Cornell launches NIL marketplace

Cornell Athletics launched the Big Red Exchange on April 15, giving its student-athletes a new marketplace to connect with businesses and brands for paid name, image and likeness deals. (cornellbigred.com) Cornell said the marketplace was built with Teamworks Influencer and is open to local businesses, national brands and community partners looking to work with Big Red athletes. Teamworks describes its Exchange product as a branded, fee-free platform that handles compliance, payments and tax reporting. (cornellbigred.com) (teamworks.com) Name, image and likeness deals let college athletes get paid by third parties for commercial uses such as social media posts, appearances and product promotions. The National Collegiate Athletic Association says those payments are allowed across all three divisions as long as they follow rules meant to protect fair competition. (ncaa.org) At Cornell, those deals already had to fit New York law, Ivy League rules and school policy before Big Red Exchange went live. Cornell’s athletics compliance page says athletes may use their name, image and likeness commercially, but contracts can be blocked if they conflict with school sponsors, require missed classes or team activities, or involve categories such as gambling, tobacco or firearms. (cornellbigred.com 1) (cornellbigred.com 2) The launch adds a formal storefront to a campus that had already expanded its Teamworks relationship. Cornell announced in December 2024 that it was adding Teamworks Influencer as interest in name, image and likeness opportunities grew among Big Red athletes. (cornellbigred.com) Teamworks says more than 200 schools and organizations use its Exchange network, and its public directory lists Ivy League member Brown alongside schools from major conferences and lower divisions. That gives Cornell a ready-made model for how businesses search for athletes and how schools route deals through compliance systems. (teamworks.com 1) (teamworks.com 2) For athletes, the change is less about creating name, image and likeness rights than organizing them. For businesses, it creates one official place to find Cornell athletes instead of negotiating through direct messages, agents or informal introductions. (cornellbigred.com) (teamworks.com) Cornell’s announcement frames Big Red Exchange as a way to connect athletes with sponsors inside and outside Ithaca, and the rules around those deals remain the same even as the process gets simpler. The next test is whether brands and local businesses use the platform often enough to turn that structure into regular deals. (cornellbigred.com)