Ohio State Reports Its Student-Athletes Have Made $2.98 Million Through NIL Deals

The Buckeyes have also developed a team to help connect student-athletes to additional opportunities.

According to a press release from the Ohio State athletic department, a total of 220 student-athletes have participated in a combined 608 name, imagine and likeness opportunities for a total compensation value of $2.98 million since July 1.

“All three figures rank No. 1 nationally, according to Opendorse, the cutting edge services company hired by Ohio State to help its student-athletes with education and resource opportunities to maximize their NIL earning potential,” the release states.

🌰 Dept. of Athletics creates "NIL Edge Team" & updates guidelines for student-athletes

ℹ️ varsity sports will have designated staff to work with NIL requests#GoBucks https://t.co/YzTOEMng7u

— Ohio State Buckeyes 🌰 (@OhioStAthletics) January 24, 2022

With the name, image and likeness landscape continuing to evolve, Ohio State announced it has also updated its guidelines to allow for the creation of an internal advisory team that will help connect student-athletes to additional opportunities.

Led by senior associate athletic director of sport administration and student-athlete development Carey Hoyt, the NIL Edge Team can work directly with brands and companies to assist student-athletes in their endeavors, something that was not allowed by the university’s original guidelines.

 “Our guidelines were initially created to be restrictive, but now that we have a better understanding of NIL, it’s clear that we can provide more assistance in connecting student-athletes with interested brands,” Hoyt said in a statement. “By allowing some OSU staff to interact with the brands and to educate and answer questions, we can eliminate hesitancy from brands, and donors, who were concerned about breaking rules.”

The Buckeyes were also initially concerned with educating student-athletes on how to protect and expand their brand when name, image and likeness legislation was passed. However, they’re now focused on helping them take advantage of the rules moving forward.

“We have watched national trends and we are learning from the emerging NIL collectives,” Hoyt said. “Every state and every institution has its own set of NIL rules or guidelines. Updating our NIL guidelines at this time is what we needed to do to stay competitive in this ultra-competitive landscape.”

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