Name, image, and likeness endorsement deals have completely transformed college sports, but advocates say student-athletes at Historically Black Colleges and Universities often lack the money and resources to keep pace.
Cicely Gay, the board chairwoman of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, founded BLM Sports to address those disparities and give HBCU athletes support and guidance to secure NIL deals of their own.
A 757 native, Gay recently returned to Hampton Roads to invest in regional youth sports and connect with Michael Vick at Norfolk State University.
She spoke with WHRO about the realities facing HBCU student-athletes and how athletes can make NIL money work for them.
WHRO: Can you talk about the work you do as chair and what went into founding BLM Sports?
CICELY GAY: I am a mother, an advocate, a nonprofit leader, and for over 30 years I’ve been focusing on social justice initiatives through philanthropy all over the world. I spent about 10 years at the Women’s Sports Foundation, leading initiatives to help get young girls physically active. But most importantly, I am a mom of three sons that I raised without the benefit of a partner, two of them Division I athletes. As I was doing this work with Black Lives Matter since 2022, helping to rebuild, revive and reinvest in Black communities, what I learned to be true was that it was a responsibility of mine to take my personal passion and professional acumen and build [up] Black athletes, particularly in these days of NIL.
WHRO: What brings you back to the Hampton Roads area? You said you’re from Chesapeake.
GAY: I am. The 757 raised me. It is where I developed my love of sports and physical activity. I was a cheerleader at Indian River High School and Oscar Smith High School, and I remember cheering on the sidelines and being supported by community. I also know there’s tremendous need here. We have some of the best athletes in the world that come from the 757. Nobody can tell me any different. But there’s also a need to ensure that we’re leveling the playing field so that young people, whether they consider themselves athletes going to the Division I level or farther or not, if they’re just playing recreationally, have the tools they need.
That’s why I started BLM Sports. The three pillars are care, capital and competition. It’s about caring for the whole youth, student, child and family that supports them. It’s about capital when we talk about opportunities to garner resources and have revenue and think about being owners. And then competition. It’s about making sure that our kids have what they need to get in the game: equipment, shoes, entry fees, travel and transportation. I’m investing resources to do all of those things for Hampton Roads and beyond.
WHRO: You say NIL visibility without capital infrastructure isn’t enough. What does that gap look like for historically Black colleges and universities?
GAY: This is deeply personal to me. Both of my parents attended Norfolk State. My oldest son is a man of Morehouse, and my youngest plays for Jackson State right now. HBCUs are very much the heartbeat of my family and my community.
As it relates to HBCU athletics, I’ve learned in the last four years that putting on an HBCU jersey doesn’t mean that you have less talent. It often means you have less opportunity. When NIL entered the space in terms of being able to legally gain resources, it gave athletes an opportunity to earn. But we have to make sure that they have the tools to build.
I’ve seen the differences when my son was in the portal, going to PWIs [predominantly white institutions], some of them large FBS schools, and then going to HBCUs. He transferred from another HBCU, and true story, he was going to practice at 5 o’clock in the morning and then getting in line during the day for Fried Chicken Wednesdays, and then expected to play Notre Dame for a money game. It’s just not fair to our athletes to be expected to compete at the highest level if they don’t have the tools and resources they need.
I’m not just in the 757 because it’s a place that I love. I’m putting my money where my mouth is. I’ll be at Norfolk State later today. It’s homecoming week this week, and I’ll be cutting a check to support their program. I’ve already invested $200,000 of my own dollars in HBCUs, nonprofits, NIL programs, athletes and organizations. I’ll be at Jackson State soon, and I want to commit $1 million to this work.
WHRO: You spoke briefly about your son getting ready to play a money game. The talk of football this fall has been money games, with HBCU players not able to compete on the field against Power Four teams that are embarrassing them for a check. How do you feel about that?
GAY: P4 and P5, I mean, I mentioned Notre Dame. I saw Tennessee State, where my son first played, played Georgia this year, and Notre Dame played Tennessee State a couple years ago for a million dollars. I understand that athletic departments at HBCUs and coaches need those resources, and for the athletes, it’s actually great exposure. It was nice for my son to go up against those big Power Five offensive guards and hold his own.
But we are looking at a point where morale becomes very low. A D-II athletic director came out recently and said he’s not playing any money games unless there’s an absolute minimum entry point, because the score was so unbalanced. That’s why the care pillar for me is so important: the mental health and wellness, holistically, of these athletes. They’re not supposed to be on the field to be made a mockery of. However, the real issue is that they’re being played for money, so this is a symptom, not the cause. If we are able to invest in HBCUs, then we wouldn’t need to have our Black athletes be commodities on the field. They’d be able to compete at higher levels and get the exposure, attention and opportunities that they need.
WHRO: What is the discrepancy between how Power Four and Power Five student-athletes can monetize themselves versus how a student at Norfolk State, Hampton, Howard, Jackson State, Tennessee State or Grambling can through name, image and likeness?
GAY: I have two sons who play Division I athletics. One of them is a football player, and one is a lacrosse player. When it comes to the differences in what those two have the opportunity to even achieve, nobody is signing up to get a big NIL deal for lacrosse, right? So it wasn’t even on the table for us.
When my son chose an HBCU, a lot of the conversations with FBS schools that did recruit him, Power Four schools, were, “Why would you go to an HBCU? They can’t pay you anything like what we can.” My son chose Jackson State, frankly, because of the fan base and because he’s a ball player, and he wanted to be in a place where the entire community rallied around him. Also, culture means a lot to him. When you’re having these conversations about what is the best opportunity for your child, it shouldn’t just be about a check.
It’s difficult when your child has played their entire life, and I’m coming from this perspective as a subject matter expert, but also as a mother, and now they’re sitting in front of an opportunity, if they can play at the highest level, to possibly change their life and your family’s life. But the reality is that’s just a small percentage of athletes we’re talking about here. Most athletes are not getting millions of dollars, even if they are playing at P4 or P5 schools. However, even if you are at an HBCU and you’re getting $1,000 a month or $2,000 a month, that’s way more than you had.
For all of those athletes, whether you’re getting large amounts of money, and now even in high school, or smaller amounts, it has to become about understanding how you can make that money work for you. The game is going to end for everyone at some point. It’s just a matter of when, and how you leverage those resources so that you’re not just buying chains and cars, which, I’ve been in the group chats and I’ve seen all the things that the guys buy. You’re investing that money so that you can be whole when the game ends.
WHRO: How does your collective work? Is it funded just by you, or do you have other people helping as you grow BLM Sports?
GAY: I love that question. We are a B Corp, so we’re essentially a hybrid nonprofit and for-profit. I’ve worked in nonprofits my entire life, so I do all of my work for the benefit of the common good. This is not just about making money for me. In the first year that we’ve launched, 2026, I’ve invested $200,000 of my own money in this. Now I’m asking the community to join me.
This is a philanthropic endeavor, and it’s actually not a collective. You’re speaking language that indicates you know a lot about this, because what ended up happening was it became the Wild Wild West when the NCAA changed regulations and a lot of universities partnered with nonprofits, collectives and booster clubs to start their own entities that then would fund the schools. The Senate actually just passed, and now it’s going to the House, the Protect College Sports Act, which is going to start putting some regulations around what these NIL collectives can do. But it really is all over the place.
BLM Sports is not a collective. We are a hybrid partnership that actually funds collectives. We help pull together resources. Philanthropy is what I’m very good at. I’ve been doing it for a long time, taking money from people and entities who have it, leveraging it and pouring it into spaces where it is most needed. Yes, please join me at blmsports.net if you’re interested in investing. I will ensure that it’s going to the right places. But it’s a combination of my own money, foundation money, corporate money and the general community coming together to rally for Black athletes wherever they are.
WHRO: What do you want to see from brands, alumni and other donors that is not out there now?
GAY: I believe, and I learned this through the activism space, you can’t build it about us without us. I mentioned the Senate just had a vote, and lots of these conversations are happening on the macro and micro level about our athletes, but they’re not the ones sitting at the table. As a mother, I can say my voice is often not respected, at least when it comes to my own business acumen.
I remember sitting down with my son during all of the visits, and he only had two weeks’ worth of visits. Now Division I athletes only have 10 days if they enter the portal in January, which is somewhat ridiculous, in my opinion, to make a decision about where they go. Most of the conversations were contractual and about how much money he could get. Name, image, likeness, as my friend Twanna Harris, who runs League of Industry Mom, says, should really be name, image, labor. None of those conversations were about marketing my son, about leveraging his brand, about him owning his name. It was about a check.
That is what I think needs to happen. We need to have the conversations with the athletes, with the families, so that it’s beyond just what the check is going to be. It’s a holistic approach to nurturing, caring for and creating opportunities for athletes, whether they’re on the field or in a boardroom or a classroom.
WHRO: How do you measure the success of what you’re setting out to do?
GAY: Impact is always important. It’s a long game. There are some things that we can quantify. We can look at NIL collectives. We can look at how much money athletes are receiving across the board. We can take out the flashes like Travis Hunter, who are one in a million in terms of being an HBCU athlete and then moving up the ranks and going to the NFL, and look at how much money is pouring into HBCUs.
But I’m also looking at other things, like advocacy. I’m looking at policy. I am looking at whether or not we’re making a difference in ensuring that athletes have proper health care. I’m on multiple nonprofit boards, and in nonprofits we have what we call directors and officers insurance, to make sure that we’re protected when we serve. There’s also something called tail insurance, so when you get off of the board, you’re still protected. Athletes don’t have that. Ten, 15, 20 years later, especially if they’re playing Division I, Division II or even Division III sports, they’re dealing with injuries that they’ve got to take care of themselves. That should not be the case, because these schools and institutions are making billions of dollars off of them.
So there are certainly some quantifiable ways that we can see if we’re making progress. Let’s follow the money. Let’s see how much is going to the schools and to the athletes. But there are also other ways that we can see if we’re moving the needle, through advocacy and protecting our athletes, their health, their community and their futures.
WHRO: You mentioned your family connection to Norfolk State and that you’ll be there this afternoon. Can you talk about the relationship you’re growing with Norfolk State and Michael Vick’s program?
GAY: I admire Michael Vick so much. I mentioned I was a cheerleader. I remember when we were talking about playing his team, and how amazing he was as an athlete. I chose Michael Vick to be the first person that I sat down and talked to at an HBCU, frankly, because of his path and his resilience and his journey. His experience as an athlete, but now investment as a coach. Like me, he’s wearing multiple hats. No one can tell his athletes better than he can what he would have done in a situation like they have right now.
So yes, I chose Norfolk State first because I’m coming home to the 757, but also I’m going to be investing in their athletic department financially, supporting their NIL, and sitting down and learning from him about how I can do this better.
WHRO: What should Norfolk State and the city of Norfolk be doing to help athletes from the grassroots level, with rec league, AAU, travel ball, high school sports and even middle school sports, and then through the process of choosing to play at the collegiate level?
GAY: We know the talent is there, but sometimes the access and the opportunity is not. One of the things that I learned when I was at the Women’s Sports Foundation, building programs for girls at every level, was that the two barriers to sports participation are often money and transportation. People say, “If you’ve got the talent, they’re going to find you.” Well, that’s true to some extent. The reality is, you can score five touchdowns, but if you’re only on HBCU Go versus on NBC, people will not find you, at least not as quickly as they would have if you had the exposure.
I think there are lots of answers to that. Put your money where your mouth is as a city, as a community. Look at what our athletes need. Over the holidays, I spent some time with the Boys & Girls Club in Norfolk, giving out toys and gifts and clothes and shoes to those kids. You can’t play if you don’t have sneakers. That’s just the bottom line. There are some very basic things that you can do when young people are starting to develop a love of sport. There are also opportunities to invest in them so that they can compete at the highest level.
I remember with my middle son during the summer, we used to get on the road and go to tournaments all up the East Coast. He’s a lacrosse player, so for us that meant we had to be in Baltimore, in Northern Virginia, oftentimes in New York, and that costs a lot of money. So I think investing in athletes, making sure that they have the equipment and tools they need, giving them the exposure that they need, and pouring resources right here at home so that they can keep that talent local. When they eventually become a D-I or D-II athlete, they don’t just leave. They want to pour back into their community and keep those resources right here.
WHRO: Most student-athletes, whether they’re the 1% earning tens of millions of dollars in college or those who are just getting some extra thousands they did not have, end up spending money on frivolous things. How can athletes build businesses and learn financial literacy and contract education? What mistakes are you seeing?
GAY: The contracts are complicated, and I’ve read them. Everybody wants a piece of the pie. When my son entered the portal, agents reached out to us, and I didn’t know much about how much percentage they should be receiving, so it became very important that I continuously educate myself. A lot of people know how to make money off of the athletes, and the athletes are the last ones to learn. I think it’s making sure that they have the resources at the university level, but also taking some personal accountability.
I have a funny story about one of my son’s friends. They were giving out paper checks for NIL, and we were talking, and he had like three of them that he had received. I said, “Why do you have so many checks?” And he was like, “Well, I thought that the money was just going to hit my account,” because no one had educated them about paper checks versus direct deposit. There are deficiencies in very basic financial literacy that our young people are missing right now.
The universities are doing a decent job, but they are accountable to all kinds of compliance issues, and they’re tapped. And the coaches have to win. That’s why I started the organization I did, so that I can pull together all the folks who are trying to do it right and point those people to the athletes who need them most.
WHRO: What’s the biggest risk for a young athlete when they sign those NIL contracts?
GAY: It’s hard to say the biggest. I think they have to always remember that they’re replaceable. Coaches are replaceable, athletes are replaceable. They have to remember that it isn’t an unlimited piggy bank. They have to deliver on the field, and if they don’t, then that money will end. So they have to think about it in terms of a transaction. If you don’t do the work, then you won't continue to receive the resources. Think about it as something finite, and make sure you’re investing it so that it can make money for you, as opposed to it being something that you talked about as an opportunity that passed.
WHRO: We talked about the new Protect College Sports Act and how many coaches are getting behind that bill. How does that change the outlook for HBCUs?
GAY: It’s a little frustrating for me, because any time that we have legislation, we have to understand that there are new people who have entered the equation with their own vested interest. This legislation, frankly, wouldn’t be on the table if there wasn’t so much money involved. It just wouldn’t. I wish the Protect College Sports Act was called the Protect Athletes Act, but the reality is the regulations do cause more harm in many instances to HBCUs because they’re not being considered.
There should be collective bargaining agreements with HBCUs. There should be factors written in around an athlete bill of rights, frankly, thinking about the health, protection and safety of these athletes who put their lives on the line during every game. I’m watching the advocacy arm very closely. All of us have a responsibility to communicate to our legislators, because they’re the ones who are going to advocate for us, and they need to know what we believe. We can leave no power on the table. We’ve got to let them know we’re paying attention. And the heart of all of these bills or programs or initiatives has got to be the athlete. If there’s nobody that’s really thinking about them, then other institutions will continue to monetize off of them, and they’ll continue to be left behind.
WHRO: What’s next for BLM Sports as you continue to grow and work with these colleges and coaches?
GAY: I’m excited about bringing athletes back into the fold under the moniker of BLM. When Black Lives Matter took off in 2020, there were so many brands and sports and schools and athletes who wore BLM on their backs or their chests, and after some time, for lots of reasons, many reasons that I’ve been working to rectify, that dissipated. What I want people to know is our lives and our bodies still matter, and you can come back to Black Lives Matter and know that it’s not about controversy. It’s about investment.
I say oftentimes that BLM was first about Black death, and I’ve brought in a focus on Black life and Black love. What I want coaches and athletes to know is that you have a seat at the table. BLM is here for you, particularly BLM Sports. Visit us at blmsports.net and help me build this thing so that it doesn’t break.
