ACCELERATE SPORTS VENTURES LAUNCHES NIL360°edu PROGRAM

Announces expert team for NIL education

(December 3, 2020) WYCKOFF, NJ – Accelerate Sports Ventures announced today NIL360°edu (as part of Accelerate’s NIL360™ solution), a comprehensive educational program for collegiate Name, Image and Likeness (NIL). The program includes a world-class team of experts to educate student-athletes and consult with institutions on best practices for the transformative shift in NIL rules across college athletics. NIL360°edu will deliver real-world expertise both virtually (live and on-demand) and in-person, and combined with year-round support, Accelerate is providing an unparalleled educational experience that will help athletes succeed in the NIL era.

“I am elated to share our team of industry experts,” said founder Doug Fillis. “The talent and experience we are bringing to our partners are unmatched and will provide instruction and knowledge in the areas of legal education, tax education, contracts 101, financial literacy + entrepreneurship and our brand building education – You Are Your Own Brand™. The comprehensive nature of our education will allow for athletes to prosper in any and every venture related to Name, Image and Likeness.”

Accelerate brings a compliant, one-of-a-kind education program with world-class experts, and beyond the education, they are providing 365 days a year support for athletes, coaches and staff.

NIL360°edu’s legal education team consists of: longtime CLC/IMG College SVP and General Counsel Bruce Siegal, counsel at law firm Taylor English Duma; Sanjay Ibrahim, Melinda Cox, and Anthony Santoriello from the national firm PIB Law; and Goulston & Storr’s College Sports Law Practice led by Martin Edel.

The tax education team will be led by renowned tax expert “Sportstaxman” Robert Raiola, CPA and Scott Edison, CPA from PKF O’Connor Davies as well as, Janine Purcaro, CPA.

Financial literacy and entrepreneurship education includes Erik and Brandon Averill’s AWM Capital and Diamond Private Wealth Partners of Raymond James, Cristina Curiale, CFP®, CPWA® and David Colin, CFP®, AIF®.

Lifeline Financial Group, led by acclaimed wealth manager Humble Lukanga, will be involved in all aspects of the educational programming, including tax, financial literary + entrepreneurship, as well as brand building.

NIL360°edu also includes Accelerate’s distinctive brand building education – “You Are Your Own Brand.” Fillis added, “We are focused on delivering unique and profoundly helpful content to college athletes about brand building. This content is not something you can google. We are here to provide real-world examples and takeaways, so athletes can build their own brand and reap the benefits that come with that.”

Accelerate understands that delivering dynamic educational content will provide the best results in educating and preparing athletes for success. In order to deliver an innovative, dynamic and captivating experiences, Accelerate has partnered with the production team at Jersey Filmmaker which was founded by former college and professional baseball player, Anthony Seratelli. In addition, Accelerate has partnered with virtual content provider Webinar.net founded by Mike Henry.

“When you look at our comprehensive solution, NIL360°, it is incredibility important to point out that NIL360° was specifically designed to adhere to the proposed NCAA legislation,” said Fillis. Accelerate brings a compliant, one-of-a-kind education program with world-class experts, and beyond the education, they are providing 365 days a year support for athletes, coaches and staff.

About Accelerate Sports Ventures and NIL360°™

Accelerate Sports Ventures was created to provide comprehensive solutions for the future of college athletics. Accelerate’s immediate focus is helping athletic departments manage Name, Image and Likeness with its NIL360 solution. NIL360 will provide a comprehensive NIL solution with an unbiased oversight process for athletic departments. From education to infrastructure to management and review, NIL360 will provide an unparalleled experience to guide athletic departments and student-athletes into the new world of NIL and the future of college athletics. For more information, go to AccelerateSportsVentures.com or email info@acceleratesportsventures.com.

About Bruce Siegal

Bruce B. Siegal is a member of Taylor English Duma’s Intellectual Property and Entertainment, Sports and Media Departments. Mr. Siegal has more than 30 years of experience as Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) and its related sports licensing entities. He focuses on sports brand protection and enforcement, licensing, contract negotiation, marketing and business operations, helping brand owners maximize IP value thru licensing, sponsorship and endorsement agreements, and assisting licensees navigate the licensing marketplace through utilizing a vast network of industry contacts.

Siegal established CLC as a founding member of CAPS, a trademark protection and enforcement alliance among CLC and the professional sports leagues such as the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL. For more information, go to www.taylorenglish.com/people-bruce-siegal-attorney-sports-entertainment-ip.html or email bsiegal@taylorenglish.com.

About PIB Law

PIB Law is a full-service national law firm that represents an array of corporate clients, ranging from Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, technology companies, national banks, retailers, financial services companies and individuals in commercial litigation, intellectual property and transactional matters. For more information, go to piblaw.com or email sanjay.ibrahim@piblaw.com.

About Goulston & Storr’s College Sports Law Practice

Goulston & Storrs, an Am Law 200 firm, launched College Sports Law Practice to help colleges, universities and athletic conferences navigate an increasingly complex legal landscape during the pandemic and beyond. Goulston & Storrs brings decades of experience to advise colleges, universities and athletic conferences in the most current and relevant issues affecting intercollegiate sports. For more information, go to www.goulstonstorrs.com/college-sports-law-practice/.

Martin Edel chairs Goulston & Storrs’ College Sports Law Practice. Marty is recognized as a leader in the sports law field. He is an Adjunct Instructor at Law at Columbia Law School, where he teaches Sports and the Law. Marty is also an Adjunct Law Professor at the Brooklyn Law School, where he teaches classes in Sports Law and in Antitrust. Marty has been honored by BloombergSports® at its annual 2018 and 2019 Sports Luncheon for 30 high profile executives in the sports industry. Marty was recognized as a SuperLawyer® in the field of Sports and Entertainment in 2010-2011 and 2013-2020and is the former Chair of the Sports Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association.

About PKF O’Connor Davies

Sportstaxman, Robert Raiola is the Director of the Sports and Entertainment Group, with more than 20 years of experience in both the public and private sector. He provides business management services, tax planning and business consulting to high net worth individuals and their families in the sports and entertainment industries. He is co-author of the book, “Winning Tax Strategies for Athletes and Entertainers” and is a Sports Illustrated Contributor. For more information, go to www.pkfod.com.

Scott Edison is a Partner in the Firm’s Entrepreneurial Services Group. He has over 20 years of experience focusing on providing business consulting and advisory services, individual, partnership, corporate tax planning and accounting for privately held and family-owned businesses.

About Janine Purcaro, CPA

Janine Purcaro, CPA, has over 30 years of experience in financial management and individual and corporate tax planning. She is currently the Chief Operating Officer at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ. Prior to that she served as the Chief Financial Officer for Rutgers Athletics and the Rutgers University Foundation, was a Certified Public Accountant for the accounting firms of KPMG and Romano, Hearing, Testa & Knorr and held other corporate leadership positions.

About AWM Capital

AWM is a multi-family office that partners with professional athletes to unlock the full potential of their wealth for maximum impact. Athletes are told they need to think of themselves as a business and operate as the CEO. However, very few individuals in an athlete’s close circles are either business owners, CEO’s and former professional athletes. So, unfortunately, it’s a great sound bite but very rarely are players given the knowledge and skill set to become professionals off-the-field.

AWM is uniquely positioned to educate and empower athletes about the financial ramifications and business decisions being made because they’ve been there, too. They are former professional athletes, business owners, investors and responsible for helping athletes protect and maximize their entire net worth.

Erik Averill and Brandon Averill are the co-founders of AWM. Both are former professional baseball players and are CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) Professionals and Certified Private Wealth Advisors (CPWA®). They co-authored “PAID: How To Maximize Your Signing Bonus, Simplify The Money Game and Secure Your Future” and host, “The Athlete CEO podcast”.

About Diamond Private Wealth Partners

The Diamond Private Wealth Partners of Raymond James team is excited about the name, image, and likeness opportunities facing student-athletes. They will be joining our initiative in educating student athletes about financial literacy. The Diamond PWP team seeks to empower individuals by making the complicated world of finance digestible and interesting. They work closely with private clients to understand their unique circumstances, create a highly customized financial roadmap, and then join them on each step of their journey. They are thrilled to join these student-athletes in the beginning of theirs. The team at Diamond Private Wealth Partners can be reached at diamondprivatewealthpartners@raymondjames.com or visit www.diamondpwp.com. Raymond James & Associates, Inc. Member New York Stock Exchange/SIPC.

About Humble Lukanga – CEO – Lifeline Financial Group

Humble Lukanga is an acclaimed wealth manager for professional athletes, entertainers, executives and thought leaders. An MBA graduate of the University of New Mexico, Lukanga’s Lifeline Financial Group has offices in Los Angeles, Houston and Denver. Lukanga has been named one of the Top 20 Business Managers in Hollywood in 2018, 2019 and 2020 and is a Certified Financial Planner. For more information, go to http://www.llfg-us.com.

About Jersey Filmmaker

Jersey Filmmaker is an award-winning production company focused on telling intriguing stories and creating engaging content that elevates brands worldwide! Founded by former professional baseball player, Anthony Seratelli, of the Kansas City Royals & New York Mets; the US based company is known for its premier production team and global creative services. For more information, go to jerseyfilmmaker.com or email create@jerseyfilmmaker.com.

About Webinar.net

webinar.net is the next generation online presentation platform that enables organizations to connect, engage and interact with them. Founded by Mike Henry, webinar.net simplifies the notorious complex and “clunky” world of online meeting and webcast tools by offering a very simple, branded, engaging way to deliver webinars to a global audience. Built and hosted on the cloud, with enterprise grade scale and security, the webinar.net infrastructure is built to
handle millions of online presentation attendees from businesses around the world. For more information, go to webinar.net.