‘We’re kind of the guinea pigs’
How name, image and likeness rules could impact college athletes
One by one, they began to appear across social media, increasing in frequency as the all-important date of July 1 came into view.
Many of the messages followed the same 77-word script, with the same white font and black background of a smartphone’s notes app that public figures often use to announce important news or quell a controversy. This, however, was something different.
“According to the NCAA, starting July 1st all student-athletes have been granted permission to capitalize on our name, image, and likeness,” it read. “When this goes
into affect [sic] student-athletes are going to be able to brand ourselves and other businesses and companies. Any local or any companies at all that want to use my social media as a platform to promote, do commercials, etc to brand themselves, my DMs [direct messages] are open for business. Message me if interested.”
Over the past week, it was a screenshot posted by hundreds of college athletes, including several who compete for schools in Western Pennsylvania. In a not-sodistant past, such a plea would have been unimaginable, the kind of thing that earned them a stern lecture from the school’s compliance office, if not something worse. Now, though, it’s what may become standard operating procedure for athletes doing what they can to earn money in a suddenly open market.
A slew of state laws, as well as an NCAA policy, took effect last week that will allow college athletes to earn compensation off their name, image and likeness (NIL), a break from the principle of amateurism that has defined college sports throughout its existence. Athletes will now be able to claim something they were for so long denied in an industry that generates billions of dollars at its highest levels of competition.
When paired with a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruling late last month that the NCAA cannot impose restrictions on education-related benefits for athletes, a decision that drew scathing critiques of the NCAA’s model from some of the court’s justices, it was one of the most cons e q u e n t i a l two-week stretches in the history of college sports.
“This is the best thing that ever happened for the athletes since they stole the word ‘amateurism’ two million years ago,” said Sonny Vaccaro, a Trafford native and famed sports marketing executive who has become a prominent critic of the NCAA. “This is good.”
Locally, questions have been asked about what these developments mean for college athletics as a whole, and what universities and athletic departments will do to adjust and, ideally, thrive in a previously unrecognizable world. But what about the athletes directly impacted by these new rules? What awaits them in this new era that’s as exciting as it is unsettled?
All about the brand
Although he can’t recall who the player was, Jeff Capel recalled his first inhome recruiting visit as an assistant coach at Duke University. As he sat with legendary Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski, the current University of Pittsburgh men’s basketball coach heard his mentor discuss the recruit they were pursuing not merely as a promising basketball player, but a brand.
“I was a little bit taken aback by that because I don’t know how many people really have a brand,” Capel said Thursday. “How many athletes truly made me think they have a brand?”
Whether it ultimately meets Capel’s definition of one, a brand is now something college athletes from across the country will strive for with thousands of dollars, if not more, at stake.
In a digital age, much of the endorsement potential for athletes will come via social media, through platforms like Twitter, Instagram and TikTok that connect these individuals with a world far beyond their respective campuses. While more conventional commercial pursuits still exist, none offer the same ease and reach as social media, where athletes can post a picture touting a company or product, slap on some pre-approved messaging and hashtags, and reach a wide audience while getting paid. In other instances, there could be an exchange of a good or service for serving as a celebrity spokesperson, like an athlete getting a car for appearing in
a dealership’s television spot.
How those followings are generated vary, meaning that value for an athlete doesn’t follow a single, straightforward path. There is, of course, excellence at one’s sport, as well as the popularity of that sport and the visibility of the position they play. An offensive lineman, regardless of his skill and talent, won’t have the same marketability of a quarterback, and the most accomplished athletes will have a built-in advantage.
“One of the things that I would say to the guys is that, look, the brand is still made in between the lines,” Mr. Capel said. “That’s how you become good. You’ve got to be good, to stay in the gym, keep working. Don’t let the pursuit of just money and capitalizing on that get in the way of education and becoming really good at what you do.”
Feats on the field and court have their limitations, though.
Athletes are going to essentially be treated like influencers, says Jordon Rooney, who was hired earlier this year as a personal brand coach for Duquesne University basketball. Brands are going to look at players as commodities, parsing the number of followers they have on social media and the level of engagement their posts receive, the barometers of what kind of connection an athlete has forged with their fans and how that might influence consumption habits. In that space, being a Division I athlete is merely a first step.
“Being a football player isn’t their personality; it’s the entry point to want to learn more about their personality,” Mr. Rooney said. “People love [Steelers wide receiver] JuJu [Smith-Schuster] not just because he plays football. It’s because he plays football and he plays the video games they like and because he dances and they think he’s funny. They have more things they have in common with them, and that drives a deeper connection. If you’re just an athlete, that’s not going to drive a deep connection. The days of ‘Just be quiet, just play good and you’ll bring in brand deals,’ it doesn’t work like that anymore.”
Early glimpses at what some of those opportunities will be have emerged.
At Penn State University, quarterback Sean Clifford can offer personalized messages to fans on Cameo for $30 and has a licensed shirt on Quarterback Takeover available for $34.99. Linebacker Brandon Smith, quarterback Ta’Quan Roberson, linebacker Curtis Jacobs and defensive tackle Derrick Tangelo have announced partnerships with YOKE Gaming, a platform that allows fans to play video games with athletes. Offensive lineman Bryce Effner tweeted an ad Thursday for Gopuff, a food delivery service. Wrestler Roman Bravo-Young is raffling off a pair of matchworn shoes, with tickets costing $10 apiece.
Multiple requests to speak with Penn State athletes about the impact of new NIL rules did not receive responses from university officials.
At Pitt, quarterback Kenny Pickett, perhaps the school’s highest-profile current athlete, said he woke up Thursday morning with messages from interested companies and services, though he said he’s having a representative handle potential business pursuits so he can remain focused on football. Beyond him, commercial opportunities for Panthers players have been relatively sparse, or at least not publicized.
“I just don’t think it’s going to be quite as widespread as people think,” Pitt athletic director Heather Lyke said Wednesday. “But there will be some kids, just like there are people, that are very entrepreneurial and have creative ideas and maybe surround themselves with people that want to help them in those ways. And this provides them that opportunity and outlet to do it.”
It has been the same at Duquesne and Robert Morris University, both smaller, private schools.
“The long-term opportunities will be great. The short-term opportunities will depend on if we get a Sihugo Green, a Dick Ricketts, a Norm Nixon or a Mike James,” Duquesne men’s basketball coach Keith Dambrot said. “That’s going to determine how much we win and how much they do in the short term. Nobody’s really going to go all-in on in the short term with a team that doesn’t win or a player that doesn’t really perform at a high level.”
Spreading the wealth
It’s not just athletes in the major-revenue sports of football and men’s basketball, the ones who compete under the brightest lights and on the biggest stages, who stand to benefit the most.
Twins Haley and Hanna Cavinder of Fresno State University’s women’s basketball team, with 3.3 million TikTok and 515,000 Instagram followers between them, agreed to a sponsorship deal with Boost Mobile. Olivia Dunne, a Louisiana State University gymnast with 3.9 million TikTok and 1.1 million Instagram followers, could become one of the highest-earning college athletes in the country.
Penn State claims two of the three Big Ten athletes with the largest Instagram followings, but they’re not football players. One, Michael Jaroh with 172,000 followers, is a men’s gymnast while the other, Mr. BravoYoung with 125,000 followers, is a wrestler. At a school with popular women’s volleyball, basketball, soccer and ice hockey teams, athletes like women’s basketball player Anna Camden could soon discover her 182,200 TikTok followers are quite profitable.
“Before I thought of this term ‘name, image and likeness’ 25 years ago, we weren’t even considering the popularity of girls’ sports,” Mr. Vaccaro said. “They’ve now transformed themselves into a monetary empire if they can compete and do well before the national public. We couldn’t have said that even four years ago before the last Olympics. It’s now an even playing field that girls will be able to monetize themselves.”
For as much as new NIL measures impact current athletes, they could very easily alter the recruiting landscape, too.
Both Penn State and Pitt have established NIL programs for their athletes, initiatives dubbed ‘STATEment’ and ‘Forged Here’, respectively. While Mr. Capel said no prospects who have visited Pitt’s campus since the NCAA’s recruiting dead period was lifted June 1 have mentioned NIL-related topics, some current high schoolers have it on their mind.
Kaden Saunders, a fourstar wide receiver in Penn State’s 2022 recruiting class, tweeted the same message hundreds of other athletes did soliciting business opportunities, and his family has purchased the domain
name TheKadenSaunders. Parents of Nittany Lions football prospects told The Athletic last month that an NIL presentation was part of the recruiting visit.
Highly touted recruits don’t even have to wait until they get to college, as high school athletes can engage in NIL opportunities without impacting their NCAA eligibility.
“It’s definitely going to play a big part in my decision, wherever is best that will benefit my name better and get it out there more for fans and also getting to the next level,” said Rodney Gallagher, a standout football and basketball player at Laurel Highlands High School who is being recruited by a number of major-conference schools for both sports. “I think it’s a big thing for players to finally get the respect they’ve earned if they’re doing very well in college and finally benefiting off their name.”
Several states, including Pennsylvania, have laws that forbid a school from using NIL compensation from third parties as a recruiting inducement, but there’s skepticism about how that can possibly be enforced.
“I can paraphrase it in three words: next to impossible,” Robert Morris athletic director Chris King said.
For all that is now available to them, some athletes are simply trying to navigate these new, sometimes overwhelming waters as well as they can.
“It does add some stress, but that’s why it’s really important to focus on football right now,” Pitt defensive lineman Deslin Alexandre said.
“I’m just going to kind of take it as it comes,” Mr. Pickett said. “I think there are a lot of people rushing into it that really don’t understand the full context of it because it’s so new and we don’t really have anything to base it off of. We’re kind of the guinea pigs of this whole thing.”
Unintended consequences
For as much as there’s consensus on athletes being able to profit off what is ultimately their existence, there remains some worry about what else may come with this newly forged landscape. After all, even the best of intentions can come with unintended consequences.
Some concerns are easier to dismiss than others. Potential team chemistry issues have often been cited, but professional locker rooms have existed relatively peacefully for decades with some players making more money than others. Coaches and administrators have regularly cited that athletes will have to pay taxes on whatever they earn, but that work entails little more than filling out an IRS 1099 form.
Many fears expressed by those interviewed for this story stem from the somewhat hands-off role schools will have to assume under new laws.
Colleges, for example, can’t facilitate deals and sponsorships for their athletes, leaving many of the students to do it themselves. Between a maximum of 20 hours of practice a week during the season — an NCAA-imposed cap that is regularly circumvented — classes, homework and assignments, travel for games and much-needed time to enjoy the social experiences that college offers, athletes’ schedules are already tight. Now will come added time commitments if they hope to cash in on the value they’ve created for themselves.
“I kind of wish it was more regulated,” Mr. Pickett said. “I kind of wish there was more guidance from the school being able to help us with it and having them set stuff up for us. I think if they had a more hands-on approach with it, I think it would help a lot of these guys out. No one knows what to do, honestly. We’re kind of learning as we go.”
An athlete can relieve themselves of some of that work with professional representation like an agent, attorney or financial adviser, which they’re permitted to do under new laws, but even that doesn’t come without possible negative consequences.
“These guys are going to get hit up by whoever to represent them,” said Mr. Rooney, the Duquesne brand coach. “I see plenty of pros get taken advantage of by their agents. What do you think is going to happen with 18- and 19-year-olds who are now being pursued by agents all over the NCAA?”
The programs instituted at Penn State and Pitt seek to address some of those issues. Both initiatives have partnered with life skills or student welfare programs at the university and serve a primarily educational purpose. Those programs focus on subjects like financial literacy, wealth management, entrepreneurship, brand building, social media proficiency and media training.
Given the circumstances, it’s the schools that are trying to provide what they can to maximize their athletes’ success under the new rules while offering some measure of protection.
“It’s about entrepreneurship and giving them the tools, not only to be able to take advantage of now, but take out into their careers after Penn State or maybe even their careers after sport,” Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour said in early June.
“That’s a great tool for our student-athletes to learn from,” Ms. Lyke said Thursday. “We’ll provide seminars and opportunities for them to build relationships across campus with people who teach this and understand branding better than anyone else. And so I think that that’s advantageous.”
For years, there were cries for athletes to be able to profit in ways that, at least in spirit, have recently been legalized. Now that those measures are here, administrators like Lyke aren’t sure how rules governing what athletes can earn will evolve and how laws like the ones recently passed may become more permissive in the years to come.
For now, then, a question remains: What more can be done to benefit the athletes and ensure their well-being?
“The question is very truthful, but that logic has been torn apart by the NCAA for the previous 100 years,” Mr. Vaccaro said. “They never cared about the health of the athlete. They never cared about the academics. I don’t believe they cared because they allowed it to happen.”
Brands are going to look at players as commodities, parsing the number of followers they have on social media and the level of engagement their posts receive, the barometers of what kind of connection an athlete has forged with their fans and how that might influence consumption habits.