TAMPA, Fla. — News last week of college athletes being allowed to make money off their names, image and likeness opened the doors to a whole new market that players have been itching to take advantage of for years. And, now it seems one Tampa Bay area university wants to get in on that action as well.
Prior to the NCAA adopting the new policy, and the state of Florida making its own NIL rules law, the University of South Florida launched BOOST – a program designed to provide Bulls athletes the tools to build their own brand.
RELATED: Florida establishes its own rules for college athletes to earn money off name, image and likeness
The university says all 450 of its athletes will be able to learn financial literacy and have access to data that shows their brand growth online. The program utilizes software created by INFLCR, a platform that provides analytics on social media metrics for student-athletes.
Programs like these may be the future of recruitment, with university athletic programs selling college-athletes on the idea that they will have better success at building their personal brands while playing for them.
In a news release announcing USF's new program, the university even boasted about the large television market it is located in.
"Ranked among the fastest-growing and most desirable locations to live in the United States, the Bay area is home to seven Fortune 500 companies," the school said.
According to USF, between 2020 and 2021, the school's athletics social media channels generated more than 53 million impressions, 2.6 million engagements and 3.4 million video views.
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