NIL Newsletter #98 | OSU/Texas NIL data, UNC's Armando Bacot, Louisiana/Missouri update state NIL laws + ICYMI Ticker AND more NIL Twitter feuding
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/Weekend:
Ohio State, Texas unveil department-wide year 1 NIL figures
Ohio State’s NIL Department announced last week that OSU student athletes have surpassed 1,000 NIL deals, weeks before July 1. In January, the Buckeyes counted 608 deals for a total of $2.98 million in earnings. Though the number of deals has almost doubled since then, the school did not announce how much the new partnerships were worth.
Ohio State is one of several athletic departments that have gone beyond just providing NIL education for athletes. In addition to Ohio State, schools like Boise State and USC offer either in-house services or outside programs to help athletes get deals.
University of Texas student athletes pulled in more than $2 million during the first athletic year, according to school records. Football student athletes were the biggest beneficiaries with 94 NIL deals being reported to the school for a total of $879,447 from Aug. 1 to April 30. The biggest deal signed by any one UT football player was worth $60,000. Three other arrangements were worth $50,000 each.
Softball ($295,790) and women’s swimming ($259,402) also did well. Men’s swimming athletes generated $245,100 in NIL deals, according to information obtained by the American-Statesman through requests made under the Texas Public Information Act. Full data HERE.
At any given time, Texas has more than 500 SAs. The university is required to track all NIL deals, but according to state law, school officials are not allowed to get involved in brokering contracts.
UNC’s Armando Bacot explains why NIL is allowing him to stay in school
From March 1 through June 8, in the months after he led North Carolina to the national championship game, Armando Bacot has made a $21,000 profit selling T-shirts capitalizing on his NIL. His first endorsement deal, which he signed with Jimmy’s Famous Seafood last summer, was worth five figures. He has since signed with a thoroughbred farm in Kentucky called Town and Country Farms and a technology consulting firm called CapTech, in addition to a card deal with Topps. His mom, Christie Lomax, estimates that his NIL income this year will be “definitely past half a million.”
He does promotional work for Me Fine, a social-services charity, and he took a paid acting role on the Netflix show Outer Banks. He has delivered more than 100 videos through Cameo, charging $95 for individuals and $350 for businesses. He has a burger named after him as part of an endorsement deal with Town Hall Burger and Beer at UNC.
Armando says that staying in school was “a no-brainer. I get a chance to get better, get my degree, be around all my friends and then also make a lot of money.” UNC HC Hubert Davis is adamant that Bacot will be “a first-round draft pick next year.” The NBA has soured on traditional big guys who are limited defensively; it just takes one screen to force a switch and exploit them. But Bacot is comfortable guarding on the perimeter. “Armando can easily do that,” Davis says. “He’s great at that, and he’s a dynamic roller to the rim. He’s really good at finishing around the basket with either hand.”
Bacot played in 39 games last season and recorded 16.3 points and 13.1 rebounds per game, while recording a double-double in each of his six NCAA tournament games, earning him a spot on First Team All-ACC, and he came in second for ACC Player of the Year.
Read the great deep dive from Sports Illustrated HERE.
Updated state NIL laws for Missouri, Louisiana
Only hours after Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed amendments to Senate Bill 718, the University of Missouri announced plans for its future NIL endeavors. The Tigers will be taking full advantage of Opendorse revamped, school-specific marketplace.
The new legislation allows for schools to the in-state schools to play a much more active role in NIL activities. The Tigers are tackling this by creating an in-house team to focus solely on creating content and helping athletes pursue opportunities. This will be head up by an assistant athletic director of NIL. The department will also include NIL-specific roles in graphic design and creative video.
“We are grateful to our state legislators for their continued support of our student-athletes,” Mizzou AD Desireé Reed-Francois said. “As an institution, we will help our Tigers maximize NIL opportunities within the framework of the updated legislation and NCAA rules.”
After the Louisiana State Senate approved a bill allowing schools, their affiliates and boosters to compensate student athletes for use of their NIL in early June, Governor John Bel Edwards reportedly signed it into law last week. The revision allows coaches and school personnel in Louisiana to also facilitate deals for its student athletes.
Before the new law, schools in Louisiana – especially LSU – couldn’t have any contact with their students regarding NIL deals. On top of that, there were limitations on the roles of boosters in current NIL contracts with players. Legislators said previous legislation put LSU and other state schools in Louisiana at a “distinct competitive advantage” on the recruiting trail. That was especially true when competing against Texas A&M and Alabama.
Interestingly, the law includes a provision that NIL contracts between companies and athletes that are shared with the school shall remain private and confidential. “Any document disclosed by the intercollegiate athlete to the postsecondary education institution that references the terms and conditions of the athlete’s contract for compensation shall be confidential and not subject to inspection, examination, copying or reproduction pursuant to the Public Records Law,” the bill said.
ICYMI Ticker
On3's Jeremy Crabtree reported Arch Manning won't sign any NIL pacts until he commits to a school because he “doesn't want to tarnish the brand” and “doesn't want it to look like he was induced.” On3 projects Manning could collect $3.1 million from NIL deals, the third-highest valuation. Beginning in April, high school athletes in Louisiana such as Manning were allowed to begin signing NIL deals.
Forbes featured Norfolk State RB Rayquan Smith, dubbed the “King of NIL” who has 69 deals to date. Full story HERE.
TigerImpact, a Clemson NIL collective, recently added contracts for 16 student athletes. With the addition of these contracts, the collective has deals with at least one member of each sport, in both men’s and women’s sports. It is believed to be one of the first collectives in the country to reach every sport at a university.
Michigan Football HC Jim Harbaugh on the Jed Hughes podcast: “Before we jump to how it can be a negative or exploited in a bad way, as we all know, human nature, that’s something that is definitely a possibility. But I think we can all agree - take jersey sales, for example, or T-shirts, memorabilia, those kinds of things that every school has, every school has the bookstore or the shop where fans can go and buy their gear. It makes sense that the player whose number is on that jersey, or name is on that jersey, should share in that revenue. That example right there, I think, we all agree on.”
Basepath, an NIL operations software, has announced partnerships with NIL collectives and athletic departments to help organize and manage the vast amount of transactions, paperwork and tracking required to operate efficiently and compliantly in the NIL space. Partners now include: MGoDao (University of Michigan collective); Micconope 1851 (Florida State collective); Pack of Wolves (NC State collective); Runners Rising (UTSA collective); St John’s University; The Boiler Trust (Purdue collective); Think NIL (TCU collective); United Wholesale Mortgage; and University of Detroit Mercy. More HERE.
Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff, talking to Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic. “That it’s unfortunate that we’re not enforcing the rules that we’ve all agreed on, the rules that are already in place. I am 100 percent in favor of name, image and likeness and our student-athletes being able to benefit from their own work the same way that a music student who’s on scholarship or a student on an academic scholarship can benefit from their name, image and likeness without losing their scholarship. I never understood why there was a distinction for athletes. I’m in favor of NIL, but I do think that it’s important that we started enforcing the three rules that everyone’s agreed to, which is that it should not be used for inducements. It should not be used for pay-for-play. The amount paid should be commensurate with the work, which is often referred to as quid pro quo. If we enforce those three rules, I think it would be a great system. I think our student-athletes would benefit, and it wouldn’t be causing the chaos that it’s currently causing in recruiting. What we’re really talking about is about boosters and collectives of boosters having no contact to student-athletes who are still prospective. Once a student-athlete has committed to a school, they should be allowed to talk to anyone about name, image and likeness. The school should even be able to make those introductions. But before a student commits, if you’re talking to that student about NIL, that is inducement. That is tampering.” Full interview HERE.
CEO Zach Maurides talked future of Teamworks, INFLCR following $50 million in Series D funding -full story HERE.
“It was very specifically stated that this was not supposed to be an inducement for initial enrollment or transfer,” outgoing Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said on Tuesday on Sirius-XM’s Big 12 This Morning. “It is obvious that many institutions, not all, but many, a troubling number have used it exactly as an inducement. Boosters have become directly involved in the recruitment of student athletes. It was never envisioned under anyone’s model (of NIL) that boosters would be directly involved in the recruiting of student athletes.”
Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss), at the center of the NIL debate in Congress, sent a letter to NCAA President Mark Emmert requesting answers to questions regarding the association’s role in Title IX, per document obtained by Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger:
Business of College Sports’ Kristi Dosh detailed her experience at this year’s inaugural NIL Summit - full story HERE.
UCLA QB Chase Griffing: “Personally, I do zero product deals,” he said. “I only do cash deals and I really do that because all of my NIL money is invested. I can’t invest a product. There’s that, but one thing for the kids that receive a lot of the product deals, that is taxable once you reach a certain amount so I just want student-athletes [to know that].”
Boise State's Kristie Schoffield, whose time of 2 minutes, 1.09 seconds in the 800m at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, was a Mountain West, Boise State and personal record. Check out her new t-shirt HERE.
Extra Points' Matt Brown talked to Michigan offensive lineman Olu Oluwatimi about his unique path from Air Force and Virginia to Ann Arbor, academics, NIL success and more. Full video HERE.
ESPN’s Paula Lavigne, talking to US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, asked if NIL deals might be part of what's required to report in terms of Title IX. Cardona’s response - “It could be.”
Kansas announced a new partnership with Altius Sports Partners.
USC announced an agreement with Stay Doubted.
Weekly Rovell/Ruiz Twitter Drama
