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🏅 An NIL High School Super League is Coming
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Hey there,
The NCAA has found itself in legal hot water yet again — this time over their policy that disallows individual athletes to take in prize money. That’s just the tip of the iceberg for today’s edition though — we’ve got NIL business strategies by Athleisure brands, NBA superstars talking about the transfer portal, and more. Keep reading to see for yourself!
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KICK-OFF
Tennis Player Sues NCAA over Prize Money Policy
Earlier this month the NCAA added yet another lawsuit to their rapidly expanding library of legal woes. This time, a women’s tennis player from North Carolina is fighting for athletes’ permission to accept tournament winnings money.
As it currently stands, tennis players like Reese Brantmeier can participate in various tournament events, but cannot accept money if they win. This principle holds true in all individual sports, like when Nick Dunlap was unable to collect $1.5M in prize money from his historic PGA tour win earlier this year due to amateur status. Brantmeier’s class-action lawsuit wishes to change that.
“This lawsuit challenges the NCAA’s arbitrary and anticompetitive Prize Money restrictions,” the lawsuit states, “Seeking declaratory and injunctive relief so that student-athletes competing in Individual Sports may finally retain full and just compensation for Prize Money earned through their athletic performance outside of NCAA competitions.” (More)
High School Football’s NIL Super League is Coming
An NIL-fueled high school football “super league” is set to open up in April which could completely alter the way high school football operates. The PSL (Prep Super League) has two functions: Put high-level recruits in front of college scouts, as well as potential business partners.
So far, there’s been plenty of takers. “We’re up around 100 four and five-stars that have committed to play in it,” PSL league organizer and former USFL founder Brian Woods said, “They are some of the best kids in the country.”
“If a player in a state like Florida wants to participate in NIL with the Prep Super League and make that a senior season or forego remaining high school eligibility, then they very well could choose to do that,” Woods said, even opening up the door for a pro-style system where athletes relocate for compensation. (More)
Damian Lillard doesn’t like the Transfer Portal
As March Madness catapults college basketball players to superstardom, NIL has become a discussion topic nationwide. One particularly interesting individual that’s spoken on NIL is NBA All-Star Damian Lillard, who attended Weber State for four years before declaring for the draft.
“On one hand, I'm happy that players are being compensated for what they bring to these universities because they make a lot of money off of the tournament,” the Milwaukee Bucks point guard said, “But me personally, I just wish that it was kind of a better (happy) medium.”
“I just wish that it was something that they could put in place where you can't just hop around. I think it just takes away from the spirit of college basketball,” he said, lamenting recent changes to the transfer portal, “That's also part of why college basketball isn't what it used to be.” (More)
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BEST PRACTICES
Dispersing an NIL Budget
One of the hardest pieces of the NIL puzzle is financial allocation. Where should collectives spend biggest? Should teams consolidate their budget into a few key players, or spread the money around? Eer Sports’ Michael Casazza and Chris Anderson discussed precisely that for their hometown West Virginia Mountaineers.
Many of you reading this work in collectives, but the exercise is worth doing for just about anyone. Say a team has $1.5M to spend on college basketball. Roughly speaking, how would you divide up the money? Give $100K to fifteen guys? Go for one big, million-dollar fish and then fill in the rest? Or do you give each starter $300K each?
In the end, Casazza and Anderson opt for the third option, but their reasoning gets into weeds of how collectives and NIL general managers are being forced to think day in and day out. Watch the video to see their reasoning.
DOWN TO BUSINESS
Vouri’s NIL Business Strategy
Athleisure brands like Vouri are investing heavily into NIL influencers, and the returns are hard to ignore. There are two elements to the company’s NIL strategy: One heavy hitting sponsorship partner with LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne – perhaps the most famous college athlete on social media – accompanied by over four hundred smaller endorsement partners across the nation.
With Dunne as their partner, Vouri has their “big name” ambassador to put on commercials and run various social media promotions – that drives brand-recognition value, especially with how popular athleisure is with young people.
Then the second part of their strategy kicks in, with at least one brand ambassador at seemingly every school across the nation. That “grassroots” promotion puts the brand in front of consumers at both the national and local level. (More)
The viewership numbers from last weekend’s March Madness games are out, and big brand schools seemed to rule the day. UNC vs Michigan State and Kansas vs. Gonzaga comprised the most watched men’s games of the weekend.
On the women’s side, Iowa gathered the most viewers for their matchup with #16 seeded Holy Cross. It turns out Caitlin Clark’s personal brand supersedes any school brand in the women’s game at the moment – including the LSU Tigers, who didn’t even crack the top five most-watched games.
COLLECTIVE 101
Nebraska AD: No Debt is an NIL Advantage
Nebraska’s new athletic director Troy Dannen was stoked to enter a debt-free position when he took the job. “If you go through most athletic budgets,” he said, “there is a pretty good, sizable, eight-figure debt service line for most of them.”
Of course it’s important to stay out of debt – no one denies that. But why am I telling you this? Well, Dannen thinks being debt-free sets Nebraska up for what he thinks is next phase of athlete compensation, when schools directly pay their players.
“The one thing that’s absolute that’s going to happen,” he said, “There will be a line item in our budget for student-athletes at some point in time. I don’t know what form that takes. I don’t know whether the courts or legislators force that on us… but that will be coming. It is not optional.” (More)
Division Street, the Oregon Ducks’ official collective partner, is releasing custom Air Max 1s to support their NIL efforts. The school’s close Nike ties has allowed Division Street to run a number of successful shoe promotions since it’s conception.
Iowa’s Swarm collective released a statement clarifying that Kayden Proctor has not been paid any NIL money through them. Proctor committed to Iowa after leaving Alabama in the transfer portal, only to change his mind and announce his intention to return to Tuscaloosa next season.
ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT
Gabbie Marshall
Meet Gabbie Marshall, a key player for the Iowa women's basketball team, playing a pivotal role in propelling the team to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament alongside teammate Caitlin Clark. Gabbie's charismatic personality has garnered her a significant following on social media. She’s used her platform to secure noteworthy NIL deals with major companies like Casey's, Pancheros, and US Cellular.
NIL BLITZ
♦️ Caitlin Clark offered $5M to play in Ice Cube’s “Big3” league
♦️ Texas athletics hosts NIL content creation workshop
♦️ Stony Brook is partnering with Influxer for NIL merchandise
♦️ Kim Kardashian’s NIL strategy revealed
♦️ Should Power Five football break from the NCAA?
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BATTER UP
Today’s Poll Question:
Is the impending high school football super league going to destroy high school sports? |
Last Edition’s Poll Results:
Did Kentucky make the right decision in bringing back coach John Calipari?
Yes, he’s proven himself a good coach - 46%
No, the program’s problems run deep - 54%
“I just wish that it was something that they could put in place where you can't just hop around.”