Watch the FSU Future of NIL Summit recap on Instagram
The introduction of name, image and likeness (NIL) has significantly changed how athletes, brands, and colleges work together. Once considered just another means for college athletes to generate revenue from their personal brands, NIL has now turned into a major discussion on entrepreneurship, business, culture, and the future of college sports.
As brands look beyond one-time sponsorships and social media posts, NIL events offer opportunities to connect directly with athletes, industry leaders, and the communities shaping the future of sports. Florida State University’s Future of NIL Summit demonstrated how these events can bring together diverse perspectives and create meaningful connections.
Bringing NIL Into the Room
Florida State University hosted its second annual Future of NIL Summit on September 4, 2026, at the Herbert Wertheim College of Business in Tallahassee. The event brought together student-athletes, coaches, university leaders, legal professionals, entrepreneurs, and sports industry executives to discuss the evolving landscape of name, image, and likeness.
The Distinction Agency played a direct role in bringing the Summit together. Alexander Onaindia, founder and CEO of Distinction, helped organize the event alongside Lauren Angulo, founder and managing attorney of Venustas Law. Onaindia and Chris Tulley, Distinction’s vice president, also joined the speaker lineup, contributing to conversations about the future of NIL and collegiate athletics.
The Summit was a continuation of the success of the previous event in Tallahassee, which attracted more than 200 people and over 1,000 virtual viewers prior to the FSU Labor Day game.
While the Summit has traditionally centered around NIL, this year’s programming expanded the conversation to include Student Athletes & NIL, Entrepreneurship & Athletes, and the Legal Landscape of NIL.
From the athletes’ perspective, the Summit was a chance to understand the future of sports and business.
From the brands’ perspective, the event gave a chance to be a part of that discussion and connect to the wider NIL world.
The People Behind the Conversation
The Summit brought together leaders from across collegiate athletics, business, law, and entrepreneurship, reflecting how NIL has expanded beyond traditional sponsorships and athlete endorsements. The speaker lineup included Alexander Onaindia, founder and CEO of Distinction Agency, and Chris Tulley, the agency’s vice president, alongside coaches, athletes, legal professionals, and university leaders.
Other notable names in the speaker lineup included Brooke Wyckoff, the head women’s basketball coach for the Florida State Seminoles; Charlie Votey, who serves as the NIL coordinator at FSU Athletics; and Daniel Hughes, an FSU football player. Other people included in the discussion were Bruce Warwick, senior associate athletics director for football; Michael Fly, general manager and assistant coach for FSU men’s basketball; and Jason Pappas, a sport management professor and internship program coordinator.
All in all, the speakers covered various aspects of the changing NIL landscape, including athlete experiences, coaching, legal considerations, athletics administration, and more.
The participation of such a diverse set of people made it clear that NIL involves more than just the relationship between athletes and brands. It has become an intersection of sports, business, entrepreneurship, and culture.
Key Conversations Shaping the Future of NIL
The Summit also focused on the impact that changes in college sports have on the student-athlete experience as well as the business of collegiate athletics as a whole.
The Transfer portal and roster construction: In light of the current NIL situation, more and more transfer issues and recruiting decisions have become directly related to the changes that are currently taking place within the NIL ecosystem. The Summit discussed the issues that the universities and coaches are facing when navigating this new landscape.
Revenue Sharing: The Summit also addressed revenue sharing and its implications for collegiate athletics, including how changing financial arrangements are influencing the relationship between universities and student-athletes.
The legal landscape: In the context of the ever-changing regulation of NIL, legal considerations still play a significant role in this discussion. To navigate the complex legal world of NIL requires understanding the changing laws.
Building a Brand Beyond Sports: Daniel Hughes, an FSU football player, discussed the importance of building a personal brand, developing professional connections, and creating opportunities that extend beyond an athletic career.
Together, these conversations highlighted how NIL extends beyond individual sponsorships to encompass athlete development, business strategy, and the future of collegiate sports.
From Sponsorship to Experience
The best partnerships in business nowadays rely on more than just brand visibility. While a logo on a brochure can create awareness, experiential marketing can create deeper connections with consumers. The NIL Summit gave partners opportunities to participate through sponsorships, on-site engagement, promotional activations, social media campaigns, and professionally produced content.
That distinction matters.
Today’s consumers are constantly exposed to branded content. The challenge for brands is no longer simply getting in front of an audience — it is finding ways to make the audience care.
Events create this opportunity by placing brands directly in the middle of conversations and communities.
At the NIL Summit, attendees engaged with panelists, exchanged perspectives with members of the FSU community, and participated in discussions about the evolving world of collegiate athletics.
The Power of a Connected Audience
The Summit’s connection to the FSU community created opportunities for brands to engage with athletes, students, alumni, executives, and other industry stakeholders.
Partnerships can also extend beyond the event itself through social media, email campaigns, press coverage, and content production. This allows brands to continue engaging with audiences after the Summit ends.
In other words, the event becomes a content engine — not just a single activation.
The Future of NIL Is Bigger Than a Deal
The 2026 FSU Future of NIL Summit showcased how discussions about collegiate athletics are now broadening from being centered on one-on-one sponsorship deals. Through the participation of athletes, university officials, lawyers, entrepreneurs, and sports industry executives, the summit showed the prospects and challenges facing the future of NIL.
Brands have opportunities that extend beyond the individual sponsorship of one athlete. Events are great ways for brands to engage with the sports community, join conversations relevant to the industry, and create content that goes on after the conclusion of the event.
As NIL continues to evolve, experiences involving athletes, brands, and communities will play an increasingly crucial role in the discussion. Distinction provides brands and organizations with the platform to discover these opportunities through collaboration and event experiences.
If your university, brand, or athletic community is looking to bring an NIL-focused experience to campus, Distinction can help bring that vision to life.
