New Name, Image, Likeness Collective Added for USD Athletes

  USD has created a new collective for athletes that allows for them to be paid based on Name, Image and Likeness (NIL). 

    Since 2021, student-athletes have been able to be paid while staying under the umbrella of amateur athletes.

    South Dakota partnered with Student-Athlete Name Image Likeness, or SANIL, to create the Pride of the Western Plain, the official home of the University of South Dakota NIL.

   People can either sign up to be a member of the Pride of the Western Plain for $8.99 a month or make a one-time payment. 

   Businesses can also become corporate partners by becoming sponsors. Proceeds from the Pride of the Western Plain will be given to the athletes.

   In an interview with Coyote News and live reporter Alex Kleinschmit, South Dakota Athletic Director Jon Schemmel spoke about the new collective.

   “All of that (Pride of the Western Plain) is to benefit our student athletes, but also to make an official collective that we partner with,” Schemmel said. “That really protects us and the student athletes from other people grandstanding out there saying that they’re in conjunction and working with us, and that was a problem we had in the past.”

    The agreement between USD and SANIL to create Pride of the Western Plain was one of singularity instead of financials.

  “The agreement is not a financial one, it is just so that they are the official collective and student-athletes can choose whether or not to participate in it,” Schemmel said.

   Student athletes can seek their own deals if they want, but this new collective agreement gives athletes another opportunity to make money.

   “It absolutely does not restrict any of them from going out and having their own deals so really it’s the best of both worlds for our student athletes,” Schemmel said.

  Giving student athletes options makes the NIL more straightforward for athletes, universities and various states. Each state can make rules and regulations for their universities participing in an NIL.

   Making this collective is all a part of Schemmel’s and the athletic department’s plan for the student athletes and the university.

   “This is the tip of the iceberg for us,” Schemmel said.