Bless your heart......

That's about what I thought.

We offered 250k to Jaloni Cambridge. Ohio State was more and I think LSU was more. Hopefully we will use that NIL for 2 top 25 HS recruits or top portal players. I have heard we were becoming more competitive but haven't heard anything specific in a while.

Schools don't pay athletes, it's against NCAA rules. Money comes from either NIL Collective run by external company (not the school), but money from collectives usually not that much. If she was offered $250k, it likely came from company endorsement, like a shoe deal or product deal. Do you know what company offered her $250k?

It was from multiple sources including some individuals.

Again, schools don't pay athletes, it's against NCAA rules. But yes, there is some truth to what you're saying. Schools have to be careful how the money from Collectives (run by external company) is paid. But for most individual athletes, it's not that large amount. The big $$ comes from endorsements for specific athlete who can market/sell their product, like a shoe deal, clothing, etc. The biggest earners are the most popular, most visible, and have the largest social media followers.

BearTiger, I believe what you are saying is the correct on-paper response. But it's naive in my view. Schools are doing exactly the pay-for-play stuff that SMU got the death penalty for, but we're all just going to wink at each other and say that's not what's happening.

There are exceptions along the lines you mentioned. Livvy Dunne is unquestionably selling her own brand and legitimately profiting off of her own name, image, and likeness. There is no part of me that thinks LSU is throwing millions of dollars at her to make sure she plays gymnastics for them. But as I said, she's the exception, not the rule.

The rules have "evolved" with NIL. While prohibited before, schools can now coordinate with the collectives and advise them on who to pay, and how much. Also, with enforcement removed per the Tennessee AG suit, collectives (as directed by schools) can now directly offer and discuss NIL with recruits as well.

Yes, a few are getting "true NIL" from various businesses (sometimes associated with a specific school and sometimes not), but most of the money right now seems to be flowing through the collectives.

The real interesting issues will be if we see things like revenue sharing on TV contracts for specific sports or sharing of money from NCAA basketball units among the players. It is only a matter of time before the schools are paying the students in place or, or more likely in addition to, the various collectives.

Just saw this online. Are any Waco or other businesses helping BU out?

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/college/iowa-state/cyclone-insider/2024/03/11/audi-crooks-iowa-state-basketball-nil-deal-west-des-moines-company-algona-claimdoc/72932406007/

Since NIL is not supposed to be 'play for pay', do most athletes earning NIL money ever do anything to earn it? Where are all of the endorsement ads, tv commercials, autograph sessions, etc?

Leonidas said:

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The rules have "evolved" with NIL. While prohibited before, schools can now coordinate with the collectives and advise them on who to pay, and how much. Also, with enforcement removed per the Tennessee AG suit, collectives (as directed by schools) can now directly offer and discuss NIL with recruits as well.

Yes, a few are getting "true NIL" from various businesses (sometimes associated with a specific school and sometimes not), but most of the money right now seems to be flowing through the collectives.

The real interesting issues will be if we see things like revenue sharing on TV contracts for specific sports or sharing of money from NCAA basketball units among the players. It is only a matter of time before the schools are paying the students in place or, or more likely in addition to, the various collectives.

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I'm guessing we will see players organize and eventually get a collective bargaining agreement that funnels tv money from the schools to the players.

The NCAA will fade and a 40 team super conference will work it out with the ABC, CBS etc. The schools that want in will fork over a percentage that will go to the players. The super conference will dominate and all others will be viewed on The Ocho.

I think any 40 team football conference would be football only

Leonidas said:

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I think any 40 team football conference would be football only

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Yes. I think there would be a national revolt and Congressional action if anyone tried to limit March Madness to 40 teams. :-)

Adriacus Peratuun said:

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Anyone who thinks current NIL is anything other than school controlled Pay for Play is totally naive.

The coach has a budget, decides how to spend it, the offers indirectly go out, deals are made [or not made].
The process of who to pay and how much to pay them is coach driven not collective driven.
The collective simply writes the checks. The coach chooses the partners and makes the deal.

End of Story. Zero substantive variance.
Not guessing.

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Actually for some players it is a combination of both. Keyonte had his shoe contract for example that would have gone with him wherever he went to school. A few other players at various schools do have legit NIL deals as well, although at this point maybe more the exception than the rule

Leonidas said:

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Adriacus Peratuun said:

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Anyone who thinks current NIL is anything other than school controlled Pay for Play is totally naive.

The coach has a budget, decides how to spend it, the offers indirectly go out, deals are made [or not made].
The process of who to pay and how much to pay them is coach driven not collective driven.
The collective simply writes the checks. The coach chooses the partners and makes the deal.

End of Story. Zero substantive variance.
Not guessing.

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Actually for some players it is a combination of both. Keyonte had his shoe contract for example that would have gone with him wherever he went to school. A few other players at various schools do have legit NIL deals as well, although at this point maybe more the exception than the rule

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But that $ isn't school controlled NIL.

Real NIL [paying for current value or future connection] impacts less than 100 athletes annually.
What the school collectives are doing is Pay for Play.

I doubt it's less than a 100 athletes getting true, independent endorsement deals.

I actually recall seeing a paid sponsorship on social media that Caitlin Bickle did for something like Door Dash. From a cursory search, there are around 520,000 NCAA athletes, so 100 of them would constitute 0.02%. Now I love me some Bickle, but realistically, I don't believe she would be one of the 0.02% of athletes sought after for endorsements.

If you want to revise that statement to athletes earning hundreds of thousands of dollars in independent endorsements, I would buy that.

Bone Squad said:

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I doubt it's less than a 100 athletes getting true, independent endorsement deals.

I actually recall seeing a paid sponsorship on social media that Caitlin Bickle did for something like Door Dash. From a cursory search, there are around 520,000 NCAA athletes, so 100 of them would constitute 0.02%. Now I love me some Bickle, but realistically, I don't believe she would be one of the 0.02% of athletes sought after for endorsements.

If you want to revise that statement to athletes earning hundreds of thousands of dollars in independent endorsements, I would buy that.

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Those deals are Baylor driven not "Bickel has value independent of Baylor" driven.

Name the athletes who could walk away their schools and still get the deal…….that is "less than 100" crowd.

NBA prospects, the gymnast from LSU, the WBB player from Miami, NFL elite prospects, a handful of elite WBB players……that is it.

When a starting college QB who likely won't get drafted gets higher endorsement $ than a backup NFL QB……it is Pay for Play. When a girl like Bickel who will never come close to the WNBA gets endorsement $, it is Pay for Play.

ZachTay said:

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Adriacus Peratuun said:

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Anyone who thinks current NIL is anything other than school controlled Pay for Play is totally naive.

The coach has a budget, decides how to spend it, the offers indirectly go out, deals are made [or not made].
The process of who to pay and how much to pay them is coach driven not collective driven.
The collective simply writes the checks. The coach chooses the partners and makes the deal.

End of Story. Zero substantive variance.
Not guessing.

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Except at Baylor, I would strongly suspect that the coaches do not have full say. DO NOT underestimate Rhoades' ego and his micro-management of everything Baylor Athletics.

Sic'em

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No tat sleeves was the rumor

Door Dash is a Baylor-driven NIL collective. Ok, then.

Bone Squad said:

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Door Dash is a Baylor-driven NIL collective. Ok, then.

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Or an intelligent person might understand that NIL is easily trackable and easy to tell which deals are based upon actual NIL value and which are based upon name program association.

https://twitter.com/tracker_nil

Here is a solid example of how the Collectives "secure" NIL $ for key players.

Or Baylor specific…….NIL deal secured for Baylor athletes.

Bear1969 said:

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Since NIL is not supposed to be 'play for pay', do most athletes earning NIL money ever do anything to earn it? Where are all of the endorsement ads, tv commercials, autograph sessions, etc?

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Do you do any social media?

To answer your question, no I don't, not to any major extent . I don't follow any sites on X-twitter, Instagram, etc. I will go to specific sites at times such as Baylor basketball X-twitter, individual players, etc but it is very limited. I quess that is why I have not seen much NIL activity. There is not much presence on the older traditional media except for the very top stars.

Bear1969 said:

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To answer your question, no I don't, not to any major extent . I don't follow any sites on X-twitter, Instagram, etc. I will go to specific sites at times such as Baylor basketball X-twitter, individual players, etc but it is very limited. I quess that is why I have not seen much NIL activity. There is not much presence on the older traditional media except for the very top stars.

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For the big time athletes with huge followings on Instagram, X-Twitter, TikTok I have seen those athletes do various forms of advertising for the endorsements they have, some even in television ads. As for money received by collectives, I don't think they do a lick for any of those people.

Correct Jorkel. Most big name, highly visible athletes sign endorsements working directly for companies selling their products and services. Most of them have large social media followings and are highly marketable. Dunn, Reese, Johnson, Clark, Van Lith.
An NIL collective is a program designed to facilitate athletes "potential endorsement" opportunities. They are not direct endorsement for a company, which would be outside of the Collective. However, many boosters and companies donate to a Collective pool and direct $$ to an athlete. There is a fine line. Many NIL Collectives are founded by prominent former athletes and other alumni. NIL Collectives $$ are also being used to help pay for athletes' scholarships, school expenses, transportation, computers, etc.