EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State Athletics has been at the forefront of Name, Image and Likeness since legislation went into effect last July, and the department took another step forward in the NIL landscape by hosting the NIL Education Summit on Thursday afternoon inside the Huntington Club at Spartan Stadium.
The event gathered Spartan coaches, staff and business leaders for an afternoon of networking, education and opportunity to discuss what name, image and likeness is, why it's important in today's collegiate athletics environment, and how people can get involved. Nearly 50 different business entities from across the state were on site at Thursday's event.
Michigan State Vice President/Athletic Director Alan Haller welcomed the group to the event, which was hosted by Executive Associate AD/Championship Resources Ashton Henderson and Spartan football Director of Player Relations and Program Advancement Darien Harris. Michigan State Athletic Director Alan Haller spoke at the NIL Education Summit on Thursday at the Huntington Club inside Spartan Stadium.
Michigan State head football coach Mel Tucker and women's volleyball head coach Leah Johnson represented the Spartan coaches on a panel, and were also joined on stage by football junior Darius Snow, who shared his experiences with NIL. MSU head football coach Mel Tucker listens to junior Darius Snow talk about his experiences with NIL.
Several NIL industry leaders took part at the summit, including INFLCR CEO Jim Cavale, who spoke via Zoom, along with Roger Jones and Chris Marciani from The Brandr Group and Christy Hedgpeth, President of Playfly Sports Properties.
"To get context on where Michigan State falls (in the national NIL landscape), and I think even by having events like this, investing and having this great turnout, (MSU) is ahead of a lot of other schools," said Hedgpeth.
"I think the word that comes to me is embrace," said Jones, Director of National Sales for The Brandr Group. "I'm seeing that the whole community is embracing it. We have the coaches, and they are talking about how they are embracing it, and they see the future of it, and how they're building a platform to make sure that their students have every advantage to build their brands.
"To see this event, and the community embrace it, tells me that the students here at Michigan State really have the support they need and the resources."
