The University of South Carolina is the latest school to partner with an NIL collective to handle its name, image, and likeness rights. In South Carolina’s case, Garnet Trust collective will be the school’s official NIL partner.
According to a press release on the subject, “This multi-year relationship will give the Garnet Trust access to gameday activations, events and promotion throughout the college athletics season to help educate fans and enhance our student-athlete experience.”
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Garnet Trust director of operations Jeremy Smith says this deal helps the Gamecocks catch up with the rest of the SEC, which has pushed ahead in the all-important NIL race recently.
“We’re behind other SEC schools, and we really need the fan base and community and businesses alike to come together and really help support us in this new world,” Smith told The State. “Facilities were the importance in the past. Today, it’s NIL. I do think that landscape will change a little bit over the next few years and you might not see it as big of a deal. But I think, for right now, athletes are looking to us to provide them some image and likeness opportunities.”
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Garnet Trust was one of the first NIL collectives when it started in November 2021 and has facilitated hundreds of NIL deals for USC student-athletes.
The collective lets South Carolina fans and alumni get involved in supporting NIL at the school by offering different donor levels, starting at $100 a year and going all the way up to $5,000 a year.
