Beats By Dre, Powerade, Fansville, + ICYMI & More | NIL Newsletter #177
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Major News
Beats by Dre Launches “Beats Elite”
It wasn’t just Tennessee Quarterback Joe Milton who gifted his entire team Beats headphones.
This week, Beats by Dre—the headphone manufacturer founded by Dr. Dre and later sold to Apple—launched its inaugural “Beats Elite” class.
The company signed fifteen college football student-athletes across the country, from Alabama to USC. The athletes will “be featured across various marketing campaigns and wear custom Beats products.
A majority have already gifted custom Beats to their teammates, while others, such as Georgia defensive back Malaki Starks, plan to do so in the coming months.
The full list of “Beats Elite” student-athletes is available HERE.
Powerade Joins College Football Season
Beats by Dre wasn’t the only company to celebrate the start of the new college football season with NIL deals.
This week, Powerade launched a new college football NIL ad campaign featuring 60 student-athletes.
The television portion of their campaign will first feature during the September 3rd matchup between Florida State and LSU.
“We really jumped in feet first into NIL and leveraged a lot of the key learnings from BodyArmor with our pro athletes,” said Thomas Gargiulo, BodyArmor Sports’ CMO. “NIL is a great opportunity for us to find new and different ways to connect with each team’s fan base.”
More on Powerade’s launch is available HERE.
Caleb Williams Joins Dr. Pepper’s Fansville Series
Caleb Williams, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner—and On3’s second most valuable college football player—is capitalizing on what most believe to be his last season in college athletics.
Williams joined Beats by Dre’s “Beats Elite” campaign last week, while also taking his talents, and famous finger nails, to Dr. Pepper.
Williams follows the example set by two prior quarterbacks in joining Dr. Pepper’s Fansville commercials: DJ Uiagalelei and Bryce Young.
In addition to featuring on the commercial series, Dr. Pepper is further partnering with Williams to launch a “Fanicures” nail kit, which “gives fans what they need to express their fandom on all ten digits.”
More on the deal is available HERE.
Legal Update
Tom McMillen Provides Federal Bill Update
Tom McMillen, former United States Representative and current LEAD1 Association CEO, provided his thoughts on federal legislation in a recent interview with On3.
McMillen remains “hopeful,” but not “hugely optimistic” that a successful federal NIL bill will be in place by the end of the year.
McMIllen warns that although the NCAA may receive the preemption of state NIL laws that it desires, “[t]here will not be a bill in Congress that comes out that codifies non-employment status. It’s dead on arrival.”
More from his interview is available HERE.
For Athletes
Billboard of the Week
Bo Nix, who returned for his last college season instead of pursuing the NFL, is following in Joey Harrington’s footsteps.
In 2001, Oregon put up a massive Joey Harrington Heisman campaign billboard in New York. He finished 4th in Heisman voting.
This year, Bo Nix has Heisman campaign billboards in both New York and Dallas. Perhaps the result will be different this time around.
For Admins
Notes for the Week
Virginia Tech Athletic Director Whit Babcock spoke about the University’s approach to NIL in an interview with College Sports Live.
“[I]f all you have is NIL but you don't have traditional recruiting, it's probably not going to work; but if all you have is traditional recruiting without NIL, that's probably not going to work.”
ICYMI
Louisville launched the Louisville NIL Store in partnership with INFLCR. LINK
North Dakota State launched the NDSU NIL Store, also in partnership with INFLCR. LINK
The Wazzu-focused Cougar Collective selected Basepath as its NIL operations provider. LINK
USC hired from current (and future) conference rival Washington for their new Athletic Director, naming Washington’s Jennifer Cohen as USC’s newest AD. LINK
Have you checked out OSC’s website?
Head to www.OptimumSportsConsulting.com to find important resources and features relating to all things NIL. These resources include State by State Resources for Admins, Agents and Athletes, including our initial “OSC Summaries” for over a dozen states coming soon.
More to come too, including links to helpful state information- agency laws and information about school policies, as well as seminar/congressional notes, worksheets, and much more!