week, I'm joined by Jason Belzer, CEO and co-founder of Student Athlete NIL, and Kimberly Beaudin, President and CEO of the College Football Hall of Fame, to talk about the inaugural NIL Summit being held June 13-15, 2022 in Atlanta at the HOF. The NIL Summit is an immersive multi-day professional development experience and gathering place for college sports’ most important stakeholder to share cutting-edge ideas, discover new interests, and learn how to maximize NIL opportunities to build their brands and amplify their voices.Jason and Kimberly join me to discuss:The vision for the NIL SummitThe NIL AwardsHow schools can help their student athletes grow through participation in the NIL SummitThe tracks available for student athletes to learn from industry leadersHow NIL fits into the College Football Hall of Fame's missionand so much more!Jason Belzer: Twitter | LinkedInKimberly Beaudin: Twitter | LinkedInYou can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

For this episode, I'm joined by David Kaplan of The Hockey Guys,  a group of 10 NCAA hockey players who got their start on TikTok. The Hockey Guys have grown their reach to over 1.4 million followers and subscribers across multiple social media platforms.I recently had David, along with two other members of The Hockey Guys, on my Game Face podcast, and we touched on a few things that warranted a deeper dive. In this episode we touch on:How they plan and create content as a groupHow their venture has evolved from a social media account into a thriving businessThe hands-on entrepreneurial experience the group is gettingHow they've tackled things like pricing and other negotiationsThe challenge of having international student athletes in the group and the solution they've foundThe opportunities for DIII student athletesHow they found the right advisors and resourcesThe reaction from their coaches, administrators and teammatesWhat happens to The Hockey Guys after graduation...and so much more! David serves as the CFO and Head of Consulting for THG Media, Inc. Since NIL legislation was passed, and with a background in Accounting and Finance, the majority of his work has happened behind the camera. David has been an integral part in corporate structuring as well as maximizing the revenue potential for The Hockey Guys. He plans on pursuing his CPA and was a former intern at a Big 4 Accounting Firm with an offer to rejoin the firm upon graduation.You can follow The Hockey Guys on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and check out their podcast, No Bad Days.You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

Former UGA football players Ty Frix, Keith Marshall and Aaron Murray, along with Ty’s brother Trent Frix, recently created The Players’ Lounge, a digital collaborative space for college fanbases, with the University of Georgia as its initial focus. In addition to using a Discord channel to connect fans, the group will launch an NFT collection called DGD Mafia on Sunday, January 9 to benefit current UGA football players.Those who purchase the NFTs will also gain access to exclusive content and experiences, both within The Players’ Lounge and also in physical locations. Fifty percent of all profits will go to current UGA football players who will leverage their name, image and likeness to help promote the NFT launch.I recently sat down to speak with Ty Frix and Murray about this creative new approach that leverages the platform of former UGA players to benefit current student athletes. In this podcast, you can eavesdrop on our conversation about their plans and why they felt compelled to create something that benefits current student athletes after their own experience as players.We also discussed how this model could be duplicated for other schools and fanbases, which I think makes it an intriguing listen for all college athletic admins and fans.You can join The Players' Lounge community here and follow them on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

This episode, I'm joined by Wesley Haynes, President and Founder of The Brandr Group. His company has been on the leading edge when it comes to group licensing in the NIL era, signing nearly 20 schools to deals that allow their student athletes access to group licensing opportunities.The Brandr Group currently has agreements with the following schools: UNC, Ohio State, Texas, Alabama, App State, Indiana, Michigan State, UF, NC State, Villanova, Nebraska, Maryland, Marquette, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Xavier, Purdue, and UGA.Haynes and I discussed:How TBG's background in pro sports is helping them navigate NILHis meetings with the NCAA about group licensingHow TBG's alumni programs opened the door for NIL work nowWhich student athletes are benefiting from group licensingWhat TBG's agreement with schools looks likeThe education is required to get student athletes on boardWhat group licensing with student athletes looks like for brandsThe results for schools and student athletes that are working with TBG alreadyPassive vs. active group rightsIn the podcast, we teased some results from Ohio State and UNC, which you can read more about here.You can follow TBG on Twitter or check out their website for more information.You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

In this episode, I'm joined by Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Commissioner Dr. Dennis E. Thomas to chat about the MEAC's new partnership with Syracuse University and how his conference is approaching name, image and likeness for its student athletes.Dr. Thomas is the third full-time commissioner of the conference and entered his 20th year this summer. He's retiring in December, but he's made some big moves for the conference ahead of his exit.In this episode, we discussed:His approach to NIL at the conference level for MEAC student athletesWhat he thinks makes MEAC, and other HBCU, student athletes uniquely marketableHow HBCUs will benefit from their student athletes landing NIL dealsHow the MEAC's partnership with Syracuse came to beWhat he hopes MEAC student athletes, staff and professors will get out of the partnership with SyracuseHow partnerships like this one and the SWAC's with the Pac-12 can drive changeYou can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

I'm joined on this episode by Trevor Bechtold, Director of Sports, Recreation + Entertainment at HOK. He's an architect who has worked on projects like the expansion to the Penn State University Lasch Building and Clemson University’s new Allen N. Reeves Football Complex.After hearing the news that Clemson is developing a new student athlete branding institute as part of their Poe Indoor Practice Facility renovation, I asked Trevor if other athletic departments are starting to think about how to adapt facilities to assist student athletes with their NIL activities. He gave a resounding "yes," so I asked him to come on the podcast and tells us more about how he thinks facilities will be impacted by student athletes' new NIL rights.In this episode, we chatted about:How athletic departments are starting to factor NIL into facilities planningThe types of spaces, tech, graphics and other features that can enhance NIL opportunities for student athletesWhat features seem to be most popular right now in these discussionsHow spaces might be adapted with recruiting in mindHow even departments with smaller budgets can take NIL into considerationYou can connect with Trevor on LinkedIn or by email.You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.