🏅 Big East, Bigger Spenders

Teaming up with

Hey there,

Conference tournaments are in full swing now, so make sure you watch one or two championship games to base your entire March Madness bracket off of. Then you’re allowed to say they’re “going into the tournament hot” and things like that when people question your picks. Thank me later.

Please do us a favor and take a look at today’s sponsor, Kailo. They’re the ones keeping our lights on, so check them out in today’s edition when you get a chance!

Surely by now you follow us Instagram, right? If you don’t go check us out for the best video content on the web.

Want to advertise with NIL Wire? We’d love to partner with you. Get your product or brand in front of readers today — just respond to this email.

Lastly, hit reply or send us an email at [email protected] to get in touch. We always love hearing feedback from y’all. Now, to the news!

— Cole, Justin and Collin

KICK-OFF

Big East, Bigger Spenders

Big East basketball is looking strong – perhaps the strongest it’s looked since the conference’s heyday in the 1980s. This year, they could send six teams to the Big Dance, and includes the tournament’s defending champions, the UConn Huskies. How did the 11-team, small school Big East start sending over half its teams to the tournament?

In a word, NIL. Because these schools almost exclusively play basketball, the conference’s actual spending power is higher than many others, where funds are split disproportionately between football and everything else.

In fact, since NIL was introduced in July of 2021, the relatively small conference has sent six, then five of its teams to the NCAA tournament. That ratio is a testament to the conference’s willingness to spend top dollar for elite basketball talent, which will likely continue to be the case for the foreseeable future. (More)

February’s NIL Best Sellers

The NIL Store released their top ten sellers of February, and basketball yet again reigns supreme. The list was littered with historic basketball powerhouses like North Carolina (#2), Indiana (#9), and of course the reigning national champions, UConn (#3).

The #1 spot was taken by Purdue, who boasts perhaps the best player in the country in Zach Edey. In a player driven sport, the Boilermakers’ top spot should come as no surprise.

The Big 10 continues to dominate the country in sales for the NIL Store, whereas the SEC boasted only one school in the top ten (LSU, likely carried by their women’s team’s NIL dominance), and the Big 12 had no one on the list. (More)  

College Hoops’ Market Value

Sports lawyer and NIL guru Jason Belzer revealed what market value actually means for a portal transfer in the college basketball world, as well as the total budget for schools around the country. Taking data from collectives, he was tweeted out these charts:

The median spend for a tier 1 men’s basketball team is between $500K and $1.25M, with the top tier teams investing $3M into their roster. The individual player payments get interesting too, with some elite teams spending $750K on singular players. The figures will be fun to return to when watching March Madness, where tier 4 teams beat tier 1 teams with semi-regularity.

Teaming up with

Microtech Patch That Could End Your Pain In Seconds

When you experience pain, it’s typically the result of electrical signals being sent from the location of the pain to your brain.

The worse the pain, the stronger the signal.

Kailo’s patented technology uses micro capacitors to “turn off” these pain signals like a light switch – providing natural relief, anywhere on your body, in seconds.

It’s one of the first products on the market to use microtechnology for pain relief, and it’s available at an affordable price.

Stick it on your knee, back, neck—wherever you’re experiencing pain. 

• 100% Chemical Free

• Reusable

• Waterproof

Want to see it in action? Watch the video here.  

Available for 50% off today!

BEST PRACTICES

How Collectives can “Not Suck”

A few weeks ago we told you Matt Brown’s advice for schools on how to not “suck” at NIL. Well this week we’re shifting gears to collectives. How can NIL collectives do their job best? Let’s take a look at What Matt Brown thinks again.

1. Give someone something worth paying for. People rarely open their checkbooks out of pure love for their school. Give them some kind of incentive to give towards the collective, or even join it, to increase donations.

2. Don’t focus on content unless you’re good at it. Oftentimes athletes, which the content revolves around, are simply good athletes. In front of a camera or in an interview… maybe not so much. Brown thinks that funds are better used toward business development than producing anything less than A-tier content.

3. Have a backup plan. With athlete employment looming, Brown warns collectives to understand their third-party services could be become obsolete in the next few years. If NIL efforts are taken “in-house” – within the school itself, that is – then understand how you can (or perhaps can’t) fit into that potential model. 

Read more on how collectives can up their NIL game here.

DOWN TO BUSINESS

Will Coaches Get Canned More Often Now?

College football’s National Signing Day got moved up about a month, which could completely alter the sport’s calendar for years to come. Most importantly, it likely means that coaches will be getting fired about a month earlier than they have been – oftentimes in the very thick of their seasons – to gameplan for the transfer portal and next year’s season.  

With patience at an all-time low, some agents are expecting coaching buyout numbers to skyrocket. This year’s $76M Jimbo Fisher buyout may look normal a few years from now as budgets increase and teams prep for the future.

Collectives will also become more important, according to one agent. Players will commit to schools because of their NIL package more than the coach that recruited them… so as long as the collective keeps their compensation package in place, their commitment will likely stay put even despite more rapid coaching changes. (More)

• NIL content educator Sam Green announced plans to run a student-athletes workshop event in June. The conference will focus on how athletes can effectively create content for brands and their social media.

• Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) held an NIL roundtable in D.C. on Tuesday that featured a few noteworthy names, Nick Saban the foremost among them. More than anything, the roundtable illuminated the widening gap between the parties on the issue of employment.

COLLECTIVE 101

Dabo Dishes Solutions

Dabo Swinney has made it clear he’s not a fan of NIL from its inception, but that hasn’t stopped him from proposing changes to the system. More than anything, Clemson’s coach wants to stop “professionalizing” college sports, which is why he’s suggesting we treat compensation like a retirement account, not a salary.

“I just want to see us incentivize education,” he said, “We could create 401(k)s, like the real world if you take your money out early there's a penalty. But these are 18-year-old kids leaving home for the first time in their life… Hopefully at some point we'll find a better place where we're not just firing 18, 19-year-old kids because they aren't quite as fast as we thought they would be or they're a little homesick or whatever.” (More)

• Lane Kiffin is going on road trip through Mississippi to raise money for Ole Miss’ NIL efforts. In addition to speaking engagements, he’s trying to sell fans on an NIL-fueled sock subscription.

• An NIL golf tournament is taking place this summer to benefit Utah’s football team. Participants will get to play a round with the players – of which almost all the starters are currently committed.

ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT

Jasmine Williams

Jasmine Williams, a powerhouse on the softball field, made waves after transferring to UCF from Oregon. With an impressive track record that includes being selected to the USA Softball team, Jasmine's skills have garnered attention far beyond the college scene.

Boasting a substantial Instagram following of 74,000, Jasmine leverages her platform to secure NIL deals with major brands like Hey Dude, Crocs, Amazon, and Reebok. Through her engaging posts showcasing training routines, game highlights, and lifestyle shots, Jasmine has become not only a softball sensation but also a social media influencer. Her ability to seamlessly blend athleticism with entrepreneurship positions her as a true trailblazer in the evolving landscape of NIL endorsements.

NIL BLITZ

♦️ Adidas adds Janiah Barker of Texas A&M to their NIL portfolio

♦️ Rutgers launches asset management company

♦️ Duke stud Jeremy Roach auctions off NIL memorabilia for charity

♦️ Boise State launches NIL store 

Share NIL Wire

Have a friend or colleague who would enjoy NIL Wire? Share with them today!

You currently have 0 referrals.

BATTER UP

Today’s Poll Question:

Last Edition’s Poll Results:

Could an NIL-money-driven tournament eventually replace the current March Madness tournament?

• Yes - 39%

• No - 34%

• Only if the NCAA doesn’t change up March Madness - 27%