Elon athletes turn their names into brands with help from Elon University NIL store

Elon University student-athletes can now be seen wearing their names not only on the field, but off. The name, image, likeness store empowers student athletes to represent their brand by creating merchandise, such as jerseys and sweatshirts, with $6 per shirt, $8 per crewneck, $10 per hoodie, and $12 per jersey going back to the student athlete. 

The most expensive accessory on the website is a jersey, for almost $110. 9.1% of jersey, 6.1% of shirt, 6.8% of crewneck and 6.5% of hoodie sales go back to the student, according to the rates given to student-athletes by the NIL Store. Elon University has recently partnered with the NIL store and has contracted with 86 out of the Elon 503 student-athletes. There are 44 men’s and 42 women’s customized items seen on the Elon NIL website. 

The NIL Store was launched by Campus Ink in 2021 following the NCAA’s policy change allowing college athletes to profit from their name, image, and likeness. Elon’s NIL Store launched on Feb. 12. and in the first two weeks after the store’s launch, 183 items were sold, generating over $10,600. Just over $1,500 went to the student-athletes contracted.

Elon’s NIL store currently showcases the men’s basketball team, but three of them — Nick Dorn, Matthew Van Komen and Deandre Smart — have entered the transfer portal. Senior Sam Sherry is also featured on the website but will graduate from Elon in May. 

Sean Ellenby, director of marketing and communications for the NIL store, said there are over 100 schools and 20,000 student-athletes partnered with the store. 

“We work very closely with school partners like Elon and athletes at those schools to help them have success in the NIL space when it comes to apparel. And the NIL is a lot of different things,” Ellenby said. “We always say that apparel is just one piece of that whole pie when it comes to an athlete’s NIL, and we like serving that piece of the pie.”

NIL agreements empower athletes to build their brands, gain business experience and establish professional connections that can benefit them beyond their playing careers, according to Ellenby. Ellenby said players should be able to make money and monetize their likeness, and this is where the store comes into play. 

“At its core, what we do with apparel is we believe this is what NIL was intended for — for an athlete to be able to sell their jersey, to sell their merchandise and make money off their likeness,” Ellenby said. “So we’ve always felt very confident in what we’re doing when it pertains to the landscape.”

The NIL store opening process begins with the NIL license and working with Elon’s licensing team to use Elon’s marks and logos on apparel. Ellenby said Elon’s athletic department and students are engaged in the partnership and have made strong sales. 

“I always say that it really doesn’t matter the size of the school, it’s how bought in the athletic department is. How much do they believe in what it can be and what it can do,” Ellenby said. “Elon’s had a lot of success because the athletic department bought into the process. So that’s been a lot of fun, working with Elon the last couple of months.” 

Players can either join Elon’s group licensing agreement with the NIL store or sign one-on-one with the NIL Store. To Ellenby, an important aspect of the store is that it not only includes star player positions like the quarterback or the starting point guard, but every player on a team has an opportunity to join. 

“We believe every athlete has a market, even if it’s just their family that wants to buy their stuff,” Ellenby said. 

The NIL store can also arrange customizable merchandise based on athletes who make better sales. Customizable merchandise can include nicknames or big plays. Merchandise is currently not shown on the Elon NIL store website. 

“We’re identifying athletes that we think, ‘Oh, this, this athlete is sold pretty well,’” Ellenby said. “I think that they’d be worthy of doing something a little bit more custom for them, that features their nickname or after like a big play that they had, or whatever it might be.”

Students usually sell their merchandise to peers, friends and families by sharing it with the community, Ellenby said. Ellenby said one of the coolest things about the NIL store is seeing the merchandise off the courts, especially in the crowd or around town. 

“We love watching every NCAA Tournament game, and every time they show you behind the bench, I’m just looking in the crowd, and I can see all the moms and dads that are wearing their son or daughter’s merch, which is really cool,” Ellenby said.