Sporting Kansas City launches NIL program with athletes at KU, K-State, Mizzou

Professional sports teams – such as the White Sox and Braves – have executed numerous NIL deals over the past two years. But most of the activity has been with MLB and NFL teams and minor league organizations. However, Sporting Kansas City’s new NIL initiative, involving five athletes with Kansas City ties, is one of the first in MLS.

SKC announced Wednesday its Sporting U NIL Program featuring NIL deals with student-athletes at Kansas, Kansas State and Missouri. Local collectives Every True Tiger Foundation, Mass St. Collective and Wildcat NIL facilitated the deals between the players and SKC.

The players involved in the deal:

• Missouri kicker Blake Craig from Liberty (Missouri) North
• K-State defender Jericho Frigon from Liberty High
• Missouri midfielder Keegan Good from Riverside (Missouri) Park Hill South
• Kansas midfielder Hallie Klanke from Lee’s Summit (Missouri) West
• Kansas running back Devin Neal from Lawrence (Kansas) High

In 2022, Charlotte FC had NIL partnerships with Clemson’s Megan Bornkamp and North Carolina’s Tori Hansen.

Sporting Kansas City program supports KC players

The Sporting U NIL initiative is designed to provide a platform for Sporting Kansas City to celebrate and interact with homegrown athletes on college campuses across the Midwest region who have excelled in their sports. The Sporting U NIL Athletes receive a financial stipend for social media engagement as well as tickets for Sporting KC home matches and merchandise from SportingStyle.

The club’s investment in the Sporting U NIL program also includes further value for student-athletes through assistance with strategic marketing and brand-building campaigns in addition to professional development resources, including mentorship and networking connections.

“Sporting KC is excited to offer student-athletes from multiple sports the opportunity to grow their brand and to support their pursuit of professional careers both on and off the field,” Aaron Borns, Sporting KC Vice President of Marketing, said in a news release.

“Sporting is proud to be the first professional team in Kansas City, and one of only a handful of major league sports organizations in the country, to offer NIL deals to student-athletes. We’re thrilled to welcome an inaugural class of Sporting U NIL Athletes. They are all incredible representatives for the KC region and who are all fans of our club and our sport.”

NIL program features players with KC soccer ties

Additionally, the program’s first class features athletes with deep soccer ties throughout the Kansas City community.

For example, Craig was a previous member of the Sporting Kansas City Academy. Frigon played club soccer with KC Athletics and led Liberty to a Class 4 soccer title in her freshman season. Good played for KC Legends and led Park Hill South to the 2021 sectional title. Klanke played club at Sporting Blue Valley and spent her first two seasons at North Carolina before transferring to KU.

Neal is a preseason All-Big 12 pick for the Jayhawks. He was an honorable mention all-league pick in 2022 after rushing for 1,090 yards and nine scores. Neal has been one of the most active players at KU in NIL thanks to his partnership with Mass St.

Interestingly, men’s college soccer players are ineligible to sign NIL agreements with Sporting Kansas City to remain in compliance with all conflict of interest protections in place for NCAA-sanctioned student-athletes.