It’s been several months since the NCAA allowed student athletes to profit from the use of their name image and likeness.

KGVO News reached out to University of Montana Athletic Director Kent Haslam for an update on how Grizzly athletes are utilizing the program.

This started back in July,” said Haslam. It’s the policy that was changed by the NCAA allowing student athletes to profit off their name image and likeness and we implemented a policy here at the University of Montana. It's going really well so far. We've had about ten student athletes take advantage of their opportunities. They're required to disclose those opportunities to us so that we can track them and make sure that they're legit and they are doing that.”

Haslam said there are some limitations to the NIL (name, image and likeness) policy.

“We have certain categories that they are prohibited from endorsing, and they're not allowed to use University marks for any of their promotional items,” he said. “There are limitations on what they can and cannot do. But in reality they're not really that restrictive.”

Haslam said UM student athletes are innovative in how they’re using the policy.

“A lot of it is being done on social media,” he said. “A lot of it is being done through their Tik Tock accounts and Instagram and their promotions on social media, and individual camps. They’re running their own camps, developing their own lines of sportswear or logo wear and those type of things. That’s really where we see student athletes taking advantage of this change.”

Haslam said both male and female student athletes are taking advantage of the program.

“Its spread out pretty evenly among male and female student athletes, and it's not being dominated by one sport,” he said. “We've got volleyball players, Lady Griz basketball players, and some football players. I don't know the exact breakdown, but its spread across pretty evenly.”

Learn more about the NCAA name, image and likeness policy here.

 

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