NIL “Moneyball” is here.

Hey there,

What a great weekend of college football – well, unless you’re a fan of ‘Bama, Tennessee, Missouri, Michigan, or any other team who suffered an upset loss on Saturday. Then it’s probably been a tough few days.

Don’t worry though, we’re here to deliver you the NIL news, just like Vanderbilt delivered their stadium’s goalposts to the Cumberland River on Saturday. And hopefully, we won’t get fined $100K by the SEC for doing so.

NIL Moneyball, a vetoed NIL law in California, and the House Settlement getting approved – those three massive stories kickoff today’s edition. It’s packed out, so let’s get into it!

— Cole, Justin and Collin

The Big 3

Sam Houston is playing NIL Moneyball

Financially speaking, Sam Houston isn’t exactly Ohio State. They had the lowest revenue ($23.6 million) of any team in Conference USA last season, and head coach K.C. Keeler declared that his squad probably had “the least amount of NIL money in the country right now.”

But, while spending power usually correlates to success, the Bearkats are far from the worst team in the country. They’re 5-1, and threatening to win the conference this season despite working with “tens of thousands” in NIL instead of millions. How?

In a word, “Moneyball.” They’re stretching the NIL dollars thin by focusing on retention, not acquisition. Instead of swinging for the fences, “NIL dollars… Go to leaders on the team who meet academic and social requirements.” (More)

California Gov. Vetoes NIL Transparency Bill

California governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill last week that would have allowed the public to see NIL details for schools within the state. It’s not the first time an NIL transparency effort has been thwarted by state lawmakers.

The bill was initially introduced by Nancy Skinner (D – Berkeley) on account of gender equity. According to her, NIL transparency and potential public scrutiny would put pressure on collectives and schools to “boost funding for women athletes.”

Newsom’s veto reasoning remained similar to lawmakers in Utah, who cited a “competitive disadvantage” if their true NIL accounting was made public. He also believes that further NIL regulation only complicates the already confusing legal landscape of NIL dealmaking. (More)

House Settlement Gets Approved by Judge

A federal judge sent the House Settlement “back to the drawing board” a few weeks ago, which prompted the NCAA to clean up some language around how NIL collectives can operate. Well, the deal has been resubmitted, and Judge Claudia Wilken gave it preliminary approval yesterday.

This is a huge step toward a new business model for college sports, but the process is far from over. There’s still going to be legal challenges to the deal – in fact, a bunch of former, future, and present NCAA athletes have already filed an objection to the deal as-is.

Regardless, there is now a rough timeline available. The “claims period” begins October 18^th, and closes the last day of January. For now, it looks like the deal is going to go through, but with legal challenges coming from seemingly every corner, don’t get too comfortable. (More)

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ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT

Aneesah Morrow

• School: LSU

• Position: Guard

• Sport: Basketball

• Class: Senior

• Accolades: 

• 2024 All-America Honorable Mention (AP, USBWA, WBCA)

• 2024 First Team All-SEC

• 2023-24 one-time SEC Player of the Week

• 2023-24 one-time National Player of the Week

• 2024 Cheryl Miller Award Finalist

• NIL: Aneesah has become a major player in the NIL space, landing deals with brands like Panini and Outback Steakhouse.

NIL BLITZ

♦️ Another Barstool Sports personality is ponying up NIL money for his alma mater – and it’s not Portnoy

♦️ Christian Dawkins was put in jail for his role in pay-for-play schemes. Now, he’s doing it legally with NIL

♦️ Trying to hone in on Carson Beck’s NIL valuation is tricky

♦️ Heisman contenders get a College Football 25 ratings update – including Travis Hunter, who now owns a 97 rating overall

♦️ Arkansas AD promises a fan-favorite slobbering hog logo at halfcourt in exchange for $500K in NIL

♦️ Is a college football Super League coming?

♦️ This five-star linebacker gifted his teammates cleats thanks to an NIL partnership with Adidas

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BATTER UP

Today’s Poll Question:

Last Edition’s Poll Results:

Is Sacramento State's $35M in NIL fundraising for real?

• Yes, they must have really buckled down - 47%

• No, there’s simply no way they could raise that much in NIL funds… - 53%