NIL Newsletter #13 | Monday, August 23, 2021
Welcome to the NIL Newsletter by Optimum Sports Consulting - providing valuable, actionable NIL resources for athletes, administrators, agencies and other sport professionals.
Welcome to the NIL Newsletter by Optimum Sports Consulting!
Through this newsletter and our additional legal and advisory resources, we aim valuable, actionable NIL resources for athletes, administrators, agencies and other sport professionals.
Every Monday and Thursday (at 8:30am ET), we will catch you up to speed with the latest news surrounding Name/Image/Likeness (NIL) in college athletics- directly to your email inbox. This newsletter is currently FREE.
Follow us @OptimumSportsConsulting on Instagram and @OptimumSportsC on Twitter for daily content. Check out past Optimum Sports Consulting Newsletters here.
BIG NEWS for Optimum Sports Consulting: Website Launch
Starting today, you can 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 this week.
More to come too, including links to helpful state information- including agency laws and information about school policies, as well as seminar/congressional notes, worksheets, and much more!
Major News
Texas is the latest university to sign a group licensing deal with The Brandr Group
The University of Texas is officially partnering with The Brandr Group (TBG) on all group licensing deals. TBG has previously announced agreements with Alabama, Ohio State, and North Carolina.
The program allows for the collective use of student-athletes' NIL in licensing and marketing programs, co-branded with UT's intellectual property. This creates opportunities for Texas student-athletes to join a group licensing program of three-or-more individuals from the same team or one with six-or-more student-athletes across multiple sports. Participation in the group rights program is voluntary and does not restrict the student-athlete's individual NIL rights.
UT Vice President and Athletics Director Chris Del Conte said: “Now fans can purchase Texas Longhorns items like jerseys and t-shirts and support their favorite players, which we have never been able to do before, and the student-athletes are able to profit from those sales through their agreement with Brandr.”
Sports Attorney Darren Heitner did a great thread as to what group licensing means for athletes at TBG schools. Check it out below:
Olympic Gold Medalist Suni Lee signs with Smith & Saint for NIL representation ahead of her first year at Auburn
U.S. Olympic gymnastics gold medalist/incoming Auburn student-athlete Suni Lee has signed with the Smith & Saint agency, where she will be represented by CEO Britt St. George (per Sports Business Journal).
“We had begun conversations during the Olympics. As you can imagine, she was inundated with a bunch of requests and a bunch of people trying to get access to her. It was one of the most emotional, physically trying times of her life and she wanted to come back to the States with some semblance of a plan.” - Britt St. George.
S&S also represents former gold medalist Nastia Liukin, who introduced the firm to Lee. Liukin was the 2008 Olympic All-Around champion and is a five-time Olympic medalist.
ESPN’s David Hale says that an alliance between the Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12 is in the works
After Texas and Oklahoma announced their to move to the SEC last month, the Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12 each began exploring options for a countermove. That led to an "alliance committee" that includes several athletic directors from each league, along with the three commissioners, to determine whether an alliance would be an optimal path forward.
“The scope of the alliance remains uncertain, according to one AD. While initial conversations involved all sports, recent discussions have focused solely on football and men's and women's basketball. Creating a non-conference scheduling partnership could also create lucrative TV opportunities, but there may not be agreement among all schools on how best to execute that- even within the same conferences.”
“The most immediate concern might be the expansion of the College Football Playoff. A working group helmed by Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby and Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson designed the proposed 12-team expansion, but several sources said members of the Pac-12 and Big Ten had expressed concern over the scope of expansion, preferring a six- or eight-team model.”
What’s Coming Up Next For NIL
August 28, 2021 | Week 1 of NCAA FBS Football
August 28, 2021 | Missouri’s state NIL policy goes into effect
September 1, 2021 | Connecticut’s state NIL policy goes into effect
November, 2021 | NCAA Board of Governors to hold constitutional convention
Legal Updates
California, the first state to enact NIL legislation, will likely move its start date from January 1 to September 1
California, the first state to pass NIL legislation in 2019, now has an additional NIL bill moving forward. SB-26 unanimously passed in the Assembly and is headed back to the Senate for adoption of an urgency clause. If approved, this bill will have an immediate effective date.
SEC. 5. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the California Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are: In order to ensure that California postsecondary educational institutions and college athletes are not placed at a disadvantage to those in other states where name, image, and likeness laws will go into effect this year, and in order to ensure that California college athletes, including low-income student athletes and those with children and dependents, can adequately provide for themselves and their families, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.
Sportico’s McCann says the latest FTC complaint could impact NIL
In an 80-page complaint filed in D.C. federal district court on Thursday, the Federal Trade Commission argued that Facebook's "monopoly position" over "personal social networking services" violates federal antitrust law. The complaint amends a previous one that was dismissed in June. The FTC "demands the court order the divestiture or reconstruction of Instagram, WhatsApp and potentially other Facebook-owned social media platforms."
FOR ATHLETES
Examples of Success Last Week
Nebraska Volleyball student-athlete Lexi Sun is endorsing a line of jewelry from Nebraska-based Borsheims. “I'm honored to have the opportunity to partner with them to create a stunning selection that demonstrates how to integrate beautiful pieces into our everyday life. When I'm not on the court, I am always wearing simple, dainty, and hand-picked gold jewelry – I'm definitely a gold gal!”
Oregon FB student-athlete Kayvon Thibodeaux entered a deal with United Airlines, which will provide special direct flights from Eugene to airports in cities where the Ducks have away games this season. First will be multiple direct flights to Columbus, Ohio starting September 9 for the UO vs Ohio State game on September 11. Return flights will be available after the game and on the following two days.
Alabama PG JD Davison has filed to trademark his own logo. Filed by attorney @DarrenHeitner (per Darren Rovell).
Tip of the Week: Understand your school’s licensing policies
A major issue for compliance departments as of late has been student athletes unknowingly not following (or simply ignoring) licensing policies set by either state law or their individual institutions. If you are a student athlete, you are responsible for making sure a partner (like a restaurant or company you do promotional material for) uses your NIL in a way that complies with school policy. If you do an instagram post in just your plain clothes without mentioning your affiliation to your school, you likely won’t have an issue. But if you want to wear your team jersey or send highlights from a recent practice, you must get that approved by the school. Even an agency that uses pictures of you in uniform to announce your signing can be in violation. Institutions, like businesses, care deeply about how their intellectual property is broadcasted to the public. If you do not know if you can post a certain logo, photo, video or statement (basically anything relating to your school), contact your compliance department for approval. It is better to be safe than going through with something without approval and being forced to later take it down- which could breach your NIL deal contract and result in costly termination penalties.
FOR COLLEGE ADMINS
Notes for the Week
Michigan AD Warde Manuel discussed the inability of student-athletes to use the Block M for NIL deals: “Early on, I welcomed name, image and likeness, but I also said there would be a balance that would be necessary. This is 200 years-plus the University of Michigan has been around, and this Block M has been around for much of that as a representation and a symbol of Michigan. It is not something that is just something that we give away. We try to make sure that we respect it and make sure others who use it respect it and give us the licensing fees that are warranted, just like every other university.”
Syracuse MBB commit Kamari Lands announced he will re-open his recruitment: “I’ve been thinking about this ever since the NIL bill came out. I haven’t had the opportunity to be recruited in that way.” He said he remains open to both college and pro opportunities. “I would like to thank Coach Boeheim, Coach Mac and @Cuse_MBB for everything they have done. And with that being said I will be reopening my recruitment.”
Yummy Crypto, a four-month-old cryptocurrency company, is offering eligible Florida State FB student-athletes $500 for endorsements for the first month of the season. If all 120 student-athletes agree to the deal, the company stands to pay out $60K. So far, about 60 players, including QB Milton, have agreed to the endorsement. Under the agreement, FSU players will create one social media post per week endorsing the cryptocurrency.
Tip of the Week: Group licensing could be the next frontier for athlete NIL
With Texas joining Alabama, Ohio State, and North Carolina in partnering with The Brandr Group for group licensing deals, it’s time that all university athletics departments start considering what group licensing program makes the most sense for them. This is a challenge for any department big or small- never before have institutions been able to sell merchandise with an SA’s name on it. And every department has different needs. A small school with perhaps only one or two popular student athletes might not need a group licensing program. Sports Attorney Darren Heitner has reported that TBG maintains a 20% royalty on all deals. But for a smaller school, why bring in a third party that will just eat up some of the pie? It makes more sense for just the single student athlete and their school to negotiate a deal in these kinds of situations. But at larger schools where it is conceivable that every starter on the basketball team might want their own jersey, or a group of friends across 3-4 different teams have a large social media following as a collective and want to do a deal, it likely makes more sense to bring in a negotiating firm like TBG. This is the part of NIL that schools can have the most influence with- and it is clear that prospective student athletes want to know if bookstores will be selling their jerseys come gameday. Schools that lead this effort should see it pay dividends in recruiting, as others watch hesitantly from the sidelines.
FOR AGENCIES
Takeaways and Successes Last Week
South Carolina has set a hard cap of 10% for agency fees on all NIL deals, and has a starting application fee of $1,500 or $2,500 based on registration in another state (full story per Darren Heitner for Sports Agent Blog).
Ohio State QB commit Quinn Ewers, who began practice in Columbus this week, has signed with agencies Sportstars Inc. and Rubicon Talent for NIL representation (per Adam Schefter).
Former Nebraska Football Chief of Staff Gerrod Lambrecht is the latest to start a NIL representation agency with Husker student-athletes Adrian Martinez & Cam Taylor-Britt as his first two clients.
Tip of the Week: Suni Lee going to S&S shows that connections matter in establishing representation pipelines
Building connections is integral to developing a strong NIL agency for years to come. Consider why Suni Lee signed with a much smaller agency in Smith & Saint over other top firms. Lee was advised by former olympic champion Nastia Liukin to unite with S&S, despite Liukin not having competed in gymnastics since the 2012 Olympic Trials. In college sports, the pipeline can be even more important because there is considerably more turnover. An incoming freshman defensive lineman might sit a year behind a junior who is slated to go in the first round of the NFL Draft- but what happens after April? He will now be the starter, and will likely turn to his former teammate for NIL representation advice. The agency that worked with the now-NFL star will have a huge advantage to pick up another player. So while professional agencies might have to wait years for the next perfect candidate, NIL representation firms could have solid pipelines throughout teams and universities annually. And with little regulations regarding the transition from NIL to professional representation (I.e. team contracts), agencies can remain with a star throughout their NCAA and pro careers.