IU Athletics announced a partnership with the Opendorse Ready program Wednesday to prepare student-athletes for potential changes to the NCAA’s policies on financial compensation for name, image and likeness.
The announcement comes after the NCAA Board of Governors voted unanimously in October 2019 to allow student-athletes to profit off of their name, image and likeness once its three committees decide upon rules for it by January 2021.
Nebraska agreed to a deal with Opendorse Ready in March in preparation for changes to name, image and likeness rules. The company’s founders, Blake Lawrence and Adi Kunilac, played football at Nebraska.
Opendorse has previously worked with more than 100 professional and collegiate sports teams, including IU Athletics, in sports marketing and social media. On their Ready program’s webpage, the company said the program, “exists to help student-athletes prepare and maximize the value of their NIL.”
"The NIL rights movement opens the door for Indiana Athletics to provide the students in our program with life skills that will prove valuable well beyond their time on campus,” IU athletic dIrector Scott Dolson said in a statement. “When these changes come, we have to be prepared to educate and assist our student-athletes with the best possible resources.”
