On Monday, Fort Lewis Athletics announced its partnership with licensed vendor Influxer to provide Skyhawks student-athletes the opportunity to monetize their name, image and likeness (NIL) through selling their personalized merchandise.
FLC Director of Athletics Travis Whipple said over the last few years, the FLC Athletic Department did a departmental review and put together a strategic plan that included education on NIL and NIL opportunities for Skyhawks student-athletes.
“How are we getting them access to education and opportunities for them to benefit from NIL, but also to create long-term life skills,” Whipple said. “It's been a deep dive and a study into the right partners. One of our core values is innovation. But we didn't want to just jump at some way forward on the NIL landscape. We really wanted to be thoughtful, take our time and make sure we're aligning ourselves with great partners that can provide good opportunities for our student-athletes.”
Whipple said it was a win-win because it's a free opportunity for the athletics department and FLC student-athletes. It gets the Skyhawks branding and merchandising out there.
It’s branded gear for the student-athletes with their names, numbers and the Skyhawks logo on things like long-sleeve t-shirts, short-sleeve t-shirts, crewnecks, hoodies and even a gold pendant and chain.
FLC chose to partner with Influxer because of how Influxer prioritizes innovation and is in the NIL space for the right reasons, according to Whipple.
Whipple said each athlete’s NIL collection is like running their own business. Athletes from the FLC football team, men’s basketball team, men’s golf team, men’s soccer team, track and field team, cross-country team and women’s soccer team have created their merchandise store through Influxer.
“It's different than the power five landscape that some might read about,” Whipple said. “We've got student-athletes that are competing at a high level. They might also be working a job, they're going to school, and so they're trying to earn a little bit of extra money. That's important that we continue to find pathways forward for them. So we are exploring other things. I don't believe Influxer will be the only avenue for our student-athletes to get into NIL. We're actively pursuing other opportunities.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
