Friends of the University of Notre Dame partners with athletics as sponsor

On Tuesday, Friends of The University of Notre Dame (a well-known Fighting Irish collective) announced that it would partner with Notre Dame Global Partnerships for a new NIL initiative.

“We are so proud to be able to work with a tremendous organization and board of directors at Friends of the University of Notre Dame,” University of Notre Dame vice president and James E. Rohr director of athletics Jack Swarbrick said in a statement. “The work of this organization is critical to our pursuit of national championships and we couldn’t have found a better supporter of that vision.

“Lastly, a tremendous thank you to Brady Quinn for his dedication to this endeavor to create opportunities for our student-athletes.”

Friends of the University of Notre Dame is a stand-alone 501(c)(3) registered non-profit, and it was created to offer Notre Dame student-athletes a chance to make money off their name, image and likeness. The collective aims to connect Fighting Irish athletes with local, national, and international charities.

Quinn is a former Notre Dame quarterback and an ex-NFL player. He is someone in Notre Dame circles who is trying to evolve with the times in the NIL space. Notre Dame has been reluctant to emerge in the NIL space, so maybe this changes things.

Just two months ago, Swarbrick and Notre Dame president John Jenkins said “college athletics is in a crisis.”

However, credit Quinn for trying to push Notre Dame to embrace the new culture of NIL with new initiatives.

“We are proud to work with Notre Dame athletics through Friends of the University of Notre Dame to further advance, empower and enrich Notre Dame student-athletes to be a ‘force for good’ by promoting charitable causes they are passionate about,” Quinn in a statement.