Newsletter #81 | 'Hoosiers For Good' gets 501(c)(3) status, Dalys x Hooters, NBC Sports, Oliver Luck x Altius + 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:
Indiana’s ‘Hoosiers For Good’ NIL collective receives 501(c)(3) status
When the brain trust behind Hoosiers For Good, an NIL collective based on connecting IU athletes with charitable partners rather than businesses, applied for tax-exempt status in early March, they believed it could take six months or more for a reply.
The application was officially filed with the Internal Revenue Service on March 4, according to Fred Glass, former IU Athletic Director and now a partner at Taft Stettinius & Hollister in Indianapolis. To, as Glass put it, their “surprise and pleasure,” they received approval barely more than a month later. All donations to Hoosiers For Good are now tax deductible, as are any donations made previously.
“We’re thrilled,” Glass told IndyStar. “We thought the business model worked even if we were not tax-exempt. We felt like the holy grail, in a way, would be to receive the tax-exempt designation that would make us a much more attractive philanthropic endeavor to our donors.”
Hooters signs father-son duo of John Daly and John Daly II
Hooters has signed father-son duo John Daly and John Daly II in its first NIL agreement for a college athlete. The younger Daly is a golfer at the University of Arkansas, and the duo won the PNC Championship in 2021.
The Dalys will promote the world-famous Hooters brand through various marketing activities, including significant roles on social media and other digital channels. They’ll wear Hooters clothing and host in-person events at restaurants, and the senior Daly’s caddie will carry a Hooters golf bag during the PGA Tour Champions circuit.
Dan Greene noted: Arkansas’s NIL law prohibits SAs from promoting "sexually suggestive or sex-oriented products, services, conduct, imagery, or inferences," and U of A requires athletes to report NIL activity at least 72 hours prior to an agreement being signed or entered.
“We are ecstatic to have the Dalys, fantastic golfers and great personalities, on board as spokespeople for Hooters, the definitive 19th hole,” Hooters of America’s senior vice president of marketing, Bruce Skala, said in a statement.
The younger Daly added, “I have seen my father’s great relationship with Hooters over the years, and I am proud to continue my family’s association with this iconic brand.”
NBC Sports dives into NIL space
NBC Sports is getting into the collegiate NIL space with the launch of a new platform that will match up athletes with the thousands of advertisers the media company does business with. NBC Sports Athlete Direct is an NIL marketplace where athletes opt in and connect with NBC advertisers.
Three schools -- Notre Dame, Vanderbilt and Temple -- have joined the new platform that is being managed by NBC Sports Senior VP/Strategic Initiatives Damon Phillips.
Phillips said Athlete Direct is a pilot program, but he is optimistic that NBC Sports’ unique position as the only major network in the NIL space will benefit the platform. There also will be an educational component with a focus on financial wellness through the resources at CNBC and NIL best practices.
Oliver Luck joins Altius Sports Partners full time as chair
Oliver Luck, who has advised Altius Sports Partners and its clients for the two years the company has been in business, is joining the firm full-time as chairman. Casey Schwab, a founding partner, will retain his position as Altius’ chief executive.
In his expanded role as chairman of the name, image and likeness firm, Luck, 61, will take on more of the day-to-day duties. Instead of simply making the introductions in most cases, Luck will be more involved in engaging with current and prospective clients. Altius also will tap into Luck’s expertise to bring him to the table for hires and long-range planning meetings.
“In all my years in college athletics, there hasn’t been a bigger change than what NIL has brought,” Luck said. “Because of the uncertainty that has come with it, I think the future looks extraordinarily bright for a group like this that has the experience and understands the dynamics of what’s going on.”
“We’ve been pretty disciplined about not representing these NIL collectives or other types of NIL services,” Luck said. “We look at what policies and procedures you need to have in place to protect the school.”
Schwab came out of the gates with Texas and LSU as clients and has grown its roster to nearly 25 schools, almost all of which are in Power Five conferences, that pay $100,000 to $120,000 annually — some more — for Altius’ NIL expertise. Clemson, Oklahoma and Penn State are among the latest signings for Altius.
ICYMI Ticker
Florida QB Anthony Richardson was stopped in his vehicle was stopped in the vehicle at 4:11 a.m. on April 4 in Gainesville for driving in excess of 105 mph. He awaits a mandatory court hearing May 25, court documents say, because his speed was more than 30 mph over the speed limit (60). Richardson has enjoyed use of a 2021 Dodge Durango or similar and gets to exchange it every three to six months until the end of the 2023 season through and NIL deal with Gainesville Dodge. If Richardson was indeed driving the vehicle that Gainesville Dodge provided him, this looms as one of the first high-profile cases in which a company becomes wrapped up in negative attention because of the actions of a student-athlete.
Former NBA player J.R. Smith has inked a deal with Lululemon, making him the apparel brand’s first male golf ambassador, according to ESPN’s Nick DePaula. Smith, who went straight to the NBA from HS in 2004, walked-on to the North Carolina A&T golf team in 2021. He is currently in the second semester of his freshman season at the HBCU.
In collaboration with Opendorse, Oregon State announced the creation of "The Wood Shop" available to fans HERE.
Express, a national fashion apparel retailer, has signed the brand’s first-ever collegiate athlete style ambassadors. Ohio State football players CJ Stroud and Jaxon Smith-Njigba will serve as the first two.
Saint Louis University Athletics launched the Billiken Exchange with INFLCR, a portal that will allow for local businesses, donors, alumni and other interested entities to connect and engage with SLU SAs.
Rutgers and UTSA have signed licensing deals with The Brandr Group.
Three Kansas State athletes received a huge surprise - their tuition paid off. It was made possible through NIL deals equaling a scholarship. Wildcat NIL, an agency run by former KSU SAs, set up the deals.
12th Man Strategies, an offshoot of 6th Man Strategies that partnered with Kansas’s basketball program, is launching the “One Hundred Club” with a mission to find 100 people willing to donate $1,000 monthly as part of a targeted annual goal of $1.2 million. That money, in turn, is planned to be used on behalf of NIL deals for Jayhawks’ football players in second-year coach Lance Leipold’s program.
Penn State FB HC James Franklin: "Last year [when] NIL was implemented, it was in its infancy stages. We saw a little bit [of impact] but not a lot. It's such a factor now that you could do everything right and do everything perfect and out-recruit everybody but you can lose a guy because of the NIL opportunities … So it's hard for me to compare and contrast [recruiting years] because that's just such a new dynamic that we're going to have to be aggressive and bold with as well."
Turnkey NIL solution XchangeFactor (by @ReKTGlobal) has been tapped by WVU collective Country Roads Trust to provide backend support. Auburn and Penn State’s collectives also utilize the service.