EAST LANSING, Mich. (WILX) – High school and college athletes across the country can put extra cash in their pockets. Thanks to name, image, and likeness – or NIL – deals.
“It’s great for us to be able to brand ourselves. Be more than just athletes,” said Nathan Carter.
Nathan Carter is a running back for Michigan State University football. He’s using his podcast focusing on faith to build his brand and says money from NIL is a blessing.
“We as athletes want to take advantage of this,” said Carter. “We waited so long to get to this point and now that we’re here, you see all across the country athletes making a lot of money from NIL deals It’s an amazing profit that we have, and we have to be able to steward it well and understand it.”
Having a basic understanding of financial skills so that student-athletes are making the right decisions.
“It’s stuff that’s practical and will impact students and young people every day of their lives,” said Scott Greenlee. “So the sooner they learn the skills, the better prepared they’ll be long term.”
“The money that’s coming in right now might not be there in the next five years, so what are you going to do with the money right now?” said Ashley Henschel. “That will set you up for the future and help you later in life.”
Ashley Henschel is the co-founder of Create Every Opportunity. A web-based curriculum teaching financial literacy and entrepreneurship.
Henschel and CEO Zachary Sarf are MSU alumni. They wanted to create a platform designed to help student-athletes better navigate finances.
The online curriculum provides more than 300 financial lessons for student-athletes.
“The reason that we did it is to protect the athlete,” said Zachary Sarf.
“The things that happen now it could really set us up for what we plan for in the future,” said Carter.
A future helping student-athletes beyond college, allowing Carter to share himself off the field.
“For me, it’s really just me striving to learn more and get wisdom and knowledge as far as how I can use NIL as an opportunity for me to promote myself promote, my brand as a student-athlete,” said Carter. “It’s definitely something that’s gonna take a while for us to get used to, to understand, not only as athletes but also as brands and businesses.”
Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a bipartisan bill last year that requires high school students to take a financial literacy course before graduating.
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Read more at https://www.wilx.com/2023/07/26/nil-reinforces-need-financial-literacy
