SMU Athletics officials discussed how Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) changes have shifted the playing field for college athletics at a recent Rotary Club of Park Cities luncheon.
The NCAA NIL rule, which took effect in July 2021, allows college student-athletes to earn money from their name, image, and likeness without losing eligibility.
Jack Betts, an Episcopal School of Dallas alumnus who played wide receiver for Amherst College and is now Senior NIL Partnerships Solutions Coordinator for Mustang Sports Properties, supporting SMU Athletics, moderated a panel on the issue during an Aug. 21 Rotary Club meeting.
Panel members included SMU Football Assistant Athletic Director J.R. Sandlin, SMU Athletics Executive Deputy Athletic Director Brian Ullmann, and Mustang Sports Properties General Manager Kyle Beatrice Robbins.
How college athletics departments in the age of NIL balance the mission of education with the business of college sports was the central theme of the discussion.
“We have an educational mission and yet we’re running a multi-billion-dollar business, and that is what the big challenge facing every athletic department is today: how do you balance those two things?” Ullmann said. “When we ushered in the era of revenue sharing … the revenue pressures on athletic departments grew exponentially.”
In an effort to support revenue generation, SMU Athletics formed Mustang Partners in December of 2025 to focus on pursuing revenue and brand opportunities in the NIL era.
“We want to do much more than just have corporate sponsors,” though, Robbins said. “We’re really looking to build partnerships and do that through brand storytelling.”
Ullmann explained that he and Robbins work to find partnerships that benefit both the athletics department and the university more broadly. For example, they are working to bring Nike professionals to campus to teach about the business of sports.
“How can we create good partnerships? Sometimes that means maximizing cash, sometimes it means giving something back to the university,” Ullman said.
Sandlin explained how general managers in college athletics have a new focus on the financial packages offered to student athletes in the NIL era.
“It’s not just an offer of a scholarship anymore,” Sandlin said. “It is a totally different world.”
While NIL has ushered in a new era in college athletics, departments are continuing to adapt to changes in the business of sports.
“We’re talking a lot about NIL and paying student athletes, and that’s one thing that will never go back. Obviously, once those doors are open, we’re going to continue to pay athletes, but what that looks like is changing every single day,” Robbins said. “It’s looking at what are these new opportunities, thinking bigger, thinking more creative.”
