🏅 Texas Tech lands million-dollar softball phenom

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There’s one group of people who are not happy about the House settlement: NIL collectives. With the newly proposed NIL deal reporting system in place, their power could be weakened drastically… but why? Keep reading to find out.

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KICK-OFF

Texas Tech Lands $1M Softball Superstar

Lost in the shuffle of the House news last week was one of the most consequential NIL deals to date: Softball sensation Nijaree Canady transferred from Stanford to Texas Tech after being offered $1,050,024 by the latter school’s NIL collective.

$1 million is an unprecedented amount of money for softball – and that extends past the college ranks. The previous largest contract in softball history came in 2016, when Monica Abbott signed a $1 million, six-year contract in the professional fastpitch league. Needless to say, Canady’s deal blows that out of the park.  

Before the deal was finalized, experts predicted the price tag would land in the $100K-$150K range. (More)

Livvy Dunne’s Mother is Not Happy

LSU’s superstar gymnast Livvy Dunne has been quiet about the House settlement details. Her mother, on the other hand, has not. In response to a tweet by On3’s Pete Nakos, Dunne’s mother criticized the new NIL deal reporting system, calling it “incredibly unfair”:

While her point is taken, Katherine Dunne may have less to worry about than she thinks. The reporting rule will hardly affect her daughter, as Livvy makes most of her money through “legitimate” NIL business deals – not through collective pay-for-play money. 

The rules that Katherine is criticizing are in place so that collectives can’t circumvent the revenue-sharing “salary cap” in sports like football and basketball. Because Livvy’s deals are usually with large corporations, her earnings are unlikely to change much if at all. (More)

Women’s Scholarships are on the Rise 📈 

Although football and basketball caused the change, ripples from the House settlement will reach just about every college athlete. Since there are no more scholarship limits, we’re about to see an explosion of scholarship investment within women’s sports.

 “In total, the NCAA's settlement is set to create hundreds of potential scholarship spots,” said Yahoo Sports’ Ian Kennedy, “With sports like women's rowing gaining 48 spots, women's track increasing by 27 scholarships, and women's soccer up 14 spots.”

 The primary risk here is that some schools could cut teams entirely to keep total costs down. (More)

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DOWN TO BUSINESS

NIL was Perfect Timing for Suni Lee

Despite establishing itself as a women’s gymnastics powerhouse the past decade-plus, many United States gymnasts were unable to profit off of their success due to NIL restrictions. Suni Lee came along in 2021 though – right when NIL rules changed. 

“I was fortunate to be coming off the heels of the Tokyo Olympics when I began my collegiate career,” the Auburn gymnast said, “I was able to leverage my win on the world stage with being under the lights every Friday night.” 

And leverage she has. From a marketing perspective, she’s proven to be one of the most highly sought-after Olympic athletes this year. She’s signed deals with Gatorade, Amazon, and a plethora of other massive companies, which has shot her NIL valuation up to $1.3M. (More)

•  According to Opendorse’s annual report, annual expected earnings are rising across college sports. Football achieved 35% growth year over year, while women’s basketball saw 85% growth.

COLLECTIVE 101

Collective Frustrations

Remember how Livvy Dunne’s mom was unhappy about reporting NIL deals? Well, she’s not alone. Collective heads are not happy about the House settlement – specifically the new reporting system, which is designed to curb their spending power.

“All this is doing is giving the NCAA power back over their athletes,” said Russell White, who serves as president of The Collective Association, “This will take away opportunities for athletes to earn money off their name, image and likeness, which is the problem that got us to where we are in the first place.”

Technically, he’s not wrong… depending on what your definition of “NIL” is. If NIL deals are supposed to promote goods and services relative to market value, then this change should affect nothing. If NIL also extends to something resembling salary payments to players… well, that’s where the NCAA has an issue. (More)

• Louisville’s collective just launched an “athlete-driven” media network to drive up collective revenue. They’re hoping to bring in $1M in NIL dollars in their first year.

ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT

Shedeur Sanders

• School: University of Colorado 

• Position: Quarterback

• Sport: Football

• Class: Senior 

• Accolades: 

• PAC-12 Newcomer of the Year. 

• Named HERO Sports FCS Sophomore All-American.

• Named to the Watch Lists for the Walter Payton Award and the Black College HOF Player of the Year. 

• Heisman Watchlist 

• NIL: Sheduer signed a NIL deal with Tom Brady’s apparel brand.

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NIL BLITZ

♦️ Iowa AD is looking for a “return on investment” for their rev-share commitments

♦️ Dan Lanning: “Oregon is Nike and Nike is Oregon”

♦️ K-state QB shows off his new Corvette as part of a new NIL deal

♦️ Celsius signs Michigan gymnast to a lucrative NIL deal for the Olympics

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BATTER UP

Today’s Poll Question:

Last Edition’s Poll Results:

Do you think the House settlement changes are good or bad?

• The changes are good - 47%

• The changes are bad - 53%