![\"\"](\"https:\/\/secureservercdn.net\/198.71.233.31\/s4s.46a.myftpupload.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Meyer-Michelle-Wong-Scott-Alvarez-Danny14_0217-scaled.jpg?time=1632368870\" "\\"Meyer")
<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThis article was initially written as a Guest Post for the American Volleyball Coaches Association and appeared\u00a0HERE<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n June 24, 2021 \u2502 By Michelle Meyer<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n If you\u2019re similar to the college coaches that I\u2019ve spoken to recently, you\u2019re aware that NCAA Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) reform is coming soon. However, you aren\u2019t quite sure how this is going to affect your athletes, your team, and your university. To be clear, nobody knows yet.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n On July 1, collegiate athletes in six states (Florida, Alabama, New Mexico, Texas, Georgia, Mississippi) will be permitted to monetize their NIL. There is also a strong possibility that the\u00a0NCAA passes NIL reform<\/a>\u00a0to cover all states at their meetings later this month. In my opinion, they can\u2019t\u00a0afford not to<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Regardless of the NCAA passing sweeping legislation or not, the first months of NIL are bound to be chaotic and confusing. As a college coach, being proactive NOW and taking simple steps to educate yourself before this goes into effect will have a positive impact on your athletes, team culture, and may even help your recruiting game.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n At the time of writing this (Sunday, June 20), 19 states have passed their own NIL bills and there are four more sitting on the respective Governor\u2019s desk for signature.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n While the state\u00a0NIL bills are similar<\/a>, there are subtleties in them that could affect your athletes and their eligibility. There are differences in reporting requirements (some states require athletes to report deals seven days in advance while others don\u2019t specify a timeframe or even require reporting), deal opportunities (New Mexico allows athletes to sign shoe endorsements regardless of the institution\u2019s existing contract with a shoe brand), and requirements for representation (Oklahoma\u2019s NIL bill dedicates around 20 pages to defining an agent and their roles).<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Familiarize yourself with your state NIL bill, where it\u2019s at in the legislative processes, and any nuances that make it unique.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Even though the NCAA may pass NIL reform before the end of June, state bills trump the NCAA. For those states with effective NIL laws, the institutions and athletes will be playing by their state laws until a federal NIL bill is passed. For states without NIL laws, it is still unclear what their rules will look like.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Universities have been partnering with 3rd party NIL companies at a rapid pace in 2021. In fact,\u00a0over 80%<\/a>\u00a0of the Power 5 schools have an NIL resource of some kind in place for their athletes to utilize once the legislation goes into effect. These offerings vary greatly: some schools are focused on education and compliance while others are focused on building the athlete\u2019s brand and optimizing their social media to ensure the greatest opportunity to cash in on NIL. There\u2019s one thing they all have in common: Comprehensive NIL services are the new \u201cshiny locker room\u201d that programs and coaches can use to entice recruits.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n If your athletic department is offering an NIL resource, learn about it and how it may help your athletes succeed. If your school hasn\u2019t yet partnered with an NIL company, ask your administrator if there is a plan or timeline in place. Outside of your athletic department, does your university offer a course on entrepreneurship, personal branding, or social media marketing? These are all good places to steer your athletes towards.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Outside of the resources provided by your institution, your athletes may utilize other services to help them monetize their NIL. There are a plethora of digital marketplaces that connect athletes with endorsements and other NIL opportunities (a staggering THIRTY companies last time I checked!), branding & marketing agencies, financial experts, accounting & tax services, attorneys, and sports agents that are looking to work directly with your players. I anticipate that, at a minimum, athletes will register on a handful of the digital marketplaces and that most of their NIL deals will be negotiated through these platforms.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Familiarizing yourself with these companies will help you understand what your athletes are doing and may help you communicate with prospects as NIL starts becoming part of the recruiting conversation.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Once you\u2019re comfortable with your NIL rules and services available, schedule a meeting to discuss them with your team. It\u2019s imperative that you open the communication lines surrounding NIL early, make your athletes aware that you are supportive of their NIL endeavors, and put some guidelines in place.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n One of the top concerns that I\u2019ve heard from coaches is keeping their athletes eligible as they navigate NIL; taking initiative and setting the framework via a team meeting is a great first step.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Although it may turn out that only a handful of your players are looking to take advantage of these new opportunities and you can\u2019t actually help them secure deals, being transparent about this chaotic and confusing space will make you more approachable when they have questions about NIL. Also, a team meeting will help you understand which of your players are looking to monetize their NIL, how they intend to do it, and what the potential impact NIL might have on your team next season.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n How to control boosters in the NIL era is an issue that hasn\u2019t been worked out yet. While it may put an end to some of the illegal \u201cunder the table\u201d deals of the past few decades, it\u2019s possible that NIL will open up a whole new realm of boosters persuading PSAs to attend their school via endorsement promises. While this is prohibited in every NIL bill thus far, boosters are notoriously creative and have the ability to work their way around NCAA rules. Share information with your boosters as you learn it and always reiterate that in such a new and unknown time, your athletes\u2019 eligibility is the number one priority. Let them know that while you can\u2019t be a part of any NIL deals, you can do your best to answer their questions and get them the information that they need.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n As we move into this new era of collegiate athletics, your athletes will be afforded new freedoms and opportunities that will help them grow professionally, develop life-long personal skills, and potentially build their savings to put them in a good financial position after graduation. However, as with any significant change, there will be growing pains as institutions, coaches, athletes, brands, and NIL companies navigate this space without much guidance. The best anyone in a leadership role can do in situations like this is to learn as much as possible, over communicate, and be transparent. Following these simple steps should put you in a great position to take control of NIL. Good luck!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n About the Author:<\/strong>\u00a0Michelle Meyer, a former D1 volleyball coach, launched\u00a0NIL Network<\/a>\u00a0in December of 2020 to help athletes, coaches, and administrators successfully navigate NIL reform. She is currently developing a workshop for college coaches, \u201cCoaching in the NIL Era\u201d and one for college teams \u201cKnow Your NIL\u201d. Both are launching in July. You can learn more about the workshops\u00a0here<\/a>. \u00a0 June 28, 2021 This article was initially written as a Guest Post for the American Volleyball Coaches Association and appeared\u00a0HERE.\u00a0 June 24, 2021 \u2502 By Michelle Meyer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":159,"featured_media":4249,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[87,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-name-image-and-likness","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nKNOW WHAT RULES YOU\u2019RE NIL\u2019ING BY<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nUNDERSTAND THE SERVICES AVAILABLE FOR YOUR ATHLETES<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nTALK TO YOUR ATHLETES ABOUT NIL<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR BOOSTERS<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Even though it\u2019s still unclear in what capacity, if any, boosters will be permitted to partner with individual athletes, early communication will help set the tone and position yourself as the \u201cpoint person\u201d for NIL education.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Follow along on\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0for daily NIL updates.
Reach out via email:\u00a0Michelle@nilnetwork.com<\/a><\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"