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Ohio State AD Gene Smith provides financial update on Buckeyes’ NIL deals to date
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Ohio State on Monday held a fundraising event to benefit The Foundation, a non-profit set up by Columbus benefactor Brian Schottenstein and former Buckeyes great Cardale Jones to provide NIL opportunities for Buckeyes student-athletes to “help promote worthy charitable causes and make positive contributions to…local communities”, per its website.
While The Foundation provides a charitable outlet for NIL deals, that’s only the tip of the iceberg, as businesses are free to enter into for-profit arrangements with student-athletes.
All told, quite a bit of money has been set aside for NIL for OSU athletes. According to the Columbus Dispatch’s Joey Kaufman, director of athletics Gene Smith told attendees that a total of $3.6 million has been generated to date by NIL deals. That number is sure to go up, considering the financial resources among the Ohio State fanbase.
Speaking at a fundraising event held by The Foundation, an NIL collective supporting Ohio State, A.D. Gene Smith said Buckeyes athletes have totaled about $3.6 million in endorsement deals.
— Joey Kaufman (@joeyrkaufman) August 23, 2022
NIL is still in its early stages, and there’s plenty of work to be done on the regulatory side. But it’s clear that at a university like Ohio State, athletes are seeing quite the benefit.