🏅 "Miracle Mario" wants money

Hey there,

The weekend is here, which means we’ve got an NIL update to catch you up. In today’s edition, we’re hearing from some college sports legends — Ricky Williams, Mario Chalmers, and more. Oh… and the NCAA just took another legal blow. Keep reading to get up to date on all things NIL!

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— Cole, Justin and Collin

KICK-OFF

NCAA Takes Another Loss with Johnson Ruling

A huge development just occurred in the Johnson v. NCAA case, which deals specifically with the issue of student-athlete employment. Beforehand, the courts wouldn’t even hear arguments as to whether student-athletes should be protected by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). After a court dismissed the NCAA’s recent motion, that’s now possible.

Here’s what this doesn’t mean: It does not mean that student-athletes are employees… yet. Rather, the argument for what “employment” can mean has changed. NCAA’s legal argument for amateurism no longer precludes student-athletes from being employees – although it also doesn’t mean they are, necessarily either.

On the whole, most see this ruling as a massive loss for the NCAA. Their legal arguments, which maintain an opposition to any sort of employment status, are starting to lose traction in the courts. (More)

Does NIL Value = High Video Game Ranking?

EA Sports just released a list of the top 100 players in College Football 25, and some familiar names are peppered throughout the list. We were wondering… is there any relationship between the top earners and the highest-rated players in the game?

Quinn Ewers – who holds the fifth-highest NIL valuation in college football – came in as the 27^th best player in the video game. Jalen Milroe – the fourth most valuable – came in as the 71^st-ranked player in the game. Travis Hunter, the third-highest valuation, clocked in at #6 overall.

Then we get to the top two valuations – Arch Manning at #2, and Shedeur Sanders at #1. Despite holding the second-highest NIL valuation in the country, Manning did not make the top 100 list – understandable, considering he’s still backing up Ewers in Austin. Sanders, on the other hand, is the best QB in the game, coming in at #17 overall. (More)

Texas Legend Ricky Williams Spills NIL Thoughts

The Texas Longhorns have always been one of the biggest brands in college football, which makes Ricky Williams – the Longhorns’ all-time leading rusher – one of the most popular names in the sport’s history. 

“I would have cashed in,” Williams said when asked if NIL were a possibility in his era, “I would have made the price go way up to get me to come back [to Texas].” 

Nevertheless, he calls himself a “traditionalist” with college sports – he’s not in support of student-athletes being employees of the school, and he’s worried that NIL could kill the educational element of college sports. “If we’re going to take it this far, let’s just call it professional sports,” he said, “Don’t even make the kids go to school.” (More)

Teaming up with

The N.I.L. Playbook, developed by NXT Level Holdings, is a comprehensive guide designed for college and high school student-athletes looking to learn more about their new opportunities.

The book is useful to coaches, administrators, parents, alumni and NIL industry pros to help navigate the rapidly evolving landscape in college and high school athletics.

The Playbook covers everything. Topics include: how to utilize social media to build your personal brand, how to seize potential N.I.L. partnerships, and what to look for in contracts — not to mention tons of other resources and strategies that student-athletes can use to enhance their profile and monetize their Name, Image and Likeness.

Check it out today!

BEST PRACTICES

Five Star Personalities > Five Star Recruits

At Influencer’s NIL Summit last month, we heard from Eddie Taylor, the NIL Director for the University of Cincinnati. The school just won the NIL award for “Institutional Program of the Year,” so when Taylor starts giving advice to other collectives, it’s worth listening to.

One misconception that Taylor tried to put to bed was that, in order to have a good NIL program, the players need to be 5-star recruits. Instead, he encouraged schools to redirect the focus of their NIL branding.

“We don’t have 5-stars running around, we have 5-star personalities, 5-star brands,” Taylor explained, “Showing them how to use it, how to use what we have… empower your student-athletes to believe in themselves. Once they start running, it’ll take care of itself.” (More)

DOWN TO BUSINESS

Miracle Mario wants Money

Kansas legend Mario Chalmers is suing the NCAA, just three weeks after the 1983 NC State basketball team brought forward a similar lawsuit. Their cases are similar – circling around how the NCAA utilizes their name, image, and likeness in March Madness promotions without any compensation. 

Mario Chalmers hit one of the most iconic shots in college basketball history – a game-tying three-pointer with two seconds left to send the 2008 NCAA championship to overtime, where his Kansas Jayhawks eventually won. That shot has been played in March Madness commercials ever since… but not a dime goes to Chalmers. He wants that to change.

There’s another wrinkle to Chalmers’ lawsuit, too. His lawyers are seeking class-action status, which would mean every athlete who’s been promoted in a similar manner could have a case. (More)

• Speaking of lawsuits, the opposition lawyers in Houston Christian’s legal tiff called their case “premature and meritless.” HCU has been trying to untie itself from the impending House settlement since June.

• Commissioner Greg Sankey made a pitch on Twitter/X to student-athletes, saying the SEC’s social media exposure and growth metrics put it at the top of the totem pole.

COLLECTIVE 101

Opendorse Report Confirms that NIL = Wins

Opendorse just released its annual NIL report, which provided really interesting details on where money is headed in the NIL world. You should download the full report here, but here we’re just going to touch on their NIL collective data.

Power 4 collectives will handle an average budget of $13.9M this upcoming season. The Group of 5 schools will handle about $3.4M, with other DI schools coming in at just $1.2M. That gap in funding shows up in each school’s ability to attract talent via the transfer portal and HS recruitment.

The numbers back this up – NIL collective spending really does correlate to athletic success. 55% of the top spending collectives finished in the top twenty of their respective sports, and even moderate spending correlates strongly with success in niche sports. (More)

• Baylor’s Dave Aranda delivered a simple answer when asked why Baylor has seen a recruiting bump from last year to this year: “We’re paying players.”

• Wyoming just launched an NIL campaign asking their fans for 1,000 donations of $307.

ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT

Livvy Dunne

• School: LSU

• Position: All-Around

• Sport: Gymnastics 

• Class: Senior 

• Accolades: 

•  2024 Winter SEC Academic Honor Roll

• 2023 Winter SEC Academic Honor Roll

• 2022 SEC Academic Honor Roll

• 2021 WCGA All-American (UB)

• NIL: Livvy Dunne partnered with Accelerator Active Energy to launch the Livvy Fund, a groundbreaking initiative designed to deliver NIL deals to several of her gymnast teammates.

NIL BLITZ

♦️ Ole Miss QB Jackson Dart just signed a deal with Dick’s Sporting Goods 

♦️ The NCAA is reportedly close to an agreement in the House, Carter, and Hubbard lawsuit settlements

♦️ Utah thinks it can jumpstart its corporate sponsorships to generate additional revenue

♦️ FIU’s collective is hosting an NIL golf fundraiser in Miami this week

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BATTER UP

Today’s Poll Question:

Last Edition’s Poll Results:

Whose brand has benefitted most from their partnership: LSU, or Livvy Dunne?

• LSU has helped Livvy Dunne more - 38%

• Livvy Dunne has helped LSU more - 62%