CU Buffs announce program for name, image and likeness
Colorado athletic director Rick George announced a program Monday to aid athletes for benefitting on their name, image and likeness.
The program is called "Buffs with a Brand" and will be open to current athletes in all 17 NCAA sports on campus on a voluntary basis.
Those who decide to participate in the program will get hands-on experience on how to build their own brand.
"‘Buffs with a Brand’ will be an extremely impactful program for all of our current and future student-athletes, George said in the release. “Building a personal brand, and developing the skills to be a successful entrepreneur will help our student-athletes capitalize and build on their time at CU and beyond."
This comes amid the NCAA rule that is expected to go into place for the 2021-22 school year allowing athletes to profit their name, image and likeness. It still has to be fully approved in January of 2021.
"“Buffs with a Brand” will provide this comprehensive program for student-athletes focusing on three key pillars: personal brand management, entrepreneurship and financial literacy," The release stated. "Programming will be created by industry professionals, academic units and the CU athletic departments, and will include workshops, videos, one-on-one meetings and mentor sessions. This programming will educate CU’s student-athletes to be provided with the tools and resources to enable them to capitalize on their name, image and likeness given the NCAA legislation that takes effect in January 2021."
At the current state of the provision, the school cannot be involved in deals together with the athletes. But they are allowed to advise them on what to do. This is CU getting ahead of the curve and trying to find the best way for their athletes to benefit.
One of the CU faculty that is helping the new program is Leeds School of Business is professor and faculty director of Entrepreneurial Initiatives Erick Mueller.
“Buffs with a Brand is going to blaze the trail and foster amazing entrepreneurial opportunities for our student-athletes,” Mueller said. “I’m thrilled to be a part of it in supporting our students to create great value in the world from their athletic careers and beyond.”
The game has been changed.
