Michigan Makes Significant NIL Announcement

The University of Michigan is taking a big step toward connecting student-athletes with business opportunities.

The University of Michigan made a significant move in the world of NIL on Wednesday, announcing its VICTORS Local Exchange program. The program is designed to connect athletes with registered businesses or individuals interested in connecting with student athletes at the University of Michigan. 

You can read the full release from U-M below:

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Through its partnership with INFLCR, the University of Michigan today (Feb. 9) has opened its VICTORS Local Exchange program to the public to expand its ongoing Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) program for student-athletes.

The first NCAA school to provide a uniform jersey licensing program for its student-athletes, the University of Michigan has leveraged numerous business relationships into innovative partnerships and educational opportunities since NIL went into effect in July 2021. Now, additional businesses can apply for opportunities to partner with U-M's student-athletes to reach global audiences through a streamlined process on the VICTORS Local Exchange.

The VICTORS Local Exchange is a student-athlete NIL business registry, custom-designed for businesses, donors, alumni and other interested NIL dollars wishing to connect specifically with student-athletes at the University of Michigan. Registered companies can search, filter and initiate conversations with your student-athletes to discuss an NIL deal. Once the NIL deal between a registered business and student-athlete(s) is completed, the business will use the VICTORS Exchange to create a transaction that directly pays the student-athlete (without any transaction fee) and automate a disclosure to the INFLCR Verified Compliance Ledger.

"We are thrilled to partner with INFLCR as part of our comprehensive and unique Name, Image and Likeness program here at the University of Michigan," said Kurt Svoboda, Associate Athletic Director and department spokesperson. "Our student-athletes have already engaged with a wide array of partnership opportunities in the first six months of NIL, and this addition to our program will more easily allow us to onboard additional businesses."

"The VICTORS Local Exchange ties together the University of Michigan's entire NIL strategy in one system," said Jim Cavale, Founder and President of INFLCR. "We're beyond excited to partner with Michigan and help empower their student-athletes with our core technology to help them build their brands as well as our NIL solutions to help them capitalize on those efforts."

Michigan's VICTORS program expands on existing U-M student-athlete programming in academic and career success, health and welfare, education, leadership development, Diversity Equity and Inclusion, and personal branding programs hosted by institutional experts, including professors at the Ross Business School as well as other educators and business leaders from what is the nation's largest living alumni network.

The INFLCR platform brings expertise in specific areas while working closely with U-M's internal team of experts to provide student-athlete resources in education, NIL marketplace exchange access, infrastructure, agreement disclosure, compliance, content sharing, and personal branding.

Components of the Michigan VICTORS Program

Education & Personal Branding
• Name, Image and Likeness Education and Updates
• Contract Law Basics
• Agent and Representative Education
• Personal Finance and Tax Law
• Investing and Resource Management
• Business Formation
• Social Media and Personal Marketing Education
• Data Analytics
• Branding Strategies

NIL Marketplace Access
• Ongoing Information on Marketplace Opportunities for Student-Athletes

Infrastructure
• Comprehensive Digital Systems for all aspects of NIL

Agreement Disclosure & Compliance
• Manage Disclosures and Compliance Regulations

Content Sharing
• Access to U-M's vast photo and video libraries

For Questions and Inquiries
• Kurt Svoboda, Associate Athletic Director, External Communications and Public Relations