Florida State has an edge on Clemson
By: will-vandervort April 12, 2021

Coming off a football national championship in 2013, then Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher told FSU boosters and its board of trustees they need to start thinking about upgrades to their facilities and other areas inside the football program because Dabo Swinney was building a sleeping giant at Clemson.

As we know, Fisher was correct. Now the tables have turned somewhat.

Last month, Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich teamed up with South Carolina AD Ray Ranner to ask South Carolina lawmakers to pay attention to what is happening in Florida when it comes Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), hoping to get a proposed bill passed that can protect their student-athletes in the ever-changing-world of collegiate athletics.

A subcommittee of the Senate Education Committee in South Carolina gave its preliminary approval for a Name, Image and Likeness bill that will allow college athletes the opportunity to engage in NIL opportunities and deals through a third party.

That is good news. And though Clemson is preparing to have its student athletes take advantage of their NIL, the state of South Carolina is behind other states, such as Florida, which will have its law begin on July 1.

The Seminoles are already prepared to take advantage of this rule, which could give them a leg up in close recruiting battles with Clemson.

On Monday, INFLCR announced a department-wide partnership with Florida State Athletics. INFLCR’s platform, mobile app, and NIL team will play a central role in the launch of FSU’s Apex NIL program.

“The [Apex] program is unlike any in college athletics,” Florida State said in a the release. “It was developed through a unique educational partnership with FSU’s Jim Moran Institute, the nation’s first stand-alone entrepreneurship college at a public university, FSU’s nationally renowned College of Business, and the Academic Center for Excellence, which will offer two for-credit academic courses. Apex will also offer Seminole student-athletes the opportunity to elevate their social media reach by utilizing the services provided by INFLCR, an industry leader representing more than 800 teams and more than 30,000 athletes.”

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