University of South Carolina embraces suspension of NIL law

Friday marked the first day of the 2022-23 fiscal year in South Carolina, which means the state’s legislation regarding NIL — Senate Bill 685 — is now suspended through the end of June 2023. South Carolina is one of three states whose NIL-related legislation changed on July 1, either because of the addition or suspension of a law.

Now, athletes in the state only have to follow the NCAA’s interim NIL policy and university policy.

“The Athletics Department can now help facilitate NIL deals for student-athletes, a space in which the law prohibited staff from operation in the initial year of NIL implementation,” South Carolina‘s athletic department said on its official website.

The official Twitter account for South Carolina’s NIL program said its three priorities for “NIL 2.0” are education, connection and facilitation. The latter is a new opportunity thanks to the suspension of the state law.

“Only designated staff members may be involved in your NIL Activities (designated staff members shall not include coaches),” the university’s NIL guidelines say.

Like lawmakers in other states in the SEC footprint, South Carolina legislators joined those in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee in amending, repealing or suspending laws related to NIL. Those decisions were made to ensure schools and athletes in the states aren’t at a competitive disadvantage.

South Carolina launches Gamecock Exchange for NIL

Earlier in the week, the athletic department announced the July 1 launch of the INFLCR-backed Gamecock Exchange. It will connect the university’s athletes with outside parties for NIL opportunities. INFLCR is a content and compliance software platform that has partnerships with numerous universities.

“A core group of businesses has already registered on the site,” a news release about the launch said.

The Gamecock Exchange will allow alumni, donors and representatives of businesses to search for, filter and contact athletes at South Carolina. Neither the university nor INFLCR will take any revenue from NIL activities through the Gamecock Exchange.

The athletic department’s website also updated its athletes’ bios online so that fans can easily find athletes’ social media accounts and connect with them for potential NIL opportunities.

The suspension of the state law could also help opportunities provided by Garnet Trust, an LLC owned by Brian Shoemaker, the founder and owner of GamecockCentral.com. The Garnet Trust helps create experiences between South Carolina athletes and fans.

There are more opportunities on the horizon for athletes and fans to connect, too.

“In another facilitation move, South Carolina Athletics is also working on a first-of-its-kind project that will allow Gamecock fans to directly invest in student-athletes in exchange for unique ways to show their passion for Gamecock Athletics,” the release said. “Expected to launch later this summer, the new program will provide financial benefit for student-athletes immediately and in the long-term, possibly beyond their college athletic careers.”

“The commitment to develop our student-athletes for life-long success is at the forefront of everything we do,” South Carolina Athletics Director Ray Tanner said in the release. “Policies and rules around NIL are changing constantly and our department has pledged to provide our student-athletes with enhanced NIL opportunities. With the recent changes in the state law, our staff has put processes in place to help match our student-athletes with our great Gamecock fan base and the business community to create lasting NIL partnerships.”