Timeline of NIL at WSU

Wichita State Athletics

Events

Fall 2020: In anticipation of potential changes to the NCAA’s NIL stance, WSU developed an NIL Work Group comprised of a cross-section of representatives from Athletics and the University, including student-athletes. This Working Group was charged with monitoring developments on the name, image, and likeness issue, including NCAA and AAC developments, as well as federal and state legislation. The working group was also asked to provide recommendations to Athletics and University leadership on the development and implementation of interim university name, image, and likeness policies, procedures, and processes.

July 2021: NCAA adopts its Interim NIL Policy, which now allows collegiate athletes to benefit from name, image and likeness for the first time in history.

August 2021: WSU adopt its NIL Policy and launches ALTITUDE powered by Opendorse, the market-leading NIL readiness program, and specifically its Ready and Social programs. With Ready, Wichita State will provide student-athletes with custom brand value assessments, live consultation sessions with industry leaders, and on-demand access to the NIL Masterclass, an education series featuring experts on brand building, monetization, and financial literacy from leading brands including Instagram, Twitter, the Players' Tribune, and Overtime. Opendorse Social is the marketing product athletes use to build their brands. Thousands of professional and college sports organizations use Social to maximize their media – equipping athletes with access to video and photo content through drag-and-drop media libraries, one-tap publishing technology, and real-time analytics. Collectively, ALTITUDE, is a comprehensive student-athlete development program designed to prepare Shocker student-athletes to positively influence their brands and platforms in the Name, Image, and Likeness world.

November 2021: The Sports Management Department, housed in the College of Applied Studies, develops a Leadership and Branding certificate program that consists of four to five courses covering twelve to fifteen credit hours.