Brandon E. Martin, Ed.D. Vice Chancellor, UMKC Athletics Director

Kansas City Athletics is committed to embracing and reacting to the ever-changing environment in college athletics. We do this by prioritizing the student-athlete experience and equipping our coaches with the resources necessary to compete for Summit League Championships. Most importantly, we are steadfastly committed to navigating these changes with integrity and values that reflect the UMKC campus community and Kansas City region at large.

One new reality within college athletics has been the rules, policies and procedures involving Name, Image and Likeness (NIL). Since July 1, 2021, student-athletes competing in college athletics have been permitted to receive compensation for their NIL for commercial activities, including endorsements through social media, appearances, entrepreneurial activities, in-kind deals, autographs and more in accordance with NCAA guidelines. The Kansas City Athletics administration has worked arduously to provide our student-athletes with creative assets, platforms and educational tools to assist with navigating their opportunities, brand and earning potential.

Professional Organizations Help Students-Athletes Realize NIL Benefits

In February 2023, we announced our partnership with INFLCR — a proven leader in the NIL collegiate space for student-athletes. This partnership resulted in the launch of the KC Roos Exchange, which allows for a streamlined connection and interaction process between our student-athletes and interested businesses. In essence, the KC Roos Exchange serves as a student-athlete NIL business registry custom designed for businesses, donors, alumni and any other interested group wishing to connect with student-athletes to discuss an NIL partnership. Once the NIL deal between the registered business and student-athlete is completed, the business will use the KC Roo Exchange to create a transaction that will produce a direct payment to the student-athlete and automate a disclosure to the INFLCR Verified Compliance Ledger. Kansas City Athletics does not have to get involved with the agreement, and all transactions within the local exchange are consolidated into one 1099 at the end of the year for easier tax reporting purposes for registered student-athletes.

In addition to the KC Roos Exchange, the Roos Excellence Collective, a third-party 501c3 organization supporting Kansas City Athletics' student-athletes, was recently founded and launched in April 2023. The Roos Excellence Collective creates opportunities for in-person engagements in the community, such as meet-and-greets and charity efforts. The Collective also assists in facilitating youth sports programs throughout Kansas City, speaking engagements and corporate advertising campaigns. There will also be opportunities in the future for exclusive student-athlete content, merchandise and giveaways.

NIL: Looking Ahead

The landscape of college athletics has undoubtedly changed dramatically during the past five years. The emergence of NIL has offered our student-athletes unique paths to maximize these opportunities, navigate the campus terrain and elevate their experiences as students and athletes. My hope is that UMKC alumni, locally and nationally, will partner with Kansas City Athletics to identify more NIL opportunities for our student-athletes. Your engagement will undeniably support elevating the student-athlete experience, enhance our efforts with recruiting and aid in our competitive excellence agenda. For more information, please visit our Athletics website at kcroos.com or email Curt Jacey, deputy director of Athletics for External Relations, at jaceyc@umkc.edu.

Thank you in advance for your support of our student-athletes and Kansas City Athletics.

Go Roos!