Newsletter #53 | Florida NIL Lawsuit, Chet Holmgren x Topps, Velocity Strategic Research, UGA's Championship Season + ICYMI Ticker
Welcome to the NIL Newsletter by Optimum Sports Consulting - providing valuable, actionable NIL resources for athletes, administrators, agencies and other sport professionals.
Recapping NIL This Week:
Florida student athletes are suing FHSAA, NCAA over NIL
Two Florida student athletes filed a lawsuit challenging compensation restrictions on Monday. The lawsuit, brought by attorneys from the MSP recovery law firm, is against the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA), the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA). The lawsuit alleges that the FHSAA currently prevents Florida high school athletes from profiting off their name, image, and likeness (NIL). Moreover, the FHSAA does not allow for private Florida high schools to offer athletic scholarships to prospective student athletes.
The lawsuit also makes a broader criticism of the restrictions. It alleges that FHSAA is “shov[ing] market forces aside” and inflicts “substantial damages” on student athletes. In other words, rather than allowing for market forces to create competition amongst Florida high schools for the most talented athletes, regulations artificially interfere with both high schools and athletes. The lawsuit claims that the NFHS and FHSAA have made over $15 million and $5 million over yearly periods.
MSP Recovery developed a platform designed to allow individuals to securely store all their medical and prescription information so that health care professionals can easily access patient records. The platform, called LifeWallet, offered endorsement contracts to the two plaintiff students, Sal Stewart and Gilbert Frierson. Stewart, who plays baseball for Westminster Christian High School, could not accept the contract because of FHSAA bylaws. Frierson plays football as an intercollegiate athlete for the University of Miami and has one year of eligibility remaining. According to the complaint, he has a one-year contract with LifeWallet, but would have entered into a longer one if it weren't for a state statute that restricts college athletes from entering into a contract for compensation that extends beyond their participation in their college athletic program. The suit seeks a declaraction that state law "imposes an arbitrary cap" on such contracts and asks the court to declare the FHSSA bylaws at issue invalid.
Full 19-page lawsuit can be found HERE.
Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren signs with Topps
The partnership will feature a player-curated set, an artist-based set and Topps NOW cards that capture highlights from the current basketball season. In addition, a limited-edition card will be released that will see 100 percent of its proceeds going to benefit Can Do Canines, a nonprofit organization that enhances the quality of life for people with disabilities by creating mutually beneficial partnerships with specially trained dogs. This is the first big announcement from Topps since it was acquired by Fanatics.
“At Topps, we are always looking for ways to expand our reach to new audiences and celebrate the hardworking, determined athletes across all areas of sports on both a professional and collegiate level,” said David Leiner, vice president and general manager of global sports and entertainment at Topps. “This new partnership with Chet marks an exciting new addition to our product portfolio, and we’re thrilled to continue to introduce sports fans and collectors, both old and new, to our trading cards through another innovative collaboration.”
“I am beyond excited to be partnering with such an iconic company like Topps who has showcased some of the best athletes in the world over the last 80 years,” said Chet Holmgren. “I’m looking forward to teaming up with Topps as they continue to capture the action of the game and I’m excited to share my passion of basketball with fans and collectors around the world.”
Velocity Public Affairs launches new NIL research service
Velocity Public Affairs announced today the launch of Velocity Strategic Research (VSR), a new service that will provide vital information necessary to ensure potential collegiate athlete ambassadors are an appropriate match. VSR is designed to help clients who are actively involved in the expanding and exploding NIL market that involves college student athletes.
“NIL is an evolving opportunity for collegiate athletes and brands alike but also creates new risks and challenges as athletes and brands create new partnerships,” said Velocity Public Affairs Partner Mike Zipko. “Before entering any business relationship, it’s important to fully understand a potential partner’s values, track record and past behavior. Nobody wants an unpleasant surprise. Brands, like student athletes, need to do their homework to ensure the best outcomes. Our existing experience helping other clients research and better understand these types of issues is something we believe can help stakeholders develop mutually-beneficial collaborations in this new market.
The Minnesota-based firm will help ensure SAs are compatible with each brand and offer research/strategic counsel that can help identify potential challenges that could create future challenges for all parties.
Velocity Public Affairs is a full-service public affairs company that combines experienced leadership with market-leading, proprietary technology to help clients strategically address and manage public affairs challenges and opportunities. With more than 25 years of combined experience and a track record of success, Velocity Public Affairs has mastered the ability to understand, maneuver and influence government as well as private entities.
UGA’s CFP Championship season could be big for player NIL deals in 2022
The Georgia Bulldogs’ first football national championship in 41 years came mere months after new state laws and NCAA policies opened the door to college athletes being paid for endorsements – a potentially lucrative stroke of good timing for UGA players. The championship should enhance the value of the players’ NIL to businesses across the state and enable at least some of them to cash in on the excitement surrounding the national title, according to several people familiar with the college NIL marketplace.
“The timing, as far as being able to capitalize under name, image and likeness, couldn’t be better, and the players earned it,” said Drew Butler, a former Georgia punter who heads the collegiate division at Icon Source, a Denver-based company that connects brands with athletes.
“I think it’s going to be a nice windfall for a lot of the players,” said Vince Thompson, founder and CEO of Atlanta-based sports agency MELT.
The Georgia player whose NIL rights will be the most lucrative in the coming weeks and months, observers agree, figures to be Stetson Bennett. His wildly improbable journey from walk-on to championship-winning starting quarterback has wide appeal, regardless of whether he remains in Athens for a final season of eligibility. “He’s going to have a ton of opportunity, and it’ll be up to him to choose who he would like to partner up with,” Butler said. “If Stetson is interested in it, he could become the highest-paid player in all of college sports (through NIL deals). If he’s not interested in it, he could choose that route.”
ICYMI Ticker
Agent Christ Turnage believes unscrupulous agents or representatives are shopping current college student-athletes to other schools for better NIL deals: “I personally know of examples where [that] is very common,” Turnage said. “We call them the street agents. It happens in every walk of this business. It happens to agents like me where you got a guy that says I got so-so in my pocket. If you want to represent him give me 20 grand and I’ll make sure I steer him your way… It happens when kids are going to school initially and been recruited and it’s happening with NIL now. They say I have a deal brokered with another school and they’re going to push that and try and get the kid to go transfer and say I have you 30 grand over here if you come or 40 grand. So it’s absolutely out there.”
LSU star wide receiver Kayshon Boutte has signed a name, image, and likeness deal with well-known injury attorney Gordon McKernan. The Baton Rouge lawyer said they’ve been looking to reach an NIL deal with a Tiger football player. “Some of the negotiations we had with other players just didn’t work out and the opportunity, or the need, for Kayshon came along and we decided it was time to go ahead enter that space,” McKernan said.