CHICAGO - Campus Ink has announced Tate Gillespie as the NIL Store’s Director of University Partnerships & NIL Strategy. Gillespie spent the last year as the Director of NIL Strategy at the University of Kansas.
Gillespie will be charged with spearheading Campus Ink’s rapid NIL expansion nationally, signing new institutions, continuing to develop comprehensive partnerships with collectives and expanding existing relationships with top talent agencies.
“We’re excited to welcome Tate to our Campus Ink family,” said Steven Farag, CEO & co-founder of Campus Ink. “As a former professional & collegiate athlete that has a tremendous amount of experience in the sports industry, Tate will help us navigate the next iteration of our NIL Platform. It is our top priority to continue providing value for athletes, fans, universities, and most recently, collectives.”
A former collegiate and professional baseball player, Gillespie brings a wealth of experience in the NIL and collegiate athletics industry. At Kansas, Gillespie was the first NIL administrator in school history and set the foundation for its newly formed NIL Department and overall NIL philosophies and initiatives.
“I’m so excited to join Campus Ink and the NIL Store,” Gillespie said. “Their commitment and impact on both their athletes and partners is second to none, and has been noticed by experts across the NIL industry. I recognized early on that Campus Ink was poised to dominate the NIL space through its constant innovation, creativity and the development of the best products in the market. I am grateful for the opportunity to step into my new role and ensure a first-class experience for all stakeholders, while further cementing Campus Ink as the preeminent merchandiser at campuses across the country.”
As NIL Director, Gillespie touched nearly every internal and external partner at Kansas, including NIL collectives, development, corporate partners, apparel partners, marketplaces, NCAA compliance, licensees, agencies, campus partners and consultants.
Gillespie’s team helped Kansas to become a finalist for the 2022-23 National NIL Program of the Year Award at the NIL Summit.
Prior to his time at Kansas, Gillespie oversaw sales & customer success in the media, sports & entertainment sector at Talkwalker. The first employee in the collegiate athletics vertical, he developed the NIL and digital marketing strategy and formed partnerships with multiple Division I athletic departments.
Gillespie served as a panelist at the NIL Summit, and has been featured in media appearances with Sports Illustrated, On3, The Sports Law Podcast and more.
Gillespie played baseball at Texas A&M Corpus Christi, before playing professionally overseas in Czech Republic and France. During his professional career, he joined MVP Sports Marketing as the southwest sales representative.
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