Louisville Athletes Taking Early Advantage of NIL

Today is the first day in which collegiate athletes can make money off of their name, image and likeness, and several Louisville athletes were quick to jump on board.

(Photo of Malik Cunningham: Winslow Townson - USA TODAY Sports)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A new era of collegiate athletics is now here. Starting today, Thursday, July 1, athletes across multiple states, including Kentucky, can begin to monetize off of their name, image and likeness (NIL).

The University of Louisville has long been preparing for this day, so it doesn't come across as a surprise that multiple Cardinals are among the first to begin announcing deals and endorsements in the first several hours of the NIL era.

Football quarterback Malik Cunningham, defensive tackle Dezmond Tell, and wide receiver Jordan Watkins, led the charge. Cunningham partnered with Dreamfield, an NIL company co-founded by fellow signal callers McKenzie Milton and D'Eriq King, and be booked for $300 per hour for an appearance.

Tell announced a deal with GoPuff, a food delivery service partnered with OpenDorse, another company who specializes in NIL optimization. Watkins not only said that he will be using OpenDorse to further maximize his brand, but Rivals also announced a future partnership with him.

Men's basketball guard El Ellis does not yet have an NIL deal, but he will soon. Proactive Sports Agency announced that they had signed Ellis "on all inquires in regards to his name, image, and likeness".

"As it relates to NIL, I’ll use a horse racing term - “they’re off”," Louisville AD Vince Tyra said in a tweet. "It was inevitable & @GoCards embraced the initiative in support our student athletes’ opportunities. The value of the our city and programs we’ve designed with the support of our campus experts will pay off now."

Last September, the University partnered with OpenDorse to create ELEVATE, a program designed to help student-athletes build their individual brands. ELEVATE provides student-athletes the opportunity to understand their NIL rights and receive hands-on assistance from experts to maximize their value while on campus.

Last week, Kentucky governor Andy Beshear signed an executive order that would allow student-athletes in the state of Kentucky to "receive fair compensation for the use of their name, image, likeness". On June 30, the NCAA adopted an interim NIL policy after efforts to get a federal bill passed by July 1 fell through.

Leading up to the start of NIL monetization, Louisville announced that they had "enacted multiple educational initiatives and resources", then later released guidelines for both student-athletes, boosters and fans

As this new age of collegiate athletics progresses, more Louisville athletes are sure to follow, and will likely be much more lucrative. In March, OpenDorse projected that women's basketball guard Hailey Van Lith could be worth nearly $1 million.

"Kentucky!! Thank you to all who fought hard for the passing of the Executive Order allowing student athletes to benefit from NIL," she tweeted Monday. "Although I am disappointed and saddened that the athletes before us, especially WOMEN athletes, were not awarded this right, this is our chance to break boundaries and pave the way for the future generation of female athletes next up. Time to elevate!"

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