Tag: student athletes

BYU’s 36 walk-ons all got NIL deals in a way that will likely change college athletics forever

This is cool! But be skeptical of it.

The waters of the NCAA’s name, image and likeness rules just continue to be really murky.

There aren’t really set guidelines on what deals players are allowed to participate in outside of a few distinct categories. It also is largely left up to schools to legislate players in their own ways.

So, of course with so many grey areas in play, boundaries are bound to be pushed. And that seems to be what’s happening with BYU’s new NIL deal for its players involving one of its partners, Built Brands, LLC.

Built Brands produces Built Bar energy products, which are essentially protein bars. On Thursday, BYU posted a video on social media with founder, Nick Greer, handing out deals to the walk-ons on the team.

As part of the deal, Built is paying the full tuition for the year for the 36 walk-ons on BYU’s roster, per the Deseret News. They’re also compensating the entire roster of 123 players, though the figures weren’t made clear.

In return for paying the player’s tuition, the team will wear Built Brands branded helmets in practice and participate in Built Brands events. They’ll also include Built “fueling areas” in the two football locker rooms.

Look, this is pretty good news. Anything that pays for the education of these student-athletes and properly compensates them for their work on the field is a pretty great thing. At the end of the day, that’s what matters most.

But this feels like a pretty huge loophole that could change the shape of college football as we know it.

BYU just got one of its partners to, not only compensate its players but also pay the entire tuition for a year for their walk-ons. These players are no longer walk-ons — the entire “walk-on” concept was disappeared when this deal was inked.

And that’s not a bad thing at all! The players should be paid. But BYU could easily use this as a recruiting pitch for future athletes. It’s not a scholarship, but it feels almost if it’s presented as one.

That last point is very important. This is not a scholarship. It’s a business deal. And as a business deal, this will be taxed. So does that mean the players will have to pay money on their tuition anyway? That’s an important question that needs to be answered.

Now, that doesn’t mean this is a bad deal or this is something the players shouldn’t do. By all means, when money is presented to you and the deal is right you should take it. But there’s reason to be skeptical about BYU’s intentions with all of this.

They’re just the first to do this. Other teams will almost certainly follow suit and offer these sorts of deals as perks to student-athletes.

And as they do, protections for these students will be more essential than ever on the back end.

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The University of Texas launches LEVERAGE program to assist in NIL

The University of Texas announced that they have launched a program to assist with NIL. The LEVERAGE program will assist student athletes.

According to a press release from the University of Texas, they are launching a new program called ‘LEVERAGE.’ This program will focus on four key areas to help student athletes maximize their brand and platform. With the new NIL rules, student athletes will be able to earn income off of their own name, image and likeness.

LEVERAGE, which is part of the new the new 4EVER TEXAS program, is composed of four main areas of focus: Personal Branding & Brand Management, Business Formation & Entrepreneurship, Opportunity Management and Financial Literacy.

“When it comes to exposure, visibility, valuable connections and a broad and far-reaching network, Texas has all of that,” said Texas Football head coach Tom Herman. “With the NIL opportunities coming in the near future, the establishment of the LEVERAGE program is a personal development area where we will provide unmatched resources when it comes to building our players’ brands. The people they will meet, opportunities at their disposal and the resources our first-class Football and Athletics programs will provide are second to none, and this program is just another great reason to be a Texas Longhorn.”

This will help give the Longhorns the leg up on recruiting. In the ever evolving world of college athletics, one of the key issues revolves paying players their worth. For years it has been an ongoing argument about if and how student athletes should be allowed to receive financial compensation for their efforts.

According to the USA TODAY Sports database, no university generates more revenue than the University of Texas. In the 2018-2019 school calendar year, the Longhorns generated over $223 million worth of revenue. With the NIL, student athletes could tap into that brand.

The University of Texas launching LEVERAGE will not only help the university, but it helps the student athletes who want to build their brand. Athletes who want a huge platform and being able to earn their worth according to NIL rules.

USA TODAY Sports: Athletes ‘bill of rights’ unveiled by senators

A group of U.S. Senators is close to introducing a student-athletes ‘bill of rights’ to Congress. This would help all NCAA student athletes.

In recent weeks we have seen a change in the college athletics landscape. It started when a group of Pac-12 Conference athletes started a “We Are United” campaign. The group threatened to boycott the upcoming season if their list of demands weren’t met. Another avenue for the athletes being able to earn income was through the Name, Image and Likeness Bill. In a recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, they denied a stay of injunction on athlete’s benefits.

The NIL Bill itself is set to be enforced starting January 1, 2021. The injunction was placed due to the fact that the NCAA wanted to limit how much an athlete could earn with the NIL bill. However, Justice Claudia Wilken called it “unreasonably restrain trade.” The maximum dollar amount that the NCAA has mentioned was $5.600 per year.

In response U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Richard Blumenthal have introduced a ‘bill of rights’ for student athletes according to USA TODAY Sports. With the recent actions within the NCAA many feel that the system is outdated and broken. Many conferences act on their own, much like which the recent cancellations.

“We have to create a system that clearly the NCAA has not been willing to do on its own,” Booker, a former Stanford football player, said in an interview with USA TODAY Sports. “We’re talking to a lot of athletes who have painful stories. These are courageous young people who right now are speaking out — and often facing retribution for speaking out — about their basic rights. I just really respect these athletes for showing such courage and commitment to the larger issues of equity and justice within college athletics.”

The bill looks to provided the following:

  • Lifetime scholarships that allow an athlete obtain their degree
  • Ban Letters of Intent (allowing athletes to change their mind prior to enrolling in school)
  • Allow group licensing
  • Revenue sharing
  • School transparency

 

The NCAA will let athletes wear social justice messages on their jerseys but still won’t pay them

It’s time to change this.

The year is 2020 and the NCAA is still doing absolutely any and everything but paying the athletes.

The NCAA is allowing its student athletes to wear social justice messages on the backs of their jerseys throughout the upcoming college sports season, according to a report from The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

The NCAA’s new policy follows in the footsteps of different professional sports leagues who are allowing their players to do the same, including the WNBA, NBA and MLS.

The athletes will be able to replace their last name with words celebrating or memorializing people, events or other causes they support.

That’s a great thing! It’s nice to see the NCAA allowing these young athletes to support causes they feel strongly about on a big platform.

But. Question. Can they put “pay us” on the back of their jerseys? Because that absolutely falls under the umbrella, though it’s probably not a cause the NCAA sees as valid.

The NCAA is an organization worth billions and it’s all on the backs of these various student athletes who aren’t paid a dime for it. This initiative is beyond hypocritical.

The internet took the NCAA to task for it.

Yeah, the NCAA absolutely had this one coming. They can fix it, though. They just need to pay their athletes.

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NCAA Will Allow Athletes to Make Money From Endorsements

NCAA Will Allow Athletes to
Make Money From Endorsements The decision, made by the NCAA’s
board of governors, will go into
effect by January 2021 at the latest. Big East commissioner
Val Ackerman, via Yahoo Athletes will now be able to work with
companies to promote their businesses and
retain marketing agents to handle deals. Schools will be kept separate with
guardrails in place to prevent boosters
during the recruiting process. The legislation must still clear
a vote at the NCAA Convention,
though board approval makes
the chances high. Companies previously had to
strike deals with individual
programs, head coaches
or the NCAA.

NCAA Will Allow Athletes to
Make Money From Endorsements The decision, made by the NCAA’s
board of governors, will go into
effect by January 2021 at the latest. Big East commissioner
Val Ackerman, via Yahoo Athletes will now be able to work with
companies to promote their businesses and
retain marketing agents to handle deals. Schools will be kept separate with
guardrails in place to prevent boosters
during the recruiting process. The legislation must still clear
a vote at the NCAA Convention,
though board approval makes
the chances high. Companies previously had to
strike deals with individual
programs, head coaches
or the NCAA.

NCAA Will Allow Athletes to Make Money From Endorsements

NCAA Will Allow Athletes to
Make Money From Endorsements The decision, made by the NCAA’s
board of governors, will go into
effect by January 2021 at the latest. Big East commissioner
Val Ackerman, via Yahoo Athletes will now be able to work with
companies to promote their businesses and
retain marketing agents to handle deals. Schools will be kept separate with
guardrails in place to prevent boosters
during the recruiting process. The legislation must still clear
a vote at the NCAA Convention,
though board approval makes
the chances high. Companies previously had to
strike deals with individual
programs, head coaches
or the NCAA.

NCAA Will Allow Athletes to
Make Money From Endorsements The decision, made by the NCAA’s
board of governors, will go into
effect by January 2021 at the latest. Big East commissioner
Val Ackerman, via Yahoo Athletes will now be able to work with
companies to promote their businesses and
retain marketing agents to handle deals. Schools will be kept separate with
guardrails in place to prevent boosters
during the recruiting process. The legislation must still clear
a vote at the NCAA Convention,
though board approval makes
the chances high. Companies previously had to
strike deals with individual
programs, head coaches
or the NCAA.