250+ current student-athletes convened at McDonough

The Athletics Department for the Georgetown Hoyas held the Georgetown NIL Summit at McDonough Arena on Thursday evening where more than 250 current student-athletes convened. The panel included experts from the MSB, INFLCR, Altius, Invesco, and Meta/Instagram.

Over the past year and a half, Georgetown has rolled out some NIL programs such as The Blueprint and The Hoya Blueprint Exchange and had some success, but the Athletics Department could likely do a better job of making athletes and potential sponsors aware.

Press Release from GUHoyas:

Georgetown Hosts NIL Summit Presented By InvescoQQQ

WASHINGTON – The Georgetown University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics hosted the Georgetown NIL Summit for more than 250 student-athletes at McDonough Arena on Thursday evening. The event was presented by InvescoQQQ and featured impressive panelists with experience in the many different facets of name, image and likeness. It focused on brand building, social media best practices and do’s/don’ts within the NIL space.

Featured Speakers

Dev Sethi, Head of Sports, Meta/Instagram

Andy Blockner, Invesco

Rebecca Hamilton, McDonough School of Business

Sean Kelly, Associate GM, INFLCR

Carly Tower, Altius Sports Partners

What They’re Saying About Name, Image and Likeness and the Georgetown NIL Summit

“The Hoya Exchange is a partnership that not all institutions across the country have. A huge opportunity in this city is thinking about the day-to-day things you’re paying for, and leveraging your name, image and likeness to pay for that through a local partnership.” – Sean Kelly, Associate GM, INFLCR

“One of the main things we see in student-athletes who are successful is that they’re proactive. They don’t wait for people to come to them, they go out and make those connections. Through the technology the University has provided, you have the ability to be proactive. The businesses that are part of the Exchange have already said they are interested in working with student-athletes, so being part of this Exchange is going to give you the opportunity to make connections, and do deals that will last well beyond your time at Georgetown.” – Dev Sethi, Head of Sports, Meta/Instagram

“My biggest takeaway is the very tangible investment that the University is making to make sure that we’re supported in a space that, for me, is very foreign and kind of overwhelming. Now I feel like, at the least, there are resources we can go to. As I start that journey, I feel like the school has my back and I’m excited about it.” – Graceann Bennett, Women’s Basketball

“I learned how many different avenues you can take in this new world we’re immersed in with NIL. As a football player at Georgetown, sometimes we may feel smaller since we’re not men’s or women’s basketball, but we learned there are different avenues for different types of advocacy or for monetary gains. Choosing the lane that you fit into and riding out on it is my main takeaway and I wish I had done this my freshman year.” – Jonathan Saddler, Football