SOJC students have been helping UO athletes maximize “name, image and likeness” opportunities through Oregon Accelerator.

by Sophie Fowler, class of ’26

Three University of Oregon student-athletes decked out in Duck gear ride a Lane Transit District (LTD) bus while several other students wielding DSLR cameras surround the athletes, shooting photos and video from various angles.

If this seems like a professional photo shoot, that’s because it is.

The Duck athletes are sponsored by LTD for a social media campaign aimed at encouraging people to ride the bus. The photographers are students from the School of Journalism and Communication (SOJC) and the Lundquist College of Business who are part of Oregon Accelerator, a student organization that supports student-athletes interested in exploring “name, image and likeness” (NIL) sponsorships and collaborations.

The Accelerator started in 2022, a year after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling paved the way for college athletes to earn money through endorsements and personal appearances under the NCAA’s new NIL rules. The student group’s mission is to give students experience in sports communication by helping athletes with sponsorship opportunities.

“We get them ‘NIL-ready’," explained Kelli Matthews, Accelerator faculty director. “We also provide project management and creative services if a student-athlete needs help fulfilling a sponsorship or collaboration.”

Students get real-world communication experience

Although the SOJC and business students don’t earn money, they gain valuable real-world sports marketing and communications experience, Matthews said.

This term about 40 SOJC and business students worked with about 40 student-athletes to help with everything from managing photo shoots to writing one-pagers for brands. Matthews, senior instructor of public relations at the SOJC, and Craig Leon, MBA program manager for the Warsaw Sports Business Center, are the group’s faculty directors.

Matthews and Leon provide oversight, structure, advice and networking for the student members, Matthews said. “The faculty directors meet weekly with team leads for ongoing projects and updates. We also provide quality control, reviewing and editing materials when needed.”

Students work in one of five areas: account management, creative, operations, public relations and research. Each area has a different responsibility, but the teams are interdependent and work closely together on projects.

“Our projects revolve around collaboration,” said senior Alaysia Smoot, the operations director. “Athletes usually come to us with a general idea of what they need help with, whether it’s merch, a photo shoot to promote a brand or a one-pager to communicate their message to potential brands they want to work with.”

The process is not unlike how a professional creative agency works: Athletes fill out a form outlining what they want. The account managers discuss the athlete’s request and help build a plan for deliverables. In collaboration with the creative team and the athlete, they come up with the aesthetic and/or product the athlete has asked for. Then the creative team shoots and edits the product for the athlete. Once the product is complete, it goes to the athlete, who approves it or asks for changes.

“We try to communicate with the athlete beforehand so we know that, creatively, we are on the same page,” said Ellie Watson, class of ’26, a creative producer. “It is sometimes challenging when they come in with no direction. That puts more pressure on us as a team to come up with concepts that properly reflect them, which is difficult if we don’t know the athlete or the personal brand they are trying to build.”

Not every student works directly on student-athlete products. Some public relations students help create content calendars, write copy, personalize social media posts and reach out to brands on behalf of athletes to solicit business.

“For projects, we do our best to ensure that we communicate clearly and efficiently,” said Elizabeth Dunning, Accelerator’s public relations director and a third-year public relations student. “We are also big on working together as a PR team so we can combine all our ideas to get the best possible deliverable.”

The operations team helps athletes with the application process and keeps the student members and athletes engaged.

“We are constantly thinking about ways to keep members engaged and get athletes interested,” Smoot said. “We meet at least once a week to talk about upcoming responsibilities and ways to improve our member experience. We are also always looking for learning opportunities for our team, like guest speakers or workshops.”

SOJC students enjoy learning by doing

“I really like putting into practice the skills I’ve learned in class,” Dunning said. “A lot of what I do is learn by doing, and I feel like it’s helped me adapt and learn a lot about public relations.”

SOJC students, like Watson, a journalism and advertising major, say they are grateful for the chance to do authentic work outside a classroom setting.

“Branching outside of my team has allowed me to understand the work required to facilitate a deal before it reaches production,” Watson said. “Being part of the production team made me appreciate the value of learning from my peers.”

Jonathon Schnoebelen, a business major and head of account management for Accelerator, helped manage the LTD account, which involved setting up a photo shoot with the athletes, writing social captions and working with athletes to post the photos on social media.

“The LTD campaign has been an amazing opportunity for our team to come together and collaborate as one,” Schnoebelen said.

Accelerator helps students learn important skills, whether that’s managing NIL, interacting with athletes or working with peers to create an authentic product that will be seen by the world.

Matthews said the students who commit themselves to the work get excellent experience that will prepare them for future careers. In fact, several former Accelerator members have parlayed the experience into jobs, Matthews said.

“We are still pretty new, but we have seen students who have had doors open because of their work with the Accelerator,” Matthews said.

One of those students is Emily Schafers ’23, an SOJC public relations alum who was a project coordinator and then manager for Accelerator. She landed a job as an account coordinator for sports and lifestyle at Berk Communications.

Jane Nyman, who was a communications lead and later an account management lead for Accelerator, now works at Paramount as an integrated marketing coordinator.

“We hold them to a high standard and expect professional-level work,” Matthews said.

Watson agreed.

“Something that I’ve learned from being in the Accelerator is how to work with other teams within an organization,” Watson said. “Each team has to work together to create the best experience for the student-athlete,” Watson said.”

Watson and the rest of the creative team collaborate about shoot concepts and locations, and then they manage the logistics of arranging the shoots.

Watson said one of her favorite projects so far was filming the Turkey Relay, an annual team-building event that the Oregon Track and Field team puts on. The athletes played dodgeball and sharks and minnows and participated in various relay races.

“It was a high-energy event,” Watson said. “We had a great time shooting fun, casual content for the athletes to use on their own channels and pages.”

Watson said being part of the Accelerator team for three years has also given her an appreciation for the athletes she works with.

“It is really fun to work with athletes and see who they are outside of athletics,” she said. “They come from around the country and even the world to pursue their passions and play their respective sports.”

Get involved with Oregon Accelerator

The Accelerator team is always looking for new members, Smoot said.

“When going through applications, we look for people who are passionate about sports, creative and dedicated to growth,” Smoot said. “The organization is still very new, and the NIL landscape is constantly changing. Therefore we need people who are problem-solvers and adapters.”

Students interested in becoming part of the team can email Accelerator leaders at oregonaccelerator@uoregon.edu.

Sophie Fowler, class of ’26, is a third-year journalism major with a minor in multimedia. She is a member of Duck TV, a student in the Clark Honors College, and an intern with GoDucks Media and the SOJC Communications Office, and she has done work with TrackTown USA. You can connect with her on LinkedIn.