Staley flat out stated her goal to The Washington Post — she wants the program to be No. 1 on the floor and No. 1 in the NIL space that allows players profit off their name, image and likeness.
The South Carolina-Rewind partnership, however, provides each player with equity in the company through stock options, in addition to some NIL money. “We’re talking about Rewind basically getting the association with South Carolina without actually paying the University of South Carolina,” Kunkel said. “So it’s a nice form of ambush marketing. This is definitely a much stronger integration of the student-athlete in the company, and by default it requires those student-athletes to upskill on their business knowledge.”Having stock options and equity in a company is not the norm for college students, let alone student-athletes.
“Equity goes a long way,” said Aliyah Boston, the reigning national player of the year and defensive player of the year. “This brand, it can be worth so much money and for you to have a part of it all for as long as you want it, it’s really great. And I think it kind of helps us mature a little bit as a team.“For me personally, the goal is to make money. … Build my brand and make sure I’m surrounding myself with good people that want to see me succeed.