Since the NCAA introduced the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) Plan for student athletes to earn a profit from their identity, hundreds of schools throughout the country have partnered up with companies to attract student-athletes to play their respective sports at their school.
Some athletes, including Lousiana State University’s Livvy Dunne, University of Colorado’s Shadeur Sanders, and University of Texas’ Arch Manning, have each made millions of dollars, thanks to their ability to use their names, images, and likenesses to create partnerships and make money with sponsoring companies.
While millions of dollars may be more than a stretch here at MCLA, student-athletes now have the ability to earn a little bit of cash while going through the season. On August 28, the school officially announced their partnership with Influxer, a company that has partnered with over 300 schools across the country to create co-branded apparel, such as t-shirts, sweatshirts, jerseys, and necklace chains. The clothes made by Influxer are even customized with players’ names and numbers.
For MCLA’s Athletic Director Laura Mooney, the idea of bringing NIL and Influxer to MCLA is mutually beneficial for all parties. It helps student athletes make money during the season, and MCLA can use it as a way to attract more student athletes to the school in the future.
“We really wanted it to be almost like an advantage for student athletes here over some over places they could choose,” said Mooney. “We have this deal, we’re able to sign up and do this and use the school’s marks and sell gear with their names on it, so it’s a better opportunity for being at MCLA versus some other place that doesn’t have that opportunity.”
The plan to bring Influxer to MCLA was brought together thanks to the combined efforts of Mooney, Associate Director of Athletics Dot Houston, and Director of Athletic Communications Derek Shell. After meeting with a variety of companies, they felt Influxer was the right fit, due to the information it brought to the table regarding NIL and being attentive to the needs both the department and its student athletes were looking for.
In a statement given to MCLA Athletics, Influxer says “The NIL landscape is constantly evolving and working with Laura Mooney and the administration has been an amazing opportunity to see the vision they have for MCLA providing great options through Influxer for their student-athletes. They see this as not simply a transactional opportunity, but as an opportunity to develop long term skills for life.”
As of early October, 23 different student athletes have signed with Influxer to release their merchandise for anyone to purchase. Many of them have already shown excitement about the opportunity to not only have people represent them, but to make money while continuing their focus on athletics and academics.
“I think it’s an awesome opportunity for students to make a little bit of money while being away at school and pursuing their sport,” said MCLA Baseball player Ryan McDonald ‘25. “We put a lot of time and effort into a rigorous everyday training program and with some of us taking five to seven classes on top of that, it leaves very little time to hold any sort of employment or make any money.”
“Influxer is a great opportunity to make a little bit of money,” agreed MCLA Men’s Hockey player Jack Bortle ‘27. “But, more importantly, it’s a great way for friends and family to purchase clothes and support me.”
In addition, players who have not signed up for Influxer have seen the buzz, and reacted positively to it within their respective teams about how to get involved.
“I definitely know people are asking their coaches about it, which is good, and Dot has been a resource to them as well,” said Mooney. “It’s a resource and it’s a tool for student-athletes to use if that’s something they want to take part in. We hear all the time from our student-athletes about their need to earn money for their class books or extras or whatever it might be, so we just thought that this was another way we could help provide an opportunity to make that happen in a regulated, put-together way.”
“I first heard about Influxer through a teammate of mine last spring before MCLA partnered with them,” said McDonald. “I quickly got a sense of what the company was about and what their mission was.”
“Jaxen Potter ‘26 on the Men’s Basketball team told me to make an Influxer account so he could buy ‘Jack Bortle’ merch,” Bortle said with a smile. “I decided to create an Influxer account after constant pressure from Jaxen.”
NIL is typically heard about at the Division I level, so it is usually an anomaly when it is seen at the Division II and Division III levels of athletics. However, with MCLA breaking the trend, it serves as an opportunity for other schools to also get involved with the opportunity. MCLA themselves have already started looking into other possible NIL partnerships thanks to the success of the partnership with Influxer thus far.
“We were already talking about how Influxer is more focused on gear, but what about a sports drink or something else?” asked Mooney. “We would love to have more opportunities for students to earn a couple of extra bucks and whatever they might need it for, so we’re definitely open to the idea [of more NIL partnerships], as long as it’s something that fits with our values of the department and the college. We’re definitely interested.”
Student athletes also hope that the growth of merchandise will help grow the popularity and interest of current and future athletes to come to MCLA and represent the department.
“I think as with everything in this day and age, social media is huge,” said McDonald. “Companies can use it in the right ways to be beneficial to both themselves and student athletes, and that’s a great thing. I think it’s good MCLA gave this opportunity to their students and other big opportunities like this could certainly help attract some students because they can make some money while away and busy pursuing a sport.”
While it is still early in the release, Influxer serves as the future of MCLA-Athletics, allowing student-athletes to earn money and also create more buzz regarding the school. To purchase student-athlete apparel, please visit the official MCLA x Influxer Instagram page on Instagram @mclamerch.