One of the most iconic phrases from the Spider-Man dynasty is “With great power comes great responsibility.” Another line that resonates within the hip hop community and beyond is “More money, more problems.” With that said, athletes are becoming six-figure earners and millionaires before they can even legally drink or rent a car without extra young driver fees. Name, image, and likeness legislation, otherwise known as NIL, is putting hundreds of thousands, and sometimes millions, into the accounts of elite high school and college athletes. With that windfall comes the need to learn how to manage it. Companies embedded in the NIL game are forming teams for the sole purpose of educating athletes on financial literacy.

INFLCR is a content and compliance software program that prepares staff and student-athletes for NIL opportunities and guidelines. It is one of the leading platforms across Power Five schools and boasts over 4,000 teams and 64,000 active athletes. Athletes are able to post action shots and footage of themselves to the app to increase their digital footprints and brands across Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The company has partnered with several businesses to help generate visibility and revenue as well as increase financial literacy. With The Players Trunk, athletes can sell their autographs, memorabilia, and team-issued gear among other personal effects. With the Cameo app, fans can pay money in exchange for short, personalized videos from players. Mojo is another video app that sells paid educational clips to parents and young children from their favorite competitors.

When it comes to making money in the United States, you know the Internal Revenue Service will come knocking. INFLCR helps with that also – they have created a system to help schools monitor athlete’s transactions, so they are able to maintain compliance with both the IRS and the NCAA. However, the most important service offered by the platform may be the educational programs. Modules teach student-athletes the basics on establishing a business, tax implications of making money, and other financial literacy concepts. INFLCR’s founder and CEO Jim Cavale said that education is logically the next step now that engagement and brand building is in place. “The category we play in is athlete brand building. Because we have that athlete engagement, now it’s logical to take that next step and provide those features to help athletes manage their name, image, and likeness business inside of their INFLCR app and give compliance departments all the oversight they need to make sure athletes are monetizing their NIL opportunities in a safe manner,” he told Forbes back in 2021.

Since then, the platform has partnered with MoneyLion, a financial content and advice company. With the collaboration, INFLCR users are able to watch short-form financial literacy videos covering topics such as money-saving hacks, investing and credit score improvement. “We’ve teamed up with INFLCR to teach the next generation of earners and spenders how to take ownership of their money. The reality is most people aren’t taught foundational money skills like the importance of a good credit score and soft skills like being confident with money decisions,” said Jeff Frommer, chief content officer of MoneyLion. “Now that student-athletes are able to benefit from their NIL and many are receiving an income for the first time, they need help with these skills, and we are here to make sure they get off to the right start.” The link-up also comes with the opportunity for ambassadorship. Select participants in the program will receive special access to VIP events and webinars led by professional athletes in addition to MoneyLion tools to build credit, invest automatically, bank digitally and earn cashback rewards.

Even with more earning possibilities, the country still has a long way to go to undo centuries of systemic oppression, and financial stability is a big step in the process. Black female student-athletes are double minorities, and H&R Block is trying to do its part to shrink the gap. They launched a program called A Fair Shot in March of 2022 “to champion gender equity in name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals, and to highlight the tax implications of NIL income.” This year, A Fair Shot has expanded to include 50 athletes from 13 different sports, HBCUs, and NCAA Division II and Division III schools. Jill Cress, chief marketing and experience officer, said, “At H&R Block, we believe in maximum gains for everyone, and while we’ve seen some progress in closing the equity gap in college sports and NIL deals, there is still lots more work to be done.” Of those 50 athletes, 18 are Black women from 16 different schools. Of those 18 women, eight attend HBCUs. Florida A&M’s Amaya Gainer and Aniya Hoggatt are two of them. Hoggatt, a high jumper on the Rattlers track and field team, also serves as one of A Fair Shot’s top four spokeswomen.

“It’s bigger than just competing when I perform,” Hoggatt said. “I am carrying years of history on my back as an HBCU student-athlete. Being one comes with a lot of respect and hardships, but it’s my job to represent myself and my history when I compete,” the junior told the Tallahassee Democrat. Another HBCU representative in the program is Paris Washington, a sophomore tennis player at Southern University. A native of Bossier City, Louisiana, she became aware of NIL while still in high school and started preparing herself early. “My first thought was I would have a chance to make a name for myself and earn my own money,” she told Nola.com.

“I knew it wouldn’t come easily, so I gradually started amplifying my social presence over time to prepare myself. What made me interested in gaining an NIL deal was the ability to earn money. I always have been into social media, so thinking about NIL deals was more motivation for me to keep going,” Washington added. What drew her to A Fair Shot in particular was the tax education. “Considering how important tax information is, I do believe there is a lack of resources about which athletes know,” she said. With women receiving fewer NIL sponsorships and lower compensation than their male counterparts, H&R Block is trying to do their part to shrink the gap for underrepresented athletes.

It’s one thing to offer financial literacy tools, but ensuring mastery of said concepts are a whole other beast. Financial Finesse is a financial wellness coaching firm that had already been working with the NFL Players Association before launching a literacy certification program for student-athletes last month. Financial Finesse linked with a technology firm to launch NIL Long Game. The program has been donated free of charge to all colleges, universities, and NIL collectives. At a press conference announcing the services, founder and CEO Liz Davidson expressed the course’s mission to steer student-athletes in the right direction when it comes to managing their mini fortunes. “NIL has the potential to be one of the best things that ever happened to these student-athletes,” she said. “But if they spend down the money or don’t pay their taxes, they could end up in a huge hole.” In addition to NIL Long Game, Financial Finesse also partnered with Athlete Licensing Company, or ALC, to provide unlimited access to on-demand financial coaching. Through the partnership, CEO Adam Jaggers said the aim is to protect and accelerate student-athlete NIL monetization through financial literacy. More money doesn’t have to mean more problems when one arms up with knowledge. With that comes the opportunity to provide a trickle-down effect for generations to come.