USC has a new NIL partnership. Shane Beamer says it’s ‘already making an impact’
South Carolina is taking a new direction with its approach to name, image and likeness — and football coach Shane Beamer is a fan.
USC announced a partnership with Everett Sports Marketing on Tuesday, a project that will functionally establish an in-house NIL agency within the Gamecocks athletic department.
“It’s huge,” Beamer said on Wednesday’s Southeastern Conference coaches teleconference. “And huge would be an understatement.”
Beamer has long been in favor of working to help establish NIL opportunities for South Carolina football players, noting it’s become a constant question on the recruiting trail.
He did mention earlier this offseason his hope was contract inducements wouldn’t devolve into pay-for-play situations with recruits, but he and USC administrators have worked to be on the forefront of the evolving space.
“I had a chance to meet with them this summer and was so impressed with their group,” Beamer said. “Credit to (senior deputy athletic director) Chance Miller and the rest of our administration for having the vision to be aggressive in the NIL world and put our players — not just football — but our student-athletes in the best opportunity to be successful.”
“To have this available to be the only school in the country that’s doing it and to be doing it with a first-class organization that is at the top of their profession is is really, really cool,” he continued. “It’s something that already is making an impact from a recruiting standpoint with the recruits that I’ve heard from.”
ESM’s partnership with South Carolina was approved on Tuesday by the USC board of trustees. The two-year contract is exclusive to South Carolina in the first year of the deal and prohibits ESM from working with any other in-state or Southeastern Conference institutions in its second year.
The project will establish a subsidiary of ESM, “Park Avenue,” that will work to procure NIL deals for Gamecocks student-athletes, among other services, free of cost.
ESM currently counts NFL players Mac Jones, Jalen Hurts, Nick Chubb and Jonathan Taylor on its current client list.
“We are excited to bring these opportunities to our student-athletes,” USC athletic director Ray Tanner said in a news release. “ESM is a leader in the field of sports marketing and has a tremendous track record in representing athletes in brand development. I appreciate our staff and donors who helped us put this arrangement together. I am confident it will be a tremendous Name Image and Likeness resource for our student-athletes.”
The deal with ESM has been in the works behind the scenes for months, but was limited in if/when it could move forward due to a state law that previously prohibited schools from being directly involved in NIL deals. South Carolina’s legislature suspended its NIL law on July 1, opening the door for Tuesday’s announcement.
“With ESM’s background in data, analytics and the caliber of talent they manage, it was a no-brainer to seek their partnership and counsel to rethink NIL and develop an entity that will position our student athletes to be the leaders in NIL procurement and execution,” Miller said in a news release.
This story was originally published August 31, 2022 at 2:09 PM with the headline "USC has a new NIL partnership. Shane Beamer says it’s ‘already making an impact’."
