More from Monday, Quick Hitters, + ICYMI | NIL Newsletter #174
Welcome to the NIL Newsletter by Optimum Sports Consulting - providing valuable, actionable NIL resources for athletes, administrators, agencies and other sport professionals.
More from Monday:
More on the 12th Man+ Fund
In February of this year, Texas A&M announced that the 12th Man Foundation—which funds scholarships, programs, and facilities improvements at Texas A&M—was launching the 12th Man+ Fund.
At the time, OSC spoke about how this fund would be the first “collective” operating directly under the control of an institution. Texas A&M claimed that they cleared the fund with their compliance department and informed both the NCAA and the SEC of the change.
“Texas A&M notified the NCAA that an NIL-related announcement was upcoming,” NCAA spokeswoman Meghan Durham said. “However, the NCAA did not review or approve any concept prior to the announcement.”
The NCAA released a memo aimed at this new fund, emphasizing current NIL regulations: “The NCAA’s current Interim NIL Policy, Division I Board of Directors NIL guidance and NCAA rules prohibit an institution from compensating student-athletes for the use of their NIL. This prohibition also applies to entities acting on behalf of the institution.”
Just last month, we mentioned that the 12th Man+ Fund has done little in the NIL space since it was announced. Now, the reasons for that are clear.
After “external advisors” reviewed the fund, they recommended that Texas A&M shut it down. A&M, in the announcement, specifically cited the June IRS memo which targeted nonprofit collectives.
More on the story is available HERE.
Quick Hitters:
Mizzou Reaps Benefits of New State Law
In May, we discussed Missouri’s revised NIL law, which has two key developments.
First, the revised law would protect coaches and school officials, allowing them to “identify, create, facilitate, negotiate, support, enable, or otherwise assist” with NIL opportunities.
The new law also allows high school student-athletes to profit from NIL, provided that they are already signed to an in-state program.
Yesterday, Williams Nwaneri, a 5-star defensive lineman from the state of Missouri, announced his commitment to Mizzou, selecting the Tigers over a cast of suitors including Georgia, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. He is the highest-ranked recruit to commit to Mizzou in history.
Whether or not the new law had some effect on his decision, it appeared to be passed at the perfect time.
NCAA Puts New NIL Plan in Motion
The NCAA Division I board of directors has told the Division I Council that it wants a new NIL plan in place by October of this year.
NCAA President Charlie Baker wants the plan to include “injury insurance for all college athletes, a registration process for agents and financial advisers involved in NIL, a standardized NIL contract, and disclosure requirements for both student-athletes and collectives or companies that provide NIL compensation.”
More on the NCAA’s plan is available HERE.
ICYMI
FSU Wide Receiver Keon Coleman signed with Just Win Management for NIL representation. LINK
NCAA President Charlie Baker releases letter to NCAA members. LINK
Stanford’s Cameron Brink becomes the first women’s basketball player to sign an NIL deal with New Balance. LINK
Clemson QB Cade Klubnik signs multi-year NIL deal with Rhoback, and will earn a commission for sales. 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!