Benzinga - by Neil Dennis, Benzinga Staff Writer.
College athletes will be able to access student license payments based on future earnings potential related to their star qualities on a new platform being launched on Tuesday.
Edly, an investment platform which offers investors securitized products based on student loan payments — with the help of former NBA star Kendrick Perkins — launched an investment product called NILLY.
NILLY will allow student athletes to capitalize on their name, image and likeness (NIL) earnings potential, by offering them license payments to complete their college educations in exchange for a share in their future NIL earnings.
Perkins, brand ambassador to the project, will help to raise awareness of NILLY among student athletes who could benefit from faster access to their NIL earnings potential.
“When I was a top high school recruit, I had to go pro for financial reasons. If I’d been able to earn NIL endorsements back then, I could’ve enjoyed the college basketball experience while also providing for my family,” he said.
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How Does NILLY Work?
The arrangement is limited only to the student’s revenue from NIL opportunities and not their playing earnings, and athletes will keep their upfront payment if they get injured, or stop generating NIL revenue, for whatever reason.
Also, students who enroll with NILLY are given access to financial literacy training.
“For far too long, virtually everyone but the athletes themselves has profited from college sports,” said Chris Ricciardi, Co-Founder and CEO of NILLY.
He added: “NILLY arranges for these resources to be made available to student-athletes, along with paying an upfront license fee for their NIL rights, while aligning them with the power of the investment community for the first time.”
Investment Opportunities
At launch NILLY will offer investment opportunities focused on National College Athletic Association Division 1 football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and a strategy comprising Division 1 athletes across a variety of sports.
Interested student-athletes can learn more about NILLY and submit their information for consideration by visiting athlete.nilly.us. Accredited investors who would like to invest in NIL rights of players on specific schools and teams can view offering materials by visiting investor.nilly.us.
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Image created using artificial intelligence with MidJourney.
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