NIL Newsletter #145 | Oklahoma's New NIL Bill, Collective-brewed Ale, NIL Movie Promotion, + ICYMI
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:
Oklahoma House of Representatives Passes New NIL Bill
On Monday, the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 840, a resounding change to the state’s NIL policy.
The bill removes nearly all restrictions on student-athlete representation in NIL deal negotiations, allowing universities to support NIL activities from third parties (i.e. collectives).
The bill also allows universities to require student-athletes to take financial literacy and contract courses.
“Why am I passing this bill?” Representative Jon Echols said. “Because if we don’t, we need to go ahead and shut down OU and OSU athletics. Not passing this is tantamount to saying we no longer wish to compete on the collegiate level.”
Perhaps most importantly, the new bill also provides legal coverage for universities from being punished by the NCAA for NIL-related violations:
“A collegiate athletic association shall not and shall not authorize its member institutions to: Entertain a complaint, open an investigation, or take any other adverse action against a postsecondary institution for engaging in any activity protected in the Student Athlete Name, Image and Likeness Rights Act or for involvement in student-athlete name, image or likeness activities.”
This level of protection from the NCAA is unprecedented in previous NIL legislation, and is worth watching closely.
More information is available HERE.
Boise State-focused Horseshoe Collective Creates Unique Initiative
The Western Collective Brewery (which is not itself a “collective”), began brewing The Horseshoe Golden Ale in conjunction with the Boise State-focused Horseshoe Collective.
For every pint of the new Ale sold, the Western Collective Brewery will donate 10 cents to the Horseshoe Collective.
“Being able to walk into the grocery store and see The Horseshoe Collective’s logo on a can and have people turn the can around and go ‘What is this?’ and it’s got our mission statement on it,” Horseshoe Collective Joe Nickell said.
Western Collective Brewery founder Cary Prewitt estimates that the brewery hopes to donate $24,000 in the first year, and, depending on the success, maintain the new Ale as a full-time fixture on the menu.
More on the story is available HERE.
NIL Agency Postgame Uses Student-Athletes to Promote Movie
Postgame, an NIL focused agency, manages large-scale NIL campaigns for a number of prominent brands, including Adidas, Urban Outfitters, and most recently, Focus Features.
In March, over 1,000 college and high school student-athletes shared content to promote Champions, a new movie released by Focus Features.
Postgame was also able to coordinate five different screenings for student-athletes to attend across the country.
The student-athletes generated a total of 2 million combined impressions on social media.
Notable athletes to participate include Duke’s Jeremy Roach, Louisville’s Hercy Miller, and UNC’s Pete Nance, while a number of other athletes had the opportunity to sign their first ever NIL deal.
“The Champions event offered a unique opportunity for student athletes to participate in promoting a major Hollywood film,” said Aaron Hackett, Postgame’s director of athlete relations.
More info is available HERE.
ICYMI Ticker
Sales of LSU WBB championship merchandise is up over 100% from last year’s numbers. LINK
During BYU’s spring game, 13 student-athletes wore QR code t-shirts directing fans to subscribe to CougConnect, the BYU-focused collective. LINK
Bowling Green partnered with Blueprint Sports to launch the Ziggy Collective. LINK
NIL has yet to make its mark in Collegiate Hockey: “You’re hearing million-dollar deals for football and basketball. Our players get burritos,” said Quinnipiac’s National Champion Head Coach Rand Pecknold. LINK
Middle Tennessee State partnered with The Brandr Group to provide group licensing for student-athletes. LINK
The Players Trunk unveiled officially licensed NIL trading cards for the Connecticut Men’s Basketball Team. LINK