NIL Newsletter #7 | Monday, August 2, 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 (at 8:30am ET) 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, and see past Newsletters here.
Major News
NCAA Board of Governors to convene constitutional convention
The NCAA's Board of Governors announced that it will convene a "special constitutional convention" (completely virtual) in November to examine and propose changes to the NCAA's constitution.
The task of re-writing the NCAA's constitution will fall to a 22-person Constitution Review Committee, which will feature presidents, commissioners, athletics directors and students from all three Divisions.
"It's a very short timeline to do this amount of work, but it's really essential that we do this… (It's not) about trying to make tweaks or adjustments in the existing model but to say, if we're going to think about what college sports are today and can be in the future and what's going to best serve our college athletes' needs and interests academically and athletically, what would we do and how would we do it,” NCAA President Mark Emmert said on a conference call this past Friday.
“As the national landscape changes, college sports must also quickly adapt to become more responsive to the needs of college athletes and current member schools,” said Jack DeGioia, chair of the Board of Governors, in a statement.
Below is what the Constitution Review Committee will be tasked with:
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy clarifies Barstool's NIL plan
Conduct Detrimental obtained email updates from David Portnoy sent to student athlete members of the Barstool Athletes agency.
In one portion of his email, Portnoy describes Barstool’s “first NIL t-shirt deal” with Iowa wrestler Spencer Lee. Lee went viral after winning the 2021 National Championship just days after experiencing his second ACL tear. According to Portnoy, Barstool approved Lee’s design and will promote/fulfill orders while giving Lee 80% of the profits.
“Barstool Athletes, Inc. is the most barstool thing ever. No thought put into it. No clue what we were doing,” Portnoy said when the company launched on July 1st. American International College explicitly stated that working with Barstool is prohibited activity for its athletes back on July 8th, and we did a Deep Dive into Barstool in Newsletter #2.
What’s Coming Next on NIL
August 28, 2021 | Week 1 of NCAA FBS Football
September 1, 2021 | Connecticut’s state NIL policy goes into effect
November, 2021 | NCAA Board of Governors to hold constitutional convention
Legal Updates
NCAA athletes’ suit for back pay gains steam after Alston, NIL
Plaintiffs in House v. NCAA (which includes Oregon WBB star Sedona Prince) filed a 115-page amended complaint in their ongoing federal antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA and Power 5 conferences.
Michael McCann for Sportico summarized the amended complaint, which notably argues that: 1) Interest in NCAA sports hasn’t faltered since NIL went into effect 2) NCAA’s interim NIL policy is still too restrictive and 3) Alston has enhanced their arguments.
NIL rule changes could affect US sports betting industry
Attorney John Holden for Legal Sports Report believes that NIL will change the US sports betting industry- which is now legal in more than half of the states.
“It is time that schools and college sports organizations start acknowledging this fact because while athletes might be restricted from partnering with gambling providers, as we have seen already schools are not. This is an opportunity for schools to improve the conversation about betting with their college athletes.”
FOR ATHLETES
Examples of Success Last Week
Alabama Crimson Tide QB Bryce Young has already signed more than $800K in NIL deals, according to ESPN’s Alex Scarborough. “Sources said that Young's deal with Cash App - his only public endorsement to date - is worth six figures.” Young is represented by Creative Artist Agency.
UNC football player Tony Grimes spent a weekend selling T-shirts, posing for photos and signing autographs at Franklin Street’s Chapel Hill Sportswear. “Like I don’t have to ask permission to do anything from the school anymore. I could call my dad and we could set things up and that’s how it is,” Grimes said.
One of the first NIL-related football camps in Florida took place Saturday at Coach Al Houchens Memorial Stadium, home of the Pinecrest Pilots youth football program. The brains behind the operation? USF players Spencer Shrader and Kenny Scribner. Camps, particularly for student athletes with a smaller social media presence or are in an area with a smaller population, can be an important NIL revenue source.
Tip of the Week: Keep watching what other student athletes are doing and take notes.
After 30+ days of deals/signings/announcements, the NIL landscape has certainly been moving at a fast pace. But many elite athletes have remained patient- vetting representation and waiting to decide which brands to partner with. In addition to hiring legal counsel and accredited representation (as we have recommended), it is important for student athletes to observe the trends going on around them. Aside from dollar amounts on specific deals, most information about NIL stories thus far has been fairly public. Due to the NCAA’s quid pro quo language in their interim policy, you will know the deals other SAs engage in usually just from social media. Continue to follow the news- take notes about what deals look interesting to you (perhaps the brand is important or maybe you appreciate a certain business model/practice). Everything takes time to learn and understand, but knowing the market around you can help in negotiations and ultimately make you a better businessperson.
FOR COLLEGE ADMINS
Notes for the Week
This is arguably the biggest report regarding NIL in compliance offices across the country to date. Andrew Wittry from the Out of Bounds newsletter filed a series of public records requests to learn more about what compliance offices were going through since July 1st. From work visas and trading cards to state laws and interns, there is a ton of great discussion between senior compliance officials about how to interpret school, state and NCAA NIL policies.
Kansas unveiled its Jayhawks Ascend four-tiered NIL program with the help of Opendorse, Athliance and INFLCR. “Personal Brand Management, Name, Image and Likeness Protection, KU Resource Engagement, and Post KU Preparedness.”
Sunisa Lee’s Instagram bio reads “Olympic Gold Medalist,” and underneath that- “@auburngymnastics ‘25.” The budding star might be one of the most marketable NIL athletes in the country, and Auburn University should be excited- Gymnastics HC Jeff Graba believes Suni would have gone pro had it not been for NIL. Justin Lee reported that Auburn Gymnastics sold 1,000 season tickets in one day.
Tip of the Week: Olympic athletes have more of an incentive than ever before to stay in/come to school, thanks to NIL.
Amidst a busy first month of NIL, fans from around the world have been glued to their screens every night watching top NCAA athletes compete in the Tokyo 2021 Olympics. For schools, this can mean HUGE benefits if competitors return to compete in the NCAA , rather than turning pro and/or training for the 2024 games. While NIL can not expressly be used as a recruiting mechanism, schools that embrace NIL and put their athletes in the best positions possible to maximize their potential will see long-term benefits. Providing adequate resources and timely responses to compliance questions will make student athletes feel secure and they’ll likely make the best NIL deals possible for themselves. This will naturally translate to better recruiting classes, greater fan support, and most importantly- a stronger product on the field that will generate revenue.
FOR AGENCIES
Takeaways and Successes Last Week
Oklahoma QB Spencer Rattler became the first college football player to sign autographs at the National Sports Collectors Convention- charging $150 a signature.
The Savannah Bananas summer baseball team auctioned off game-worn jerseys of the college players on the roster and will sell replicas thereafter. Per Forbes' Dosh: "The team says they believe this will be the first time that fans can buy a jersey that was a collaboration between a team and a college athlete."
Last week, Clemson WR EJ Williams switched NIL representation from Polo Kerber & The Playmaker to Rosenhaus Sports. This might be the first NIL representation switch thus far.
Tip of the Week: Adaptability may be key for NIL representation if COVID-19 affects the 2021 FBS football season.
Peter Burns brought up a great point about the month of July- NIL, Oklahoma/Texas to the SEC and the NCAA as a whole have been the top news every day. But as the Delta variant causes some cities to roll back out their mask mandates and other precautions, there is a chance that NCAA athletics might be impacted as well. If student athletes don’t get great exposure because of attendance restrictions and other policies, it will be imperative that their NIL representation is adaptable. That could me more online sponsorship/projects, posting highlight film on social media platforms, and/or collaborating in new ways with brands. Have contingency plans. Be prepared for another season in a pandemic.