Utah Athletics Adds Accelerate Sports Ventures To NIL Resources Arsenal
Jun 6, 2023, 2:47 PM | Updated: 2:50 pm
SALT LAKE CITY – Utah Athletics continues to pick up steam in the NIL sphere that has taken over college athletics with the addition of Accelerate Sports Ventures to their arsenal of resources.
Accelerate Sports Ventures is a leader in college sports name, image, and likeness consulting and will help provide further vision, strategy and best practices for Utah student-athletes moving forward in the Utes’ NIL efforts. It is expected that Accelerate will help to bolster Utah’s efforts with their Elevate U program by providing support to athletes, coaches, and staff on all topics having to do with NIL.
“We are excited to team up with Doug Fillis and Accelerate Sports Ventures,” Utah Athletics Director Mark Harlan said. “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.”
University of Utah Athletics continues to push the Elevate U student-athlete NIL program forward with the announcement of a new partnership with Accelerate Sports Ventures to serve as the school's official Name, Image and Likeness consultancy.#GoUtes https://t.co/5Qo75YbhMG
— Utah Athletics (@utahathletics) June 6, 2023
Who Is Accelerate Sports Ventures?
Accelerate’s LinkedIn page notes the company was started in 2019 and provides “comprehensive solutions for the future of college athletics”.
Founder Doug Fillis is certainly familiar with the world of college athletics having served as the Associate Athletic Director of Development, and later as Senior Associate Athletic Director of Administration at Rutgers University from 2010-2013.
Fillis also spent time at Army as an intern, Development Associate, and Assistant Athletic Director of Development, Major Gifts, and Revenue Generation from 2005-2010.
Thrilled to support the coaches, athletes and administration regarding Name, Image and Likeness! #NILneversleeps #youareyourownbrand https://t.co/tG2yU0kZYX
— Accelerate Sports Ventures (@AccelerateSV) June 6, 2023
Accelerate already boasts an impressive roster of athletic departments they consult with on NIL matters including Boston College, N.C. State, and Penn State among others.
“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,” Fillis said. “NIL is about opportunity and empowerment and we are thrilled to assist all Utah stakeholders as they navigate this new era of college athletics.”
Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram: @BodkinKSLsports
