NIL Newsletter #119 | Michael Strahan, Senator Roger Wicker's new NIL bill, Barstool Sports, Pennsylvania HS NIL + 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(end):
Travis Hunter signs NIL deal with Michael Strahan brand
Jackson State’s Travis Hunter will be the first student athlete to sign an NIL deal with former NFL star Michael Strahan’s lifestyle brand.
Strahan, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014, is a two-time Emmy-winning TV personality who hosts Good Morning America and The $100,000 Pyramid, is an analyst on Fox NFL Sunday, and started multidimensional talent management, music, branding and production company SMAC Entertainment with long-time business partner Constance Schwartz-Morini in 2010. Also under Strahan’s empire is Michael Strahan, a clothing and lifestyle brand founded in 2015, which recently introduced a new skin and shave line.
The deal is the second for Hunter, the top recruit in the Class of 2022, who has been touted as “a generational type of talent” by recruiting platform 247Sports. The defensive back/wide receiver signed a two-year NIL partnership with Greenwood in July to promote its “Choose Black” campaign.
“It means a lot,” Hunter says. “It really inspires me to do more of the things he’s doing for his brand and his community. … He’s really at the top of what he does. He’s one of the top people you want to work with. He can teach you a lot about what he does.”
“Travis Hunter is a game-changer on and off the football field,” Strahan said. “This young man had the opportunity to select any school in the country but chose Jackson State, an HBCU. His decision demonstrates his character, his vision and his confidence. He is also a great teammate. These qualities resonate with me and my brand. I admire this young man and look forward to watching his continued growth.”
Senator Roger Wicker reintroduces NIL bill
One of the most powerful Republicans in the U.S. Senate is reintroducing a bill to govern NIL that would “preserve the unique amateur nature of college sports,” he says. Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), the ranking member of the committee believed to hold jurisdiction over any NIL legislation, is proposing a similar bill to the one he introduced in December 2020. His legislation would legalize college athlete NIL by using a national standard of rules that prohibits boosters and schools from utilizing NIL in recruiting.
The bill gives antitrust protection to the NCAA, schools and conferences in two ways. It prohibits former athletes from suing for retroactive NIL, and it explicitly notes college athletes should not be considered employees. The NCAA is fighting two ongoing court cases based on both of these elements.
In a change from the 2020 version of the bill, it allows conferences to enforce their own policies if they are consistent with the bill’s legislation. It removes some limitations on how athletes exercise their NIL rights, lifting prohibitions in the original proposal.
The bill would also protect athletes from deceptive business practices or exploitation, provide educational resources to athletes on NIL, and create an “Office of Sport” within the Federal Trade Commission to enforce the rules. The legislation would also direct the U.S. Comptroller General to submit a report to Congress on health and safety needs of athletes—one of the key issues (athlete health care) that has kept Republicans and Democrats from compromising on NIL policy.
Wicker is the ranking member and former chair of the Senate Commerce Committee. When Democrats took control of the Senate last year, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D., Wash.) took over as committee chair. Last summer, Cantwell and Wicker attempted to reach a compromise on bipartisan NIL legislation, but it failed most notably because of language regarding postgraduate healthcare benefits.
Wicker’s announcement comes about a month after former football coach turned senator Tommy Tuberville (R., Ala.) told Sports Illlustrated that he and Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) are in the process of acquiring feedback with the intent to draft an NIL bill of their own. Commissioners from the Power 5, as well as others, have sent Tuberville and Manchin feedback on what an NIL bill should encompass.
Barstool Sports launches endorsement deals marketplace TwoYay
Barstool Sports is launching an endorsement deals marketplace, called TwoYay, for college athletes. The NIL-focused platform will connect athletes directly with interested brands, advertisers and agencies for potential partnerships or sponsor deals. TwoYay went live immediately, as announced at the company’s 2023 upfront Wednesday in New York.
Barstool will open the platform to its “Barstool Athletes” network, which includes more than 150,000 college athletes. That’s around 30% of all college athletes who compete in NCAA sports each year, and it’s more than double the number who use NIL giant INFLCR’s app (70,000 from 4,000 NCAA teams) and nearly twice as many as its rival Opendorse (80,000 athletes, around 65,000 of whom are in college).
The company believes it’s in a strong position to help those athletes with NIL. “The whole name of the game is their social following, the type of content that they create—there are a bunch of different ways we can help them with that,” Barstool CEO Erika Nardini said. “But we also understand that they want to make money. They want to be able to use their name, image and likeness to build their own personal business. And we believe the marketplace will enable them to do that.”
Barstool Athlete launched on July 1, 2021. The program offers athletes across the country free Barstool gear in exchange for promoting Barstool and its program on social media. The long-term plan is for TwoYay to also serve as a marketplace for other influencers—a platform that can be utilized by “any creator, anyone who has a social following,” Nardini said. “We’re starting with athletes, but over time this could apply to anyone.”
Pennsylvania won’t move forward with HS NIL till October
A groundbreaking NIL policy proposed by the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) must pass three separate votes to take effect, but that second vote did not happen this week as initially thought. The PIAA board meet online Wednesday, but the new NIL policy wasn’t included on this month’s agenda.
PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi said the policy was excluded because the meeting is virtual via Zoom and the NIL policy calls for in-person debate. “The Board wanted to deal with time sensitive issues,” Lombardi said in an email, “and have more productive in-person dialog for some of the other items that we discussed in July.”
Proposed changes to the competitive-balance rule also were left off Wednesday’s agenda. The board is scheduled to meet again Oct. 11 at the PIAA office in Mechanicsburg.
The NIL policy was approved by the board July 13 on a first reading. The guidelines would let athletes receive compensation for commercial endorsements, promotional activities and social media presence, among other opportunities.
In July, the PIAA said the policy could be enacted as soon as October, but more recently the staff said there is no set timeline. If the policy were eventually approved, it could take effect immediately or be delayed until July 1, 2023, PIAA associate executive director Melissa Mertz said in a recent Q&A with news media.
ICYMI Ticker
Altius Sports Partners, the NIL launch program for elite athletics departments has hired sports marketing executive Brad Bauer as full-time, on-campus General Manager of Northwestern's exclusive NIL program. Joining from Learfield, Bauer will lead overall NIL strategy and education, and development of NIL opportunities for more than 525 Wildcats student athletes.
In speaking to the ECU Board of Trustees on Thursday, AD Jon Gilbert hinted at the possibility of donor fatigue: “It is difficult because the conversations that we have with our donors participating in the annual fund or participating in the capital campaign, now you want me to do NIL deals? Again, I can’t overstate it enough. It’s a space we’re going to have to play in. Our coaches are only as good as the players that we have. And so it’s something that we’ll continue to have.” More HERE.
Ole Miss Authentics, the official team store of Ole Miss Athletics, will soon be offering exclusive student athlete NIL merchandise, including customized Nike jerseys, unique t-shirts and other personalized items across all sports, through the athletics department's new group licensing agreement with The Brandr Group (TBG). More HERE.
The Athletic did a deep dive into Nebraska’s new collective, the Big Red Collective. Full story HERE.
Utah AD Mark Harlan announced that Director of Major Gifts Gavin Van Wagoner will see his title change to Assistant AD for NIL and Major Gifts. Details HERE.
Illinois State is hosting an International Student-Athlete Name, Image & Likeness (NIL) Forum, which will cover three sessions relating to NIL and how to navigate the space as an international student athlete on Wednesday, September 21. Details HERE.
A new YOKE player-led NIL collective has been announced, this time coming with the Jackets NIL Club for Georgia Tech. The football-driven collective becomes the third organization to join the GT market. Multiple Yellow Jackets players made the news public Thursday, with quarterback Zach Pyron, wide receiver DJ Moore and cornerback Jalen Huff posting announcements on Twitter.
Texas State launched its NIL marketplace, powered by Opendorse.
St. Mary’s launched its NIL marketplace too, also powered by Opendorse.