I'll Have Cane's Sauce With a Side of $1 Million Please

Now Presenting This Week in NIL, a newsletter about everything you need to know to keep up with the rapidly changing world of name, image, and likeness in college sports!

This Week in NIL:

🏆 How Georgia players are cashing in after the national title game

🎰 Will MSU players be promoting sports gambling?

💸 Investigating message board claims of Texas A&M boosters paying $30 Million to recruits

How Georgia players are cashing in after the national title game

On3 @On3sports

Stetson Bennett saw his current NIL Valuation balloon from $89K to $360K following last night's national championship win. Follow him here: @StetsonIv (⬆️followers=⬆️valuation) His db profile: on3.com/db/stetson-ben… Story:

on3.comStetson Bennett’s NIL valuation sees significant jump following national championship winGeorgia quarterback Stetson Bennett has been through a lot in his career, and his NIL valuation saw a major jump after Monday’s championship.

After Georgia's national championship victory, the question of NIL deals for Dawgs players was not if they would happen -- it was "how much." Per On3 Sport's NIL valuation, Stetson Bennett's NIL value rose by over a quarter million dollars. His first opportunity to cash in may come with Raising Cane's where he served up chicken fingers to unsuspecting Georgia fans.

Former University of Georgia specialist Drew Butler now runs NIL company Icon Source said Bennett could make over $1 Million if he was aggressive in the NIL market. Breakout freshman tight end Brock Bowers signed with Everett sports marketing. After a game sealing interception, Kelee Ringo released a merch line through the Player's Trunk. It pays to be champs. 

Will Michigan State players be promoting sports gambling?

Dan Murphy @DanMurphyESPN

Spartans are among the first schools to embrace sports betting. As of last week, MSU athletes weren't allowed to endorse gambling website. It looks like that restriction was removed from the school's NIL policy today.

GreenandWhite.com @LSJGreenWhite

MSU's partnership with Caesars Sportsbook will grant Caesars naming rights to premium seating areas at Spartan Stadium in 2022, an outdoor tailgating area for football games and signage at football, basketball and hockey games. More from @chrissolari:  https://t.co/M7DUDj1T8n

A Timeline:

January 22nd, 2021 - Online Sports Gambling Legal in Michigan

August 25th, 2021 - Per Michigan State University NIL policy, "Student-athletes are prohibited from engaging in any name, image, and likeness activities involving sports wagering or any substance or drug class located on the NCAA’s list of banned substances"

January 13th, 2022 - Michigan State Officially Partners with Caesar's sportsbook

Also January 13th, 2022 - MSU NIL policy is updated, removing any previous language on prohibiting NIL deals involving sports wagering

Our Takeaway:

When Maxim Bet offered NIL deals to every NCAA Female Student-Athlete in Colorado, NIL deals involving sports wagering seemed to have two potential paths:

Path #1. This Colorado loophole would quickly be closed along with any other similar potential opportunities

Path #2. Other states/universities would see it as a competitive disadvantage and amend their own rules to allow for these opportunities.

It seems we have taken the second path.

Investigating message board claims of Texas A&M boosters paying up to $30 Million to recruits with NIL deals

- @Spicoli_____

According to message board poster “Sliced Bread” - Texas A&M Boosters promised $25-$30 Million to  potential recruits through lucrative Name, Image, and Likeness deals. 

If this is true, it is an unfathomable amount of money for a single recruiting class - 

It would also directly violate NCAA National Bylaws and Texas Bylaws.

To investigate if it is true - I went to the unlikely alleged source: The Oklahoma Insider message board where “Sliced Bread” first shared these allegations. After paying the fee to become an Oklahoma Message Board VIP. I went to the supposed original linked post but found this instead (It’s a Gif of a smurf in a Jeep). I was also unable to get a response from Mr. Bread from direct messages and it appears his "staff" title has been removed.

So without any additional information, we have to try and take this post at face value. Here’s the scheme:

• A coach identifies a recruit 

• That coach tells a “point donor.”

• The “point donor” along with other donors form LLC

• The LLC, in turn for a commitment, sponsors the targeted recruit.

• That recruit, upon arrival on campus, receives money from the LLC.

• In turn, the recruit promotes the LLC and its “cause,” whether that be a charity or a business.

And it’s allegedly a multiyear scheme too - to assure the players don’t bolt to the transfer portal right after signing. I scoured Texas LLC databases to find an entity that matched this timeline but came up empty handed once again.

Our Takeaway:

While the Twitterverse and message board community seem to believe this story wholesale, I have some doubts. While Texas A&M donors certainly have deep pockets these numbers for recruits are far past previously leaked bribes in exchange for a commitment like 5 Star basketball recruit Brian Bowen - which was in the $100,000 range. Even if every single 4 and 5 star A&M recruit was promised $100,000, that would be “only” around $2.5 Million.

NIL Deals you need to 👀

1. La’Quanza Glover x Global Freight & Commerce

Kristi Dosh @SportsBizMiss

Great piece on Business of College Sports from @_bbell5 on @quanza_3 being the first female HBCU athlete we know of to sign an NIL deal. She's a women's basketball player for @EWU_Athletics and signed a $1K deal to serve as a brand ambassador.

businessofcollegesports.comLa’Quanza Glover Believed to be the First HBCU Female with an NIL DealThe $1,000 NIL deal is groundbreaking

2. Chet Holmgren x Topps

Student Athlete NIL @AthleteNIL

.@Topps announced its biggest NIL investment to date, partnering with Gonzaga Basketball’s @ChetHolmgren, to create a new line of physical & digital trading cards featuring the collegiate basketball standout!

3. Top Lax Recruit Joey Spallina x Gait Lax

Student Athlete NIL @AthleteNIL

The #1 ranked prospect in the 2022 recruiting class is entering the NIL game early! @SpallinaJoey, who signed his National Letter of Intent last November to play for Syracuse, has now signed a 4-year deal with @gaitlaxofficial to help grow their men’s line of lacrosse gear

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