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The Clemson football program is embracing the new world of NIL as they’ve unveiled something never seen before in athlete branding. The Tigers have opened a facility dedicated solely to marketing their players.
The state-of-the-art facility is attached to the team’s indoor practice building, and it boasts a number of impressive features.
Those features include a video editing room, a photography center, and a recording studio where players can produce interviews and podcasts.
Here’s more in a press release on the university’s website.
The “Best” in “Best is the Standard” got better in early 2023, as Clemson opened the Allen N. Reeves Clemson Athletics Branding Institute to provide Clemson student-athletes best-in-class facilities and resources for branding, marketing, sponsorship, content creation and more.
Attached to the west end of the Poe Indoor Facility, the new 12,000-square-foot, two-story facility now houses two photo and video studios, an audio studio, editing space, conference room and the office of Name, Image and Likeness Coordinator C.D. Davies, all intended to provide on-site resources for student-athletes choosing to pursue sponsorship opportunities and content generation. The facility is also home to the Smart Family Media Center.
The team posted a visual tour of the facility on its Twitter page, and it’s absolutely blown followers away.
There’s nothing you can’t do at Clemson.
The first dedicated facility for student-athlete branding and education.https://t.co/ZINfY1VNGF pic.twitter.com/ynhHujlANE
— Clemson Football (@ClemsonFB) March 6, 2023
Take a look at the immediate response from the Clemson faithful.
One fan wrote, “Clemson really threw down the gauntlet to every school in the country with this. Should be interesting to see which schools really go all in on giving their creative staffs/student athletes the tools to brand & market their programs/players at the highest level.”
Another said, “Clemson understands the importance of NIL in today’s student-athlete experience and is building for the future accordingly!”
The facility should give the Tigers a leg up in athlete branding arena, though others are sure to follow suit. In fact, Alabama is already in the process of building a similar facility as they look to keep up with the Joneses.
The move represents a step forward in the world of NIL for Clemson.
Head coach Dabo Swinney has been critical of many of college football’s recent changes. Some of those talking points include playoff expansion and the transfer portal. He also caused a simultaneous eye roll from the sports world earlier this offseason by saying that he built his Clemson program in “God’s name, image, and likeness,” when discussing NIL.
Despite the perception from those outside the program, it appears that Clemson is embracing NIL and taking its athlete marketing very seriously. The Tigers hope that it results in a return to prominence.