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If you are interested in NIL athlete representation, NIL education for your college or high school, and student-athlete personal brand coaching, please contact me: [email protected]

Webinar: NIL Quickstart

Today at 1p ET, my colleague Bill Carter is hosting a free webinar for Higher Education staff, including coaches, athletic administrators, compliance officers, and NIL directors to help their student-athletes land their first NIL deal.

Register here.

Shoot Your Shot

And why you should always bet on yourself

As a student-athlete (and a person in general), you should always be your number one supporter.

It’s good to have solid people around you.

Parents, coaches, teammates, training staff, etc.

But at the end of the day, no one will advocate more for you than yourself.

Even if everyone is saying something is wrong but you feel it’s right, then stick with your beliefs.

This applies to NIL as well.

Case Study

Earlier this year, EA Sports announced they were bringing back their college football game after a 10+ year hiatus.

With NIL in effect, this means current NCAA Division 1 college football players could opt-in, having their name, image and likeness in the game.

For agreeing to be in the game, each athlete will be paid $600 and receive a copy of the game (valued at ~$70).

However, amongst the 11,000+ athletes who opted in within the first two weeks, one notable holdout was the University of Texas quarterback (and nephew of NFL QB greats Peyton and Eli Manning).

Earlier this month (and several months after the initial announcement of the game), Arch posted a video on Twitter/X featuring him and his uncle Eli playing CFB 25, stating, “I’m in the game.”

Additionally, reports state that Arch was paid $50-60K for this partnership - and will also receive $600 and a copy of the game.

Takeaways

1. Know your worth
   
   Arch was able to leverage a larger payday for himself, due to several factors. (Name recognition, star power, etc.)

   Even if most student-athletes are not earning deals of this magnitude, they should understand their value and pitch brands accordingly. (ie., Propose a higher dollar amount than what you initially think is a fair number, and negotiate if needed.)
   

2. ‘No’ right now may become ‘Yes’ later
   
   If a student-athlete pitches a brand and they are not interested, don’t take it personally. Instead, work on creating more content, improving your editing, finding your voice, etc.
   
   A few months later, go back to the brand and pitch them again. (ie., Shoot your shot.) You now have an increased database of content for them to review, hopefully more followers, and ultimately, more negotiating leverage.
   

3. You don’t know unless you ask
   
   You may have heard the phrase: “If you never ask, the answer is always ‘no.’”
   
   The same rule applies to NIL deals: If you like a brand enough but are concerned they won’t respond, shoot your shot and message them regardless.
   
   While it’s not guaranteed they will respond, initiating contact with them and sharing your interest in a partnership is a great first step to potentially forming a relationship.

Thank You for reading today’s newsletter

^{I discuss insights and news related to NIL and personal branding for athletes every Wednesday at 12p ET/9a PT.}

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