CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland State Athletic Department has announced a partnership with Teamworks Influencer to launch Viking Ventures Exchange to connect student-athletes and businesses for Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) opportunities.
 
"With the everchanging landscape of Name, Image and Likeness, we are excited to continue to enhance the opportunities and support that our student-athletes receive through our partnership with Teamworks Influencer," Cleveland State Director of Athletics Kelsie Gory Harkey said. "The Viking Ventures Exchange platform will allow our student-athletes to connect with sponsors and supporters to help maximize their NIL prospects throughout their careers at Cleveland State, while also receiving education and brand building tools that support our goal of providing a transformational student-athlete experience."
 
Free to both student-athletes and commercial enterprises, the Viking Ventures Exchange provides a customized portal for communicating with student-athletes and fulfilling market-based NIL opportunities.
 
The Teamworks Influencer platform will offer Cleveland State student-athletes the ability to engage in promotional and related branding opportunities with Viking fans, local and national sponsors, and donors, while also providing education and training in financial literacy, brand building and more. Supporters can access the Viking Ventures Exchange by CLICKING HERE.
 
After registering on Viking Ventures Exchange, a business can access a database of CSU student-athletes, searchable by a variety of criteria, to message a student-athlete directly or request contact information. Once an NIL agreement is reached, a customized reporting form is created and forwarded to Cleveland State University.
 
Viking Ventures Exchange also includes a payment processing tool to securely pay student-athletes and create a 1099 form that lives in the student-athletes' Influencer app for more efficient tax reporting. Through the Teamworks Influencer platform, users are also able to track social media growth and engagement.
 
The Viking Ventures Exchange on the Teamworks Influencer platform will replace Opendorse, which Cleveland State was formerly using for its NIL partnerships.
 
About Teamworks Influencer
Teamworks Influencer, available on Teamworks' Operating System for Sports™, is the leading athlete brand-building and NIL business management app for over 270 elite collegiate and professional sports organizations. The Influencer athlete app educates student-athletes, coaches, and staff for the NIL era in a safe and compliant environment, all powered by best-in-class content delivery for student-athletes to access and share content to their social media channels. The Influencer platform also includes the impactful Influencer Exchange. Schools can direct businesses, collectives, and fans seeking to find, communicate with, pay, and report NIL transactions with student-athletes in this school-customized NIL exchange. The Influencer Local Exchange maximizes the student-athlete wallet share while streamlining compliance and tax reporting responsibilities. To learn more about the Influencer Exchange, please visit teamworks.com/influencer.