NIL Newsletter #110 | Adidas Title IX deals, Naomi Osaka’s Kinlò, Rovell on LSU's Myles Brennan, Chicago White Sox + ICYMI Ticker
Welcome to the NIL Newsletter by Optimum Sports Consulting - providing valuable, actionable NIL resources for student athletes, administrators, agents and other sport professionals.
Recapping NIL This Week:
Student athletes begin executing adidas Title IX NIL deals
Last week, adidas announced that 15 student athletes have signed on to the sportswear brand in recognition of the 50th anniversary of Title IX. This week some of those athletes began executing their NIL deals.
A number of the adidas’ sponsored student-athletes shared social media posts promoting Ultraboost 1.0 in their school’s official colorways. In addition, several of the adidas NIL deal posts were also shared by the school’s official athletic Twitter accounts.
Louisville women’s basketball player Hailey Van Lith shared two photos of the new Cardinals-themed adidas Ultraboost.
At NC State, the school’s official athletic Twitter account (@PackAthletics) tweeted three pictures with soccer players Jaiden Thomas and Jameese Joseph promoting the new product.
Similar promotions at Miami for track and field athlete Moriah Oliveira and at Georgia Tech for volleyball player Erin Moss.
Naomi Osaka’s Kinlò signs five athletes to NIL deals
Naomi Osaka’s functional suncare brand Kinlò, which was formulated specifically for people with melanated skin, has announced NIL deals with five college athletes for its #GlowOutside campaign: Deja Kelly (UNC women’s basketball), Reilyn Turner (UCLA women’s soccer), Robert Dillingham (Kentucky men’s basketball), Xolani Hodel (Stanford women’s beach volleyball) and Ziyah Leigh Holman (Michigan women’s track and field).
The goal of the #GlowOutside campaign is to educate communities of color around the importance of year-round SPF use for melanin-rich skin. Kinlò says is partnering with these five athletes because they embody the brand’s values of empowering their communities, celebrating and embracing diversity, and striving to create a broader positive cultural impact.
“I’m so excited to partner with these amazing student athletes to help spread awareness for our Glow Outside campaign,” said Osaka. “As young, influential voices in the space, they are the perfect fit to help champion such an important initiative and as a brand, we couldn’t be prouder to empower and support NCAA athletes.”
In their roles as campaign ambassadors, the five athletes will demonstrate how Kinlò products can and should be used as protection against sun damage, as well as advocate for preventative suncare and education for people with melanated skin.
For the full story, including quotes from the brand’s newest ambassadors, check out Kristi Dosh’s piece for Forbes here.
Darren Rovell believes LSU QB Myles Brennan’s retirement could ‘slow peed, breadth of NIL deals’
Below are excerpts from Darren Rovell’s article for the Action Network:
“LSU quarterback Myles Brennan called it quits on Monday and his decision could slow the speed and breadth of NIL deals across the college football landscape. Brennan became the first prominent player in the short history of NIL to get paid and never step on the field. While the former four-star quarterback has started three games over his collegiate career, none came after he signed NIL deals.”
“Brennan signed a car deal with Baton Rouge dealership Hollingsford Richards Ford and added endorsements from Raising Canes, Smoothie King, GameCoin and Smalls Sliders during the NIL craze of 2021. But before the season, Brennan hurt himself in a fishing accident and never played. After the season, Ed Orgeron was fired and Brennan entered the transfer portal before calling it quits Monday.”
“Brennan needed to provide his endorsement to receive the money, which he did, but the rules don’t require him to actually play. NIL regulations also disallow performance incentives or benchmarks in any deal. In fact, Brennan would have still been able to keep the money if, five days after he signed all the deals, he left LSU.”
“Some proponents of NIL say that’s exactly what the system was created for — for athletes who don’t fulfill their potential to capitalize and make cash in the moment, at their height of marketability, whether they turn out or not. Others indicate that cases like Brennan’s — or Spencer Rattler’s or JT Daniels’ — will inevitably depress the meteoric sums unproven players have been receiving since the practice was codified in 2021.”
Chicago White Sox launch NIL initiative with college athletes
The Chicago White Sox announced a new NIL mentorship program geared toward college student athletes as White Sox ambassadors. The program, called CHISOX Athlete, will focus on financial and professional marketing opportunities by offering social media promotions, access to professional resources within the organization's front office and career mentorship with sports executives.
The organization also announced the first group of athletes it has signed, that includes Michigan wide receiver A.J. Henning, DePaul basketball players Ahamad Bynum and Anaya Peoples, Iowa women's basketball player Kylie Feuerbach, Illinois men's basketball player Terrence Shannon Jr., Northwestern volleyball player Temi Thomas-Ailara, Michigan women's basketball player Cameron Williams and Notre Dame women's soccer player Kiki Van Zanten.
This program through the White Sox is unique, however, that it includes professional and career mentorship for the athletes and goes beyond a regular social media influencer contract. The athletes will take part in a pregame ceremony and sit in a private suite with friends and family. In addition to the name, image and likeness program, the White Sox are also offering any student-athletes two complimentary tickets to select games for the remainder of the 2022 season through the organization's website.
In August of 2021, the Atlanta Braves launched their own NIL program.
ICYMI Ticker
University of Miami basketball players Haley and Hanna Cavinder will star in Champs Sports “Win Better” campaign in the coming months, along with professional lacrosse player Myles Jones. The three athletes will create content as part of the “Win Better” campaign and wear apparel from brands such as adidas, New Balance, Puma and Under Armour. With both casual and athletic apparel at the forefront of the campaign, it aims to show how these athletes “win every day.”
Good story from ESPN’s Outside the Lines with an inside look at LSU’s NIL - interviews with Brian Kelly, the school’s head of NIL, and more.
One day after NOBULL was announced as the official combine training partner of the NFL, the athletic training brand revealed a slew of NIL deals. The deals include a NIL partnership with Heisman Trophy-winning Alabama quarterback Bryce Young. NOBULL also announced NIL agreements with North Carolina receiver Josh Downs, Georgia tight end Brock Bowers, UCLA running back Zach Charbonnet and Kentucky quarterback Will Levis.
OneArkansas, Arkansas’s latest NIL collective, launched this week.
Great story on Washington’s Amber Bunch, who was hired last week as UW’s Director of Football NIL Strategy (she’s been with UW since December - previously serving as Assistant Director of NIL Education).
From The Review, here’s an op-ed on the top college football players who “missed out” on NIL. Full story HERE.
For those football fans excited for EA Sports to return to FBS football, here is a breakdown of what is known about the game thus far.
Brett Whiteside has been named Executive Director of Auburn’s NIL collective On To Victory.
BYU has entered the NFT Space with the launch of CougsRise Platform. More HERE.
Arizona State has a new partnership with Altius Sports. More HERE.