NIL Newsletter #91 | NCAA Well-Being Survey results, Illinois NIL law change, NIL political endorsements + ICYMI Ticker
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:
NCAA SA Well-Being Survey results discuss NIL, taxes, financial literacy
The Fall 2021 NCAA Student-Athlete Well-Being Survey results were released this week and touched upon several major NIL issues, including tax literacy/education, financial awareness/literacy and navigating NIL opportunities. Results were broken down by male/female respondents and by each respective Division (I/II/III).
Male student athletes (across all 3 Divisions) regarding NIL opportunities: 42% need resources, 29% have resources and 28% are not interested. Female student athletes on the same issue: 39% need resources, 29% have resources and 32% are not interested.
On financial awareness/literacy, female student athletes (across all 3 Divisions) responded: 46% need resources, 33% have resources and 22% are not interested. Male student athletes similarly said: 43% need resources, 35% have resources and 22% are not interested.
Finally on tax literacy/education across all 3 Divisions, males responded 49% need resources, 26% have resources and 25% are not interested whereas females said 50% need resources, 22% have resources and 28% are not interested.
By Division, the need for resources by male and female student athletes decreased. DI males/females said 47/47% needed resources, DII dropped to 46/39% and DII was just 34/30%.
“Student-athletes were most likely to indicate a need for educational resources on tax and financial literacy (49%), career planning (47%), navigating name, image and likeness (NIL) opportunities (40%) and professional opportunities in sport (37%). Survey participants were asked how their athletics staff and coaches could support them at the time of survey. Suggestions fell into five key themes: Elevate and listen to student-athlete voices. Equitable support and resources for all student-athletes and teams. Help student-athletes prepare for life after sport. Prioritize balance between academics, athletics and overall well-being. Support student-athlete mental health.” - NCAA SA Well-Being Survey, May 2022
Illinois amends their NIL law
This week, Illinois becomes the 9th state in the country to amend, repeal, or enact additional NIL legislation. Full text HERE.
Two notable changes involved giving institutions more freedom to decide certain policies- no longer do student athletes have to disclose their professional representation to their institutions within 7 days nor do they have to disclose NIL deals of over $500 to the institution before signing/formalizing the deal.
Importantly, the amended law removed language banning schools from “arranging” NIL deals and instead implemented the following: “Nothing in this Act shall require a postsecondary educational institution to directly or indirectly identify, create, facilitate, arrange, negotiate, or otherwise enable opportunities for a prospective or current student-athlete to enter into a publicity rights agreement with a third party.
The new law also added a definition for the term “booster”: “‘Booster’ means a person or entity that has made, within the past 5 years, a financial contribution in an amount greater than $1,000 to a postsecondary educational institution's athletics department or an athletics booster organization of that institution. The purchase of season or single game tickets to any athletics event is not a financial contribution for purposes of determining whether an individual or entity is a booster.”
University of Tennessee-Martin QB Dresser Winn is endorsing Colin Johnson for District Attorney General
In an announcement on social media, University of Tennessee at Martin quarterback Dresser Winn revealed he’ll be supporting Colin Johnson for District Attorney General in the 27th Judicial District of Tennessee. Winn, who was allegedly already a Johnson supporter before the two parties reached an NIL deal, will be part of Johnson’s ad campaign via social media posts.
A three-star quarterback coming out of high school in 2017, Winn is believed to be the first college student-athlete to strike an NIL deal with a political candidate. Winn, who has attempted 142 passes in 21 games over the course of his career, is in line to be named the starter for the UT Martin SkyHawks this fall.
“Colin is a lifelong friend and has always supported me in all of my endeavors,” Winn told On3. “It was a no-brainer to help support his candidacy and encourage my followers to register to vote. So glad we could be the first of this kind of NIL deal with such a good person.”
ICYMI Ticker
Collegiate Sports Management Group (“CSMG”) has brokered a partnership between the Villanova University Football team and high-end custom suits and blazers provider Reveal Suits. The deal enables Reveal Suits to partner with five SAs on the Villanova Wildcats men’s football team: TD Ayo-Durojaiye, Dez Boykin, Ricky Ortega, Jaaron Hayek, and Josh Slay. As a part of the deal, Reveal Suits will also be providing the SAs with customized suits to feature on their social media platforms throughout the 2022 football season. CSMG will manage all scheduling and NIL activities with the SAs, co-creation of NIL social media assets, and run other promotions as a part of the deal.
“NIL is not going away; that is going to be part of our landscape going forward and we’re perfectly OK with that. We believe in it. We support it. Purdue AD Mike Bobinski told the Journal & Courier. “We want to craft a structure and a program at Purdue that provides a tremendous opportunity for our athletes but it’s keeping in the spirit of what it’s meant to be. It allows them an opportunity for whatever commercial value they can present to the marketplace and they need to be compensated for that and compensated fairly.”
Gondola, a platform for content creators such as photographers, videographers and designers to track their work and connect with other creators/opportunities, is bringing a new resource to athletes in the Global Exchange through a new partnership with INFLCR.
Michigan and The Brandr Group have established a group licensing deal for student athletes across all 29 Wolverine teams.
Ohio University has launched their new platform Ohio NIL Exchange in conjunction with INFLCR.