Michigan State athletics looks to help student-athletes navigate NIL

Michigan State Athletics has seen benefits in its sports programs over the last few years, through its Spartan Nation NIL fund. MSU’s athletic teams and athletes have grown as a result of name, image, and likeness (NIL) and the continuing impact it’s having on college athletics.

Darien Harris, MSU’s Assistant AD/Business Development and NIL Strategy, says that the athletic department has done a great job at adapting to the constant changes in college sports.

“We’ve done a great job of that over the past few years with some transformational players that have entered our program that have come from the transfer portal or have decided to attend our school,” Harris said

Michigan State has benefited through their team store as of recently. In March, the MSU NIL team store was ranked in the top four in selling schools.

Athletes from several programs at MSU have also benefited from the team store. Former Michigan State guard Jase Richardson’s jersey was the top earning male athlete in March.

Photo Courtesy: @SpartyNIL on “X”

Smaller sports athletes have also benefited from the NIL team store including MSU softball’s Madison Taylor and Track and Field runner Abigail Wiegers. Six members of the MSU gymnastics team also have their own apparel, including t-shirts and jerseys, at the team store. Merch at the store generally is worth as low as $39.99 to as high as $119.99.

Keith Miller is the Vice President of Influxer, a company that helps collegiate athletes navigate NIL. Influxer was established three years ago, starting with a partnership with Texas-Corpus Christi and is now currently partnered through 510 schools across Division I to III. The company has also partnered with just shy of 50,000 student athletes.

Influxer is currently working with six Big Ten schools and while they aren’t partnered with Michigan State, they’re currently in talks of working with them in the future.

Miller believes that Michigan State is a brand name and gets why schools feel like them are falling behind when competing with other schools. He doesn’t believe that MSU is in a bad situation and hopes that Influxer can help the school strengthen their NIL approach.

“They’ve got a great NIL director, a great admin staff, they’ve got a great name. They’re in a position to do a lot of very cool stuff, hopefully we’re a part of that story, we hope to add to the experience of the student athletes there and do some good work there,” Miller said.

Photo Courtesy: @msu.nil.store on Instagram

MSU hired Jon Dykema as its new executive senior associate athletic director/student-athlete management and assistant general counsel on Feb. 19. Dykema served as the director of football compliance and lead football counsel for the Detroit Lions for 14 years. He also worked under MSU coach Tom Izzo as a student manager.

He also experienced working at other college athletic programs including spending four years at Utah and a semester at Akron. Harris is confident that the addition of Dykema can further strengthen MSU’s NIL approach.

“He’s been great to work with, he’s been bringing a level of expertise from a pro side, that’s been advantageous to us going forward, especially in this day and age with the way things are going. We’re excited to see what he’s going to add to our department,” Harris said.

Along with NIL changing the impact of collegiate athletics, the transfer portal has also had a drastic effect on college athletes and has had its negative impacts.

Over 2,000 college football and basketball players have entered the transfer portal after the conclusion of the 2024-25 season.

Roster spots have become unavailable, as not every football and basketball athlete gets the opportunity to commit to a school that can help them succeed both athletically and academically.

Harris said that this has become a major problem with NIL and that MSU is doing what it takes to make sure their athletes are supported, whether they decide to stay or transfer out.

Photo Courtesy: @msu.nil.store on Instagram

“There are going to be some athletes that don’t land somewhere, and that’s a scary thought process, to where you were at a school and all set, and you decide to make a switch, and you get lost in the abyss of the portal. The only way that we can best support them is to say we’re there for them and we’re always going to be willing to help pretty much no matter what, and to me that’s the job,” Harris said.

Collegiate football and basketball are the two sports that have benefited the most from NIL and the transfer portal. Harris believes that while it is important for these two sports to receive the benefits, MSU has made sure that every sport on campus is represented and benefiting from NIL.

“The way that we approach it here is that everybody has the opportunity to participate in NIL. It doesn’t mean the money is going to be the same for every athlete; the way we look at it is not focusing on which sports generate the most revenue,” Harris said.

Despite MSU adapting to the impacts of NIL and the transfer portal, many critics and fans argue that the athletic department isn’t doing enough to evolve like other Big Ten universities and is falling behind.

This has caused concern among the Spartan faithful, who worry that MSU won’t be able to compete on the playing field in high-revenue sports like football and basketball in the future.

Photo Courtesy: @msu.nil.store on Instagram

Harris believes that despite the criticism, MSU is doing what it takes to compete at the highest level with NIL both on and off the playing field.

“I think we’ve shown with our play that we can compete in this new landscape, and we’ve showcased that. I think folks get caught up in glitz and glamour, and that doesn’t always determine what you have from a resources standpoint,” Harris said.

Miller says he gets why some Michigan State fans feel like the school is being left behind when it comes to NIL, the transfer portal, and the continuing changes in college athletics.

“If I were to give some encouraging words to the Michigan State fan base if they’re not alone, this is happening across the country. The smaller tier Division I schools feel like they’re getting poached by the bigger schools,” Miller said.