🏅 Majority of AD's want NCAA gone

Teaming up with

Hey there,

Unhappy Athletic Directors. Sprouts Grocers is getting into the college sports scene. And NIL is in video games now? Yeah, it’s a strange edition of NIL Wire — but one you won’t want to miss. Keep scrolling to catch up on this week’s biggest NIL news!

While we have you, you should really check out our sponsor today, Kailo, the future of pain relief.

Feedback is always appreciated around her. Hit us up at [email protected] to get in touch. Now, the news!

— Cole, Justin and Collin

KICK-OFF

Majority of Athletic Directors Want to Ditch NCAA

A recent survey shows that over half of the country’s FBS-level athletic directors are unhappy with their current governance body. Fifty athletic directors were surveyed in a new study AthleticDirectorU, and 54.8% of that group agreed with the idea that the FBS should abandon the NCAA.

To be fair to the NCAA, there’s really never been a worse time to ask this question. The House v. NCAA settlement proposal will frustrate just about every college sports stakeholder in some capacity, meaning negative sentiment is likely at an all-time high.

Unfortunately for those athletic directors, the NCAA is likely here to stay – at least for the next ten years or so. With the NCAA covering a massive portion of the impending $2.8 billion damages bill, each school now has a vested interest in the organization’s success. (More)

Dartmouth Union Saga Intensifies

The Dartmouth basketball unionization push is far from over, and various factions are now taking sides in the matter. The NCAA, predictably, is backing Dartmouth’s claims that the basketball team cannot unionize. Player’s associations and unions from across the professional sports world, on the other hand, are siding with the athletes. 

Here’s how it happened: the NCAA filed an amicus brief late last week in support of Dartmouth, which urged the NLRB to consider the school’s appeal to the pro-union ruling passed down earlier this year. That brief was met with another amicus brief – this time from a collection of the biggest pro-athlete unions in the country.

“Whereas university officials from the Ivy League and other leagues regularly lament the ‘wild west’ nature of player movement from team to team under the NCAA’s transfer portal,” the unions say in their brief, “collective bargaining in the unionized sports has resulted in highly regulated reserve systems.” (More)

New NIL Platform Makes Athletes “Their Own CEO”

A new NIL platform is set to hit the market this summer. The platform is called “booster” (yes, this lowercase) and it promises to put athletes in charge of their branding like never before.  

“A true players-first endeavor, booster empowers athletes to become the CEOs of their own brands,” according to their press release, “They can create and share exclusive content… Additionally, athletes can sell customized merchandise directly to their fans.”

One important aspect of the platform is that there’s no barrier to entry. Because there are no “minimum deliverable requirements,” any athlete can build their NIL brand on booster, regardless of how big or small that brand may be. (More)

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WHAT’S TRENDING

Ups and Downs

• EA’s College Football video game will utilize NIL “heavily” as part of its dynasty mode. "There's an emphasis on balancing your roster spots and your NIL resources in your recruiting,” said CBS Sports’ Bud Elliot. 📈

• The WNBA could quadruple its media rights fees, signaling even stronger-than-expected women’s basketball interest for the 2024-2025 college basketball season. 📈

• UNLV’s Dedan Thomas Jr. explained why he picked loyalty over an NIL payday: “I think of things one year at a time, but it would be really hard to leave.” 📈

DOWN TO BUSINESS

PR Firms Are Dipping More Into Sports… and NIL

PR firms are working their way into the sports world more and more nowadays – and that’s only growing thanks to NIL.

Ten years ago, professional sports offered limited branding opportunities, but the rise of social media has since expanded the need for public relations help. That reality then combined with an explosion of opportunity at the college level once student-athletes were able to profit off of their NIL in 2021. 

Colleges have been pouring money into strategic communications more than ever this year. Don’t expect that to stop any time soon – in fact, anticipate rapid growth in the sector the next few years. (More)

• Sprouts just became the official grocer of the SEC. The multi-year corporate sponsorship deal will focus its advertising on women’s athletics – and open up an additional revenue stream for paying back House damages.

• Over 14K student-athletes have opted into EA’s College Football 25 game, allowing their NIL to be used in exchange for a small compensation package.

COLLECTIVE 101

Peeking Behind the UConn Curtain

UConn somehow convinced Dan Hurley to stay in Storrs instead of coaching the Los Angeles Lakers, and the NIL infrastructure the Huskies have built around him seems to be a big reason why. A new behind-the-scenes look shows how UConn’s NIL operation works.

The athletic department ran at a $30 million deficit last season, which means it will likely be unable to pay much once it comes time to Rev-share. Translation: fundraising through its NIL collectives will become even more important once the House settlement is finalized.

Speaking of the school’s collectives, there are a few of them, and the piece actually gives cold, hard financial numbers on them. It’s worth looking at to get a better grasp on the collective landscape. (More)

• Amidst impending budget cuts, Louisville’s athletic department is expected to cut staff and postpone its indoor baseball stadium project indefinitely.

• Although BYU’s head basketball coach Kevin Young has been rather successful in using NIL so far, he thinks his best recruiting pitch is convincing moms that their kids won’t get in trouble under his watch.

ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT

Drew Beam

• School: University of Tennessee

• Position: Pitcher

• Sport: Baseball 

• Class: Junior 

• Accolades: 

  • 2024 NCBWA All-American -- 3rd Team

  • 2024 ABCA All-Region -- 1st Team (SP)

  • 2024 SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year

  • 2024 Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List

  • 2024 NCBWA Preseason All-American -- 1st Team

  • 2024 Baseball America Preseason All-American -- 1st Team

NIL BLITZ

♦️ Decoding the media money distributions using UW’s financial figures

♦️ Altius Sports Partners re-ups with LSU for NIL partnership

♦️ Northwestern just created a whole role for navigating the new college sports landscape

♦️ How does a DII school deal with the transfer portal? Well, it’s hard.

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BATTER UP

Today’s Poll Question:

Last Edition’s Poll Results:

Would you like to see the March Madness field expanded by four to eight teams?

• Yes, the more the merrier! - 39%

• No, it cheapens the importance of a tournament bid - 61%