On Thursday afternoon, the University Athletic Association announced a partnership with The Brandr Group that will allow UF athletes to profit off of their name, image and likeness using the school’s official trademarks and logos.
Previously, Gators athletes were prohibited from making money off of merchandise that features the school’s logos and trademarks.
Now, they’ll be able to voluntarily join a group licensing program of three or more athletes from the same team or six or more athletes from across sports. The Brandr Group will then facilitate group licensing for the participating athletes.
Participating in the program will not limit their individual name, image and likeness rights, and athletes from all 21 Gators sports will be eligible to participate.
“The Florida Gators have one of the strongest brands in all of college athletics, and this agreement with The Brandr Group provides great value to our student-athletes in expanding their NIL opportunities,” UF athletic director Scott Stricklin said. “This is a win for Florida student-athletes and Gators fans, who will be able to represent their favorite players like never before.”
One of the areas this partnership may manifest itself is in jersey sales. Fans will soon be able to purchase apparel that includes participating athletes’ names and jersey numbers.
The Brandr Group has decades of collective management experience, including the NFL, NBA and MLB players’ associations.
“University of Florida athletics are consistently among the best in college sports across the board,” said Wesley Haynes, CEO of The Brandr Group. “Adding group licensing opportunities to the Gators’ name, image and likeness portfolio is going to provide lucrative and wide-ranging opportunities for UF student-athletes. Kudos to the University of Florida Athletics Department for making group licensing part of their efforts to grow and provide opportunities for their student athletes.”