For many years, student athletes were taught one major principle: they should not earn income from their athletic celebrity. However, owing to recent developments, this rule has drastically changed, and students can now fund their own journey and learn about financial independence from an early age.
With recent NIL rights, athletes can also generate revenue from their name, image, and likeness. Athletes are now able to earn not only from their performance on the field but also from the NIL platform for student-athletes, camps, merchandise, sponsorships, and other digital collectibles.
Through innovative platforms such as HypeU, young athletes have the opportunity to begin creating a brand, connecting to fans, and learning how to navigate the business aspects of sports. Many of these young athletes are even able to earn money before they set foot on a college campus. So, let’s break it down further for a clear picture of how you can earn from HypeU.
What Does NIL Actually Mean?
NIL refers to the three elements of an individual’s identity: Name, Image, and Likeness. This allows college athletes to benefit financially from the power and visibility of their own personal brands while still competing on behalf of their colleges or universities.
Your name is how you are known to your fans and sponsors, and your Image refers to any clips of you participating in the sport, whether it is during training or competition. Your likeness goes even further because it includes many attributes that make a person recognisable, including your voice, your signature move, and much more.
How Does NIL Help Student-Athletes?
NIL gives College Athletes the ability to be compensated by any entity with their name, image, or likeness for marketing or content creation purposes. This includes Sponsored Social Media Posts, Partnerships with Local Brands, Hosting Youth Camps, Selling Merchandise, Paid Public Appearances, and Digital Collectibles.
Before the revised NIL legislation, most college athletes would have been prohibited from taking advantage of these opportunities. However, with these rights, many will now be able to access them.
One of the most significant outcomes of NIL is the financial benefit and the choice to do more. Additionally, now they also have control over how they want to represent themselves and what message they would like to share with the public. If executed correctly, especially with NIL athlete apps like HypeU, even the smallest deal will teach important life lessons.
HypeU: A NIL Platform That Builds Your Brand
HypeU transforms NIL into a digital experience. Instead of relying entirely on traditional sponsorship, athletes can now earn from digital trading cards. These cards will exist on a distributed ledger (blockchain) for all fans to collect. Your fans can directly access your cards through your profile and buy, trade, and keep them forever without interacting with a mediator ever.
Essentially, HypeU allows athletes to have their own “official” trading cards like the old “classic” collection of sports trading cards. However, as this is online, all cards are authenticated and accessed directly from the players themselves.
A modern platform like HypeU allows student-athletes like you to monetize your name, image, and likeness. This chance enhances the massive shift of power that students now control themselves, not only building a community as they grow, but also learning crucial life lessons.
Here, athletes can,
- Create their own digital trading cards.
- Choose the rarity level for all cards.
- Create the price for each collection.
- Make money from any sales for that collection.
- Receive a royalty each time their digital trading cards are resold;
Ultimately, this means that when a fan eventually trades your digital trading card years from now, you will continue to earn a royalty. Additionally, the financial benefits are not limited to the athletes but also extend to your fans. Your fans can earn directly through you as they sell your cards; the rarer the edition, the more they benefit.
Read Also: Traditional Vs Digital Trading Cards: A Game Changer in Youth Sports
How HypeU Benefits Young Athletes
The HypeU platform serves two key functions for young athletes: A source of income and a source of personal branding education. In this NIL platform for student-athletes, you are not merely posting highlights but creating assets. These two aspects work together to empower young athletes in a meaningful way. Every high school athlete delivers thousands of game highlights every moment that often goes unnoticed on social media.
A great dunk, a game-winning field goal, a record-breaking 100-meter dash – these are all moments in time. HypeU turns these highlights into limited edition digital collectibles, season collections, rookie-type product releases, and milestone drops. Thus, with this opportunity, young athletes can sell their collectibles to family and friends, as well as the community at large.
Using HypeU Allows You to Own and Control Your Story
The traditional sports media outlets generally only showcase a limited number of high school athletes, while the vast majority of high school athletes never receive this type of exposure.
However, HypeU allows high school athletes to take control of their own narrative and build personal brands early through digital collectibles. You have total control to show your progress, celebrate your accomplishments, and promote what you are doing off the field.
With a platform like this, you no longer have to wait for someone to give you exposure; you can build it yourself!
What Young Athletes Should Focus on First
Before you start thinking about HypeU or how to make money as a student athlete, take your time and get your plan together first. Here is a simple guide to where you should begin,
- Review State and School Policies Regarding NIL and ensure it is permissible for student-athlete participation. Do not go for shortcuts. Make a thorough plan that aligns with your goals and the way you wish to represent yourself.
- Establish a positive personal brand online. While social media only runs on trends, it will surely help to have a well-made profile. As colleges and brands prefer looking at social media platforms first, a positive image will help you access important scholarships. Thus, be careful about your posts, remove anything inappropriate, and continue to establish a consistent online presence.
- Consult with your Parents/Guardians or coaches. They are the ones who want the best for you. Thus, involving them in the process will not only push you in the right direction but may also open up new contacts and channels.
- Focus on your local audience first. Before aiming for things far and beyond, strengthen your roots. You do not need to amass a large social media following initially. You can build your brand one step at a time through your local fans, friends, and community. This will help you build your community of people who have seen you grow and are willing to participate in it.
These are some of the ways you can begin to establish your growth and earn assets that help sustain your growth.
Proper Money Management As An Athlete
When you begin to earn early on through athlete creator platforms, being reckless with it is quite natural. Thus, if not managed responsibly, it can often distract you from the main goal. This area mostly goes overlooked, but NIL income is still income. Thus, here is what you must do,
- Monitor all forms and sources of income.
- Be prepared to pay taxes on NIL earnings.
- Open a personal savings/checking account.
- Develop a budget.
- Avoid spending excessively on luxury items.
Some families establish custodial accounts or LLCs for their children. While they may seem like a complicated way to do things, these types of businesses can help keep your finances organized throughout your life and make future planning much simpler.
Read Also: How Athletes Can Make Thousands With Digital Trading Cards
Wrapping Up
With NIL providing athletes with revenue opportunities for the future, youth sports have changed forever. For many athletes, even if they never become professional athletes, they develop skills that will remain with them throughout their careers. This includes skills in marketing, communication, financial management, time discipline, and entrepreneurship. These experiences allow young athletes to make a smoother transition to college and be more confident and prepared for success.
High school athletes can now create a responsible income through the NIL platform for student-athletes while shaping their personal brands and building relationships with fans and supporters. Platforms, such as HypeU, have been created to provide young athletes with a larger opportunity for ownership of their own digital collectibles and development of their future income potential.
This opportunity is not just about becoming famous overnight. It is important to develop a stable foundation for building a career for young athletes. This includes developing a career path that is structured, predictable, and has a positive trajectory from day one.