During Steve Smith’s third year as Director of Player Development at UCF, the school began preparing for the revolution to come.
Soon, for the first time, school athletes will be able to earn money with their name, image and likeness.
“Everyone calls me ‘Smitty’ and said, ‘Smitty, you want to make sure that none of our athletes jeopardize their eligibility before this is approved and goes into effect,'” Smith recalled.
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UCF’s compliance branch talked about the star quarterback at the time, Dillon Gabriel, who was looking to start a clothing brand. This arrival of Smith to NIL opened his eyes to uncharted territory and what he saw as endless opportunities. A few months later, in August 2021, he replaced his career and became a NIL agent.
Smith created his own LLC and registered with the state of Florida as an agent. Your first customer? Hawaii’s laid-back left-handed quarterback.
Smith and others who saw desires and opportunities joined an industry where everyone navigates an evolving market. It’s going beyond partnering with brands, like Gabriel, who moved to Oklahoma and then Oregon, he did it with Old Spice, Sonic and others. The collision with the moving portal has created its own cycle of competitive matchmaking between the school and the player, in which NIL deals are among the players opting in to new programs.
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School-affiliated collectives offer packages ranging from tens of thousands to, in the most vital cases, millions, in exchange for social media posts, public appearances, or autographed memorabilia before or after signing a change with the new school.
The Spring Portal closed in April after being open for two weeks. During this period, more than 850 scholarship players have accessed the portal. In total, more than 2,600 scholarship high school soccer players entered the moving portal this offseason in search of a new home.
Due to demanding NCAA situations in federal courts, regulations prohibiting NIL agreements from serving as an incentive to attend specific events no longer apply, and athletes are entitled to unlimited transfers and immediate eligibility.
According to the portal, some agents, several of whom spoke to The Athletic on condition of anonymity, said that getting the biggest contract with collectives is the priority of some players. But some agents have said they’re not looking to make the most of what is necessarily a casual college company — their goal is to help athletes create a marketable logo by looking at the big picture.
– Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) April 18, 2024
The involvement of agents on the moving portal has been more visible: players quote or thank their agencies’ moving announcements and representatives speak on their behalf to journalists about offers and viewings. But their roles seem varied, with a wide diversity of qualifications and involvement.
A not unusual saying, even among agents themselves, is that it can act as a null agent.
Players, coaches and agents publicly state that “fitness” comes first when transferring players. And getting on the field is vital for long-term aspirations. But the money needed to stay in an existing school or decide on a new one makes the procedure more complex.
“I don’t think kids are the portal to getting money,” said Russell White, president of Oncoor Marketing, which represents school athletes in the NIL space as well as NFL and NBA players. “They just need to make sure they take advantage of that. “
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Here agents can intervene.
Chase Moss, executive director of First Class Prospects, said a common plan to bring more attention to players entering the portal is to disclose data to recruiting sites or journalists with a giant online audience. This is when school staff get attached to the player and/or agent on social media and start running this recruitment cycle.
“We don’t force them to invest until we reach an agreement (NIL), because otherwise it’s useless,” Moss said.
When a player enters the moving portal, how do they know their value?The main points of transactions are sometimes kept confidential.
“It’s based on verbal exchange and market experience,” said Jeff Hoffguy, whose agency, Everett Sports Marketing, has represented 2024 NFL first-round picks Marvin Harrison Jr. , Brock Bowers, Xavier Legette and others. “It’s about talking to other agents, groups and relationships to perceive where other people are on this pay scale and where my guy is. “
During open movement windows, simply listening to what’s presented to players can prove invaluable.
“The great thing about the portal is that once you’re connected to it, a lot of schools can access you, and that’s where the data flows,” White said.
Last fall, Nebraska coach Matt Rhule told reporters that the portal’s existing payment to flag a quarterback with an NIL budget is between $1 million and $2 million.
Star quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, some tight ends and some defensive players are making the most of this, said the manager of a force convention collective, speaking on condition of anonymity, and some of the better-run collectives would likely pay well. for the first and second stringers, and beyond. Agents who spoke to The Athletic said they know which program collectives seem to have the maximum cash to spend in NIL and which don’t.
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Agents say they can prevent players from signing bad deals. Negotiations can come with things like employing a car, paying for parental expenses for games, and disability insurance. Without representation, some players traded this offseason, Hoffman said, might not fully perceive how deals can work.
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“Let’s use a circular number: I’m moving and I’m going to get $100,000,” Hoffman said. “Half of this amount will go to my car and my apartment. The remaining $50,000 will be divided into monthly payments. I have to pay taxes, so it was abolished. Let’s say after that, I went down to $36,000 and I get paid $3000 a month. For that $3000 a month, I have to attend 10 events, post 15 times on social media, and supply 10-20 signed pieces. It’s just not sustainable. It’s not up to the salary. “
But using an agent can also lead to bumps. In December, The Athletic reported on how a disconnect between former Syracuse linebacker Leon Lowery and his former NIL agents nearly derailed his move to Wisconsin.
“I would say most work in the maximum productive interest of (their clients), in terms of making more money,” one agent said. “But what percentage are they smart or make smart decisions or them?I wouldn’t say much.
According to agents, some parents drove their children to the portal in search of a higher salary or negotiated allowances for themselves incorporated into void contracts.
One agent told The Athletic about the parents or family members handling the negotiations: “It turns out the assumption is, ‘We can do it ourselves. ‘
In recent years, many high-profile systems have created the role of an executive director who helps bridge the gap between coaches and collectives. If a player is sought through the staff, a general manager will tell the CEO of the collective that he is in a position to touch the player or his agent.
One agent said, “When it comes to NIL conversations, they’re collective. We’re not dealing with coaches. But at the same time, I communicate with the coaches. “Hi coach, our guy is contemplating entering the portal. Is this someone you would like to have in your dressing room?How long will it take to get the box into your place?What gaps do you want to fill?” So we communicate about things on the ground. I’m not saying that: Coaches don’t talk about money, but that’s not what we talk about on a regular basis.
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Smith, who is now part of Legend Agency, said: “Once you have your school and someone likes it and is compatible with it, then the verbal exchange comes down to: what is the market price right now?What else does it offer?” Have you received? Here are the deliverables, do you agree with those deliverables?And then the collective has to understand: is this user adding price to what we’re looking to do?
One of the common disruptions faced by agents and collectives is the false impression of price in the NIL market.
Halfway through the bowling season in December, there were more than 1,800 players on the portal. Some agencies offer consultations to players or negotiate short-term NIL contracts just to see what the procedure is like.
“You won’t make a lot of money,” Smith said. It’s like the genuine world. He’s not rich. “
The biggest opportunities are there for big-name players like Gabriel, who can take advantage of the full strength of NIL, more so in the sense of how many expected NIL to show up to the collectives. In Oklahoma, in addition to his partnership with Crimson and Cream OU Collective, Gabriel had existing deals with EvoShield, Rock ‘Em Socks, and more. He has maintained some pre-existing agreements since moving to Oregon.
With Smith’s help, he became involved in local partnerships with NIL, adding a roofing company and a clothing logo called Ducks of a Feather, which allows athletes to participate to profit from product sales. It started through the Oregon collective, Division Street, and led through two former Nike executives.
Similarly, Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard is represented through Peter Webb and Doug Young and his NIL agency, QB Reps, which only represents quarterbacks. The duo has over 20 years of experience in sports marketing and coaching at other levels. In addition to Leonard, they represented former Oregon quarterback Bo Nix.
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“When a child comes into the moving portal and has all those other opportunities at those other schools, little by little, we were able to create an evaluation procedure at each school, but only for quarters,” Webb said. “If you’re a five-star quarterback going to Alabama, Clemson, LSU or Oregon, we’ll know exactly what that looks like. “
Webb and Young, who also worked with Leonard when he was at Duke, said he has 10 NIL partnerships, adding Gillette, EA Sports, Topps, Leaf Trading Cards and Rhoback Apparel, with more in the works. Mission BBQ, one of Leonard’s first local partnerships, is located 10 minutes from Notre Dame Stadium in Mishawaka, Indiana. The Fighting Irish’s new starting quarterback is already in high demand.
“It’s a different story when Riley gets to Notre Dame than if she gets to school,” Young said.
The exact number of agents is unknown, NIL. La most states require officers to register, but qualifications (and enforcement) are limited. Some agents hope to build players who succeed in the NFL, where agents will have to be qualified through the players’ association. .
Unsurprisingly, the diversity is still enormous. Some players like Arizona State wide receiver Raleek Brown and Tulane wide receiver Mario Williams have leased Roc Nation from Jay-Z to build them. Then, some rental agents who are indexed in their bio on online social media are still not working. . Some go through it alone.
“We still have kids who make $100,000 or more and don’t use NIL agents for negotiations,” says the group’s director, who estimates that 10 to 15 percent of his group’s 150 deals a year are negotiated through agents.
The commission earned through agents can also vary greatly. While the general consensus is between 10 and 20% over 0%, some agents would possibly settle for a reduction as low as five percent. Some do not charge any fees for collective bargaining agreements. The agent who spoke to The Athletic said no agent exceeds 20 percent under any circumstances.
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The director of the collective said that the usual joke of “someone’s aunt or uncle” does not refer to nefarious intentions or bad ends. A lot of times it works very well. But he added that regulation is needed in the NIL area at all levels.
The NCAA is running to create a voluntary registration portal for NIL agents and other professional service providers, a favorite task of NCAA President Charlie Baker. Several agents who spoke to The Athletic doubted it would have much impact.
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NIL continues to evolve. A proposal through Baker could lead to collectives moving internally and schools paying athletes directly. The demands that are pressuring the NCAA may lead to a new style in which athletes are workers who bargain collectively.
“Players love ‘The Wild West’ because it’s where they can max out. Others don’t because it’s not mutually favorable right now,” Gabriel said. “However, I think adjustments are definitely being made. I know this is not sustainable in the long term.
(Top image: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; istock)