Our history
2022 → 2026
From a single Illini drop
to the platform.
Four years. Seven milestones. One mission: build a fairer deal between fans, athletes, and schools. Browse the milestones below for the story.
Interactive timeline
Seven milestones, one platform.
Pick a milestone to read the story.
Era · Collectibles
Era · Hybrid
Era · Today
20222023202420252026
Chapter 04October 2022Collectibles
Illini Men's Basketball team-wide NIL deal.
NextName signs the Illini Men's Basketball roster to a team-wide NIL deal. Fans can back individual players with $25 collectibles or back the whole team with Classic ($30), Gold ($100), or Platinum ($999) team tokens. The deal is covered nationally by On3 and across local Chicago media.
Read the announcement →4 / 7
Receipts
The press from 2022.
Original launch coverage, preserved verbatim from the WordPress publication.
Today’s NextName is what came next.
The platform we’re building now is what every chapter above was leading to.