NIL Hearing Highlights, Swarbrick on Bargaining, Angel Reese Reebok Deal, + ICYMI | NIL Newsletter #192
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Quick Hitters:
Quotes and Highlights From the 10th Hearing on NIL
On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary committee held the 10th congressional hearing on NIL.
Witnesses included NCAA President Charlie Baker, Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti, Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick, The Grove Collective’s Walker Jones, and the National College Players Association’s Ramogi Huma.
Quotes from the hearing:
Senator Joe Manchin: “It’s hard to root for the kids when they’re starting as multi-millionaires as freshmen and sophomores.”
NCAA President Charlie Baker: “With all due respect to you, Walker [Jones], nobody knows what’s going on. It’s a guess and rumor.”
Senator Richard Blumenthal: “We need to avoid a race to the bottom on NIL and a bidding war among colleges that often tempt college athletes with unscrupulous deals.”
Senator Lindsey Graham: “Utah is offering everybody on the team a new truck. There is no end to this. […] Between the portal and NIL, college football is in absolute chaos.”
Senator Ted Cruz: “Nobody wants to see Congress decide what roughing the passer is.”
Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick Offers New View on Bargaining
After testifying at the hearing on Tuesday, Swarbrick advocated for the NCAA to collectively bargain with athletes, without recognizing them as employees.
“It's a fairly radical notion, but if we could find a way to reach binding agreements with our student-athletes, most of this goes away,” said Swarbrick. “We don't [currently] have the mechanism to [collectively bargain] without them becoming employees. It would require a new mechanism that would recognize the rights of student-athletes to negotiate for the terms and conditions of their participation as athletes without being employees. I think it's worth considering.”
Two ongoing cases may pre-empt this newly proposed mechanism. One, in the form of the Dartmouth Basketball Union, is under deliberation from an NLRB regional panel. The other, Johnson v. NCAA is awaiting a decision from the 3rd Circuit.
Angel Reese Signs with Reebok, Credits Shaquille O’Neal
This week, Angel Reese announced a new endorsement deal with Reebok, becoming the second LSU Women’s Basketball athlete to sign a shoe endorsement with a rival brand.
LSU remains sponsored by Nike on the court, but both Reese (Reebok) and Flau’jae Johnson (Puma), represent different brands off it.
Reese, in an interview announcing her partnership, credited Shaquille O’Neal for finalizing the endorsement:
“As a former athlete, now that he’s just been announced as their President of Basketball that is inspirational to me, just being able to see an athlete or former athlete shift from not just being an athlete, but being the President of the brand is something that’s important. I would love to do that one day.”
Terms of the agreement were not released, but Reese is the first athlete signed under O’Neal in his new role as President of Basketball.
ICYMI
The UCLA Women’s Basketball team signed the first team-wide deal at UCLA. LINK
John Calipari wants recruits to care about playing basketball, not NIL. LINK
Senator Ted Cruz, like many in the public, does not understand targeting. LINK
No, Caleb Williams will not turn down the NFL because of NIL. LINK
Have you checked out OSC’s website?
Head to www.OptimumSportsConsulting.com to find important resources and features relating to all things NIL. These resources include State by State Resources for Admins, Agents and Athletes, including our initial “OSC Summaries” for over a dozen states coming soon.
More to come too, including links to helpful state information- agency laws and information about school policies, as well as seminar/congressional notes, worksheets, and much more!