WACO, Texas (FOX 44) – Baylor President Linda Livingstone is standing with Senator Ted Cruz on matters of Name, Image, and Likeness, also known as NIL, for student-athletes.

Startup Waco is the NIL solution for Baylor Athletics, operating a fund to distribute NIL dollars to student-athletes. Senator Ted Cruz wants to ensure super giants of college athletics don’t weed out smaller programs to preserve college sports.

“When Ted Cruz was talking about a federal legislation that just gives the opportunity for us to have a reset in some ways now, he doesn’t want to take authority out of the state’s hands, and that wouldn’t be wise to do and I don’t think that would be effective,” says Startup Waco Development Partner Cody Carlson.

Carlson highlighted the University of Colorado and Deon Sanders who utilized the transfer portal and NIL money to turn it’s college football program around. In light of the climate, smaller private schools with small alumni bases like Baylor are forced to get creative.

“Baylor has to, I think, be on board with different community partners that are trying to do things the right way and by the right way, meaning, you know, education and support and for true market value businesses,” says Carlson.

Check back with us for more updates on NIL and the college football landscape.