Several Stanford student-athletes independently sourced NIL opportunities with local businesses to maximize earnings potential amid an evolving NIL landscape.

Ever since the NCAA changed its rules on name, image and likeness in 2021, student-athletes started to seek ways to optimize their income in college. But not athletes are not on an even playing field, or even the same playing field.

OpenDorse, a third-party platform for booking NIL deals, reported that 67% of NIL pay was concentrated in football and men’s basketball.

For athletes on teams without support from an NIL collective, securing deals requires independent outreach to athletes. Several student-athletes at Stanford said limited in-house programs to facilitate led them to rely on intensive personal outreach.

The Daily previously reported that the Cardinal Connect program, which educated student-athletes about NIL, was discontinued last year.

But that hasn’t prevented student-athletes from pursuing NIL deals with local businesses.

Senior cross country (XC) team member Lucy Jenks told The Daily that she was inspired to pursue a deal with SAJJ Mediterranean, since she was a loyal customer, who frequented the franchise over the past several years. 

“I felt like I had turned so many people in my life onto the restaurant and had already represented the brand in my normal life,” Jenks said. “It was a natural progression to make it more formal and actually partner with SAJJ in an official way.” 

However, Jenks admitted that the process was initially challenging, as she had to send several inquiries to the restaurant. 

Clara Stowell, a freshman on the beach volleyball team, had a similar experience to Jenks. Stowell said brands do not generally reach out to athletes without an established audience, placing responsibility on the athlete to make initial contact.

The beach volleyball player expressed hopes that a booster-backed collective could sponsor more Stanford teams. 

“My sister plays volleyball at BYU and every semester she gets $3,000 in NIL money,” Stowell said. “Since Stanford athletes can’t have jobs because of our training, it would be such a great advantage to have that opportunity.”

Other athletes relied on personal connections to obtain brand deals with local businesses. Roy Yuan, a graduate student walk-on for the men’s basketball team, wanted to pursue an NIL deal with local South Asian restaurant Zareen’s due to his passion for the food.

Yuan said that the deal was easier to facilitate since he knew the owner’s family. Yuan directly approached the owner’s son to ask for a potential deal with the restaurant.

For Jenks and other athletes, seeking endorsements from companies that share her values was key to her NIL journey. With several businesses out there, student-athletes said they were intentional and selective with the brands they pursued.

“There is no use in promoting brands that don’t align with your own interests, hobbies, and passions because it often comes off as inauthentic,” Jenks said. For instance, she said she was drawn to SAJJ’s efforts to work with local farmers in California.

But it appears that changes are underway to make it more approachable to obtain brand deals. Stanford athletics announced a partnership on Feb. 1 with Altius Sports Partners to hire a NIL General Manager.

With the help from Altius, Stanford plans to revamp its in-house NIL programs and the way it interacts with NIL collectives.