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NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) and revenue sharing have become inescapable parts of the lexicon of today’s new college sports landscape, but 91����’s assistant vice president and director of intercollegiate athletics Marvin Lewis wants to make sure that everyone knows exactly what that entails.

The goal is to both improve the student-athlete experience and add to the growing momentum, support, and university connection across all of Northern Virginia.

“We’re looking to build an NIL ecosystem at George Mason,” Lewis said. “We think of being Northern Virginia’s team, and the business community is an important piece of that. When NOVA’s team wins, NOVA wins.”

That commitment to Northern Virginia extends education to partnerships between local business leaders and interested university student-athletes.

“There’s an assumption that every student-athlete is getting paid, that every student-athlete is making six figures with NIL, and every student-athlete is transferring,” Lewis said. “That’s not the case at George Mason. Most of our student-athletes receive partial or no athletics scholarships, work to help afford their education, and remain committed to the academic opportunities and benefits the university provides.”

With aims of keeping George Mason competitive with further authentic engagement across Northern Virginia, the second annual NOVA's Team NIL Business Summit on August 19 will bring together local businesses, university leaders, and community partners with student-athletes to explore NIL opportunities, celebrate successful partnerships, and highlight innovative work happening on campus.

The just-completed 2025–26 academic year was a strong one for George Mason Athletics, with significant progress in athletic competition, academics, fundraising, fan engagement, NIL, leadership, and community connection.

Winning has proven just the panacea needed, with holding particularly true for George Mason’s two flagship sports of men’s and women’s basketball.

The women’s team captured the program's first-ever A10 regular-season championship as co-champions, including a program-record 16 conference wins, while the men earned back-to-back postseason appearances for the first time since 2007–09.

Ticketing and sponsorships have blossomed as a result, with men's basketball averaging 4,189 fans—up 30% year over year—and 5,134 fans in A10 play, the program's best mark since 2013–14.

The momentum helped Athletics raise a record $4.4 million last year, including $2.06 million on Giving Day. Learn more about this achievement at .

“Winning starts with people,” Lewis said. “I truly believe that people matter and that culture is the differentiator. I feel really confident in [Men’s Basketball Head Coach] Tony [Skinn] and [Women’s Basketball Head Coach] Vanessa [Blair-Lewis] as leaders on the basketball side, and the cultures that they’ve been able to develop that are about the right things.”

Success comes with its obvious benefits as NIL continues to transform college athletics, and interest in it from George Mason student-athletes remains strong. Currently, 26 student-athletes from eight different sports have NIL deals that have created opportunities for them while strengthening ties with the local business community.

Examples of the “NIL for All” model include the deal between women’s soccer player Madyson Taylor and local business , and the wellness-focused partnership between women’s lacrosse player Peyton Farley and .

Lewis stressed George Mason’s educational approach to the new age of college sports. Each agreement is tailored to the business and the student-athlete, and might involve community appearances, youth camps, educational programming, wellness initiatives, or storytelling campaigns.

“It’s all of the soft skills that students will develop through that process,” he said. “Entrepreneurship, communication, business etiquette, branding, and how to sell yourself. All of those things are going to make our student-athletes better in the marketplace when they’re looking for jobs. And I think that’s another aspect that we’re leveraging beyond just the dollars and cents tied to the NIL deals.”

The NIL Business Summit is one tool that helps bring Mason Nation closer together with local supportive communities, but hardly the only one. The popular series will be making its third and final stop of the summer at The Farm Brewery in Prince William County on August 26. 

“I believe the Mason model is sustainable,” Lewis said. “I believe that we’re at the right intersection of entertainment, education, and community impact, so I believe we’re in the sweet spot.”