NIL Newsletter #14 | Thursday, August 26, 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.
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- including agency laws and information about school policies, as well as seminar/congressional notes, worksheets, and much more!
This Thursday’s Newsletter Includes:
Recapping NIL news this week
Deep Dive: Professional Sports Franchises are Investing in NIL
ICYMI: INFLCR, Subtext Partner for College Athletes to Text Fans
Recapping NIL This Week
Washington Post reporter pens op-ed on female NIL deals thus far, Fresno State’s Hanna Cavinder fights back
Reporter Candace Buckner, writing for the Washington Post, claimed that NIL deals for female student athletes to this point have been for the wrong reasons: “[I]t would be great if companies recognized female athletes for their accomplishments, not just their physical assets.”
“These women are monetizing their platforms after discovering two fundamental truths in this world: 1. If you put one leg in front of the other, point your toe and shift your weight to one side, it makes your butt look bigger in pictures. 2. Thirsty dudes stay thirsty. Their “likes” make mirror selfies and beach pics go viral, and brands — because they’re just as thirsty — take notice,” Buckner wrote.
In a three-part response on Twitter, Fresno State’s Hanna Cavinder argued that NIL opportunities not based solely on athletic achievement was a positive outcome. “Tearing down young women in how they choose to confidently express themselves on social media since (or before) July 1st is simply wrong.” Full Twitter exchange below ⤵️
San Jose State University becomes first athletics department to build 24/7 branded radio network
AD Jeff Konya announced the creation of The Charge, an HD2 station that will produce SJSU athletics contests, podcasts, all-access show segments, coaches shows and will serve as the first-ever platform to feature SAs in an effort to enhance their opportunities with NIL.
“As part of our culture to be creative and innovative, The Charge provides our student-athletes with the first-ever platform dedicated to their experiences and opportunities in the NIL space,” said Konya.
Media Coordinator Justin Allegri added: “The Charge will be the first 24/7 station dedicated to a single athletics department and pave the way for the future of NIL and multimedia fan engagement.”
Drew Brees, Walk-On's Sports Bistreaux continue trend of NIL opportunities for walk-on athletes
The Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based restaurant recently launched its "Walk-On of the Week" program that grants NIL deals to collegiate athletes. Recipients of the weekly NIL award are invited to join the brand's "Walk-On's Family of Athletes."
NFL QB Drew Brees awarded Purdue softball player Emilee Cox this week’s award. “Great work, Emilee," Brees told the rising junior. "So happy for you and keep representing everything that's great about Purdue."
“With NIL changing the landscape of collegiate athletics, we want to make sure that walk-ons aren't left out and receive the recognition and support they deserve. We're grateful to tell their stories and welcome them to our Family of Athletes,” said CEO Brandon Landry (a former LSU walk-on baseball student athlete).
Deep Dive: Professional Sports Franchises are Investing in NIL
MLB’s Atlanta Braves and NHL’s Florida Panthers have partnered with student athletes- could professional sports franchises be the latest market for NIL opportunities?
Written by Austin Meo (@AMeo31)
It’s arguably the oddest pairing we’ve seen across the NIL landscape nearly two months in: professional sports teams are signing college athletes to sponsorship/marketing NIL deals. The Atlanta Braves announced this week that they signed Georgia Tech QB Jordan Yates and University of Georgia gymnast Rachel Baumann to NIL contracts. On August 9th, the Florida Panthers signed Miami QB D’Eriq King, making headlines as the first known franchise to sign an NCAA athlete- something inconceivable before NIL became a reality.
According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Braves initially put out a student athlete interest form in mid-July, receiving about 500 applicants from student athletes across the southeast. Yates and Baumann’s compensation, according to Atlanta’s Senior Director of Marketing and Innovation Greg Mize, will include a stipend of about $500 and a commission on Braves tickets sold through links placed on the athletes’ social-media accounts, plus VIP-type treatment at Braves games and team merchandise.
While financial details about King’s deal were not released, his role with the Panthers will be similar to that of Yates and Baumann. King will appear at Panthers games, work closely with its social media and marketing team, develop co-branded merchandise and create a concession menu item at the BB&T center, the home arena for the Panthers.
Logistically, these partnerships might not make as much sense as one would expect. The idea of cross-promotion between sports is a bit of a new concept in the post-Alston world. Will a football player’s following want to snag tickets for a baseball or hockey game? Do gymnastics fans want to buy MLB merchandise? Not to mention getting college-aged fans to games will be no easy task- Baumann’s UGA is nearly 70 miles away from the Braves’ Truist Park, and King’s Miami Hurricanes would have to travel about 40 miles to get to the Panthers’ BB&T Center.
On the other hand, cross promotion with college athletes might be the best way to attract the 18-49 demographic, particularly with football/gymnastics athletes. While franchises love when professional athletes from the same city support other franchises (Packers players chugging beer at Bucks’ games; Jets/Giants players wearing Yankee hats in interviews), it can be difficult to get steady support and actual deals on the books. Even then, there’s no guarantee that a 22-year-old will go to a game simply because they might see an athlete from another sport there. But college athletes in these deals can have great influence- they are tapped into their communities on campus and will give great exposure. For certain leagues, based on decade+ viewership and attendance trends, any marketing idea should be considered.
It’s expected that more of these deals will pop up as organizations finalize ticket sale and fan engagement strategies ahead of their regular seasons. While we will not see athletes from the same sport as a franchise work together, perhaps we will see creative ways to expand this recent phenomenon. Will franchises start inviting entire teams to visit games? Will these evolve into internships for students interested in the operations world of sports? Who will double down and start sending professional players to campus to encourage
Finally, member institutions might not like this one bit. Sure, they can support NIL opportunities for their athletes. But what will happen when their athletes have more of an association to a sponsor’s jersey than their own? As schools begin to crack down on their IP being misused in promotional materials, will they feel the opposite for these types of deals? Will GA Tech rather see Yates in a Freddie Freeman jersey than his own? As NIL evolves, so too will schools, student athletes and sponsor’s interests.
ICYMI: INFLCR, Subtext Partner for College Athletes to Text Fans
Subtext, the platform that connects creators with their audiences through text messaging, announced it is partnering with INFLCR, a brand-building and compliance platform for collegiate and professional organizations, to help NCAA student-athletes communicate with their fans via SMS and monetize their following, while remaining compliant with NCAA NIL regulations.
Subtext customers include INFLCR, Sony Music, Conde Nast, USA Today Network, CNET, and IRONMAN. They brand themselves as host/influencers having, “the ability to communicate one on one or at scale free from the toxicity of social platforms and the clutter of email.”
Through this partnership, Subtext’s platform will be made available to INFLCR’s growing network of more than 45,000 student-athletes, giving them a channel to make money while engaging with their fans in a more intimate setting. With Subtext, NCAA student-athletes can create their own subscriber communities and share exclusive updates with their biggest supporters in a way that remains compliant with NCAA reporting requirements.
“NCAA athletes have been granted a momentous opportunity to rightfully monetize their personal brand,” said Mike Donoghue, co-founder and CEO of Subtext. “Instead of renting their relationship with fans from the social platforms, athletes can use Subtext to build income and community without compromise. We’re honored to partner with INFLCR to empower student-athletes and provide a way for them to build value in their brands by making direct connections with their supporters during their college careers and beyond.”
“Athletes building and engaging an audience on social media has been at the core of INFLCR’s mission from the outset,” said Jim Cavale, founder and CEO of INFLCR. “As we’ve seen through the early days of NIL, there are new, creative ways for athletes to engage with that audience. Subtext is a perfect example of that. This partnership gives INFLCR athletes a compliant way to earn income right from their phone through text conversations with their fans.”