Kentucky athletics unveils mobile app, website for NIL Era

After months of hearing how it needed to get aggressive in NIL, Kentucky provided a piece of the answer Tuesday.

The Wildcats debuted a new mobile app and an enhance edition of UKathletics.com. Not only will the site be a key come football season for mobile ticketing, but an infrastructure has been put in place to help out student-athletes’ NIL ventures.

Each roster features student-athlete bios, but more importantly, easy access to the student-athletes’ social media handles, helping them to enhance branding opportunities and visibility. And on the NIL section of the site comes details on NCAA rules on boosters along with other educational resources.

“We are very excited for the Big Blue Nation to see our new website and mobile app,” said UK Athletics website coordinator Tim Letcher. “The mobile-friendly design of both of these products will enhance and expand our coverage of all 23 varsity sports at UK.”

Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops has been adamant about the Wildcats growing aggressive in the NIL landscape. With known major players in the SEC, Kentucky does not have the option to sit by the wayside.

Athletic director Mitch Barnhart has opted to not push NIL to the brink and draw the NCAA’s intention. Instead, he’s used the wait and see approach. But Kentucky does not have the luxury.

Stoops joined Kentucky Sports Radio this month to discuss the NIL philosophies of the school. He says the biggest issue is informing people who wish to join in about what is legal so they feel comfortable doing so.

“I know there’s people here in town that are doing it the right way, that have worked extremely hard meeting with lawyers, meeting with people from the NCAA, meeting anybody they can to make sure they’re doing it legal and the right way,” Stoops said. “We need to market it better but, bottom line, they need to hear from me that it is okay. Administration and coaches want to step forward? That’s fine as well. It is okay. It is legal.”

Kentucky currently has just one NIL collective, which operates nearly differently than any other collective in the nation. Dubbed “The 15“, it is run by Athlete Advantage and allows corporations and businesses of all sizes to partner with student-athletes from UK through multi-year marketing and endorsement programs and increase their brands.

The Wildcats are slowly making steps towards an aggressive NIL strategy. Tuesday was a step in that direction.