University of Kentucky and JMI Sports Announce BBNIL Suite to Streamline the NIL Experience for Student-Athletes and Partners
LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky Athletics and its longstanding multimedia rights partner, JMI Sports, today announced BBNIL Suite, an innovative name, image, and likeness (NIL) collaborative built and operated by both organizations to serve UK student-athletes, coaches, and corporate partners.
BBNIL Suite is a comprehensive, opt-in NIL program available to all 500+ UK student-athletes, offering both individual and team-based opportunities. By combining the expertise, resources, and infrastructure of UK Athletics and JMI Sports across deal sourcing, content marketing, compliance, and contract execution, BBNIL Suite maximizes NIL potential while allowing student-athletes to stay focused on their athletic and academic performance.
“We are excited to offer the BBNIL Suite as a competitive new differentiator for the Wildcats” said Mitch Barnhart, UK Athletics Director. “As we navigate this year of significant change in the college sports landscape, BBNIL Suite allows our student-athletes to keep their focus on academics and competition while a dedicated team of professionals work on their behalf to maximize their value in the NIL marketplace. This is another step in providing the student-athletes who commit to our program with the resources they need to succeed.
Comprehensive Services & Benefits
BBNIL Suite is a comprehensive platform designed to drive NIL revenue and support for student-athletes during every step of the NIL journey through a variety of services, including:
- NIL Revenue Generation: Leverages UK’s 200+ partners for NIL opportunities while actively pursuing partnerships with new local and national brands. BBNIL Suite’s collaborative infrastructure helps student-athletes move quickly to capitalize on “hot market” opportunities to secure new deals efficiently.
- Content Development & Brand Management: Supports student-athletes in producing professional-grade content and offers resources to help student-athletes build, grow, and protect their personal brands.
All UK student-athletes will have access to the “Downtown Studio” at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center, a 20,000-square-foot production center and learning lab. Through the BBNIL Suite, this state-of-the-art facility helps develop premium sponsored content and provides hands-on opportunities to work alongside professionals in broadcast news, sports programming, promotions, podcasts, and other digital media. The studio is a collaborative effort between the UK College of Communication and Information, UK Athletics, and JMI Sports.
Additionally, BBN United, the recently announced official fan club of UK Athletics, provides another avenue for student-athletes to develop content and engage with fans. The subscription-based loyalty and membership platform gives fans exclusive access to insider content, limited-edition merchandise, early ticket opportunities, and one-of-a-kind experiences with UK Athletics, creating a dynamic channel for student-athletes to amplify sponsored content and engage fans for branded activations.
- Student-Athlete Support & Contract Fulfillment: Delivers administrative and professional services, focused on making sure all deliverables are met by both student-athletes and corporate partners.
- Compliance Regulation: Ensures all NIL activity meets NCAA, school, and state regulations, protecting eligibility and reducing administrative burdens.
By centralizing these services, BBNIL Suite provides broad benefits. These include:
- Institutional Sustainability: Establishes an NIL program that safeguards eligibility, grows brand value and keeps UK nationally competitive.
- Recruitment Advantage: Offers coaches a powerful tool for attracting and retaining top talent, while reducing fundraising responsibilities.
- Student-Athlete Empowerment: Ensures all student-athletes receive direct compensation from compliant and approved NIL deals along with expert support, helping maximize NIL opportunities while minimizing administrative hurdles.
- Corporate Partner Efficiency: Acts as a single resource for connecting with UK student-athletes and ensuring contracts are executed accurately and in compliance with all regulations.
“Over more than a decade of partnership, JMI Sports and UK Athletics have built a trusted foundation that includes over 200 partners,” said Erik Judson, Co-Founder and CEO of JMI Sports. “With dedicated local and national sales teams consistently bringing new partners into the fold, BBNIL Suite is a natural next step in delivering real, compliant NIL deals that generate incremental revenue and streamline support for student-athletes, coaches, and brands. This centralized approach strengthens the program and supports the long-term success of UK Athletics.”
Technology Partnership with Student Athlete Score
BBNIL Suite benefits from athlete marketing intelligence from Student Athlete Score, in a newly announced partnership with JMI Sports, equipping UK student-athletes with access to real-time social media analytics, brand readiness insights, and benchmarking tools.
These insights power a more strategic approach to NIL, helping identify “hot market” opportunities, guide targeted brand-building efforts, and inform more targeted, results-driven campaigns for corporate partners. By combining this data with professional-grade creative capabilities at the Downtown Studios, BBNIL Suite transforms insights into compelling and creative activations that deliver measurable value to all stakeholders.
NIL Leadership Appointment
JMI Sports, operating locally as UK Sports & Campus Marketing, has been the University of Kentucky’s multimedia rights partner since 2014 and recently announced an extension of its agreement through 2040. Leveraging 200+ brand partnerships and longstanding campus relationships, UK Sports & Campus Marketing will collaborate with UK Athletics to operate BBNIL Suite.
To lead NIL initiatives, JMI Sports has appointed Kim Shelton as Senior Vice President of NIL Strategy and Executive Director of UK NIL. In this role, she will serve as the key liaison between UK Athletics, JMI Sports, and all third-party partners in executing BBNIL Suite initiatives, advancing shared goals of maximizing revenue generation and support for UK student-athletes.
Shelton brings over 25 years of experience in multimedia rights, sponsorship sales and revenue strategy. Most recently, she served as CEO of Lexington Sporting Club. Prior to that, she spent more than 15 years in senior leadership positions on the UK property with JMI Sports and the previous multimedia rights holder, where she helped build a strong corporate partnership pipeline and played a key role in establishing the lasting relationship between JMI Sports and UK.
A proud UK alum, former student-athlete and captain of the university’s inaugural women’s soccer team, Shelton has deep ties to the university and a strong understanding of its athletics program.
“Returning to UK is both personal and exciting,” said Shelton. “As a former student-athlete, I know the pride and passion that comes with wearing the UK jersey. BBNIL Suite is built for Kentucky to support student-athletes, strengthen our brand partners, and ensure that UK stays at the forefront of this new era. Our goal is to create opportunities that are innovative, strategic, and supportive of the long-term growth and success of this storied program.
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About Kentucky Athletics
UK Athletics is a leader in college sports, sponsoring 23 varsity sports teams (12 women’s teams, 10 men’s teams, plus the coed rifle team) and hundreds of student-athletes, competing for championships, ensuring their education and well-being, and providing opportunities for the present and future.
Over the next year, the UK Athletics Department will be shifted to Champions Blue, LLC. The non-profit holding company, a first of its kind in college athletics, is designed to provide the department with the flexibility to unlock new revenue streams through public-private partnerships and potentially other transactions, such as real estate.
About JMI Sports
JMI Sports is a leading media rights and venue development company that provides management of collegiate multimedia rights, sponsorship sales agency representation, and project management expertise for the development of collegiate and professional sports facilities. The company serves to maximize each client’s economic potential through customized initiatives, from marketing and branding solutions to facility design strategies.
JMI Sports’ signature collegiate multimedia rights partnerships include the University of Kentucky, the University of Utah, UCLA, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Pittsburgh, Harvard University, DePaul University, Columbia University, San Diego State University, University of California at San Diego, and joint-venture properties of the University of Georgia (with Learfield), and University of Notre Dame (with Legends). JMI Sports also represents multimedia rights for several conferences, including the Ivy League, the Mid-American Conference, the Mountain West Conference, the Patriot League and the Atlantic 10, and serves as third-party sales representation for premier sports properties, venues, and events including the Breeders’ Cup, Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center, the Rose Bowl and the Penn Relays.
JMI Sports was founded in 2006 by CEO Erik Judson and technology entrepreneur John Moores, former owner of the San Diego Padres. To learn more, please visit www.jmisports.com.
