Football

Kentucky and Fanatics Announce Long-Term Extension, Expanding NIL Opportunities for Athletes

Published

4 months ago

April 3, 2026

University of Kentucky extends Fanatics partnership through 2038, adding significant NIL investment that lets student-athletes earn through personalized merch, retail sales, and official team branding.

University of Kentucky Athletics has renewed and expanded its long-term partnership with Fanatics, extending the agreement through 2038.

Fanatics Licensing Management, which has served as the University’s trademark licensing representative for more than a decade, will continue to oversee the core of the school’s merchandising, including the operation of the UK Team Shop and distribution of licensed apparel through major retailers such as Kroger, Walmart, and Dick’s Sporting Goods.

Fanatics will continue to operate the core of Kentucky’s merchandising business, operating the UK Team Shop and serving as the primary apparel licensee partner, distributing team merchandise across major retailers, including Kroger, Walmart, and Dick’s Sporting Goods, among others.

The more notable shift, however, comes in the NIL space.

As part of the expanded agreement, in a first-of-its-kind agreement, Fanatics is making a “significant” commitment to NIL initiatives for select athletes across all programs and teams, with more high-major schools to follow.

Beginning this spring, Fanatics will roll out a two-pronged marketing strategy for select student-athletes.

UK student-athletes will have the opportunity to launch and curate their own personalized storefronts with team gear they select, fostering a connection with fans who want to support both the individual athlete and the program. In addition, through a more traditional marketing approach, student-athletes will be commissioned to promote product collections across digital e-commerce platforms and brick-and-mortar retail partners.

“NIL in its truest form”, one representative told Kentucky Insider. “Driving retail sales so student-athletes can benefit.”

It goes without saying that this is an opt-in agreement, allowing student-athletes to still pursue NIL deals with third-party merchandisers — such as local brand Kentucky Branded — if they choose. However, a partnership with Fanatics gives athletes the ability to pair their personal brand with official Kentucky branding, which can significantly increase sales potential, and is an option many third-party merchandisers avoid due to the cost of UK marks.

As Kentucky looks to recruit the top athletes, this is also a way to provide above the cap NIL dollars, money exceeding the school’s annual revenue-sharing cap, to build NIL competitive compensation packages. While specific percentage splits are not available, it will be a beneficial figure for the athletes.

“We’re not going to enter into deals that are going to prevent us from being competitive and competing for players on the open market,” a spokesperson said.

On one hand, an athlete’s NIL compensation package can include a projected range of money, incentivized by performance and connection to the fanbase. On the other hand, or in addition to, there can be a set amount of compensation for product promotion.

Given the turbulent landscape of collegiate athletics, it’s important to note that the long-term deal is also designed with flexibility in mind. No numbers are fixed, meaning that figures and percentages will change and incentivize growth.

Furthermore, a lot of this strategy is built post-House settlement, which requires NIL deals to be legitimate business transactions rather than pay-for-play, with the NCAA auditing giant Deloitte hired to vet deals. To be able to lean into an industry leader like Fanatics in that regard is an advantage for the University.

How do we get the best players to want to play for our teams?

That is a question Kentucky Athletics continuously asks itself when evaluating, and that served as a basis for this extended partnership. Extending an already strong relationship, UK has added a sustainable way to deliver legitimate NIL compensation above revenue-sharing limits for years to come, all through one of the largest and most established merchandisers in sports.

Related Topics:Fanatics Kentucky Basketball Kentucky Football NIL

Football

New Kentucky AD J Batt Joins Will Stein to Surprise Kentucky Football Fans

Published

3 days ago

August 10, 2026

Tristan Pharis

New Kentucky Athletic Director joins Kentucky football coach Will Stein to interact with Big Blue Nation and pass out donuts on tailgate setup day.

UK Athletics

New University of Kentucky Athletic Director J Batt is considered to be one of the best fundraisers in college athletics. In a college landscape where the dollar reigns king, and Kentucky ranked 15th of 16 teams in athletic donations, they needed help in that category.

When you are asking more than you ever have as a university, you most importantly have to give fans a winning product, but you also have to give them incentives to give and make their opinion feel valued. The best way to do the latter is to meet Big Blue Nation and interact with them face to face.

Less than two weeks into his tenure, Batt isn’t waiting for games to meet the fans. He first met some fans at an event at Kroger Field on July 30th, and this past Saturday, joined Kentucky Football head coach Will Stein during tailgate setup day.

Batt and Stein drove around in a golf cart with donuts, surprising fans who were at Kroger Field in the early morning setting up their tailgates ahead of Stein’s first season. The excitement is real, as some fans arrived the night before to make sure they were prepared to set up.

“I want everybody in Big Blue Nation to hear from me directly. They matter the most,” said Batt in an interview soon after accepting the AD position at Kentucky. “This place is special because of them and because of the people, and we’re really lucky to be here.”

Football

Kentucky WR Hardley Gilmore IV Dismissed From Team

Published

7 days ago

August 6, 2026

Kai McClelland

Jordan Prather | Imagn Images

The vibe around Kentucky Football’s offseason has been nothing short of positive. We’re seeing and hearing good things out of practice, Will Stein seems extremely confident and the season is less than a month’s time away.

Unfortunately, bad news struck the Big Blue Nation’s timeline on Thursday, Aug. 6.

Hardley Gilmore IV, after returning to the Wildcats for his junior season, has been dismissed from the team after a violation of team rules. Jeff Drummond reported the news first, confirming that the wideout was not on the team’s official practice roster.

BREAKING: Kentucky Football WR Hardley Gilmore IV has been dismissed from the team after a violation of team rules.

He originally committed to Baylor this past offseason before returning to the Wildcats.

H/T: @JDrumUK | #BBN pic.twitter.com/xPZVnbXTbb— KY Insider (@KyInsider) August 6, 2026

Gilmore has been through his ups and downs to say the least during his collegiate career, beginning with his freshman season where he fought through an injury and juggled a misdemeanor assault charge in December of 2024.

He attempted to transfer to Nebraska following the incident, but would return to the Wildcats in the spring ahead of the 2025 season. After a solid sophomore outing, Gilmore would commit to the Louisville Cardinals, flipping over to the Baylor Bears in the transfer portal. After it was all said and done, even going as far as signing with Baylor, he would find himself back on Kentucky’s 2026 roster for the first year of the Will Stein era.

Full details on why he was dismissed from the team have not yet been released, but sources have indicated that it was an off-campus incident that affected his team-affiliated schedule. Time will tell if he will find a new place to call home for the upcoming season.

Football

From Foster Care to the NFL: Hollywood Developing Movie on Buffalo Bills Pro Bowler and former Kentucky Star Ray Davis

Published

3 months ago

May 12, 2026

KYI News Desk

Former Kentucky Wildcat and Buffalo Bills Pro Bowler Ray Davis is getting a Hollywood movie. 'Breakaway Ray' tells his story of rising from foster care to the NFL.

IMAGN

Some stories in sports are bigger than the sport itself, as is the case with former Wildcat Ray Davis.

Transferring to Kentucky from Vanderbilt for his senior season of college football in 2023, Davis ran for more than 1,100 yards and set the UK single-season touchdown record with 21 TDs. That included one of the best single-game performances in program history against Florida, where he ran for 280 yards (3rd most in school history) and 4 TDs.

His impact on the field made his story that much more inspiring. Being a part of the California foster care system at the age of 8, facing homelessness at the age of 12, Davis beat the odds to get where he is today, a Pro Bowl selection this past season for the Buffalo Bills.

That is a story made for Hollywood, and now Hollywood is making it.

Officially reported by the Hollywood Reporter on Monday, “Breakaway Ray”, a movie on Davis’ early life, is in development.

The film will focus on a 9-year-old Davis growing up in San Francisco, navigating poverty with a mother battling addiction and a father behind bars. A poster for Big Brothers Big Sisters changes everything. After Davis makes the call, he gets paired with a young Google employee named Patrick Dowley, and a brotherhood begins that will shape the rest of their lives.

The talent attached to the movie is no afterthought. Gary Fleder, the director behind Runaway Jury, The Express, and Reacher, is set to helm the project from a script by W. Peter Iliff, the screenwriter of Point Break and Varsity Blues. Blue Fox Financing is backing the project, which carries the support of both the Buffalo Bills and Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.

Fleder emphasizes that the film won’t be a “glossy Hollywood version of a sports legend.” He explains, “It needs grit, urgency and rawness. This film will capture both the harsh realities Ray faced and the quiet power of someone simply showing up.”

“I never would’ve thought in a million years I’d see my story on the big screen,” Davis wrote on X when the news broke. “I’m so grateful to share it on this platform, and this project holds a special place in my heart mentally and emotionally. Beyond excited to see it come to life. All glory to God.”

The film’s team hopes to give attention to the more than 300,000 children currently in the U.S. foster care system. The project will also highlight the importance of mentorship through programs like Big Brothers Big Sisters, which has partnered with the NFL since 2019.

“Breakaway Ray” is scheduled for release in February 2027.