ST. JOSEPH, Minn. -- With the objective of connecting student-athletes and business directly in Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL), the College of Saint Benedict has partnered with INFCLR to announce the Bennie Exchange.

Saint Ben's is the first women's only and one of three NCAA DIII institutions to launch a platform with INFLCR which connects students to NIL. In this program-impacting announcement, the Bennie Exchange will be a free service to student-athletes and the commercial and nonprofit enterprises that utilize it.

This platform enables efforts to customize and manage NIL reporting, while providing approved businesses, and individuals with a customized portal for communicating directly with student-athletes and fulfilling NIL transactions.

Saint Benedict Director of Athletics Kelly Anderson Diercks noted that the college sports and higher education environment is transitioning into a landscape with new opportunities for student-athletes and businesses to connect through a compliant integration hub.

"NIL is really in its infancy when it comes to college athletics, so the opportunity to be out front and a leader in this area among NCAA Division III schools is exciting. We have so many incredible student-athletes here at St. Ben's, providing them an opportunity to capitalize on the strong personal brands they have built and to benefit from their hard work is an opportunity we feel they deserve," said Anderson Diercks.

In looking to enhance the student-athlete experience, CSB found the partnership with INFCLR provided NIL opportunities to its student-athletes in a structure where compliance requirements were incorporated with marketing opportunities to benefit student-athletes.

Through the Bennie Exchange, businesses, including nonprofit groups or organizations, and/or individuals register through INFCLR which enables them to be part of a searchable database or student-athletes. It enables filtering of various criteria. Those in the exchange will be able to message a student-athlete directly in the application or request the student-athletes contact info (or a representative).  

Activities may include promotion on social media formats, third party media endorsements, autographs, camps and clinics, private sports lessons, personal appearances and more.

In this process, Saint Ben's and INFLCR will not be part of any negotiations between the business/individuals and student-athletes. It gives student-athletes the ability to be entrepreneurs with the ability to customize proposals and agreements.

"Student-athletes will have access to an app that will provide them a one stop shop for brand building, content delivery and building their NIL portfolios. In the current job market, providing students an opportunity to start building their brand while they are still in college will give them an advantage when they graduate begin their job search process," said Anderson Diercks.

Businesses and nonprofits may sign-up by clicking here.

 CSB will opt-in its student-athletes, who also may opt-out if they choose not to participate.

"It's really exciting to have Saint Benedict utilizing INFLCR's Local Exchange," said Jim Cavale, INFLCR founder. "Saint Benedict is setting themselves apart at the DIII level by providing their student-athletes with leading technology to maximize their NIL. When NIL is accessible to all student-athletes at any level,  this kind of institutional support is crucial."

About INFLCR
INFLCR, available on Teamworks' Operating System for Sports™, is the leading athlete brand-building and NIL business management app for over 270 elite collegiate and professional sports organizations. The INFLCR athlete app educates student-athletes, coaches, and staff for the NIL era in a safe and compliant environment, all powered by best-in-class content delivery for student-athletes to access and share content to their social media channels. The INFLCR platform also includes the impactful INFLCR Local Exchange, a school-customized NIL exchange where schools can direct businesses, collectives, and fans seeking to find, communicate with, pay, and report NIL transactions with student-athletes. The INFLCR Local Exchange maximizes the student-athlete wallet share while streamlining compliance and tax reporting responsibilities. To learn more about the INFLCR Local Exchange, please visit teamworks.com/inflcr.