Newsletter, Image, Likeness Vol. 45: Let's Assess Tommy Tuberville's Assessment

The Weekly Longer NIL Thought.

Pete Nakos at On3, who I find to be one of the best journalists covering NIL, was able to get U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville to engage in a lengthy interview on the subject of NIL and, in particular, his pending legislation.

That legislation, like all other forms of legislation on the subject matter, has gone absolutely nowhere in the past few years. Why that would change now is beyond me, but clearly, Tuberville, showing a willingness to be interviewed, seems to think there is still some chance of his bill reaching the floor for debate or, at a minimum, is happy to speak wherever there is an audience that will listen.

I'm not going to merely regurgitate the interview. You can read it at the link above. Instead, let me provide my takeaways.

1. It's notable that Tuberville began working on his legislation over a year ago and that it has never even made it out of committee. That leads me to believe that his bill has little-to-no chance of ever being passed.
2. His bill is considered by-partisan because West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin has also signed onto it. But he couldn't have picked a more conservative Democrat who isn't going to bridge the divide on NIL issues by having someone like Manchin on his side. Thus, the theory that the bill is "bi-partisan" is a red herring to me.
3. I don't know how anyone can take this legislation seriously when it still includes language that intends to prohibit athletes from entering the transfer portal during their first three years of eligibility.
4. I think the most revealing takeaway is that Tuberville appears to be entirely dependent on Sen. Ted Cruz, who is the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce. As Nakos wrote, "Cruz will be the power broker to push the bill forward." Why would Cruz provide that power when he has his own NIL bill out there?
5. But even if Tuberville were to receive Cruz's support, I don't see how he becomes able to corral enough support from Democrats who will oppose much of the language in his legislation. Where are the 60 votes in the Senate coming from? Tuberville plans on talking with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who has his own NIL legislation, and I can't fathom how that conversation would go over. "I think we’ll have some Democrats helping us, it’s just are we going to have enough?" asked Tuberville, rhetorically. Me thinks the answer is no.

The High School Athlete Recruiting Marketplace Has Seemed To Reset.

Per Pete Nakos of On3 , once startling financial packages intended to convince high school athletes to commit to schools have dropped down to six figures, and "almost nobody has heard of a seven-figure NIL package being signed in the 2024 recruiting cycle." Nakos adds that the "right five-star prospect can command a million-dollar agreement, yet spread out over three to four years."

An adjustment (maybe even we call it a correction) was bound to occur as boosters seemingly would grow tired of throwing an exorbitant amount of money at unproven prospects. It's certainly a practice that will continue but at more reasonable rates. Furthermore, money is also being appropriated toward valuable transfer portal prospects and that takes away from what can be spent on high school players who have not even shown they can necessarily be as prominent at the next level.

15-Year-Old Julian Lewis Gets The SI Cover Treatment.

I have already discussed how Julian, also known as JuJu, is currently prevented from earning money off his NIL given he resides in Georgia and the state has not yet changed its rules, which currently preclude athletes from earning money based on their fame.

From SI's article , "By the time Julian was 7, he could whiz a youth-sized ball 25 yards, so T.C. created an Instagram account for his son, highlighting his exploits." Talk about starting the social game young! "When Julian was 8, T.C. placed him under the tutelage of independent quarterbacks coach Ron Veal, who also trained the likes of Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields." Talk about getting the technique down early!

There's a note in the piece that HBO and Warner Bros. will chronicle the entirety of Julian's high school career. I was honored to work with Warner Bros. behind the scenes on that.

The Collective Association Is Traveling To Washington.

But it was not invited to participate in the upcoming NIL hearing to be hosted by the House Committee on Small Business.

Per Hunter Baddour , reps from 7 NIL collectives within The Collective Association intend to be in attendance and are happy to speak with legislators to discuss legislation.

“Collectives work as closely with student-athletes on a daily basis as anybody, so to not have the voices of these two groups,” Baddour said. “When you claim you want to solve some issues, and you have the best interests of student-athletes in mind is just nonsensical.”

New Effort To Unionize College Athletes Comes Via Dartmouth.

The Service Employees International Union, Local 560 of Concord, N.H. filed a petition for 15 Dartmouth basketball players to be recognized as a union.

From Michael McCann and Daniel Libit : "The Boston regional office will now review the petition, which will include a fact-finding investigation and a possible hearing. A decision by the regional office could be appealed to the NLRB’s national board and federal courts. From start to finish, the legal process could take several years. Nevertheless, it immediately adds another jolt to the compounding forces pushing for college athletes to be recognized as employees of the schools they compete for."

They also note that the recognition of private college athletes as employees would not grant employee status to athletes at public colleges. Still, something to follow.

Texas QB Quinn Ewers Cashes In On Success.

C4 Energy announced that it signed Ewers after Texas beat the Crimson Tide.

Tallahassee Hotel Takes Advantage Of Keon Coleman's Notoriety.

In another real NIL deal taking advantage of the promise of a player's early season success, Hotel Indigo in Tallahassee, Florida has become The Official Hotel of Seminoles wide receiver Keon Coleman.

Kentucky's Basketball NIL Leader Shifts To UNC.

TJ Beisner will work with an outside firm and oversee UNC players' NIL deals as well as build out an NIL collective, per Matt Norlander .

The "Preferred" NIL Collective Launches For Syracuse Athletes.

It's called Orange United and it's powered by Student Athlete NIL .

Per the release, "Orange United will engage with individuals, businesses and monthly subscribers to fund NIL activities, including autograph signings, personal appearances and endorsements. Each membership level offers exclusive benefits, and contributions can be designated by specific sport."

Paige Bueckers Signs With The U.S. Army.

She pushed out a sponsored post on her IG and added a link in her bio for the U.S. Army's website. She also has deals with Bose, Gatorade, Chegg, Crocs, StockX, Ibotta, and as I recently covered, Nike.

Checking Back In . . . College Football Isn't Doomed?

Dan Wetzel reminds us about "the whiny coaches, fear-mongering conference commissioners, absurd NCAA attorneys and lockstep establishment media personalities who told us, repeatedly, that by now everything would be ruined forever."

And he notes that 8.8 million people tuned into ESPN to watch Texas take on Alabama, which made it the most-viewed Saturday game on ESPN since 2014.

So, NIL hasn't killed college sports? Shocking!

On3 Highlights 5 Females "Crushing" NIL Who You May Not Know.

Lexi Hiltunen (Princeton soccer), Riley White (Alabama track-and-field), Kenlee Newcom (Western Kentucky soccer), Morgan Hurd (Florida gymnastics), and Jess Gardner (Nebraska track-and-field).

Final Thoughts.

That is it for Vol. 45 of Newsletter, Image, Likeness. Thanks to the more than 7,150 people who have subscribed to this newsletter thus far, and please feel free to share this free resource with others on LinkedIn or elsewhere.

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