SAN ANTONIO — Since it became effective in college athletics in July 2021, the NIL (“name-image-likeness” for short) has offered student athletes an opportunity to cash in on their talents by way of sponsorships or financial compensation, often backed by wealthy financial boosters from universities.
The fancy way to say athletes now can get paid to play. Given that the establishment of any definitive regulations remains fluid, everything remains “fair game” when it comes to landing the nation’s top recruits.
It’s also a simpler way to say that smaller schools will have their local talent poached when it comes to decision time out of high school.
“The NIL is the atomic bomb.”
A simple enough sentiment for Eddie Benningfield, executive director for “The Runners Rising Project” and a UTSA alum.
“The NIL is tremendously active and San Antonio is prone to having these standout athletes leave the city.”
Enter the initiative of the non-profit.
“The Runners Rising Project” is an organization founded in February with the aspirations of becoming a main fund-raising effort as UTSA’s go-to NIL source.
“We like to think of ourselves as consultation. Talk to these local businesses in town, make them aware of the benefits of the NIL and try to get their contribution.”
In example, a group of hungry offensive linemen needing thousands of calories a day can be well fed by Bill Miller Bar-B-Q. A hypothetical he, along with the several other UTSA graduates currently operating the program, feel is feasible.
“UTSA is a growing and the opportunities are there.”
Already having the approval of the school’s “higher-ups”, the organization is modest and thinking simple to help students live more practically in the immediacy.
“Our goal is to get to a point where we can give an athlete $1,000 a month. We’re not there yet.
It isn’t about anything crazy. Some of these kids don’t have outside lives and can’t work jobs. They still have expenses. Something small to help them along the way.”
Once they outgrow the infancy phase, the end reward will make the efforts worth it.
“We want to try and get as many people on-board. It doesn’t have to come out of our pockets. It doesn’t have to be from us.
If ‘The Runners Rising Projects’ can bring 10 corporations and get ‘x’ many deals signed with athletes ‘x,y and z,’ we educated them on the benefits of NIL and say ‘we’ve shined that path.’ That is when we’ll say ‘we made it.’”
Expect to see Benningfield and “The Runners Rising Project” at UTSA tailgates throughout the season. For more, check out runnersrisingproject.org and follow them on Twitter at @runners_rising.