A recent marketing effort that is part of the Myrtle Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau includes the name, image and likeness of student-athletes on the football teams at UConn and Marshall University, which will battle Monday at the Myrtle Beach Bowl, to promote the South Carolina travel destination.
Visit Myrtle Beach has entered into agreements with the UConn Huskies and Marshall Thundering Herd (of West Virginia) for student-athletes from both teams to share their experiences visiting Myrtle Beach on their personal social media channels. The participants are compensated by Visit Myrtle Beach in exchange for the social media posts.
The agreements are unique because they included all rostered players traveling to Myrtle Beach from the two universities.
“The inclusivity of all players on both teams further demonstrates our belief that all are welcome at The Beach,” a spokesperson for Visit Myrtle Beach said.
UConn (6-6) and Marshall (8-4) will square off at 2:30 p.m. Monday at Brooks Stadium in Conway, South Carolina. This is UConn’s first bowl game since 2015, when it lost to Marshall in the St. Petersburg Bowl.
The Myrtle Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau is a non-profit organization that is the only officially recognized marketing organization for the Myrtle Beach Area, known as the Grand Strand.
Until recently, a deal using students-athletes’ name, image and likeness (NIL) would not have been allowed. In 2021, following two high-profile Supreme Court cases, the NCAA was forced to enact new regulations allowing college athletes to accept compensation for use of their NIL.
While the NCAA change applies to student-athletes across the country, Connecticut made its own legislative changes. In May, Gov. Ned Lamont signed a bill that allows student-athletes to use their school’s names, logos, trademarks, mascots, unique colors, copyrights and other defining insignia in endorsement contracts.
Until the new law took effect on July 1, 2022, Connecticut was one of two states in the country that banned student-athletes from using their school logos.