With lax NIL oversight from the NCAA, a former non-Power 5 administrator has stepped up

When San Diego State NIL coordinator Michelle Meyer took inventory of the fast-evolving NIL space last May, she saw above-board startups looking for an industry foothold, less-scrupulous companies cropping up and an all-together confusing landscape that made distinguishing the good from the bad actors nearly impossible.

That prompted her to set out to create what is billed as a first-to-market NIL business verification standard. More than two years after she launched the NIL Network, offering a suite of resources for all stakeholders, Meyer has launched NIL Verified Network. A three-tiered membership network for ethical, transparent and collaborative NIL-focused companies, it will provide businesses with increased brand exposure, marketing support, industry guidance and a well-vetted seal of approval as an NIL company that stakeholders can trust. 

In a space so chaotic that it rightly has earned a “Wild West” moniker, the need for a business verifying network is obvious and the value for everyone from school administrators to athletes is substantial. Meyer believes in it so much that she left her San Diego State position in January to dedicate herself fulltime to all her NIL endeavors. That begs the question: Why is one former West Coast administrator – at a non-Power 5 school, no less – taking this on rather than the NCAA?

“I feel right now – and I felt this for the last couple years even – that the NCAA is so deeply kind of backed into a corner,” Meyer told On3. “They are frozen. It seems like they are not really that willing to launch any kind of new initiatives just because of the fear of lawsuits on the other side, and all the antitrust issues.”

And so it falls to Meyer, who also is tapping into the expertise of Patrick Stubblefield, a former director of compliance at the University of Oklahoma and current partner at law firm Freeman Lovell. A company’s verification process begins with the business completing an acknowledgement form. During the vetting process, NIL Verified collects information about a company’s registration, business practices and compliance with NIL state laws and NCAA interim policies. 

There are three membership tiers: gold ($3,800 annually), silver ($2,600) and blue ($1,350). Depending on membership level, companies receive a range of benefits, including marketing support, meetings with Meyer and “State of NIL” monthly webinars. 

To date, there are eight verified companies, with two more announcements expected soon. There are three gold members: Hawker Family Sports & Entertainment, Nocap Sports and NextFan; three silver members: CleanKonnect, FanWord and Frieser Legal; and two blue members: Campus Ink and Vantage Sports. 

Chris Aumueller, CEO of FanWord, told On3 that when Meyer first introduced him to the idea of the NIL Verified Network to help administrators and athletes cut through the noise, it was a no-brainer to apply.

“One of the biggest challenges in the NIL space is the relatively low barrier to entry,” said Aumueller, who oversees an athlete branding and storytelling company. “We hear it from our clients all the time – how they and their athletes are bombarded with messages from NIL companies every single day. I love that our industry triggers innovation, but not every company has the athletes’ best interest in mind.”

The verified network is aimed at amplifying and spotlighting above-board NIL companies. “A lot of the good service providers are getting kind of stiff-armed by athletes and administrators,” Meyer said, “because they can’t do any kind of vetting process and they can’t separate and differentiate who is good and who is not good. So a lot of times, they just choose not to do anything at all.”

In the coming months, Meyer plans to create an NIL Virtual Expo, a one-hour Zoom call in which athletes of a specific university will be introduced to up to 10 verified companies. The athletes then would take further steps to work with the companies. She also is building NIL program blueprints meant for schools that have yet to do much in the NIL space in terms of providing resources to help athletes interested in monetizing their brands. 

The gap between the schools that do the most to assist athletes with NIL educational support – she mentioned Ohio State and Oklahoma State as two – and those that do the least remains vast. In fact, nearly two years into the NIL era, Meyer said many schools’ websites have zero acknowledgment that NIL even exists.

“It is insane to me,” she said. “How are so many schools, typing into their search box on their website ‘NIL’ and ‘Name, Image and Likeness’ and nothing – nothing – comes up.”

Creating a safer landscape for athletes and administrators begins with a verified network that looks to amplify companies with sound NIL business practices. In lieu of the NCAA taking on that important responsibility, Meyer is so determined to do it that she even quit her day job.