Dealiyo. Enabling Access for Every Student Athlete and Small Business to NIL Opportunities

Record deals between big brands and NCAA athletes are changing the face of college athletics, but how do we ensure that all NCAA athletes and small and local businesses have opportunities to market and monetize in the NIL landscape? Dealiyo.

$350. That was the rent for my room in a shared house in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2014. Granted, the house had seen better days after being home to a group of 10 or so 21 year old boys for decades. There were rats in the walls, and the basement was something out of a M Night Shyamalan movie. That being said, $350 a month was the price for the roof over my head.
While rent prices fluctuate dramatically from college to college and market to market, I remember thinking about that $350 and the other unique costs for college students - meal plans, books, club fees, and of course, loans. All of these leave out the even greater costs incurred by our student athletes, especially if they’re not on scholarship.  

It is easy to forget how far $200, $300 or $400 goes for a college student. For some, $200 could be extra spending money for a new pair of cleats in some of our less well funded sports programs. For others, an extra $200 could mean making a loan payment, making rent for the month, or sending some money home to family.

When Ed O’Bannon prevailed as the lead plaintiff in the 2015 US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit against the NCAA, he paved the way for NCAA athletes to be compensated for the use of their name, image, and likeness (NIL). Since that landmark ruling and the subsequent NIL policies, thousands of NCAA athletes have worked with businesses and brands to make money while in school. Yet there are many thousands more NCAA athletes who are being left behind by the NIL system.

In an article in Sports Business Journal, Bill Carter states that as of 2023, only 17 percent of Division I NCAA athletes participated in NIL. That leaves the other 83 percent of athletes either not pursuing NIL money or lacking deal flow/NIL marketing opportunities from businesses. This then raises the question - if NIL is expected to be at least a $5B industry by 2029, how are we going to expand the exchange and flow of deal opportunities to more student athletes and how are we going to grow the number of small and medium businesses who are looking to make small dollar NIL deals in the marketplace?

This question inspired us to build and launch Dealiyo - the first dynamic and automated platform for athletes and businesses to actively negotiate and fulfill NIL deals via customized legal agreements. Sure, there are plenty of tools out there for athletes and collectives, but what’s missing is a tool that ensures safety and eliminates risk for both student athletes and businesses by creating non predatory, unbiased legal agreements from agreed upon terms.

That’s why our goal is to get every student athlete the opportunity to find and make NIL money while they are in school. We started Dealiyo with the mission to help every student athlete access NIL opportunities with a secure legal and financial support platform free of charge. We’re excited to build Dealiyo alongside NCAA student athletes and small, local businesses. Together we’ll shape the future of NIL and democratize access to NIL opportunities for all student athletes.