Michigan State Hosts EverGreen NIL Business Summit

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State's EverGreen NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) Committee received a nomination as one of the best in-class educational programs in the nation earlier this week and on Thursday, the department hosted the second annual MSU Athletics Business Summit in the Eli Broad College of Business Multipurpose Room.

The evening was a celebration and networking event as the department honored Spartan student-athletes and welcomed representatives from local and national businesses.

Michigan State Vice President/Athletic Director Alan Haller and Richard Spreng, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs, welcomed the group to the event before student-athletes had the opportunity to mix and mingle with vendors, coaches and various stakeholders.

"This is such a great opportunity for all of you to interact with some of our business leaders," Haller said. "I talked a lot about NIL and this a great opportunity for you to springboard yourselves into life after sports. It's something I didn't have and I'm so glad, as a University, that we have wrapped our arms around NIL to really help you all in what you want to do later in life.

"Many Universities across the country have one person working on NIL. We don't have that. It's so important to us that we have a group."

"I'm pleased to welcome you to the Minskoff Pavillion, especially seeing the growth and success of our partnership with MSU Athletics," Spreng said. "Our collaborative business, team program is one of the first of its kind since NIL was introduced.

"This is just the beginning of a remarkable program for both our students and student-athletes that will catapult MSU further to the forefront of NIL space."

Darien Harris, Director of Player Relations & Program Advancement for the Michigan State football team, introduced football player Darius Snow, who served as the emcee for the EverGreen NIL Business Summit.

Before starting the start of the summit, Snow talked about his own journey during the NIL process. Snow explained that student-athletes had the opportunity to look at NIL in a variety of ways, from monetary, to immediate monetary – clothing, gear, etc. – or by building connections. A graphic design major, Snow began by working with the creative team in the football office, built his way up to working for the entire athletics department and now has done work for the Harvard athletics and football programs and for Kevtron Media, a marketing and digital advertising company.

Snow_Darius — Darius Snow served as the emcee for a fireside chat with fellow student-athletes and business team members about their NIL experience. (Rey Del Rio)

"Those connections and the opportunity to build my portfolio is something I did and I prioritized in the NIL space," Snow said. "Everyone I have worked with I began to develop a connection with that I will have long past my time at Michigan State."

Snow then introduced the panelists for the summit, which included football player Maliq Carr, women's basketball player Kamaria McDaniel and wrestler Chase Saldate, as well as Mulitcultural Business Program Business Team members Jack Carscadden and Amy Montalbano.

Questions to the panelists discussed what they have learned during their NIL experiences, what it has been like to work with businesses and build those relationships and the potential value for the businesses to work with student-athletes.

"The NIL space for a lot of people, when it's executed, is just a win-win," McDaniel said. "That's what we look for in life. I like to say it's symbiotic, like in nature, when the plant can benefit from the bacteria, back-and-forth, the same way. I think business can benefit because they can reach audiences that they may not have reached and student-athletes have the opportunity to get better, grow yourself and your brand."

McDaniel_Kamaria — Kamaria McDaniel from women's basketball reflected on the positives of her experience in meeting and working with businesses. (Rey Del Rio)

"There are so many different types of personalities and tons of different types of people," Saldate said. "Athletes in general who are big in the community and are looking to give back to the community and be part of it, it gives you a way to connect with these different personalities and expand your business overall and I promise you, it will be high quality from everyone here."

Saldate_Chase — Wrestler Chase Saldate talked about the benefits not only for student-athletes, but for businesses. (Rey Del Rio)

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