UCLA Nominated for Best Institutional NIL Program
April 11, 2024 | Bruin Athletics
LOS ANGELES โ UCLA has been nominated for the Best Institutional Program award at the 2024 NIL Awards. The award will be presented at the NIL Summit's gala ceremony on June 22 at the College Football Hall of Fame.
ย
UCLA is one of eight schools nominated for the award, joining Cincinnati, Florida, Grand Canyon, Nebraska, Ohio State, Ole Miss and St. Joseph's.
ย
The Best Institutional Program award honors a college or institution that has shown exceptional commitment to supporting its student-athletes in maximizing their Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) opportunities through a combination of education, resources and industry-leading innovation.
ย
UCLA Athletics has offered enhanced NIL education, resources, and industry-leading opportunities over the last year to its student-athletes. In addition to the team workshops and individual mentorship provided by assistant director of NIL Maddie Walsh, educational programming now includes seminars presented by Advance NIL (Advance). Advance works closely with over 18 professional organizations and over 36 collegiate organizations to provide comprehensive NIL education.
ย
Bruin student-athletes also have access to UCLA's NIL Clinic, a free law clinic that offers limited scope representation to all UCLA students. When presented with an NIL opportunity, student-athletes can meet with trained law students and supervising entertainment attorneys to get questions answered and ensure they are protecting themselves in the process. This program is run by UCLA Law's Ziffren Institute of Media, Entertainment, Technology, & Sports, in partnership with UCLA Athletics.
ย
One of the more popular NIL resources is UCLA's Westwood Exchange. This marketplace serves as a digital platform where brands and individuals can create a profile in order to connect with any UCLA student-athlete. The Westwood Exchange has quickly grown into one of the largest school-specific NIL marketplaces, with over 300 registered brands & individual supporters.
ย
Outside of resources and education, UCLA student-athletes enjoy innovative programming. In October 2023, UCLA hosted "Westwood Exchange Live", which brought student-athletes and brand representatives together for an upscale networking night in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. In February 2024, a merchandise NIL opportunity became available to every student-athlete when Campus Ink launched the NIL Store for UCLA Athletes. In March, UCLA introduced the Athlete Influencer Club, a peer-led organization that supports aspiring content creators with added photoshoots, workshops and brand development resources.
ย
UCLA student-athletes landed impressive opportunities all on their own. Drake's luxury clothing brand OVO, ESPN, Lululemon, and Degree were just a few of the major brands who entered into endorsement deals with Bruins. Men of Westwood and Champion of Westwood, UCLA's official NIL collectives, continues to grow and support student-athletes through donor-funded sponsorships.
ย
More information on UCLA's NIL program is available on uclabruins.com/westwoodascent. Bruin fans can also follow along with NIL updates on X (@UCLANIL) or Instagram (@BruinNIL).
ย