The Thinker, Grawmeyer Hall Louisville vs. Clemson College GameDay 2017 Photo by William Caudill, TheCrunchZone.com

502Circle Becomes Official NIL Collective of the Louisville Cardinals

Mark BlankenbakerSeptember 6, 2023

The University of Louisville announced Wednesday that its exclusive athletics multimedia rights holder, LEARFIELD’s Louisville Sports Properties, has entered an official partnership with 502Circle to make it the Official NIL Collective of the Louisville Cardinals.

“LEARFIELD and the 502Circle collective are both great assets to the University of Louisville, and it’s exciting to see them come together for this official partnership that will benefit all parties,” UofL Director of Athletics Josh Heird said. “This formal collaboration will create new avenues for 502Circle to integrate even more with the UofL brand, build additional revenue streams for continued growth, and provide more support than ever before for our student-athletes through their Name, Image and Likeness.”

The relationship creates a new level of integration and connectivity between 502Circle and UofL.

As part of the agreement, 502Circle will now have the ability to use university marks and logos with student-athletes and their Name, Image and Likeness activities. As an official partner, 502Circle will now be able to promote its efforts in-venue at UofL athletic events, as well as during Cardinal radio broadcasts and through other marketing channels.

“502Circle is beyond excited to be the Official NIL Collective of the Louisville Cardinals,” said Dan Furman, 502Circle President. “This will allow the student-athletes that we partner with to continue building their brand at a championship level. NIL is changing college athletics, and we are proud to take the next step in making sure Louisville Athletes remain at the forefront of this ever-evolving space.”

“We are thrilled to work with 502Circle as an Official Partner of the Louisville Cardinals,” said John Penny, Vice President and General Manager of LEARFIELD’s Louisville Sports Properties. “This collaboration will allow 502Circle to raise the profile of the work they do to support student-athletes through the use of official university branding and marketing assets across digital, print, broadcast and in-venue opportunities. We look forward to working with the Collective on future opportunities to benefit all UofL student-athletes”

502Circle operates independently from the University of Louisville but works directly with UofL student-athletes to maximize their opportunities in the NIL space.

The collective’s goal is to be one of the most competitive NIL facilitation platforms in the country and position Louisville Athletics and all its sports for sustainable growth and success, by advocating for Louisville student-athletes and making a positive impact in the community.

502Circle employs three full-staffers. The organization operates both an LLC and 501(c)3 arm, meaning that supporters have the option to donate in a way that provides a tax exemption if they choose.

While 502Circle can help connect supporters directly with student-athletes, donations can also be earmarked for specific sports. On the membership side, various pricing tiers are available with different perks associated.