Newsletter #57 | NIL Edge Team, Virginia NIL Law, MiLB on NIL, Oregon NIL Royalty Law, NAIA x Opendorse + 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:
Ohio State forms internal advisory group to assist athletes with NIL deals
Ohio State’s athletic department has set up an internal advisory group aimed at assisting athletes pursuing name, image and likeness deals. The formation of the group, known as the NIL Edge Team, was announced Monday as part of updated NIL guidelines. The department had not previously been facilitating NIL deals for athletes, working with them on limited areas such as education and personal branding in addition to compliance monitoring.
“Our guidelines were initially created to be restrictive,” read a statement from senior associate athletic director Carey Hoyt, also the administrator of Ohio State’s NIL programs, “but now that we have a better understanding of NIL, it’s clear that we can provide more assistance in connecting student athletes with interested brands. By allowing some OSU staff to interact with the brands and to educate and answer questions, we can eliminate hesitancy from brands, and donors, who were concerned about breaking rules.”
“The Edge Team is an internal advisory group whose members can assist student athletes with access and resources to successfully pursue NIL opportunities. The Edge Team may work with companies and brands to assist in the NIL process, and it will also have the flexibility to monitor and adapt to changing guidelines and legislation. Athletics was focused primarily on protective education and personal brand management during the initial six months of NIL. The ever-changing landscape, including the emergence of donor-led collectives, has created the need to have a dedicated internal team that can directly assist student athletes as they continue to monitor the NIL landscape.”
Ohio State reported that 220 of its athletes have earned a combined $2.98 million over 608 reported NIL deals through the first six months of this new compensation era (via Opendorse).
Virginia moves forward with NIL law, adding on to provision from August
Virginia is moving toward approving a law that would allow college athletes to profit off NIL. A bill in the state Senate is designed to ensure that college athletic departments in Virginia don’t fall behind states that have guaranteed their athletes the opportunity to make money.
Back in August of 2021, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam fast-tracked a provision that was added into a budget proposal to allow Virginia student athletes to earn compensation from the use of their NIL.
A Senate subcommittee unanimously approved the bill on Monday, sending it to the full committee. “We don’t want the state of Virginia to be silent on this issue,” said Jason Baum, director of compliance for University of Virginia athletics.
“The NCAA has done a terrible job trying to enact federal legislation for name, image and likeness,” Virginia Commonwealth University athletics director Ed McLaughlin said in December. “It’s just another failing of NCAA leadership.” McLaughlin has long supported a college athlete’s ability to profit off his or her likeness. So has UVA AD Carla Williams.
The bill would also set parameters for NIL deals: Colleges can’t pay their own players, and they cannot alter a player’s eligibility or scholarship because of a deal. Athletes would be allowed to hire their own agents. Athletes would not be able to endorse alcohol, “adult entertainment,” marijuana, tobacco, drugs, weapons or casinos.
Multiple MLB Minor League teams get in on NIL
The Pacific Ports, a minor league affiliate (Low-A) of the Oakland Athletics signed Pierre Crockrell II to an NIL deal. Crockrell is a junior on the University of the Pacific men’s basketball team and currently leads the Tigers with 4.3 assists per game. As part of the agreement, Crockrell will work closely with the Ports, including being an integral piece of a social media campaign as part of the initiative.
Similarly to how the Reno Aces (Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks) linked up with Carson Strong last fall before he departed for NFL Draft preparation, the Ports are likely looking to appeal to the college’s fanbase to generate more ticket sales for the upcoming season. Banner Island Ballpark, home of the Ports, is located just 2 miles from the University of the Pacific’s campus.
In a news release, Ports President Pat Filippone expressed his excitement for the partnership and hinted that more NIL deals with Pacific student athletes could be coming down the road. “We are excited to partner with Pierre in our efforts to strengthen our outreach in the community in a new and exciting way.” said Filippone. “Pierre cares deeply about, and is actively involved in, the Stockton community. This is another opportunity for him to develop the relationship in a broader manner. This partnership also enables the Ports and UOP to strengthen the bridge between our two institutions. In meetings with President Callahan, I am encouraged for the various items our organizations will work on together in 2022 and beyond.”
“I’m thankful to be the first college athlete to collaborate with the Ports and make a difference,” said Crockrell. “They value their players, staff, fans, and that’s something I love to see and stand by. Since I’ve come to Stockton, I quickly noticed the loyalty and engagement they get from their fan base,” he continued.
Oregon state senate bill would require student athletes receive a royalty on all jersey, video game and trading card sales
Per Attorney Dan Green, an additional NIL bill has been introduced in Oregon requiring that a person that produces a college sports team jersey, video game or trading card for profit makes a royalty payment to each athlete for the use of their NIL in such products.
Oregon already has an active #NIL bill (SB5), but the final version did not include anything related to royalties. When that bill was introduced it included language referring to royalty payments, but was later removed in the engrossed version. The Oregon NIL law is HERE.
While the bill isn't particularly remarkable it's interesting to see a bill presented at a time when other States are repealing/amending (AL/FL) their #NIL bills. As noted by @DarrenHeitner in last night's debate on @ConDetrimental, States with bills should consider revoking them@DanGreene15 @ConDetrimental I’m struggling to understand the point of this bill. Maybe Oregon is a state without a general right of publicity statute (I haven’t checked)? But then why not introduce something like Fla. Stat. 540.08?@DarrenHeitner @ConDetrimental Agreed. Oregon doesn't have a right of publicity statute. Perhaps it's recognized at common law (quick search is unclear)? Maybe since the revenue-sharing section was removed from the original bill they want to go back & include something related to royalties? It's a bit unclear.Full text of the bill can be found HERE.
NAIA signs three-year deal with Opendorse
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics has formed a new partnership with Opendorse, the first-ever association-wide deal in college athletics. The three-year partnership will give NAIA athletes access to Opendorse’s NIL marketing, education and compliance platform. In addition, Opendorse will be launching an NAIA-specific marketplace. NAIA athletes were able to start monetizing their name, image and likeness in October 2020, far ahead of their NCAA counterparts who had to wait until July 2021 (via Kristi Dosh of Forbes).
“With more than 77,000 student-athletes, the NAIA recognizes the need for a best-in-class solution that allows them to take advantage of name, image and likeness opportunities,” said NAIA president and CEO Jim Carr. “By partnering with Opendorse, we have found a platform that not only offers that marketplace for deals, but also provides our student-athletes with educational tools, compliance reporting, and unparalleled expertise in this space.”
Blake Lawrence, Opendorse’s co-founder and CEO, says NAIA SAs have already been taking advantage of Opendorse’s marketplace, which is open to any SA. “There have been hundreds of NAIA athletes earn tens of thousands of dollars through Opendorse, and we expect with this announcement this relationship is going to expand and turn into a much more significant number for student athletes.”
The first college athlete in history to profit off their NIL to go down in the history books was from the NAIA- Aquinas College volleyball player Chloe Mitchell. In addition to working with companies like Ford, Target, Bubly, Third Love, Walmart and more, Mitchell also founded her own marketplace where NAIA - and now, NCAA SAs can find brands to work with called Playbooked. After Mitchell had her own NIL first, Playbooked claimed another historic first in February 2021 when it booked the first group NIL campaign composed of 10 NAIA athletes to promote local Grand Rapids sportswear store, Reynolds & Sons.
ICYMI Ticker
Nashville-based agency Athlete Licensing Company has begun working with donor collectives to help them strike NIL deals and monitor the income for student athletes. ALC has established relationships with collectives that represent three SEC schools so far: The Legacy Group in Starkville, Miss., facilitates NIL deals for Mississippi State athletes. Spyre Sports Group in Knoxville, Tenn., works on deals for Tennessee athletes. NIL-Auburn does the same for the Tigers. ALC also has facilitated some deals of its own, such as autographed baseballs for Mississippi State’s national championship team that are selling for $399. Profits from the sales go to the players.
Great thread from Andrew Petcash (@AndrewPetcash on Twitter) on actionable options for athletes looking to make money with NIL:
Club manufacturer/brand Ping has signed Stanford’s Rachel Heck and SMU’s Ollie Osborne to deals. Heck, who is represented by Excel Sports Management, posted this on her Instagram: “I’ve played @pingtour clubs for as long as I can remember and have always felt like they were a part of my family – I am so honored to now officially be part of #TeamPING!! #PlayYourBest”
Darren Rovell squared off against Darren Heitner in a debate on NIL. The Conduct Detrimental Podcast hosted the event: “On Tuesday, January 25th we hosted a special LIVE debate between Sports Law's Darren Heitner and Sports Biz's Darren Rovell to discuss the problematic grey areas identified in the first 6 months of the NIL era and what to watch for in the future of college sports.” Links to the podcast on different platforms can all be found HERE.