Michigan takes a gigantic step forward with NIL

Whether it’s Michigan football, Michigan basketball, or another sport, the Wolverines got some good news on the NIL front on Tuesday. 

NIL has become one of the most hotly-debated topics in all of college sports and for Michigan fans, it’s been hard to watch as the Wolverines seemed to lag behind.

It’s hard enough to win when Michigan football and Michigan basketball are limited in what they can do in the transfer portal due to admissions limitations, but lagging in NIL was starting to hurt Michigan on the recruiting trail. It was clear in the 2022 class and even more so in 2023.

Of course, NIL is like the wild, wild West. There are rules now, but are they being enforced? Michigan has been trying to do things the right way but one big question was why players weren’t able to use things like the Block M logo or the winged helmet as part of NIL deals?

After all, Michigan football has one of the most iconic helmets in college football and the Block M logo is also iconic. The Wolverines essentially own a letter of the alphabet and it’s time to take advantage of both of those things which will finally start happening according to a press release from the Brandr Group.

What does this mean for Michigan?

It means that players will finally be able to capitalize on Michigan’s tremendous branding. Fans can order jerseys with official logos and some of that money will go to the players. It didn’t before. You could only buy jerseys with their number and the Michigan colors, but not the official logo.

It’s also going to give chances to players in all 29 sports. This might not put Michigan on a level playing field with Texas A&M and the SEC but it’s a huge step in the right direction.

Michigan is doing better in the NIL game than it’s getting credit for especially guys like Hunter Dickinson and J.J. McCarthy. But it shows the opportunity is there and this is only going to help.

However, Michigan is not going to promise guys NIL deals before they get to campus. That’s against the rules but it finally feels like U-M is taking its NIL game to the next level.