What we know about endorsement deals

[SVCBeercats]

An endorsement deal or activity cannot interfere with official UConn athletics or team obligations.

No UConn logos, alcohol or gambling: What we know about endorsement deals as policy gets underway Monday

From promoting clothing brands to signing a weekly podcast show, UConn athletes take...

www.nhregister.com

 

[Jackcatscal]

UCONN University employees may not “facilitate” endorsement deals for athletes. Compare the UCONN rules with what I’ve read about USC and UCLA, which are actively helping their athletes with branding and endorsement advice, and in establishing contacts for them. (That has to itself be worth a fortune in a town like LA.)

The NCAA and its member schools resisted the NIL system until they were forced to accept it by state legislatures and court decisions. The same disadvocates are now making up the NIL rules for athletes. It’s a conflict of interest, and you can expect the rules issued by the schools to not be especially liberal for the students.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Eventually the P5 schools will just dump the NCAA entirely and do whatever they want. It's kind of turning into the inmates running the prison. Won't be long now before some state reclassifies the student-athletes as employees of the university.

 

[Mdoggie]

Eventually the P5 schools will just dump the NCAA entirely and do whatever they want. It's kind of turning into the inmates running the prison. Won't be long now before some state reclassifies the student-athletes as employees of the university.

If you’re a D1 athlete an employee is exactly what you are. The sport is your job.

 

[oldude]

Eventually the P5 schools will just dump the NCAA entirely and do whatever they want. It's kind of turning into the inmates running the prison. Won't be long now before some state reclassifies the student-athletes as employees of the university.

One of the biggest misunderstandings in all this talk about NIL is that somehow, Mark Emmert is a rogue actor who doesn’t represent the NCAA member schools and conferences. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Emmert gets paid $2 million+ per year to do exactly what NCAA member schools want and to take the heat from Congress and fans so that AD’s and school presidents don’t have to. The reason that the NCAA dragged their feet on NIL for years is because the member schools and big conferences didn’t want to share revenue with the athletes.

The reason that the NCAA punted NIL rules back to the states this year is because the member schools and conferences are terrified that there will be dozens of Ed Obannon type lawsuits filed against them, supported by state governments and upheld by federal courts up to and including the Supreme Court.

 

[huskyd]

One of the biggest misunderstandings in all this talk about NIL is that somehow, Mark Emmert is a rogue actor who doesn’t represent the NCAA member schools and conferences. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Emmert gets paid $2 million+ per year to do exactly what NCAA member schools want and to take the heat from Congress and fans so that AD’s and school presidents don’t have to. The reason that the NCAA dragged their feet on NIL for years is because the member schools and big conferences didn’t want to share revenue with the athletes.

The reason that the NCAA punted NIL rules back to the states this year is because the member schools and conferences are terrified that there will be dozens of Ed Obannon type lawsuits filed against them, supported by state governments and upheld by federal courts up to and including the Supreme Court.

Another "misunderstanding" is that the schools are sharing revenue with the athletes now. They're not. Whatever revenue flows will come out of the pockets of folks who want to pay for access to the players' NILs, not from the schools. The NCAA is also not paying the athletes a penny. What the players have gained is the right to sell their NILs, excepting certain products deemed "illicit" by the individual schools.
The fear of the NCAA is that the courts will declare them as in violation of anti-trust laws and move to break up the organization. The Supreme Court has clearly stated that it would certainly do this in a future case. Almost as bad for the NCAA (and schools) would be having to share the TV revenue with the players. That's where the big bucks are, and they are not (yet?) filtering down to the folks whose blood, sweat, tears earn them.

 

[Heytherego]

UCONN University employees may not “facilitate” endorsement deals for athletes. Compare the UCONN rules with what I’ve read about USC and UCLA, which are actively helping their athletes with branding and endorsement advice, and in establishing contacts for them.

Uconn has hired Opendorse to help the athletes navigate the NIL.

 

[Carnac]

Eventually the P5 schools will just dump the NCAA entirely and do whatever they want. It's kind of turning into the inmates running the prison. Won't be long now before some state reclassifies the student-athletes as employees of the university.

I predict, the NIL system we now see in its "infancy", will look nothing like this in 5 years. intercollegiate athletics as we known it will never be the same. I can see some greedy athletes getting carried away with this leading to their downfall. This "NIL" thing can become addictive.

 

[CL82]

Another "misunderstanding" is that the schools are sharing revenue with the athletes now. They're not. Whatever revenue flows will come out of the pockets of folks who want to pay for access to the players' NILs, not from the schools. The NCAA is also not paying the athletes a penny. What the players have gained is the right to sell their NILs, excepting certain products deemed "illicit" by the individual schools.
The fear of the NCAA is that the courts will declare them as in violation of anti-trust laws and move to break up the organization. The Supreme Court has clearly stated that it would certainly do this in a future case. Almost as bad for the NCAA (and schools) would be having to share the TV revenue with the players. That's where the big bucks are, and they are not (yet?) filtering down to the folks whose blood, sweat, tears earn them.

Do you know if most NCAA schools operate their athletic at a profit? If the answer is no, then isn’t the complaint that they haven’t been sharing their profits inapplicable?

 

[oldude]

Do you know if most NCAA schools operate their athletic at a profit? If the answer is no, then isn’t the complaint that they haven’t been sharing their profits inapplicable?

Of course most do not. But much of the potential for NIL relates to P-5 schools whose media contracts, ticket & merchandise sales and sports related alumni donations amount to $100’s of millions.

 

[Carnac]

Uconn has hired Opendorse to help the athletes navigate the NIL.

Good. EVERY student athlete should have some professional advise available to them with this NIL thing. Without it, it will be very easy to take the wrong road to beckoning riches.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Of course most do not. But much of the potential for NIL relates to P-5 schools whose media contracts, ticket & merchandise sales and sports related alumni donations amount to $100’s of millions.

From an accounting standpoint knowing the revenue is useless without knowing the expenses. If we suggest the players get a cut of the revenue, do we then expect them to pay their fair share of the expenses?

 

[Jim R]

I predict, the NIL system we now see in its "infancy", will look nothing like this in 5 years. intercollegiate athletics as we known it will never be the same. I can see some greedy athletes getting carried away with this leading to their downfall. This "NIL" thing can become addictive.

Agree...and, believe it or not, most of us saw his coming. Once the horse is out of the barn....it takes on its own life, and money will rule the day. Just hope our Huskies can stay focused

 

[MooseJaw]

From an accounting standpoint knowing the revenue is useless without knowing the expenses. If we suggest the players get a cut of the revenue, do we then expect them to pay their fair share of the expenses?

They will never pay for the expenses. there are only a few sports that bring in money -football, men's March madness and then for only some schools. There are some sports that may run in the black at certain universities but these are very rare. Possibilities South Carolina women's basketball, LSU women's gymnastics and maybe UCONN women's basketball and all of these are maybes. In general football brings in the most bucks, basketball can help and all others good luck.

 

[oldude]

From an accounting standpoint knowing the revenue is useless without knowing the expenses. If we suggest the players get a cut of the revenue, do we then expect them to pay their fair share of the expenses?

No one is suggesting the players get a cut of any amount of a school’s revenue. NIL simply means that a college athlete is free to market themselves, the same as any other individual on the planet.

Whether or not Nike then decides to pay schools less because they can simply negotiate directly with the players, is up to Nike.

 

[huskyd]

No one is suggesting the players get a cut of any amount of a school’s revenue. NIL simply means that a college athlete is free to market themselves, the same as any other individual on the planet.

Whether or not Nike then decides to pay schools less because they can simply negotiate directly with the players, is up to Nike.

This is a perfect statement of what's in play. I would just add that all of this activity is happening in a context designed by the schools. Where might problems arise? If a university's requirements seems too stringent. someone might want to challenge one or more of them. Or if a school's rules are too vague, someone may misunderstand what's expected. Key to all of this is communication between players and schools. Let the schools know what the player wants to do, and get the proper agency to sign off on it.
My reservation is that the autonomy gained by the players is really qualified autonomy, something that will have to be ironed out in time.

 

[CL82]

Of course most do not. But much of the potential for NIL relates to P-5 schools whose media contracts, ticket & merchandise sales and sports related alumni donations amount to $100’s of millions.

Mmm, that a pretty small list, but in any event should players be entitled to a share of alumni contributions to the colleges that they play for? That's the first that I have seen that suggested.

 

[oldude]

Mmm, that a pretty small list, but in any event should players be entitled to a share of alumni contributions to the colleges that they play for? That's the first that I have seen that suggested.

Alumni donations cannot be funneled through the schools to athletes. However, boosters (alumni) can negotiate NIL contracts directly with athletes, but not as a recruiting inducement or pay to play scheme. That one provision of NIL made me think of legendary UCLA alum Sam Gilbert.

 

[hoopsfan22]

I say just let them get paid. Classify them as employees and be done with it. Instead we will continue to invent more and more dumb rules designed solely to continue the charade that they are student-athletes when they are primarily just athletes (or, as someone above put it their sport is their job). The universities don't even try to pretend to treat them like students in many cases.

 

[CL82]

I say just let them get paid. Classify them as employees and be done with it. Instead we will continue to invent more and more dumb rules designed solely to continue the charade that they are student-athletes when they are primarily just athletes (or, as someone above put it their sport is their job). The universities don't even try to pretend to treat them like students in many cases.

If athletes were paid by the universities, many, if not most DI schools would have to drop them. In this way, kids get money but it isn't coming out of universities' budgets.

I will note, for whatever it is worth, the collectivist notions of sharing the profits of the athletic department have always been spurious since the vast majority of athletic departments do not turn a profit.

 

[LoboDays]

"No endorsement activities may conflict with the provisions of any agreement to which the University is a party." That seems to mean UConn athletes won't be able to endorse, say, Under Armour, while the school has a deal with Nike.
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Based on what we have recently seen from State Laws and Court Rulings, a player challenging this type of school rule would walk away a winner. Nika’s Sneakas would prevail.

 

[CocoHusky]

Good. EVERY student athlete should have some professional advise available to them with this NIL thing. Without it, it will be very easy to take the wrong road to beckoning riches.

Geno stated earlier that he has asked his team to run any potential endorsements by the compliance staff to ensure that the endorsements do not make them ineligible. Geno probably wasn’t “asking” in this case.

 

[CocoHusky]

"No endorsement activities may conflict with the provisions of any agreement to which the University is a party." That seems to mean UConn athletes won't be able to endorse, say, Under Armour, while the school has a deal with Nike.
——————————-
Based on what we have recently seen from State Laws and Court Rulings, a player challenging this type of school rule would walk away a winner. Nika’s Sneakas would prevail.

I read this clause slightly differently. Nike endorsement with UCONN covers team related activities- essentially games, practice, game related travel etc. Even under the prior rules, away from team activities Paige could have certainly rocked a pair of Adidas if she wanted to. Azzi for example is not going to throw away all her Under Armour gear. Neither Azzi nor Paige will be allowed at Steph Curry camp unless they lace up in Under Armour. My interpretation is that away from team activities they would be free to endorse other than Nike. BTW for a student to prevail against the school or NCAA based on state NIL legislation is not meaningful. Any state could tomorrow decide to make NCAA players employees of the state and start paying them and the NCAA would just turn around and make those players ineligible. State NIL legislation efforts were entirely a big nothing burger.