Division I school set to announce NIL deal for all scholarship athletes

As the Name, Image and Likeness era of college sports continues to evolve, there are more and more student-athletes earning income from advertisements and endorsements. While many athletes are signing NIL deals with companies and brands individually, there may soon be NIL benefits coming for all student-athletes that attend certain schools.

Grambling State University, a Division I athletics school that participates in the Southwestern Athletic Conference and at the FCS level in football, is set to announce a NIL deal for all of its scholarship student-athletes, according to ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel.

Thamel reports that every Grambling State scholarship athlete would receive annual income for their Name, Image and Likeness with the deal, which is being arranged with a pair of outside companies in Urban Edge Network and Athylt.

While Thamel says that the income amount for the student-athletes is “unclear right now,” he notes that the NIL deal should help out new head football coach Hue Jackson as he builds Grambling State’s program.

As Grambling State’s NIL deal for its scholarship student-athletes would be the first of its kind, the school would join Michigan State University as institutions that are providing NIL benefits to their athletes – as the Spartans announced back in September that they had received a donation of $32 million, which would be used to pay all football and basketball players a $500 stipend each month.

Michigan State’s NIL announcement noted that all players – including walk-ons – would benefit from the deal, and it was the first team-wide deal which pays all members of the football and men’s basketball team regardless of their position. There are 133 total athletes on both teams at Michigan State, meaning the deal totals $798,000. 

Michigan State’s $32 million donation came from former Spartans men’s basketball walk-on Mat Ishbia, who’s now the CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage.