Recapping NIL This Week These Past Few Weeks:

SEC Media Days 2022: Commissioner Greg Sankey shoots down league expanding in reaction to Big Ten moves - CBSSports.com

SEC Media Days Recap

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey: “A national standard would mean that high school juniors and seniors and their families don't have to sort through dozens of different state laws or institutional policies where state laws don't exist. It's an unfair way to treat young people making a college decision, and a common standard would allow them to have clarity around the rules and policies that govern their own decision-making and activity. Our football coaches were unanimous and unequivocal in our spring meetings, when they discussed name, image and likeness, that booster activity should be completely removed from the recruiting aspect of their work.”
Alabama FB HC Nick Saban said Bama football players made $3 million+ in NIL deals this year, speaking on Day 2 of SEC media days in Atlanta. “We’re one of the haves, so don’t think what I’m saying is a concern we have at Alabama because we’re one of the haves. But everybody in college football cannot do things relative to how they raise money in a collective or whatever and how they distribute money to players. So those are the concerns that I have in terms of how do we place guidelines around this so that we can maintain a completive balance.”
Ole Miss HC Lane Kiffin: “It's like a payroll in baseball. What teams win over a long period? Teams with high payrolls & can pay players a lot. We're in a situation not any different. I've said you legalize cheating so get ready for people that have the most money to get players … If you have boosters deciding who they're going to pay to come play & the coach isn't involved in it, how does that work? They just pick who they want & tell you who to play? And when they don't play, how is that going to work out?”
Georgia HC Kirby Smart: “The unfortunate thing about NIL is you hear all the negative, and the negative outweighs all the positive ... There’s countless number of stories. I would rival anybody in the country to have 95 NIL deals, coming off a national championship. It’s a pretty gaudy number, total, that we’ve been able to give out. But I don’t think it’s just about marketing that, selling that. I would rather talk about the depth of our deals than the total amount.”

DI Council recommends eliminating the one-time transfer rule

The DI Council endorsed a concept that would eliminate the blanket rule prohibiting transferring more than once. The concept would also implement transfer portal “entry windows,” or periods of time in which student-athletes must provide their school with written notification of transfer to be eligible to compete immediately the following academic year. The NCAA Board of Directors is expected to rubber-stamp the recommendation August 3rd. Full statement from the NCAA HERE.
“A kid can go as many times as he wants and doesn't have to graduate? Wow,” Texas A&M HC Jimbo Fisher told CBS. “It's just open recruitment of your own players [by other schools]. Everybody can recruit [them]. That's what they're doing with third parties anyway, with agents. Agents are coming in saying, ‘I can get you a better deal here.’”
“To say now you can transfer without penalty is going to be a disaster,” said attorney Tom Mars, who has worked on several high-profile waiver request cases. “Having been a strident leader for the rights of college athletes, I never anticipated they would go this far.”
The NCAA Transformation Committee next month is expected to announce moves that would allow conferences and divisions to make some of their own rules. There is already the concern the Big Ten and SEC will monopolize the college football in the near future.

Adidas announces its first class of NIL athletes

To celebrate and honor the 50th anniversary of Title IX, Billie Jean King and Candace Parker are joined 15 female student athletes in New York on Tuesday for a historic announcement. The collegiate athletes will be entering into NIL endorsement agreements with Adidas, alongside their recently announced first signee, golfer Rose Zhang.
Earlier this year, the brand announced the first wide-sweeping, equitable and inclusive NIL network, reaching more than 50,000 eligible SAs across 23 sports and all genders at 109 Division I universities. As part of their partnerships with Adidas, the young women will proudly represent the 3-Stripes while playing, training and showing the world that more is possible inside and out of their university team obligations. They will be featured in brand marketing campaigns promoting the newest adidas athletic apparel and footwear.
Alongside these signings, Adidas is partnering with Candace Parker to create a mentorship program that provides newly signed student-athletes with guidance as they navigate the NIL era. The brand will also be expanding its partnership with Athlete Ally, a non profit LGBTQI+ advocacy group, to drive education, policy reform and organizing of student-athletes to spur equity on campus and in sport.

College football betting preview: Sun Belt - NCAAF Notes - News | VSiN

Top FBS recruits open up about NIL’s influence (via On3)

30% of the recruits surveyed said they would be willing to go to a school that’s not a perfect fit for a NIL deal. An example of some of the players that responded yes to this question included a pair of highly-ranked quarterbacks, multiple defensive ends and receivers from Florida, a couple of defensive backs from Texas, several defenders from Georgia, and a handful of defensive backs each from Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.
31.8% of the recruits surveyed say they have been contacted by a collective to do a NIL agreement with them. Many of the prospects that responded yes to this question would not reveal what schools the collectives represented. Additionally, a highly touted offensive player that responded yes said he received an offer for “$3.7 million” from a collective. On3 has not been able to verify the claimed offer. 7.4% of the recruits that responded said they asked for more money from a collective. An overwhelming majority of the recruits – 90.6% – said coaches have not put them in contact with collectives.
64.7% of the recruits said they are talking with other recruits about NIL deals. 38.2% of the recruits said they are comparing their NIL offers with other players. “All of us top guys talk, so we know what everyone is getting,” a highly ranked Texas offensive recruit said. “We can use that knowledge piece to determine our own value by comparison.”
11.8% of the recruits say they are working with a lawyer on a NIL contract. Of those recruits, 80% said they reached out to a lawyer on their own instead of the lawyer reaching out to them or their family.
80% of the recruits surveyed said they would not be willing to move to a different state to sign a NIL deal while in high school. Similarly, 85.7% of the recruits surveyed said they would not be willing to reclassify or skip their senior season of high school football to sign a NIL deal.

ICYMI Ticker

Drake’s Nike sub-label Nocta is launching a basketball collection that includes equipment, apparel, and accessories. 2023 five-star guard DJ Wagner is featured in the campaign.
Ten days after the Matador Club revealed plans to pay 100 Texas Tech Football players $25,000 each per year, Level 13 Agency announced intentions to offer the same individual amount to the Lady Raiders basketball team. All 14 players are in line for the $25,000 contract, according to the Thursday afternoon announcement. Lady Raiders Basketball HC Krista Gerlich lauded the deal, which is believed to be one of the largest in the country for a women's program. “When I say Lubbock, West Texas & Texas Tech love their [Tech WBB], I speak the truth! Historic day for our program! I am so proud to be a Red Raider!”
Ohio State’s The Foundation, has helped broker the largest NIL deal ever involving the school’s athletes. Quarterback C.J. Stroud, wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, running back TreVeyon Henderson and defensive back Denzel Burke are featured in the deal, which totals $550,000. The quarterback-wide receiver duo is set to partner with Designer Shoe Warehouse, while the other two Ohio State stars will star in a campaign with American Eagle. Stroud, who is a preseason Heisman favorite, also has a solo deal with Value City Furniture. All four Buckeyes are clients of NIL Management, a Columbus-based firm that focuses on brokering deals for student athletes. The Foundation’s CEO and co-founder Brian Schottenstein brought the deals to the table, while NIL Management co-founder Zach Beebe and his staff finalized contract negotiations. More HERE.
The University of Cincinnati are part of a ground-breaking partnership with Altius Sports Partners as one of six athlete departments that will participate and place full-time Altius personnel as part of a new GM program. UC joins LSU, Northwestern, Oklahoma State, South Carolina and Virginia. Each institution will have a customized approach to connecting athletes with brand partnerships and Altius prioritizes development of athlete NIL while fostering collaboration with institutional partners and university supporters in identifying brand prospects and enhancing existing multimedia rights partnerships.
House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), sent a letter to outgoing IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig demanding answers to a set of questions prompted by a New York Times article about a scammer who used the same address in Staten Island, New York, to apply for tax-exempt status for 76 fake charities using the names of seemingly legitimate-sounding nonprofits like the American Cancer Society of Michigan and the United Way of Ohio. As NIL collectives continue to ask for exemptions, IRS reforms could impact them in the coming months.
A new deal between INFLCR and several marketplace SAs with access to hundreds of brands and thousands of individual NIL opportunities in a centralized location. MarketPryce, NOCAP Sports, MOGL and Embassy will utilize INFLCR’s Global Exchange allowing them to offer deals directly in the INFLCR app. More HERE.
Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff at Pac-12 Media Day: “I believe it is time for the 10 FBS conferences to step in and agree to NIL legislation and a strong, effective and expeditious enforcement mechanism. All 10 conferences are strongly in favor of student athletes being able to benefit from their NIL. But we also need three simple and obvious guardrails: NIL should not be used as an inducement. NIL should not be used as pay-for-play. And the amount earned as NIL payments should be commensurate with what the NIL provided and not a veiled inducement or pay-for-play … Antitrust is the reason why the current NCAA rules are not being enforced. The risk of antitrust diminishes when you have a smaller number of conferences, smaller number of schools instituting rules and enforcing those rules. That's why I'm calling for the 10 CFP conferences - the 10 [FBS] conferences to focus our attention as opposed to waiting for the NCAA.”
Jeremy Crabtree of On3 reported that 4-star prospect and No. 7 quarterback in the class of 2023 Jaden Rashada, agreed to a $9.5 million NIL deal with Miami booster John Ruiz and also turned down an $11 million offer from Florida's Gator Collective. “Jaden left millions on the table,” Michael W. Caspino, who is known as an NIL lawyer, said. “Millions. He did not pick the highest offer. He went there because he loves Miami, the coaches and the opportunity.”
The Brandr Group has announced plans to bring on Orion Business Advisors to execute and develop the company’s video game strategies. The group’s founder and CEO Paul Johnson will also assist in identifying and executing NIL partnerships with video game developments working to create college sports-focused games. This move comes at a time when EA Sports is expected to release its new iteration of NCAA Football next summer.
Butler’s first NIL collective, All Good Dawgs, has launched. The new collective is a 501(c)(3) that will raise funds to pay athletes for work on behalf of charitable organizations. More HERE.
Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren at Big Ten Media Days: “I’m a big proponent of [NIL]. … That said, I am disappointed that we still have to operate with these various patchwork of laws from a state-level standpoint. We need federal legislation to help put in some guardrails to make it even more cleaner, to make sure these name, image and likeness [deals are] not used as a recruiting inducement. So we have a lot of work to do even from a political standpoint.”
Temple AD Arthur Johnson: “There are some discussions going on about collectives. We feel like that’s something that’s important for us. At the same time, obviously trying to make sure we don’t run afoul of the state law in regards to our involvement with it. We can help set up the structure and be a part of those discussions so that they are in compliance and not breaking rules … The NCAA is at a crossroads with all of the uncertainty now. They’re kind of paralyzed with this whole deal, trying to understand how are they going to hold a school accountable for something that someone or something did. Collectives have essentially allowed boosters to get back involved in the recruiting process. And that’s a major concern on a national level right now.”
Penn State FB HC Franklin on new Nittany Lions AD Pat Kraft: “I want this to come off specifically to Pat, because total respect for the regime that we had previously, but Pat’s fighting some battles that maybe hadn’t been fought in the past. In years past, I would feel like I’d have to maybe say some of these things, to maybe create some pressure or to create some dialogue that needed to happen. I don’t have to (now). You can come talk to me about the left guard right now. I’m jacked about talking about the left guard and having somebody else pound the drum on the importance of NIL.”
Florida Gators quarterback Anthony Richardson announced he will no longer use the “AR-15” nickname and branding. More HERE.
AAC Commissioner Michael Aresco at AAC Media Day:“The amateur model we've embraced for decades is gone and we can't pretend it still exists. But, at the other end of the spectrum is fewer NFL style professionals, is that what we want? Is there a reasonable middle ground that retains the student-athlete experience and does not make our student athletes employees or union members? I believe so … With the power likely devolving to conferences, the autonomy designation and the conference governance model is no longer needed. Disappearing with it should be the Group of Five moniker. That label has been destructive and it should all be FBS." In discussing realignment writ large. We can lament realignment all we want but we have to deal with it. Admittedly, it is a hard, unforgiving business. Trust is shattered routinely in these situations, feelings are hurt, although no one can take it personally, it is by no means fun.”
Rutgers FB HC Greg Schiano to a group of RU boosters: "We have four months to raise the money we need before other teams start poaching our best players … We'll build it [a football facility] soon, but NIL is the number one priority right now for money.”
Asked if bowls are still a reward in college football’s system, UTSA coach Jeff Traylor brought up an idea to intertwine NIL money with prize money. The players on the winning roster of the bowl gets $10,000. Losers get none. “That’ll get their asses up to play,” he said.
Michigan FB HC Jim Harbaugh: “I believe players should have a share in the revenues and I think that’s something that’s really possible at Michigan, I think that’s where we’re headed … I mean the Big Ten, they use their name, image and likeness on the TV broadcast. They’re the one signing the mega TV deals and a new one’s coming in 2024. Why can’t that be an NIL deal right from the Big Ten? That’s who’s negotiating the TV deals and that’s where the big money is.”
Oklahoma State Athletic Director Chad Weiberg has announced Barry Hinson as OSU's first full-time NIL administrator. Hinson, who has been a member of MBB HC Mike Boynton's coaching staff for the past three seasons, will assume his duties as OSU's Associate Athletic Director for NIL immediately.
Soccer star Sarah Fuller on NIL/mental health: “I remember people saying, ‘Oh, I just saw [Katie Meyer] on Instagram, and she just looked so happy.’ I’m like, I was doing the same thing. … You have to maintain posts to keep up an appearance in order to get these NIL deals.”
INFLCR CEO Jim Cavale: “At the end of the day, somebody has to act on the regulatory uniformity objective. And it’s just unclear who it’s going to create uniformity. And so no, I don’t know that’s necessarily a cop-out (for Sankey to put forth this ultimatum). I think continuously bringing it up puts pressure on the leaders. Whether it’s commissioner Sankey figuring out how the SEC can have regulatory uniformity, which is very difficult because all their states have different laws. And so finding a way to get all the states to be more uniform, so that there aren’t advantages or disadvantages from state to state is difficult.”
The Adidas NIL Athlete Ambassador Program powered by Postgame will launch and be available to Alabama State University student athletes beginning the first week of September.
The platform fee for YOKE's player-driven NIL communities has dropped from 25% to 18% due to scaling, YOKE co-founder and CEO Mick Assaf said. “We'd love to get into the single digits eventually but a lot more people have to be using our technology for that to be the case.”
Great story from The Athletic on NIL factoring into MBB star Drew Timme’s decision to stay at Gonzaga. More HERE.
The SoCal Challenge, an eight-team tournament (known as a multi-team event or MTE) held the week before Thanksgiving, is planning its own NIL organization to benefit participating players. More HERE.
Virginia Tech has a new collective and two existing collectives are announcing a merger. The Hokie Way, which describes itself as an “independent nonprofit organization that will create active engagements for Virginia Tech student-athletes with charitable goals,” launched last week. Triumph NIL and Hot Route Sports Marketing have merged. Full story from Business of College Sports HERE.
Troy announced its full NIL plan for student athletes, which includes partnerships with Opendorse, The Brandr Group, Adidas and PlayFly Sports. Full announcement HERE.
Kansas announced a multimedia rights (MMR) agreement with incumbent partner LEARFIELD, who have managed the Jayhawks’ multimedia rights since 2007.
Marquette and INFLCR have expanded their partnership to introduce the INFLCR+ Ring Out Ahoya Local Exchange.
Houston and The Brandr Group have established a group licensing agreement covering all the Cougars' 17 sports.
Baylor has partnered with Opendorse to form the Baylor Bears NIL Marketplace, which will launch on Wednesday, August 3rd.
FanJolt and Middle Tennessee State have announced a new partnership.
Campus Ink announced a partnership with the University of Dayton.
Texas Southern University has announced a new partnership with Spry.

OSC’s Top NIL Deals of the Week

Darlington Raceway Signs First NASCAR Owned Track NIL Deal with Grayson McCall - Darlington Raceway

Darlington Raceway has signed Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall in the first long-term NIL partnership between a NASCAR racetrack and a college football player. Atlanta Motor Speedway has done one-off social media promotions with a trio of Georgia football players to promote its most recent NASCAR Cup Series events, but McCall's NIL agreement with Darlington Raceway, NASCAR's oldest superspeedway, is for a full year. McCall will promote the racetrack's annual Labor Day race weekend, including a NASCAR "Crown Jewel" event - the Southern 500 on Sept. 4 - as the face of the speedway's marketing campaigns, which will include the use of his social media.

Nebraska's Decoldest Crawford Inks Deal With Air Conditioning Company

Nebraska receiver Decoldest Crawford signed an NIL partnership this week to become the new spokesperson for local HVAC company SOS Heating & Cooling, the company announced Tuesday. SOS is a third generation family owned company located in Omaha, Nebraska.

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Newsletter #105 | SEC Media Days, New…