Sports

ASU athletes thrive with NIL and entrepreneurship support

How the program, in partnership with GoDaddy, is helping student-athletes build businesses and their brands TEMPE, Ariz. — Four years ago, the NCAA started allowing student-athletes to get paid for their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL). A recent ruling involving a former Arizona State University swimmer will allow universities to pay their student-athletes directly with […]

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How the program, in partnership with GoDaddy, is helping student-athletes build businesses and their brands

TEMPE, Ariz. — Four years ago, the NCAA started allowing student-athletes to get paid for their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL). A recent ruling involving a former Arizona State University swimmer will allow universities to pay their student-athletes directly with revenue-sharing. 

At ASU, they’re thinking a few steps ahead by creating a space on campus to help athletes navigate the NIL era. Having a summer job and earning money can look different for college athletes but in Tempe, they’re encouraged to leverage sport as an entrepreneurial platform. 

The University teamed up to launch the Student-Athlete Venture Studio in January. The program supports Sun Devils in their entrepreneurial and NIL journeys by providing resources and mentorship to kickstart careers.

The Co-Founders of the Student Athlete Venture Studio are Jeff Kunowski and Kate Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald, a former Sun Devil beach volleyball player, also carries the title of Sports Innovation Entrepreneurship Catalyst at the J. Orin Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute. 

Her experience and initiative have helped shape what this program looks like for Sun Devil athletes. Fitzgerald says the Venture Studio resources are in place to help answer the questions someone just starting a business might have such as: “Where do I go with this? How do I organize my thoughts? How do I create media? How do I create content? How do I brand myself?” Fitzgerald said. 

“While I was in undergrad, I launched my own company called VB America. It’s a volleyball lifestyle clothing brand… What I did when working with Jeff is say, ‘okay, this is everything I wish I had as a student-athlete that would’ve helped me. How can we make it possible for other student-athletes to get these same resources?”

Kunowski’s career has led him to work with various sports teams before returning to his Alma Mater to mentor students along their journeys and help drive sports innovation within Sun Devil Athletics. The Venture Studio is like “Shark Tank” for Sun Devils. At the end of the year, there is a Demo Day pitch competition where student-athletes can receive funding for their ventures. The goal is to inspire student-athletes to build their brands now and equip them with the skills they need to excel in business.

“We’re encouraging entrepreneurial mindset, design-thinking principles, things that are applicable while they’re here at ASU as an athlete and while they’re leveraging NIL,” Kunowski said. “To be able to be on the sideline witnessing the confidence levels rising, the ability to public speak, the ability to articulate an idea and put it into a framework that people can understand and gravitate towards, it really is just such an inspiring position to be in.”

Rising sophomore on the women’s lacrosse team, Sierra Ryan, says the support from Sun Devil Athletics has allowed her to focus her energy on getting her venture off the ground. With practices, games, training and all the other time commitments required to participate in sports, it’s often a challenge for athletes to focus on their ventures. Whether it’s through sport or a startup, ASU gives its athletes an opportunity to pursue their passions and tap into their competitive nature through this new program.

“My venture is Fuel Warden. It’s a nutrition and wellness management platform for elite athletes. It’s still in the works right now but I’ve been programming it myself and putting everything together, meeting with investors and things like that,” Ryan said. “Everything that you could need to truly succeed in entrepreneurship, they’re bringing here to athletes at ASU. Like, helping me scale my venture and look with my pitch decks when I’m meeting with investors… Literally an hour before [my lacrosse game] my coach was like ‘hey, you need to go do this pitch I’ll cut out 15 minutes for you to do it in the locker room. Everyone will leave for you so you can do your meeting.’ [My coaches] are flexible and they believe in me and that means the world.”

Follow the conversation with Lina Washington on X and Instagram: @LWashingtonTV. If you have a sports story idea, email Lina at LWashington@12News.com.





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