What are NIL deals?

Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals allow student athletes to be compensated for marketing deals. The deals are mainly working with local businesses, marketing campaigns, social media related content with brands, training clinics, as well as appearances and autograph signings. Brands and companies can reach out either directly to athletes or through the athletes agent, while the schools have nothing to do with the individual contract.

What are the current rules and laws?

While there is still a lot of gray area and differences in laws by state, the rules set by the NCAA in recent months have become more established. The NCAA left it up to schools and states to determine the specific rules on NIL dealings which has been the most confusing part of the process. Each state has different rules and regulations which create confusion for athletes and is also pushing many student athletes to enter the transfer portal to gain NIL eligibility in a state more open to the laws. 

While the laws differ per state on the standing of NIL dealings, it can be found that within the guidelines set by the NCAA: 

• Universities and Conferences cannot limit a student-athlete to be eligible for compensation for their NIL.

• NIL dealings cannot interfere with existing school contracts or sponsorships. 

• Athletes must report all NIL deals to their athletic department to make sure the deal follows the states NIL laws

• In May 2022, the NCAA established new guidelines on dealings with boosters. Donors also known as Boosters, are strictly prohibited from any sort of athlete recruitment as it would breach the NCAA rules.

Where is the current progress on NIL deals?

The result of the NIL dealings has seen huge growth in its first established year. An estimate of over half a billion dollars has already been spent towards creating NIL deals with student athletes. The NCAA March Madness tournament saw the impact that star student-athletes had and can create. The tournament gave a chance to lesser known athletes to give them an opportunity for marketing exposure that they would never have before.

The Cinderella story of Jersey City basketball team St. Peters, who knocked over the mighty Kentucky in the first round of the 2022 March Madness, helped the teams image grow to new heights. St. Peter’s guard Doug Edert became a sensation as he inked a deal with Buffalo Wild Wings during the early stages of the tournament and gained a popular social media following.

Duke basketball star Paolo Banchero, who is a top 3 NBA draft prospect, signed deals this past year with companies like: Yahoo Sports, Panini, and NBA 2k. An opportunity like this for student athletes is helping brands and athletes to create future opportunities for social media following and personal growth. 

Opensponsorship and NIL 

Within the last year, Opensponsorship has been working towards creating opportunities for student athletes in the growing space. With a focus on creating social media campaigns, athletes are able to better their reach and grow their followings. Opensponsorship works to help grow the long-term opportunities that student athletes now have and also to build on  their individual brand. Reach out to Opensponsorship for creative ways to work with student athletes to build successful campaigns. 

A Dynasty Taken Down 

It is that time of the year this past week, when the best of the best face off in the long awaited College Football National Championship. On Monday, January 10, 2022 the University of Alabama and the University of Georgia faced off to compete for the title. Here is a recap from the game: 

Final Score of 33- 18, UGA 

This event is a powerhouse of opportunities for brands to advertise their name and gain likeness from fans attending the game and watching at home. Almost as popular as the Super Bowl, the National Championship is offered millions of ads, but only chooses a select few. Here are some of the top ad campaigns that debuted: AT&T and Mercedes EQ were the headliners and halftime entitlement sponsors, then there were also Ram Trucks, Capital One, All State, Bob’s Burger The Movie, Dr. Pepper, Taco Bell, Siri, and Gatorade. 

It is nice to see all these major well known brands being sponsors for this massive event, but let's consider it from a brand athlete perspective. Brands want to work with athletes that are well known, have a big following, and truly endorse a brand or product. Thus, other brands often reach out to players rather than massive events. Opensponsorship.com does this as well. College athlete sponsorship is a huge market, as well as the influencer market. These two markets are evident within this event. Each team can hold up to 110 players. Which leaves room for companies like OpenSponsorship that can connect companies that want to sponsor college athletes together. 

As the world’s largest and smartest marketplace for connecting athletes in search of sponsorships to brands looking for athlete influencers to sponsor their product, lets take a look into athletes from UGA and Alabama that OpenSponsorship works with:

William Poole III

William Poole III is the defensive back for the University of Georgia. He averaged 11 solo and 4 pd for the season. He was present during the championship win over the University of Alabama.

Bryce Young 

Bryce Young is the starting quarterback for the University of Alabama. For the season he had 4,872 yd, 47 td and 7int with an average of 87.6 QBR. He is was well recognized during his season with Alabama.

Jamaree Salyer

Jamaree is a part of the offensive line for the University of Georgia. He was a Senior for the championship winning team.

Chris Braswell

Chris is a linebacker for the University of Alabama. He averaged 7 solos for the entire season.

While football is megahouse for advertising, players and athletes are starting to take sponsorships and advertising into their own hands. It will be exciting to watch the transition that brands make as athlete branding starts to become more dominate than event branding.