South Alabama on Thursday announced a partnership with TheLinkU, a third-party organization that will enhance the school’s efforts in regards to Name, Image and Likeness.
TheLinkU is an online platform that will help to connect Jaguars athletes in all 17 varsity sports with local businesses, fans and boosters who seek to offer NIL opportunities. It will also take over management of Jags Impact, the South Alabama NIL collective founded in 2022.
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“Today is a memorable day for Jaguar Athletics,” South Alabama athletics director Joel Erdmann said. “We are extremely excited to partner with TheLinkU. TheLinkU’s offerings and expertise perfectly align with our specific needs and opportunities as we work together to expand and diversify our NIL efforts.”
South Alabama is the seventh partner school with TheLinkU, along with College of Charleston, Florida Atlantic, Texas State, UCLA, Houston and North Texas. The company also has “registered athletes” at dozens of other schools, including Texas, Michigan, Ole Miss, Oregon, Florida, Georgia Southern and Samford.
TheLinkU was co-founded by Texas natives Troy Kyle and Austin Elrod, who played quarterback and wide receiver in the early 2010s. Kyle, a healthcare management executive, is also a Houston booster and founder of the school’s NIL collective, LinkingCoogs.
“We are thrilled to partner with the University of South Alabama,” Elrod said. “We believe in their mission of supporting their athletes and are excited to work together to enhance the opportunities for these talented individuals. Their unilateral commitment across the athletic department to maximize NIL opportunities for their athletes and ensure they remain highly competitive in an ever-changing landscape aligns perfectly with our values. This partnership represents a significant step in our commitment to fostering growth and success in collegiate sports.”
Jags Impact started with only a handful of South Alabama athletes, but now has dozens of participants in four sports utilizing its services. Under the new arrangement, fans and boosters will be able to make monthly or one-time donations to Jags Impact through TheLinkU’s website, as well as purchase South Alabama-related items from an online merchandise store.
TheLinkU is in the process of hiring at least one Mobile-based full-time employee to manage the relationship between Jags Impact and South Alabama’s athletes. And while Jags Impact essentially had one revenue stream — private donations — the new model will have four: businesses, individual donors, fundraising events and subscriptions/merchandise.
“We are incredibly grateful to the many Jags Impact volunteers who helped us get started in the NIL space,” Erdmann said. “Without their hard work to lay the foundation, South Alabama would not be where it is today.”