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NIL Hub

What is NIL?

Name, Image & Likeness (NIL) is the ability for student-athletes to profit off of their name, image and likeness for personal gain in ways permitted by NCAA, state and institutional legislation. Gamecock NIL is the department created to spearhead and lead all associated NIL initiatives at the University of South Carolina. The mission of Gamecock NIL is to help South Carolina student-athletes maximize their name, image, likeness opportunities.

How can I engage?

There are multiple ways fans can get involved in the NIL space to support Gamecock student-athletes.

Collectives

Collectives are organizations that are independent of a university. Their goal is to pool funds from boosters and businesses to help facilitate NIL deals for athletes as well as creating ways for student-athletes to monetize their brands.

The University of South Carolina supports two collectives: Garnet Trust and Carolina Rise.

Garnet Trust

The Garnet Trust launched in 2021 with a goal to become the most unique, built-to-last and effective NIL entity in the country. The Garnet Trust utilizes NIL deals to create experiences between the fan base, student-athletes and businesses.

In addition, they launched the Garnet Trust Foundation. Its mission to help promote, support, and advance charitable organizations and causes, educate the general public regarding these charitable organizations and causes, and to make positive impacts on communities, by utilizing the names, images, and likenesses and notoriety of University of South Carolina student-athletes. The Garnet Trust Foundation has been granted tax-exempt status as an organization under Internal Revenue Code Section 501 (c)(3) making all donations to the Foundation tax-deductible.

Learn more about the Garnet Trust

Garnet Trust

Carolina Rise

Carolina Rise is a Name, Image and Likeness collective for University of South Carolina student athletes that launched in June of 2022 and has experienced rapid growth since. Carolina Rise has three main points of focus:

  • For Carolina to compete in the Southeastern Conference and nationally in the Name, Image and Likeness Space.
  • For student athletes to maximize their brand using new media with a focus on maximum dollars paid out for minimum time spent. In a world where Instagram influencers are making six figures for a post, it is valuable experience for the student athletes to learn how to leverage their personal brand across social media channels while helping to promote our affiliated brands and business partners.
  • For fans the opportunity to have membership in an organization that allows them to take an unprecedented amount of ownership and influence on the success of the Gamecocks across all sports. Benefits include prize drawings, gifts and gear depending on membership level and special events.

Carolina Rise has a lean operating budget so that fans who join up during this initial growth period know that their hard earned dollars are getting in the hands of Carolina student-athletes. Membership starts at just $5 per month. Affiliated business memberships are available as well.

Learn more about Carolina Rise

Carolina Rise

Gamecock Exchange

The Gamecock Exchange, powered by INFLCR, 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 Gamecock Exchange to create a transaction that will produce a direct payment to the student-athlete and automate a disclosure to the INFLCR Verified Compliance Ledger. The institution does not have to get involved in the deal and all transactions within the local exchange are consolidated into one 1099 at the end of the year for easier tax reporting purposes for registered businesses and athletes. The Gamecock Exchange is financed and operated by the University of South Carolina.

Learn more about Gamecock Exchange

NIL Gear

Through our partnership with Fanatics, Gamecock student-athletes have the opportunity to have personalized jerseys, t-shirts, sweatshirts, and other customized items in our team store. You can visit shop.gamecocksonline.com or visit the bio page of your favorite athlete on GamecocksOnline for a link directly to their apparel items.

 

Frequently Asked Questions for Boosters

Frequently Asked Questions for Businesses

Use of institutional marks in the NIL space