Pac-12 Media Day: Name, image and likeness shake up college football landscape
It didn't take long for Dorian Thompson-Robinson to become a endorsement magnet.
"As soon as July 1 got here, my whole email was flooded," Thompson-Robinson said. "It's been good so far, no complaints and I'm excited."
The UCLA football quarterback isn't the only one who's taken advantage of the NCAA lifting its infamous name, image and likeness restrictions either. USC quarterback Kedon Slovis signed with Klutch Sports, Oregon defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux released a non-fungable token with Nike co-founder Phil Knight and even UCLA rising freshman running back Deshun Murrell has already secured over $100,000 in deals.
It's been an eventful first month on the NIL front, something that isn't likely to change anytime soon. Everyone from UCLA coach Chip Kelly to Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff spoke on the topic at Tuesday's Pac-12 Football Media Day, with reactions ranging from hesitant acceptance to unfiltered jubilation.
Thompson-Robinson – who has signed with a marketing agency and is hoping to announce several partnerships prior to the regular season – recognizes not every player is going to rake in the big bucks, however. He said it's one of his jobs in the locker room to make sure financial competition and jealousy don't take over the team, something he helps keep at bay by redirecting the Bruins' focus to what's happening on the field.
"I think the biggest thing is keeping the main thing the main thing, which is football," Thompson-Robinson said. "That's what going to provide all your money for you. So I tell everybody and all the guys in there it's not what you do off the field, it's what you do on the field. Nobody's gonna pay you if you're not playing."
For those who do decide to pursue some sort of sponsorship, Kliavkoff said the Pac-12 Networks is launching a licensing program that will allow student-athletes to use their highlights and other digital content in deals of their own.
Buying into the new world order was an important step, Kliavkoff said, considering the attention, cash and prestige it can bring to the conference.
"I believe the implementation of NIL can be a significant competitive advantage for our Pac-12 schools," Kliavkoff said. "Our schools sit in some of the largest and most desirable media markets in the world. Many of our prominent alumni have started or currently run some of the biggest and most important companies in the world."
While there may not be too many hoops to jump through with these NIL agreements, Kliavkoff said their tax and eligibility implications are an important factor for student-athletes to consider.
Each Pac-12 school has been tasked with running its own independent NIL education program for student-athletes. At UCLA, Compass is the university's partner in hashing out compliance details, while INFLNCR is an official partner responsible for storing, tracking and delivering content related to student-athletes' personal brands.
"Our job as educators is to make sure we provide them with the information they need to make really smart decisions," Kelly said. "Our players have had meetings throughout our whole athletic department in all sports of what you can do to kind of capitalize on this, but understand the decisions you make can affect your image. You've really got to be well thought out in what you're looking at. We encourage them to have advisors and have some people to bounce some ideas off of in terms of where they are."
Kelly used the example of the Olympics, a comparison he's leaned on before, to show that the new NIL freedoms are far from the end of the world in college sports.
"Some people were concerned it was an Armageddon, what was going to happen – I think they forgot the Olympics went to this model a while ago and it doesn't seem to really affect what they do," Kelly said. "Apolo Ohno got a Subway commercial, some people had some Visa commercials, but I don't think it changed the landscape of any of those sports. I don't think it's going to make that big an impact in our sport, but I think it was something that was necessary at this time."
The size and scope of NIL rights' impact is hard to measure at the moment, and perhaps it always will be.
Kelly was right about one thing, though – the change was a long time coming.
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