Newsletter #72 | UConn/CT's NIL Law, H&R Block, Arizona x Athlete Assets, Jocelyn Alo's New Merch + 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:
UConn asks Connecticut legislature to amend NIL law
Connecticut lawmakers have been asked to update last year’s state law that allows student-athletes to be compensated for their name and likeness in marketing deals and enable them to use their state college or university’s logo, mascot or other institutional marks when they’re pitching products like sports drinks and apparel.
Connecticut and South Carolina are currently the only two states that prohibit student-athletes from using such marks, potentially putting both the students and the schools at a competitive disadvantage, according to a top official in UConn’s athletic department.
On Thursday, with no debate, members of the Connecticut legislature’s Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee unanimously advanced a bill that would end the prohibition on using school logos. It awaits further action in the state Senate. Rep. Josh Elliott, D-Hamden, the committee’s co-chair, said the legislation had been requested by UConn.
“None of us want to inhibit the ability of our outstanding coaches to recruit talented student-athletes to UConn,” said Neal Eskin, executive associate athletic director at UConn, in recent testimony. “In order to compete at the highest level, we must make certain that student-athletes who choose to enroll in college in Connecticut have the same opportunities as those at schools in other states.”
H&R Block expands its ‘A Fair Shot’ NIL campaign
H&R Block has announced new name, image and likeness deals with six additional female student athletes as part of its commitment to provide $1 million in sponsorships and support for female college athletes.
The campaign kicked off with University of Iowa sophomore guard Caitlin Clark and University of South Carolina junior guard Zia Cooke on March 1, and now Jaiden Fields (University of Georgia, softball), Lauren Burke (University of Texas, softball), Emily Cole (Duke University, track and field), Trinity Thomas (University of Florida, gymnastics), and twins Audrey Nourse and Nicole Nourse (University of Southern California, beach volleyball) have joined.
“Teaming up with H&R Block and the extraordinary female athletes in this campaign is a way that I can lend my voice to the mission of equity for female athletes and a bigger and brighter future for the gymnasts and female athletes that come after me,” said Thomas. “As a competitor, I am all about action, and H&R Block is taking real action to help female athletes through financial support and preparation for the future during or after our athletic careers.”
More information on H&R Block’s commitment to equity in women’s college sports is available at hrblock.com/afairshot. The brand has also created an online resource hub of information for all college athletes navigating NIL tax implications. Reporting by BCS’s Kristi Dosh.
AZ and Athlete Assets sign first commercial copyright license from NFT's
The University of Arizona and Athlete Assets have signed the first commercial license agreement related to using university-owned copyright, logos, and marks for the creation of NIL themed blockchain digital assets (NFTs or non-fungible tokens). The commercial license will support the first-ever NFT deal that enables collectibles to be made for every active student-athlete at the University of Arizona.
The program provides each student athlete at least 2 different individually personalized digital collectibles (60 total units for sale) sold by Athlete Assets, earning the SA more than 80% of net revenue.
"This license has truly been years in the making. We began discussing the application potentials of blockchain digital assets with Tech Launch Arizona nearly 4 years ago. We're thrilled to be providing the first NIL NFT program for all SAs across all sports, not just the super stars," states IPAssets CEO, Adam Small (Athlete Assets parent company).
Commencing with the Arizona Football team, Athlete Assets has created individualized collectibles featuring the NIL of each respective player. The collectibles will be sold through AthleteAssets.com for US dollars and cryptocurrency. In most cases, athletes earn a significant portion of net revenue for providing their NIL and marketing their respective collectible(s). Athlete Assets is currently working with other Universities and Athletic Departments to license similar trademarks to support their student athletes and their NIL objectives.
Oklahoma launches first co-branded NIL product
On the heels of Jocelyn Alo's NCAA-career-record-breaking 96th home run, the University of Oklahoma Athletics Department is proud to announce its first officially licensed co-branded product, featuring the "Home Run Queen" herself.
The announcement marks a landmark day in the NIL era for OU and women's sports as a whole, and comes during Women's History Month. This summer also marks the 50th anniversary of Title IX.
A limited number of Home Run Queen shirts were available this weekend outside Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City – where OU played five games over the last three days – and at The Sooner Shop, located at 1185 Asp Ave. in Norman, adjacent to Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. The shirt is currently not available online.
ICYMI Ticker
WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu sat down with Roy Wood Jr. to discuss what NIL means for college athletes, the future of compensating players, and how she is involved with navigating deals for students at her alma mater, the University of Oregon. Listen HERE.
Oklahoma Softball HC Patty Gasso says her #1 ranked team isn’t doing the “little things right” and is blaming NIL repsonsibilities. “You've got 18- 19-year-olds having new responsibilities in order to make money,” Gasso said. “And that is, ‘I got to get on my phone, and I got to put out posts and I've got to do this or that.’ I don't know … Jocelyn Alo has some deals, I do know that, and she is working and she's playing hard and she is focused. So I can't say that (NIL is hurting her performance). Every player on our team is in that position. But I do think some are very young to be handling some of the things that are coming their way. I don't know that all of them have agents, or maybe, ‘My parents are making these decisions,’ so forth. It's hard to know. But I just think we just need a little more accountability and maturity.”
Cameo has seen more than 885 NCAA athletes join its digital marketplace since NIL rules changed last July, up from 350 they reported back in September. Today, approximately 300 of the NCAA athletes on the platform are basketball athletes leveraging their NIL as they connect with fans and brands. You can see above the bracket-style graphic Cameo created to show it’s most-booked NCAA basketball athletes, with Kentucky men’s basketball players Oscar Tshiebwe and Davion Mintz leading the way. Sedona Prince was the sole female basketball athlete to make the list.
Villanova’s Collin Gillespie was on Lethal Shooter’s “The Drive” which is sponsored Continental Tires. Full post on Instagram HERE.
Georgia President & DI Board of Directors Chair Jere Morehead on NIL: “There’s serious concern about where NIL has progressed from what was originally intended to some of the stories that you hear today. We have, I think, a high level of urgency to review that issue. But we also have to be cautious and careful because of litigation and potential litigation around any rules that the NCAA sets at a national level.”