On College Sports Sunday on SiriusXM Radio, there was an interesting discussion about name, image and likeness and the investment companies made before the season in endorsing athletes such as Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei who have struggled so far this season.
You can read the question from Tom Luginbill, an ESPN analyst, and the full response from Chris Plank, a sideline reporter for the Sooner Sports Radio Network who hosts multiple national shows, in the transcription below.
Luginbill: “If you are an endorser, if you are a company, if you’re a CFO, if you’re a CEO and you’re watching college football unfold, and you’re one of those folks that have pushed your chips to the table and you said, we’re investing in this guy. Where does this all go from here?”
Plank: “You’ve got to be more patient, and I know that that’s not in anyone’s DNA. I think for marketers or business owners … You think about (Wisconsin quarter) Graham Mertz and (Miami quarter) D’Eriq King, those guys who immediately, when NIL was announced, were patted on the back. It’s like hey, go get your money, kid. But then you realize, if things don’t go well for them during the season, you can’t get out. It’s not like Tom Luginbill’s Chevy could get mad at (Oklahoma quarterback) Spencer Rattler because he’s not playing well. Well, the contract, when you’re in, you’re in. So, you’ve got to I think be a little bit more calculated. Maybe a challenge is them to be a little bit more creative in developing that relationship. I don’t know. But I have been thoroughly impressed with how quickly fans will use that to say hey, wait a minute here, you tell me I can’t boo or I can’t do that. Meanwhile, this guy’s getting paid to sell me a car or this guy’s getting paid to sell me a service.
“So, I don’t want to say it’s blurred those lines by any stretch of the imagination, but it has kind of opened up that whole Pandora’s Box, that conversation of do we treat them like we would treat a pro athlete, do we treat them any differently. Because I’ll tell you what, there’s some dudes that are making a lot of money. And again, not all of them are struggling. (Alabama quarterback) Bryce Young, even though they lost last night, he’s had a nice season. But you focus on the two guys in Spencer and D.J., and Graham Mertz and D’Eriq King, who aren’t necessarily out there crushing it and you’re like oh, as if every single NFL player that endorses a product has had an incredible season or never struggled. So, I think it’s going to be interesting to see now how companies … I was thinking about some of the people — there’s a restaurant that endorses Spencer, and you’re like so, how is that handled, what can they do. Well, nothing, they’re in. So, I can’t wait to kind of see how businesses and marketers react to this and if it gives them a little cause for pause in the future.”
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