CHICAGO (Jan. 28, 2025) -- For the first time in history, men's and women's college basketball players will directly benefit from the sale of officially licensed NCAA Tournament apparel.
This milestone is made possible by the NIL Store’s implementation of the NCAA’s brand new NIL Event License, allowing athletes to profit from merchandise celebrating their team’s round-by-round achievements, including Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four, and National Championship apparel.
NIL Store Developing Unique NIL Apparel; Signing Full Rosters
To maximize the opportunity, the NIL Store has developed unique ways to incorporate the athletes' NIL into NCAA Tournament art including both team and individual designs. Athletes will earn regular payouts on individual designs and split payouts on full-team designs.
Additionally, the NIL Store team is actively signing full men’s & women’s basketball rosters to ensure maximum participation in the opportunity. Among the full rosters already onboarded to the NIL Store are the top-3 men's programs in the AP rankings, No. 1 Auburn, No. 2 Duke and No. 3 Iowa State; in addition to numerous women's programs including No. 6 UConn and No. 7 LSU.
The NIL Store team unveiled the implementation of the license at the 2025 Sports & Licensing Tailgate Show in Las Vegas last week.
[Video: NIL Store VP, Adam Cook, Exhibits New NCAA NIL License - All Apparel Shown Is Strictly Conceptual]
“This is a landmark moment for collegiate athletes,” said Adam Cook, Vice President at the NIL Store. “For decades, NCAA Tournament apparel has been a symbol of school pride and fan excitement, but the players—the heart of the tournament—were left out of the equation. We’re thankful to the NCAA licensing team for entrusting us to create quality postseason apparel that ensures athletes receive fair compensation for their contributions.”
NCAA NIL License Will Be Implemented Across All NCAA Sports
The new license is not limited to men’s and women’s basketball, and will be implemented across all sports.
The new NCAA NIL License will ensure athletes receive a share of the profits as long as their name, image, or likeness (NIL) is incorporated into the product design, whether through text or imagery.
For the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, fans will be able to purchase custom NIL products for every major round of the tournament to support their favorite team.
Fans can shop NCAA Tournament apparel tied to their favorite players and teams on the NIL Store’s website, supporting athletes while celebrating their school spirit.
ABOUT CAMPUS INK AND THE NIL STORE
Backed by Mark Cuban, Campus Ink expanded into the Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) space in 2021 and launched the NIL Store, which serves as a merchandising solution for student-athletes and schools across the country. The NIL Store operates with the firm belief that every student-athlete has an opportunity to capitalize on their NIL and should earn industry-leading payouts. Campus Ink was founded in 1947 on the campus of the University of Illinois and was reimagined in 2015 with an office in downtown Chicago and a production facility in Urbana, Ill., where the company handles all of its own production and fulfillment.
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