The University of Texas Announces New In-house NIL Agency

AUSTIN – Following the latest House vs. NCAA settlement, the University of Texas has announced the formation of its new in-house NIL agency, Longhorn Sports Agency.

The foundational role of the LSA will be to help provide student-athletes with even more NIL opportunities beyond any specified guarantees in players’ contracts with UT. As part of the new House ruling, the new rules allow schools to pay players directly in amounts specified included with scholarship offers. Schools will have $20.5 million budgets, with around $15 million going to the schools’ football programs.

In a decision meant to help navigate and support student-athletes, the athletic department teamed up with Learfield’s Longhorn Sports Properties to create the LSA. In collaboration, the two will give athletes access to on-campus content producers from Learfield Studios, Longhorn Sports Network radio broadcast, and Longhorn Network.

These efforts will allow student-athletes at the University of Texas the opportunity to engage in brand development, content creation, and customized NIL solutions.

The LSA will be centered around Leafield Impact’s three pillars: on-campus NIL leadership, creative content campaigns, and access to deal facilitation and compliance technology.

These foundational pillars will help give the University of Texas its own unified and unique NIL agency that will offer new and exclusive NIL opportunities to student-athletes.

The LSA will develop a structured support staff for the student-athletes as well, utilizing a director of NIL business development, an associate of business development, and a NIL marketing partnership manager to help facilitate outside NIL brand deals.

Collaborative efforts with Learfield Studios and on-campus network producers will help student-athletes create social media content like podcasts.

Along with the LSA, the Texas One Fund, Texas’s NIL collective organization, will continue to operate and provide another avenue for NIL revenue for student-athletes.

This news also comes after head coach Steve Sarkisian appeared on the “3rd & Longhorn” podcast hosted by former Texas players, where he expressed his confidence in the extensive NIL opportunities that student-athletes will have in the city of Austin.

In an ever-changing world of NIL, all fans can do is wait and see how the University of Texas continues to perform and recruit in a mainly NIL-driven era.