NIL Newsletter #17 | Georgia Tech + TiVO, Gavin Wimsatt to RU, AEC/Spry + Monday news/tips for the week
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!
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Major News
90 Georgia Tech football players have signed on with TiVO
All football student athletes who opt in will receive silk TiVO-branded pajamas, a $404 prepaid debit card and a 4K TiVo streaming device for promoting the brand on social media this month.
As part of the partnership, which was facilitated by Georgia Tech's athletic department, TiVo provided the school an upgrade to its audio/visual equipment in some of the team facilities. The total value is more than $100K, according to the TiVo Chief Revenue Officer Matt Milne, who said 90 of the team's players have signed on.
“While many in college sports have treaded lightly thus far while learning to navigate what is an uncomfortable and unusual amount of room for interpretation compared to the rest of the NCAA bylaws, that hasn't stopped the forces of a competitive market from driving the schools themselves to get involved,” Dan Murphy for ESPN.
Owensboro High School (KY) QB Gavin Wimsatt is the latest HS prospect to leave for college early and cash in on NIL
Owensboro High School quarterback Gavin Wimsatt is leaving HS early to enroll early at Rutgers University (NJ), according to Kentucky Sports Radio. Wimsatt is currently ranked as a 4-star recruit, and is the No. 11 overall quarterback in his class and the No. 1 overall player in the state of Kentucky, according to 247 Sports.
HC Greg Schiano acknowledged how the situation came about, with Wimsatt evidently making an inquiry similar to Ohio State's since-enrolled Southlake (Texas) Carroll five-star quarterback Quinn Ewers.
“Well, the way it came to be is we know what happened at Ohio State. I think the family saw that and they asked, really, just curiously, 'Could we do that?' We said, 'Well, we could look into it if you want to.' And we did, and it was a possibility because he's done a good job academically … We'll get him started in classes on Monday.”
The Atlantic East Conference Partners with Spry to Manage Compliance with NIL
The Atlantic East Conference and Spry announced a conference-wide partnership to help each school manage the NIL compliance landscape. In a proactive move, conference leadership will assist in providing Spry software to all seven of the Atlantic East schools.
Spry, a third-party technology solution designed to help colleges and universities navigate the rapidly evolving NIL landscape, has been active in the NIL space since becoming an LLC in January 2020 as the only compliance-focused solution for athletic departments.
"We are excited to partner with Spry, an industry leader in the NIL space, to help our student-athletes, coaches and administrators navigate this dynamic and evolving venture. Spry's focus on compliance and education aligns with our mission to develop and educate our student-athletes, while also protecting them in this new space,” Atlantic East Conference Commissioner, Jessica Huntley said.
The AEC is comprised by the following institutions: Cabrini University, Centenary University, Gwynedd Mercy University, Immaculata University, Marymount University, Marywood University and Neumann University. The DIII conference formed in 2018 to foster athletic competition and cooperation among academically selective, private colleges located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.
What’s Coming Up Next For NIL
November, 2021 | NCAA Board of Governors to hold constitutional convention
January 1, 2022 | Arkansas’s state NIL policy goes into effect
January 1, 2022 | Nevada’s state NIL policy goes into effect
January 1, 2022 | Tennessee’s state NIL policy goes into effect
Legal Updates
Power-5 conferences could follow the PAC-12’s lead in NIL
The San Jose Mercury News’ Jon Wilner points out that the Pac-12 Networks’ arrangement to license video to student-athletes benefit student-athletes in their pitches to business partners while also observing: “The Pac-12 is the only major conference that wholly owns its network, and the only major conference that has taken this step. Will ESPN allow SEC athletes to use SEC Network video in their NIL pursuits? And what about Fox with regard to Big Ten athletes?”
State by State Resources on OSC Website includes Clickable Map
Now on Optimum Sports Consulting’s State by State Resources page, you can click on individual states to pull up their most recent NIL legislation. In addition, our Agent page (subscribers only) has similar interactive maps to track agent laws and player signings, as well as our Administrators page (subscribers only) track state and school policy differences to help schools discover and update their best practices
FOR ATHLETES
Examples of Success Last Week
Forbes released two great articles on the financial impact of NIL: “5 Financial Tips For Student Athletes Earning Money Through NIL” by Joe Moglia and “College Athletes Cutting New Name Image Likeness Deals Could Be In For A Tax Shock” by Robert W. Wood.
Beats By Dre has signed its first college athlete: Jackson State QB Shedeur Sanders, son of head coach and NFL great Deion Sanders. Shedeur is represented by SMAC Entertainment and WME Sports (per Darren Rovell).
Christian Harris joined Alabama football teammate Chris Braswell with a co-licensed shirt. The shirt features Harris on the front with the phrase “MAKE A ST8MNT - the junior LB wears #8 for the Tide (per Ross Dellenger).
Athlete autograph firm GTSM has signed a $1M+ NIL deal with Ohio State QB Quinn Ewers, according to Action Network’s Rovell, who reports the deal was negotiated by Rubicon Talent and Sportstars.
Tip of the Week: Budget creation and smart investing with NIL earnings will support long-term sustainability.
In a rapidly evolving NIL landscape, Joe Moglia from the CEO Network recommends college student athletes, “Try to create a budget that leaves some extra cash each month, both for liquid savings and to invest for the future. Many athletes only have a few years of peak earnings, and it is important to build assets for the future. And investing doesn’t have to be complicated or high risk.” A budget can be as simple as a spreadsheet where you just track money coming in and the deals that you have done thus far. Taking a percentage of those earnings and investing them can set you up for long-term sustainability too. Whether it is a simple mutual fund, cryptocurrency, business venture, etc- passive income can be particularly beneficial while you are still in school.
FOR ADMINS
Notes for the Week
The University of Florida announced The Gator Collective. Experiences include: Access to creative interviews and segments; Live player interactions via video conference; Entry into raffles of autographed gear; The ability to help athletes capitalize on their name, image, and likeness. Attorney Darren Heitner - who helped write the legislation that was passed in Florida - served as counsel for the launch.
Researchers from Kansas State and Texas examined student-athletes' desire for financial literacy education and recommended best practices for AthleticDirectorU. “These results [from a pre and post-test] show that students may have the knowledge but struggle to apply it, and there are concerns with their retention of information. [...] As athletes gain access to revenue-generating vehicles, it will become imperative for athletic departments to augment existing financial literacy programs. In fact, offering financial literacy classes and educational programming should be the floor. NIL-related agreements between athletes and private companies will present complicated matters related to state contract law, state, and federal tax codes among other areas. Universities would be well-served to provide athletes with access to legal representation and contract analysts who are separate from the athletic departments. This bifurcation would safeguard against potential conflicts of interest that may arise between coaches, administrators, and athletes.”
Penny Hardaway believes the new NIL rules helped him land another top recruiting class at Memphis. He finalized a recruiting class led by a pair of five-star recruits in Emoni Bates and Jalen Duren, two players who reclassified from 2022 to 2021, to earn his second No. 1 recruiting class at the American Athletic Conference program.
North Carolina AD Cunningham discussed the Tar Heels’ group licensing program with On3’s: “They went way beyond what I thought we should have done, but by going way beyond it allowed us to do the thing they were worried about.” Cunningham also believes “there will be a video game with current student-athletes in it” by 2023 or 2024. So far, the men’s basketball and women’s soccer teams have drawn the most interest, and Cunningham notes the interest from vendors to create products for other sports has been “OK but hasn’t been great.”
Tip of the Week: Content creation might help smaller teams succeed in the NIL era.
During the pandemic, communications and social media personnel positions were cut in athletics departments across the country. While not always thought of as an essential need, content creation and communications are the most outward-facing roles at an institution. They connect fans to players, increase engagement, and bring traffic to other areas of the department. Across schools, we are seeing NIL investment from businesses in just a select group of sports (football, basketball). And while certain programs (like UNC) have had one-off successes in other sports like soccer, the vast majority of the money is concentrated at the top. To help get student athletes on other teams NIL opportunities, they need to be visible on social media. Athletics departments need to prioritize working on genuine content to get these SAs more exposure, which can then translate into NIL success. Meet and greet team videos, social media takeovers, and other forms of natural content could be the difference for potential investors.
FOR AGENCIES
Takeaways and Successes Last Week
Vanderbilt’s Sarah Fuller sat down with Front Office Sports to discuss her career as an NCAA soccer and football player. When her success on the Commodores football team propelled her into overnight fame, Fuller enlisted her dad to look for an agent. “He looked up the ‘best agency for female soccer players’ and Wasserman came up,” Fuller said.
Dreamfield, the NIL platform founded by Miami (FL) QB King and Florida State QB Milton, announced a partnership with Mercedes-Benz, whereby Mercedes will hire Dreamfield athletes as ambassadors to help launch a new electric vehicle, the EQ (per Front Office Sports).
VaynerSports CMO Neligan discussed the company’s corporate consulting division, which has taken the lead on NIL initiatives. “What we created is a consulting division that will do a lot of the same consulting that the Wassermans and Octagons do, like sponsorship evaluation. But to date, we’ve had tremendous success in NIL consulting. Right now NIL is the hot ticket in town so we have been spending an enormous amount of time in that category,” (per Sports Business Journal).
Viral Nation has launched a new division, VN Sports, which will focus on cultivating student-athlete influencers at the high school and college levels, according to Forbes’ Kristi Dosh, who reports that student-athletes that have signed with VN Sports include the sons of two well-known former NBA players (Hardaway and Smith).
Former Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones has started an NIL agency for college athletes. Jones testified during hearings regarding an Ohio bill protecting NIL revenue for college athletes. He also spoke at Governor Mike DeWine’s signing of an executive order protecting the same rights.
Tip of the Week: Find former college athletes to consult with before launching NIL goals.
Cardale Jones is one of many former DI athletes to enter into the NIL representation space. And for good reason- just several years removed from his time at Ohio State, he is positioned perfectly as someone who understands the modern grind to play at a top FBS institution. Former SAs understand today’s athlete- down to their lifting/eating schedule and how much time they need to stay on top of academic assignments. Since many NIL deals are negotiated and executed in an SA’s free time, knowing how they operate is key to being the best NIL agent one can be. Furthermore, client recruitment and retention is a lot easier if their friend (who might have just graduated) is advising them to sign with your representation group. Being an agent is not easy, and it can be particularly more difficult with NIL because SAs can’t dedicate much time to projects. Finding a former athlete to partner or consult with is the answer to taking your agency to the next level, and clients will come.
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!"