Virginia Tech, Campus Ink announce NIL merchandise partnership

Virginia Tech and Campus Ink have announced a new NIL partnership. The deal will allow student-athletes at Virginia Tech to use the school’s logo and trademarks in merchandise for NIL opportunities.

For the student-athletes who choose to participate, they will be able to create custom merchandise. That merchandise can include school logos. Products are going to be sold in Campus Ink’s NIL Store. The NIL store is an online marketplace for branded apparel.

Yet, participation by student-athletes is not mandatory. However, every student-athlete at Virginia Tech will now have access to this NIL opportunity if they want it. For those who do choose to participate, Campus Ink will handle the creative, product creation, design, marketing, fulfillment and customer service side of things.

“We are very pleased to provide another opportunity for Virginia Tech student-athletes to monetize their popularity with our fans,” Virginia Tech director of athletics Whit Babcock said in a press release. “This partnership with Campus Ink will offer one more way for Hokie Nation to support our athletes in a very tangible way.”

About Campus Ink

Furthermore, Campus Ink, a company backed by Mark Cuban, entered the NIL space in 2021. That’s when they launched the NIL Store. The NIL Store is an online marketplace with the goal of giving every student-athlete access to NIL deals. Through it, student-athletes at schools with Campus Ink partnerships can sell university-branded apparel and merchandise.

“Campus Ink is committed to providing a merchandising solution to all athletes in the NIL space, not just some,” said Steven Farag, CEO and co-founder of Campus Ink.

Campus Ink was founded at Illinois in 1947 and has been in operation ever since. In 2015, it moved its headquarters to Chicago, as it expanded its scope and scale.

Additionally, Virginia Tech isn’t the only school that Campus Ink has a partnership with. Among the others who it has recently announced new partnerships with are West Virginia and Indiana.