Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
NCAA reportedly looking into ’Canes players’ NIL deals
Miami players have reaped the benefits of legal name, image and likeness deals since the NCAA began permitting them on July 1, 2021.
But with the deals comes increased scrutiny from the NCAA. The organization has reportedly launched an inquiry into UM and interviewed Hurricanes booster John Ruiz and others, according to a Tuesday report from Sports Illustrated.
A Miami spokesman provided a statement to the South Florida Sun Sentinel: “Like our peer institutions around the country, the University of Miami communicates with NCAA staff to ensure compliance with applicable NCAA regulations. Per NCAA rules, and in order to maintain the integrity of the review, the University cannot comment on specifics of the matter.”
Ruiz has been one of the most notable figures in the national NIL landscape. He has signed several UM athletes to NIL deals to promote his company, LifeWallet, and his boat-racing team, Cigarette Racing Team. He often posts about the deals on his Twitter account.
Ruiz told Sports Illustrated that he has signed 115 athletes — most of whom attend Miami — to NIL deals and his payroll is about $7 million.
“I’m extremely comfortable with what we are doing,” Ruiz told Sports Illustrated. “I have nothing to hide. It went super well. The NCAA is trying to wrap their hands around this sudden change of environment. They’re trying to figure out how the landscape is working.”
The NCAA permitting NIL contracts has caused upheaval in college sports. Laws regarding NIL deals varies by state. Florida state law regulates how schools can be involved in players’ NIL deals. Miami athletes cannot be offered NIL deals based on their performance or attendance at the
school, and they can only be provided by third parties not affiliated with the school.
The potential use of NIL deals to sway recruits sparked a feud between Alabama coach Nick Saban and Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher, two former colleagues who are among the top coaches in college football.
“We were second in recruiting last year,” Saban said at an event in Birmingham, Alabama, in May. “[Texas] A&M was first. A&M bought every player on their team. Made a deal for name, image and likeness.
“We didn’t buy one player. Aight? But I don’t know if we’re going to be able to sustain that in the future, because more and more people are doing it.
It’s tough.”
Fisher responded by calling Saban’s comments “despicable.”
Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal, on the other hand, has embraced NIL opportunities for Miami players. though he cannot be involved in them.
“Football is changing. Like anything else in life, you adapt to how things change,” he said on April 14. “I think it’s really neat that guys can profit off of their name, image and likeness. I think it sells itself. Let’s call it what it is. I can go and grab statistical information that will blow people away on the financial capabilities of a city like Miami, its alumni and how well it’s doing in the NIL world. But I think that’s already out there. I think that’s been advertised and has been highlighted. So I like to focus on the other stuff, you know? Because that is a piece of it. And it’s reality, so we don’t ignore it.
“But I think it’s obvious to the rest of the world if you want to compare what’s being done here to everywhere else, I think ... Miami’s blowing people away and not by a little.”