In the newly configured world of college athletics and NIL, Pitt athletes can now take advantage of the budding opportunities. Until 2021, collegiate athletes could not profit off their brand in the same way professional athletes have for years. When the NCAA introduced the Name, Image and Likeness policy, the landscape of college sports completely changed by opening up chances for student athletes and college programs to benefit from the name, image and likeness of players. 

In February of this year, the NIL store, which serves as a central merchandising location for student athletes across the country, announced that it would be pairing up with the Panthers to offer officially licensed apparel directly benefiting Pitt athletes. 

This means that when you go into Rally House or the Pitt Shop and buy your favorite player’s jersey or a t-shirt with their name on it, those athletes will earn between $6-12 in profit off of that purchase. The NIL store also pledged to keep expanding their lines to include more athletes and apparel options down the road. 

One of the biggest deals for the Panthers since the enactment of NIL occurred last August when Alliance 412 announced they would work together to introduce a new marketing division to help promote Pitt athletes and their brands. They partnered this deal with more big news, announcing that every Pitt football player on scholarship would also have the opportunity to sign a deal with the collective. 

The exact details of each deal were not disclosed, but payments to the athletes will come in monthly, and not all players will make the same amount. Individual payments will average out to five figures of income per player. Not only will this deal benefit the 85 players on scholarship on the Pitt roster, but  the program as a whole. 

In order for Pitt athletics to compete against some of the biggest athletic programs in the nation, they need incentive for talented athletes to want to come play for the University. This deal with Alliance 412 makes major headway towards doing so. The partnership with Alliance 412 is just the beginning of what NIL could do for Pitt athletics. 

Many Pitt athletes, such as star quarterback Eli Holstein, playmaking running back Desmond Reid and more, have also signed individual NIL deals with brands and have their names attached to companies. The school has even arranged a directory to make the process of supporting their athletes financially as easy as possible. Athletes like senior defensive back Donovan McMillon promote places like DiBella’s Subs on his Instagram page and other social media platforms. He posts videos giving his viewers a quick snapshot into his favorite order at the sub shop located right here in Pittsburgh’s Market Square. 

McMillon also uses his platform to work with other big names like UPMC Health and NextGen America to encourage others to stay in touch with their health and register to vote in the upcoming elections. With the help of NIL, he is now able to get paid for these deals and profit off of the use of the name and image he’s built with Pitt football. 

While it is still early into the NIL era of college sports, Pitt is sure to see the growth and benefit of these collaborations in the future of its athletic programs.