STATE COLLEGE (TNS) — Penn State took another step forward in the name, image and likeness space Tuesday when it announced a partnership with Altius Sports Partners, an NIL advisory and education firm.
According to a news release, the partnership will “further advance the school’s NIL program including ongoing guidance on strategic development, evaluation of departmental initiatives as well as comprehensive educational support benefitting all internal and external Penn State stakeholders.”
Altius has partnered with 20 schools, including Georgia, Indiana, Northwestern, Oklahoma, Purdue and Southern California, in a similar fashion. According to the news release, there will be workshops for members of the athletic department focused on group licensing, marketing, branding, financial literacy and more.
“We are looking forward to partnering with industry leader Altius Sports Partners in our name, image and likeness (NIL) programming,” Penn State vice president for intercollegiate athletics Sandy Barbour said in a release. “They have a talented and experienced team with a vast understanding and knowledge of the NIL landscape. We know the education Altius will provide to our stakeholders will help everyone navigate these evolving NIL waters.”
College athletes have been able to profit off of their name, image and likeness since July 2021. Penn State football coach James Franklin has said he hopes the athletic department can make strides in that area to keep pace with how other schools nationally are approaching it.
Earlier this month, Barbour highlighted how NIL has evolved since its introduction last summer. She emphasized that it’s changed plenty in the past six months, and it’s likely that the landscape will look much different in another six months. The partnership with Altius should help Penn State in that area.
“I think a lot of it is sorting through what’s real and what isn’t real,” Barbour said. “We know what it was supposed to be from an educational and an opportunity foundation, and then kind of dealing with where the gap is between what it actually is and will it settle out. I would say for us, we’ve done a tremendous job, and we can always do better, but we’ve done a tremendous job from the education piece.
”You all have heard me talk about the resources that we have here at Penn State … and we need to continue to build those out on behalf of student-athletes,” she added.
