IMG preparing athletes through NIL, revenue-sharing schooling

Navigating the world of name, image and likeness isn’t an easy one, especially for those that are still in high school. IMG Academy is becoming the trendsetters when it comes to educating those in high school about the world of NIL revenue-sharing.

A report by USA Today’s Jon Santucci and Nick Wilson details that the Ascenders are far ahead of other high school institutions around the country, as they have already begin to teach its student-athletes about the impacts of direct compensation through the NIL revenue-sharing era.

July 1st is an important date because that’s when universities around the country will be able to begin sharing up to $20.5-million with its respective student-athletes. The ability to share their revenue is a result of a settlement from June’s House v. NCAA case. Before, student athletes were able to receive compensation based on negotiating on their name, image, likeness through marketing deals.

Now with the new groundbreaking change in college sports, student athletes can accept direct payments from universities and high schoolers are searching for any bit of guidance along the way.

This is where the Ascenders have been a step ahead of everyone else.

“This moment in time for someone being at IMG Academy is exciting,” IMG Academy’s Director of Football Kyle Brey said in the report. “It’s not intimidating. This is a chance for us to flex a muscle that makes us different.

“We are the only high school on the planet that has the resources to be as far ahead of these conversations as we are. And when the landscape changes is when our resources really get challenged. And that’s when we can step up.”

It has been a year in the making behind the scenes for the Ascenders, as they’ve been preparing for this monumental moment with the passage to revenue-sharing beginning this July. Though schools have started looking into options on how to teach their athletes about the ins and outs of revenue-sharing, the athletic juggernaut has been steadily laying the foundation and is fully ready for it.

IMG Academy’s Vice President Brian Nash said in the report that he’d been speaking with colleges regarding revenue-sharing and Ascenders have brought in law firms like Advance NIL, whom helps players in how to attain getting compensation, and Merrill, who helps with what to exactly do with their earnings.

“Our focus became on, OK, how do we educate them on the NIL space?” Nash said in the report. “How do we educate them on brand building? How do we educate them? So that’s where our relationship with Advance NIL came into place.” 

With the proper planning and vast resources that IMG has put into educating its student-athletes on the world of NIL revenue-sharing and how to earn, save the monies that’s coming in, it’s another level that the Ascenders take ahead of everyone else in preparing its players for the new age college environment.

“To me, the kids were excited for them to come to campus because they knew that they were getting something that kids at other schools weren’t getting,” Nash said about Advance NIL and Merrill via the report.

“If you don’t bring these people to campus and you don’t share the messaging with the kids, they’re definitely behind the eight-ball.”