On July 1, 2021, the world of college athletics was reshaped and transformed with the introduction of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals. These deals allow athletes to monetize their personal brand, redefining the landscape of collegiate athletics.
Michigan State University is one of the many universities nationwide where athletes participate in NIL deals. In the fast-paced athletics environment, athletes must have support and resources to navigate this dynamic space.Â
In an interview with Darien Harris, Assistant Athletics Director and NIL Strategist with MSU Athletics, we see how MSU is guiding its athletes through these opportunities. Females are dominating and leading the way in the NIL landscape with remarkable success.Â
Background
Darien Harris is a lifelong Spartan. He started his journey here as a student-athlete, playing on the football team from 2011 to 2015. In 2020, Harris was hired at MSU and returned to the Lansing area as the Director of Player Engagement for football for three years. Then, in August 2023, he was asked to move to administration to help with the newly established NIL realm.Â
In his current position, Harris is all about helping and guiding over seven hundred student-athletes in all twenty-three varsity sports through the NIL opportunities by facilitating educational opportunities in financial literacy, social media strategy, content creation, brand building, etc., to enable athletes to capitalize on the opportunities offered to them.Â
Challenges in NIL
Although the NIL has created many exciting opportunities and amazing experiences for athletes, it also presents its own set of challenges. Harris explains that working with student-athletes is something that he is very passionate about, stating, “I want them to utilize this for opportunities I didn’t have as a student-athlete. And [it’s tough] when I see them maybe miss something or not take advantage quite like I hoped in a certain situation [because]Â you want things so bad for them.” Although some opportunities aren’t taken advantage of, Harris uses those as a learning opportunity to further empower student-athletes at MSU, highlighting that in this new space he “loves to live in the chaos and wouldn’t want it any other way.”
Elite Student Athlete Program
The Elite Student Athlete Program, which ran from January 2024 till the end of the spring semester, offered student-athletes a unique opportunity to partake in a semester-long brand development program. This program, open to all student-athletes, aimed to equip them with the necessary skills and knowledge to navigate the NIL landscape effectively. Despite the small number of participants, the program was a huge success, with some athletes “[raising] their social media following by 1500 percent [and] some increasing their following from seven hundred followers to fifteen thousand followers,” Harris stated about the program’s success. Harris is hopeful and thinks that “we’ll get more students moving forward… and turn it into a successful program,” and is hopeful to see how the program develops next year.Â
Mia Rogan’s Success
Mia Rogan, a current track and field student-athlete at MSU, is a prime example of an athlete taking advantage of the NIL strategy and development at MSU. As a freshman, she participated in the Elite Student Athlete program, and “she grew her following at the time in January from eight thousand followers… to now eighty thousand followers and growing,” Haris stated. Rogan was just a freshman last year, and we continue to see her engagement in the NIL space grow during her time at MSU.
MSUFCU Support for our Female Athletes
Michigan State University Federal Credit Union is a corporate partner within MSU’s athletic department. Harris states, “MSUFCU first got involved with NIL a couple of years ago, signing the entire women’s basketball team to an NIL deal,” and “they do an unbelievable job at investing in women’s sports.”
To expand this NIL partnership across the athletic department, MSUFCU created the “Women of Sparta,” which included adding two female athletes from each sport to their NIL deal. This program is a collaborative effort whose mission is to “...foster leadership, advocate for financial literacy, and promote personal growth among our athletes and in our community.” MSUFCU continues to be an active partner and supporter of the NIL space and the empowerment of female athletes.Â
Female Dominance in the NIL Space
From a pure NIL standpoint, females have illustrated their skill and initiative to excel at NIL opportunities. Although NIL is new to collegiate athletics, it is not new to sports. We see females dominate and build their personal brands at an astounding rate. Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers, JuJu Watkins, and Cameron Brink changed the basketball field, facilitating the increased following of women’s basketball. Simone Biles, Suni Lee, and Jordan Chiles excel at building and utilizing their personal and professional branding in the gymnastics arena. We now see that spill into college athletics. Harris underlines the exploding presence of women in the NIL space, “from a combined standpoint; our women are followed more on social media than our men.” Our female student-athletes also take the initiative in the resources provided to them; Harris restates that the Elite Student Program was eighty percent women, and his one-on-ones are ninety percent women, which shows the high percentage of athletes taking advantage of the resources they are given are females which is increasing their presence in the NIL atmosphere.Â
In the rapidly changing NIL space, MSU offers multiple resources, programs, and guidance to student-athletes to help them best utilize their name, image, and likeness to monetize their personal brand. Darien Harris supplies a wealth of insight into the NIL strategy through the lens of the student-athletes, helping athletes get, create, and build opportunities to help them complete their goals and strive for excellence during their time at MSU.