Pitt Athletic Department Announces New ‘Forged Here’ Name, Image, Likeness Program for Athletes

After Pennsylvania recently passed legislation allowing athletes to profit off of their name, image, and likeness starting July 1, Pitt has now introduced a program called Forged Here that will help athletes maximize their personal brand.

“As it relates to providing our student-athletes with the most extraordinary experience at Pitt, our goal is to be progressive, innovative and helpful in every aspect of their student-athlete experience and the world of name, image and likeness is no different,” Pitt AD Heather Lyke said in a release on Wednesday. “We look forward to helping our student-athletes learn more about this topic and build a transparent relationship with them and their families so we can assist in their efforts or aspirations to maximize compensation and opportunities involving their name, image and likeness.”

The release also included a statement detailing Pitt’s relationship with INFLCR, which is a company that helps with brand-building.

“Pitt Athletics also has expanded its relationship with INFLCR — the leading brand-building platform for student-athletes — to include INFLCR Plus and INFLCR Verified.INFLCR’s NIL team assists college athletic departments in the implementation of content, compliance, and recruiting strategies to support athletics programs navigating new challenges and dynamics coming from eventual student-athlete Name, Image, and Likeness commercial activities. INFLCR’s Plus offerings equip athletics staff with the software, assets, and guidance to maximize their messaging to potential recruits, while providing unique insights for current student-athletes looking to build their brands and benefit from future NIL opportunities.

“Coach Capel and Pitt Men’s Basketball were some of the first to lean into INFLCR’s NIL vision in 2020, and we couldn’t be more excited to work with them in rolling out their new NIL programming department-wide with INFLCR Verified,” said INFLCR CEO Jim Cavale. “Through this expanded partnership, our INFLCR Plus team will be ready to support all of Pitt’s student-athletes in providing best-in-class guidance and education for them to succeed both on and off the court in the NIL era.”

Some Pitt athletes, including Keyshon Camp, John Hugley and Femi Odukale have already begun to spread messages on social media saying that their DMs are open to businesses looking to advertise with the athletes’ help.

#H2P pic.twitter.com/3M55KuKzEm

— Bamp🔥 (@Camp_thatdude) June 30, 2021