Western Michigan University Athletics

ONWARD, a comprehensive Name, Image, and Likeness program that will provide WMU student-athletes with technology, education and resources to succeed in the NIL era. ONWARD will create opportunities for student-athletes to work towards their goals in their lives and careers, and Western Michigan University is thrilled to support them in this endeavor. Through ONWARD, defined by moving forward or toward a point lying ahead, WMU Athletics will assist its student-athletes in moving forward in the Name, Image, and Likeness space and support student-athletes as they build their personal brand and maximize their NIL opportunities. 

The ONWARD program will focus in on four key areas: Branding, Education, Community Connections, and Policy and Monitoring.

WMU Athletics has partnered with INFLCR, a leading content and compliance platform for intercollegiate athletics departments, that will assist student-athletes in understanding and taking advantage of NIL opportunities. By using the INFLCR App, student-athletes will have access to photography, videos, and other departmental curated content which they can use to build their brand on their own individual social media platforms. Western Michigan Athletics will be able to share content directly to Bronco student-athletes through the INFLCR App.

WMU Athletics has partnered with Western Michigan University's Haworth College of Business Department of Marketing to develop a one-credit course for student-athletes which will be offered in the Spring of 2023. The course will focus on understanding branding, developing a personal brand and plan, and best practice guidance for monetizing brand.

Creating educational opportunities for student-athletes in the NIL space is a critical piece of the ONWARD Program, and will fall under the newly created area of WMU Athletics, Broncos Empowered. The Broncos Empowered staff will provide educational opportunities that cover a wide-variety of areas such as entrepreneurship, financial management, legal and contract education, and brand building.

NIL Education & Programming Support

WMU Athletics is committed to broadly educating the Southwest Michigan Community in regards to the appropriate ways in which local businesses can connect with our student-athletes. The Bronco Exchange, provided through partnership with the INFLCR local business exchange platform, is the home for both local and national businesses to connect and engage with Bronco student-athletes for NIL opportunities. This is a free service for student-athletes and the businesses who use it.

For more information regarding the Bronco Exchange, click here.

Western Michigan University and its Department of Intercollegiate Athletics prioritize providing resources that support the holistic development of its student-athletes. WMU has embraced the opportunity to provide a platform for empowering its student-athletes. The Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) Policy applies to all WMU student-athletes and articulates the process and procedures governing student-athlete use of their NIL.

In alignment with Western Michigan Athletics’ goal to provide innovative, impactful, and compliant NIL solutions for student-athletes, the athletics department fully endorses the “Broncos Will Reign” collective which is integral in creating NIL opportunities for Bronco student-athletes.

WHO TO CONTACT FOR MORE INFORMATION