IU partners with Mark Cuban-backed company as it tries to make NIL easier for athletes

Almost a year before the NCAA finally voted to allow athletes to be able to profit from their name, image and likeness (NIL) rights, Indiana struck an agreement with Opendorse, a social media marketing company, to prepare its athletes for what they would be dealing with when they finally had the ability to market themselves.

It was an early sign of how IU would approach NIL. It would stay inside the lines and avoid inducements or pay-for-play, but look for every opportunity to make it easier for its athletes to navigate the NIL landscape and help guide them to opportunities when allowed and appropriate. Last week's announcement that IU had come to a "total school solution agreement" with Campus Ink marks a continuation in that approach.

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Campus Ink is an apparel company that works in officially-licensed college gear. It created the NIL store so there would be a central online hub for athletes to be able to partner with designers to make apparel and be able to use licensed marks of their school and athletic department. Illinois and several other schools had already come to agreements with Campus Ink before Indiana became interested, and it was only then that the athletic department realized one of IU's most famous and wealthiest alums, Mark Cuban, happened to be one of Campus Ink's investors.

"We are always looking to be on the forefront of NIL issues, this is the most basic NIL opportunity, and Campus Ink is an innovative leader in this area," IU senior associate athletic director and spokesman Jeremy Gray told the Herald-Times via email. " Obviously, (Cuban's) involvement is a bonus!"

"I'm really excited that the leading NIL company, Campus Ink, and the best university on the planet, my alma mater, Indiana University, are working together," Cuban said in the statement. "The sky is the limit!"

Gray said Campus Ink is particularly athlete-friendly, which is the biggest reason IU was interested in working with the company. According to the NIL Store website, the company is willing to work with any athlete interested in selling apparel, not just the school's most marketable. Each athlete who partners with the NIL store gets his or her own "personalized digital locker room" where their merchandise is housed, and the cut they get of the sales is not small. According to the website, if Campus Ink sells a $29.99 T-shirt through the NIL store, the athlete connected to it receives $10. The athlete also gets free merchandise for him or herself and family members.

"Not only will student-athletes be able to make money related to their Name, Image, Likeness," Gray said by email, "but countless times over the years friends and family members of the student-athletes themselves have asked coaches and staff about specific apparel to purchase related to their friend or relative. This provides a solution."

The "total school solution agreement" does not mean Campus Ink is the only option for IU athletes to receive NIL apparel deals. According to Gray, they are still allowed to pursue their own and this does not negate any existing agreements. This provides a simpler way for athletes to enter the process.

"Campus Ink is the national leader in the NIL merchandise space, making them a perfect fit for our student-athletes," IU athletic director Scott Dolson said in a statement. "I am excited for what this means not only for our students' ability to maximize their NIL opportunities, but also for our fans who will have first-of-its-kind opportunities to show their support for our student-athletes and programs with high-end, officially licensed IU merchandise. This is the latest example of IU being at the forefront of this new era of intercollegiate athletics."

Follow Herald-Times IU Insider Dustin Dopirak on Twitter at @DustinDopirak or email him at DDopirak@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: IU Athletics working with Mark Cuban-backed Campus Ink on NIL apparel