CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Clay Walker will serve as the General Manager of the newly created UVA NIL, a division of the athletic department’s official multimedia rights holder, Playfly Sports and Virginia Sports Properties (VSP). UVA NIL will be dedicated to generating third-party NIL opportunities for University of Virginia student-athletes.
Walker comes to UVA after serving as the general manager of ECU Sports Properties at his alma mater, East Carolina University. He previously held senior leadership roles with USA TODAY Sports and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), where he was part of the initial team that launched NFL PLAYERS INC, the first commercial athlete marketing program in professional sports.
“Since the house settlement last summer, we’ve been hard at work developing a strategic plan to create a true competitive advantage for Virginia Athletics,” Deputy Athletics Director, Chief Strategy Officer and General Manager Tyler Jones said. “The addition of Clay and UVA NIL is a huge piece of ensuring that UVA can compete for top-tier talent across all of our rosters.”
While Walker was with the NFLPA, he negotiated the first licensing deal with Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) to include player names on the back of college football jerseys, including Peyton Manning (Tennessee), Deion Sanders (Florida State) and Barry Sanders (Oklahoma State).
Walker also negotiated the first licensing deal to include NFL players in the Madden NFL video game and served as the Chairman of the Fantasy Sports Association, where he’s credited with being the first person to license and commercialize fantasy sports.
“Together, we will ensure Virginia Athletics is a national leader in this new era of college athletics,” Director of Athletics Carla Williams said. “By aligning our resources, creativity and passion behind Clay and his UVA NIL team, we will continue to attract, develop, and retain championship-caliber student-athletes who represent the values of Virginia Athletics.”
On the latest episode of Inside Virginia Athletics with Carla Williams, Walker joined the podcast to discuss his new role. Fans can listen or watch the podcast on VirginiaSports.com, the Virginia Sports App or all major podcast platforms. For more information on how to partner with UVA NIL/Virginia Sports Properties, contact Clay Walker at 202-957-5319 or via email at clay@virginiasp.com.