ANCHORAGE, ALASKA – Alaska Anchorage athletics, in partnership with Influencer, has launched the Seawolf NIL Exchange to connect student-athletes and businesses for name, image and likeness (NIL) opportunities.
Free to both student-athletes and commercial enterprises, Seawolf NIL Exchange provides a customized portal for communicating with student-athletes and fulfilling NIL transactions.
"We are excited to launch the Seawolf NIL Exchange," said Alaska Anchorage Director of Athletics Ryan Swartwood. "This platform provides our student-athletes with opportunities to maximize their NIL potential and directly connect with businesses, donors, alumni and beyond."
After registering on Seawolf NIL Exchange, a business can access a database of Seawolf student-athletes, searchable by a variety of criteria, to message a student-athlete directly or request contact information. Influencer and Alaska Anchorage will not be involved in any NIL negotiations.
Once an NIL agreement is reached, a customized reporting form compliant with Alaska Anchorage Athletics Name, Image and Likeness guidelines is created and forwarded to Alaska Anchorage.
Seawolf NIL Exchange also includes a payment processing tool to securely pay student-athletes and create a 1099 form that lives in the student-athletes Influencer app for more efficient tax reporting. The platform will continue to provide education on NIL issues, including financial literacy and brand building, while providing market research and tracking social media growth and engagement.
"We are proud to partner with Alaska Anchorage to support the launch of the Seawolf NIL Exchange," said Teamworks Influencer General Manager Sean Kelly. "This custom NIL marketplace will provide the platform for Seawolf student-athletes to monetize their personal brand and connect them to NIL opportunities."
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About Influencer
Teamworks Influencer, available on Teamworks' Operating System for Sports™, is the leading athlete brand-building and NIL business management app for over 270 elite collegiate and professional sports organizations. The Influencer athlete app educates student-athletes, coaches, and staff for the NIL era in a safe and compliant environment, all powered by best-in-class content delivery for student-athletes to access and share content to their social media channels. The Influencer platform also includes the impactful Influencer Exchange. Schools can direct businesses, collectives, and fans seeking to find, communicate with, pay, and report NIL transactions with student-athletes in this school-customized NIL exchange. The Influencer Local Exchange maximizes the student-athlete wallet share while streamlining compliance and tax reporting responsibilities. To learn more about the Influencer Exchange, please visit teamworks.com/influencer
Influencer+ Local Exchange
Influencer provides proven technology that offers athletics departments a place to send any business, collective, or individual interested in starting an NIL conversation with student-athletes and allows businesses to access a school-specific directory to filter and contact specific student-athletes by team, sport, and many other options, including automated NIL transaction compliance and tax reporting. For student-athletes, all NIL business conversations can live in their existing Influencer account with automated payments and streamlined reporting for tax purposes.
About Seawolf NIL Exchange
The Seawolf NIL Exchange is a student-athlete NIL business registry, custom-designed for businesses, donors, alumni, and any other interested NIL dollars wishing to connect with student-athletes. Registered businesses can search, filter and initiate conversations with your student-athletes to discuss an NIL deal. Once the NIL deal between a registered business and your student-athlete is completed, the business will use the Seawolf NIL Exchange to create a transaction that will produce a direct payment to the student-athlete and automate a disclosure to the Influencer Verified Compliance Ledger. The institution does not have to get involved in the deal, and all transactions within the exchange are consolidated into the compliance ledger for the school's review. 1099-K's are also sent to the student-athletes who meet the IRS threshold for third party payment reporting requirements.
FAQs:
What is Name, Image & Likeness?
As of July 1, 2021, student-athletes competing in NCAA intercollegiate athletics are permitted to receive compensation for the use of their name, image or likeness (NIL) for commercial activities, including endorsements through traditional and social media, appearances, entrepreneurial activities, in-kind deals, autographs and more, in accordance with NCAA guidelines and the University of Alaska Anchorage NIL protocols.
Does the state of Alaska have an NIL Policy?
NO
Can a University employee or coach help arrange a deal for an athlete?
No. University employees, including coaches and members of the athletics department, CANNOT negotiate deals or contracts. However, they can direct student-athletes to NIL-related opportunities on the Seawolf NIL Exchange.
Does the school or Influencer take any revenue from NIL transactions in the Seawolf Exchange?
No.
Do you have to be an official university licensee to register?
No, but businesses will not be permitted to use University marks without obtaining express written approval from the Department of Athletics. Please contact athletics@uaa.alaska.edu for more information.
How will I know when I am approved?
You should receive an email verifying your approval. Our goal is to provide final approval or additional correspondence regarding that approval within 48 hours. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact athletics@uaa.alaska.edu.
When can I start contacting athletes and processing payments?
After being approved by the school, you will be able to contact athletes and process payments.
