Wisconsin announces new NIL program to 'enhance' opportunity

Wisconsin is launching Badger Athlete Partners, the school and Learfield announced on Wednesday. This is a way for Badger athletes to “enhance, support, and streamline” NIL opportunities moving forward. A big step for Wisconsin as the entire athletic department looks to begin a new era.

“Badger Athlete Partners is the next iteration of our existing NIL and brand infrastructure, further scaling opportunities for Badger student-athletes and delivering on the needs of our valued brand partners,” Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh said in a statement. “This is an exciting step, as it creates a large and scalable ecosystem that helps drive recruitment and retention across all sports.”

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“This partnership will unlock next-level opportunities for student-athletes through our dedicated Learfield Impact NIL leaders, award-winning content, and industry-leading technology,” Vice President and General Manager for Badger Sports Properties Scott Silvestri followed. “We are thrilled to expand our relationship with Wisconsin Athletics on such an important and large-scale initiative.”

As for the other NIL revenue generation efforts currently involved with Wisconsin, they will all be merged into Badger Athlete Partners. All eggs are being thrown into this product in Madison. The overall goal will remain the same, though, helping Wisconsin athletes with business development, activation, and content creation.

Wisconsin retaining Luke Fickell, investing more in NIL

Of course, most of the attention with this move will be on the football program. Luke Fickell is expected to return for the 2026 season despite finding his name on the hot seat throughout. McIntosh previously announced that Fickell will be back, using his potential buyout money to invest in a better roster.

In three years under Fickell, Wisconsin has just one winning season. Falling short of bowl games is not something they are used to in Madison, going 4-8 this year and 5-7 in 2024. Previously, the last time the Badgers did not compete in the postseason was 2001.

Now, the journey to build up the roster begins. The NCAA transfer portal is set to open in early January, an area you have to imagine Fickell will hit hard. Wisconsin signed a recruiting class ranked 58th per the On3 Industry Team Rankings, sitting at No. 15 when compared to Big Ten foes.

The need to win now is certainly there, achievable through the transfer portal. Hopefully, Badger Athlete Partners helps land the talent required to get through a tough 2026 schedule.