NIL Newsletter # 152 | Newest Federal NIL Bill, Oklahoma's New NIL Law, UCLA AD Discusses Move to BIG 10, + 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:
Rep. Gus Bilirakis Introduces Newest Federal NIL Bill
On Tuesday, Representative Gus Bilirakis, a continuing proponent of Federal NIL legislation, introduced a discussion draft of a bill which would establish a federal regulatory NIL body (separately from Senator Graham’s bill discussed HERE last week).
The bill, in its current form, does not address health and medical benefits for student-athletes or their employee status.
It does, however, have three major foci:
Protecting student-athletes’ rights to earn NIL compensation and sign with agents;
Banning “pay-for-play” through prohibitions on boosters, collectives, and third parties; and
Requiring registration of agents, boosters, and collectives within 30 days of the commencement of NIL deals.
The federal body to be constructed would be the U.S. Intercollegiate Athletics Commission, and would be composed of a board of directors appointed by Congressional leaders.
More information on the current draft is available HERE.
Oklahoma House and Senate Override Veto to Enact NIL Bill into Law
On Thursday, the Oklahoma House and Senate overrode a veto by Governor Kevin Stitt to enact the state’s new NIL bill into law.
The veto was not made on the merits of the bill, but rather, the Governor’s choice to veto all bills which did not focus on education and tax reform policy.
The new law prohibits the NCAA from penalizing institutions for actions involving protected NIL activities.
One anonymous in-state coach was very supportive of the new law: “Every coach, no matter if they’re at [Oklahoma], [Oklahoma State] or [Tulsa], is happy that they overrode the veto. This helps us now show recruits and players already on the team that we’re serious about supporting NIL.”
Oklahoma University is currently in the final stages of launching a booster organization which also directly fundraises NIL opportunities, similar to Texas A&M’s 12th Man+ Fund.
More information on the new law is available HERE.
UCLA AD Martin Jarmond Discusses Move to BIG 10, NIL
"The Big Ten offers exciting new programs, competitive and NIL opportunities on a bigger national stage for our student-athletes to showcase their talent,” Jarmond said. “We’ve always been guided by what is best for our 25 teams and more than 700 student-athletes, and we’re excited to join the Big Ten Conference in 2024."
Jarmond highlighted UCLA’s “Westwood Ascent” NIL program, which focuses on three major sectors of NIL: Education, Brand-Building and Monitoring and Disclosure.
Two student-athletes in particular have broken barriers while at UCLA. Last year, Women’s Basketball student-athlete Kiki Rice became the first NIL athlete for Jordan Brand, and gifted the entire women’s basketball team a pair of Jordan shoes.
Additionally, Reilyn Turner, a Women’s Soccer student-athlete, because the first ever collegiate athlete to sign an NIL deal with Nike.
Jarmond’s full interview with Sports Illustrated is available HERE.
ICYMI Ticker
BYU Football players have yet to be paid after agreeing to NIL deals for 15% of profits from CougarTail bar. LINK
Texas Tech’s Matador Club now distributes $25,000 annually to 105 football student-athletes, increasing the number of deals given to walk-ons. In-state tuition is around $12,000 per year, and out-of-state tuition is around $24,000 per year. LINK
Georgetown-focused Hoyas Rising collective launched to support Georgetown student-athletes. LINK
USF-focused Growing Fowler Ave Collective set goals of 1,000 members and $3.5 million annually. LINK
New York lawmakers are moving forward with their new NIL Bill, mirroring language from Oklahoma’s bill and prohibiting “the NCAA from preventing colleges from identifying, facilitating, enabling, or supporting opportunities for athletes to earn NIL money.” LINK