The “first-ever NIL Summit” conference, organized by NIL agency SANIL, runs from Monday through today in Atlanta and featuring panels offering "insights into brand building, selecting an agent and entrepreneurship, among other topics,” according to Ken Sugiura of the ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION. Participants came with a “multitude of questions, from the basic, such as how they can best reach out to potential NIL partners, to more advanced-level matters, like whether it’s a good idea to be paid for an NIL deal in cash vs. a company’s equity.” Georgia Tech distance runner Sarah Burwell “took advantage of the conference to network with other athletes who have succeeded in gaining large social media audiences." Burwell has “parlayed her reach into a partnership" with running gear retailer Heartbreak where she “creates TikTok videos for the company and also manages its TikTok account.” MOGL co-Founder & CEO Ayden Syal said that as NIL goes into its second full year, he “anticipated more athletes getting educated on how NIL works.” Syal: “One of the things you’ll see over the next year is athletes truly committing themselves to working on their own brand. So that’s going to make our jobs easier.” SANIL co-Founder & CEO Jason Belzer, the event organizer, said that “about 40 of the power conference schools sent athletes,” including "five or six SEC schools and seven or eight from the ACC." The Big Ten was “most represented.” Registration was $500, with schools “covering the cost for most, if not all, attendees” (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 6/15).
