Student Feature: YSU students score NIL deals, advance their careers

FEATURE STORY

Story by: Hannah Werle, Journalism major
Photography by: Omar Frazier, Multimedia Communication major

In 2021, the National Collegiate Athletic Association instituted a new rule that allowed college athletes to profit off their own name, image and likeness. Since then, NIL deals have brought many opportunities to student athletes, including those at Youngstown State University.

YSU doesn’t just allow the opportunity to form brand sponsorships, it also actively facilitates relationships between its student athletes and interested companies. Opendorse, for example, is a platform that YSU’s Athletics department uses to help student athletes partner with businesses and companies.

With these new opportunities comes new experiences in the world of business, advertising, marketing, social media and more. Several of YSU’s athletes are students in the Williamson College of Business Administration and are using NIL deals to learn more about the fields they are pursuing.

Teziah Howard, Bianca Giglio and Jacob Sylak are all YSU students and athletes who use NIL deals to expand their knowledge of business, develop long-lasting connections and build up their social media platforms and experience.

Howard, a senior Journalism major on the Sports Information and Media track, is a track and field athlete with an impressive social media footprint, which he uses to help him promote products and goods from his NIL deals.

“Doing brand deals, working with businesses, has given me a better understanding of corporate business processes, especially related to my field,” Howard said. “There’s a lot of companies out there with a mission statement, and... they’re trying to get better every single day and make themselves known.”

Howard said his experience with NIL has taught him more about his field, and how to more effectively communicate and market to an audience.

Sylak, a senior Business Administration major on the men’s golf team, said working in NIL has given him hands-on experience in business fields, and helped him develop a more thorough understanding of real-world business processes.

“The way that I’ve interacted with brands and they've interacted with me has given me a lot of insight into my field,” Sylak said. “Being tied together with some of these brands and companies has given me a really cool picture as to how businesses operate, especially with NIL deals… it’s a whole different part of business, like how they’re going to interact with you and what trust they place in you for their brand.”

While working within NIL deals has given these students many hard skills, it has also continued to develop their soft skills, such as time management, networking and communication.

Giglio, a junior, said she has learned to balance her time as a player on the women’s volleyball team, as a Business Administration major and as a NIL partner with several businesses. In addition to time management skills, Giglio said she’s developed better business and communication skills, as well as how to present herself in the professional world.

“Working with these businesses has definitely helped me learn more about professionalism, communication, and presenting myself. NIL is name, image and likeness, so showcasing myself in a professional manner is key,” Giglio said. “I’ve learned how to present myself professionally and communicate effectively with businesses. That’s such an important skill for any field.”

In addition to working with businesses, student athletes also work with the athletics department and YSU’s compliance office to ensure they are succeeding athletically, academically and professionally.

Sylak said the athletics department emphasizes balancing athletics with academics, encouraging students to excel in both.

“The athletic department really does a good job of guiding us… they tell us from day one that professional sports might not be in the cards, so they focus on where you can make it and build skills outside of sports. Through their help and WCBA’s help, I’ve gone from not knowing what I wanted to do to having a pretty good idea of where I want to be," Sylak said.

Through these NIL deals and majors alike, Howard, Giglio and Sylak have seamlessly blended their experiences and roles as both students and athletes. By using the skills they’ve learned in their education and sport, these students have created long-lasting relationships, built their social media followings and developed skills that will benefit them well into their careers.