Utah Athletics continues to push the Elevate U student-athlete NIL program forward with the announcement today of a new partnership with Accelerate Sports Ventures to serve as the school's official Name, Image and Likeness consultancy.

"We are excited to team up with Doug Fillis and Accelerate Sports Ventures," said Utah Athletics Director Mark Harlan. "Doug's background makes him uniquely qualified to understand and navigate the NIL landscape. Leveraging Accelerate's industry expertise gives our student-athletes a significant advantage in optimizing their NIL opportunities locally and beyond. We're confident that Accelerate will help ensure Utah Athletics is well-positioned nationally in this important space."
 
Utah student-athletes, coaches and staff will have access to Accelerate's white-glove support on all things NIL. In addition, Accelerate will create and implement NIL strategies and best practices for the department and provide regular on-campus visits to support the Utes in their day-to-day NIL efforts. 
 
"We are excited to collaborate with Accelerate Sports Ventures as our student-athletes continue to navigate and take advantage of NIL opportunities. Allowing our athletes to elevate their personal brand while also promoting the culture of Utah Athletics is key, and we are eager to see where this partnership takes us."
 
Utah Athletics is the latest program to retain Accelerate as its NIL consultancy arm. Accelerate works with institutions such as Boston College, N.C. State and Penn State, 100+ junior colleges, 100+ high schools, and brands to support their NIL initiatives. 
 
"We are thrilled to collaborate with and support the University of Utah as they provide their athletes and staff the tools to take full advantage of Name, Image and Likeness," said Accelerate Sports Ventures Founder Doug Fillis. "NIL is about opportunity and empowerment and we are thrilled to assist all Utah stakeholders as they navigate this new era of college athletics."