South Carolina unveils unique in-house NIL firm and partnership with a sports agency

South Carolina on Tuesday unveiled a new and unique name, image and likeness partnership that is both in house in the athletics department, and with a sports agency, called Everett Sports Marketing.

ESM represents household names for SEC and sports fans in general, including Mac Jones, Jalen Hurts, Nick Chubb, Jonathan Taylor, as well as women’s college basketball players, Haley and Hanna Cavinder, twins who have established a large following through NIL arrangements.

ESM will help South Carolina players with brand support, negotiation assistance and other NIL areas, and that in-house agency will be called “Park Ave” and the services will be available at no charge to student-athletes.

Park Ave will provide data and analytics to determine influence and brand partnerships, will leverage their extensive knowledge in deal negotiation and procurement, and will spearhead creative content development and execution.

“We are excited to bring these opportunities to our student-athletes,” Athletics Director Ray Tanner said. “ESM is a leader in the field of sports marketing and has a tremendous track record in representing athletes in brand development. I appreciate our staff and donors who helped us put this arrangement together. I am confident it will be a tremendous Name Image and Likeness resource for our student-athletes.”

We just changed the NIL game.

Welcome to Park Avenue: https://t.co/g5ec2rSX3Q pic.twitter.com/EtRpuLY5V8

— Gamecock Football (@GamecockFB) August 30, 2022

Keith Farner

A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.