WWE announced a new program called NIL which will facilitate collegiate athletes transitioning to WWE if they choose to. NIL, which stands for Name, Image, and Likeness, will be dubbed as Next In Line in WWE speaking terms, and Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveneson is the first one who is taking advantage of this program.
WWE has now constructed a comprehensive program to recruit and develop potential future Superstars, with the aim to enhance the talent development process through collaborative partnerships with college athletes from diverse athletic backgrounds.
“The WWE NIL program has the potential to be transformational to our business,” said Paul Levesque, WWE Executive Vice President, Global Talent Strategy and Development. “By creating partnerships with elite athletes at all levels across a wide variety of college sports, we will dramatically expand our pool of talent and create a system that readies NCAA competitors for WWE once their collegiate careers come to a close.”
All athlete partnerships will feature access to the state-of-the-art WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla., in addition to resources across the organization including brand building, media training, communications, live event promotion, creative writing and community relations. Upon completion of the NIL program, select athletes may earn an exclusive opportunity to be offered a WWE contract.
WWE will unveil the first class of NIL partnerships in the coming weeks.