View in browser 

Good morning. It's Monday, August 5. 

POWERED BY

Even in its nascent form, the NCAA's new data dashboard – which was unveiled Thursday and includes aggregated NIL data – offers a treasure trove of intriguing insights. 

Working with NIL service provider Teamworks, the NIL Assist platform connects athletes with service providers, tracks disclosures of NIL activities and provides access to evolving trends across the industry.

The public database – which does not identify athletes by name – is a nod toward injecting some transparency into a three-year-old NIL space that has been defined by a scarcity of reliable transaction data. That transparency has been a priority for NCAA President Charlie Baker.

The NCAA is also seeking to get a handle on what it calls "fair market value" for NIL deals, an element addressed in the 100-plus pages of the long-form House v. NCAA settlement agreement. 

The information displayed in the database as of Aug. 1 includes data submitted by members who elected to share their data from the 2023-24 academic year. Beginning Aug. 1, it includes self-reported data from active Division I institutions and Division II and III schools that sponsor a Division I sport as required by NCAA bylaws. 

This real-time data dashboard will obviously change over time, as more information is disclosed. The aggregated data has identifying information removed but illuminates trends about NIL agreements. It includes the valuable ability to sort by a multitude of filters, including subdivision, sport, player position and type of NIL deal.

Here is a just a sampling of some of the interesting insights gleaned from the data:

• Data reported from Jan. 1 through Sunday include 37.3% of disclosures from football, 15.4% from men's basketball and 8.2% from women's basketball.
  
  
• The average total earnings per Power Four conference football and men's basketball player? $89,643.
  
  
• The average total earnings per Power Four athlete in sports other than football and men's basketball? $7,504.
  
  
• For Power Four football players, the average athlete earnings per player was $76,740.
  
  
• The average per P4 quarterback? $151,275. The average per Group of Five quarterback? $20,961.
  
  
• For P4 quarterbacks, the average total earnings per athlete for autograph deals was $201,203. For social media-focused deals – $258,218.
  
  
• For P4 football players overall, the average earnings for social media-focused deals? $146,068.
  
  
• For P4 men's basketball players, the average earnings per athlete was $171,272. For P4 women's basketball players? $16,222.

One of the most striking takeaways from the long-form House settlement was the NCAA's continued desire to curtail the ability of collectives to provide so-called pay-for-play compensation packages to athletes for recruiting and retention efforts. 

As part of the settlement, athletes will be required to report deals of more than $600 with third-party collectives to a newly created clearinghouse. If deals are not deemed to be "true NIL" transactions, athletes could lose eligibility and schools could be fined. – Eric Prisbell

Speaking at Big 12 Media Days in Las Vegas in July, Baylor coach Dave Aranda was asked about the recent recruiting success. In a new college football landscape where NIL is crucial to retaining and attracting talent, the fifth-year coach delivered a blunt answer.

"We're paying players," Aranda said on 365 Sports with Craig Smoak.

Asked in a follow-up question by Smoak if it's that simple, the Baylor coach responded with a quick "Yes."

Now the Bears are capitalizing on the moment. During training camp on Friday, Baylor assistant coaches wore T-shirts with the "We Pay Players" slogan. The marketing move is associated with a new merchandise collection with The NIL Store. Shirts and sweatshirts are for sale, with a portion of proceeds going to GXG which supports Baylor athletes.

Aranda later clarified that he was emphasizing how crucial the "money part" is in recruitment.

"The balance is to be that and then not lose who you are and to not lose the relationships, not lose the authenticity and being genuine, and really caring," Aranda said. "We talk about buying players, what you don't want to do is make it so it's so transactional that that's what it is. You're buying and discarding and off and on."

Baylor was initially slow to enter the NIL collective space, as one of the few Power 4 markets that went through year one of NIL without a dedicated collective. The Bears now have GXG, which serves as a non-profit organization that partners with donors to provide NIL options to Baylor athletes. GXG Elite was rolled out in February as an NIL membership program for Baylor fans and donors. The program offers a range of exclusive benefits, including access to special events, behind-the-scenes content and unique merchandise and memorabilia.

In October 2022, the initiative executed a team-wide NIL deal with Baylor football players. While the full details of the contract were not disclosed to On3, sources said the total amount of cash given to the athletes was in the seven-figure range.

Aranda admitted in November he was partially the reason why Baylor was behind in NIL.

"I think the way it stands right now just with our record and with the amount of freshmen that are playing on our team. …. We are kind of the perfect example of a team to be poached [by other teams," Aranda said at the time. "So, all that's in play right now and is happening right now and is something that I'm spending a lot of time on.

"So, whether that's NIL for the guys on our team and getting that to where that is way competitive. And then, for guys that are coming in, and that are going to be on our team and all that, I think it's something that is a major focus."

Baylor deputy athletic director Jovan Overshown told The Athletic this spring that NIL funding for football has "doubled" since last year and GXG is working to ensure that NIL doesn't stand in the way of Baylor landing or retaining a player.

The Bears were aggressive in the transfer portal, adding Toledo quarterback Dequan Finn and Texas State wide receiver Ashtyn Hawkins. – Pete Nakos

"At the end of the day, I think people get mistaken with the NIL stuff. They think a player's set off NIL stuff. This NIL stuff's not real money. It's just starting money, I would say. A lot of players, especially here, we like to save our stuff, because at the end of the day, life-changing money's that NFL money." – Miami quarterback Cam Ward explaining that pro contracts are the real big pay day for college stars

Despite the pending victory for revenue sharing becoming the norm for high-level college athletic departments, the feeling is there's still plenty of work to be done in the space on behalf of college athletes.

"They've been conditioned in this new NIL Era to think about what they can get financially while they can get it," Athletes.Org founder Jim Cavale told On3. "And that has been a distraction from them thinking about, 'Well, when I'm 23 and beyond, there's a lot of things I'm gonna need to get a job, to have healthcare from beating up my body like this, to be mentally stable, et cetera.'"

So, where might things go next?

While getting athletes a piece of the financial pie was evidently the first target for advocates, it's by no means an endpoint.

U.S. labor law allows for not only the negotiating of salary and other compensation but for workers to push for better working conditions and similarly situated issues. How that manifests for college athletes, specifically, is hard to predict. But Cavale is confident there's plenty more on the table for athletes across all sports.

For example in the NFL, players have a say in how many games are played each season, how the waiver and free agency processes play out, the medical care they're eligible to receive and seek out, and plenty more. Despite the move to sharing revenue with college athletes – primarily football players at Power Four institutions – the model of college athletic departments mostly dictating terms to athletes across all sports is seemingly not changing with the possible adoption of the House settlement.

So even while the courts are poised to hand down what would be a major victory with respect to college athletes – especially football players at major programs – getting paid, it still leaves plenty on the table for advocacy groups to push for.

"When I talk with current players, and I talk with former players when it comes to football, especially guys who are getting paid now, it's like the money doesn't – it's not the moving issue to get guys involved in organizing," said Jason Stahl, executive director and founder of the College Football Players Association. "The moving issue in football is player health, like 100%."

From Stahl's perspective, the path forward centers around the ability of athletes to sit down with the people running college athletics and negotiate a deal governing the endeavor in good faith.

Cavale, too, expects the arrival of revenue sharing will help cultivate a generation of college athletes that are slightly more engaged in these issues – ideally to the point they can exercise their collective power.

"And once the athletes negotiate what they're gonna make from the schools with them, I think that will be the mechanism for which an organization like us can not only get them the best financial deal but make sure that all of these other categories you're mentioning are also negotiated properly as benefits offered by the school to the athlete," Cavale said. "Because it's very important." 

In a way, the House settlement itself is a microcosm of what Cavale, Stahl and their counterparts are trying to combat: Even in the process of finally allowing college athletes to directly profit from the product they produce, the NCAA and member schools did so without ever directly considering the demands and desires of its workforce.

Getting athletes to flip the switch from short-term mindsets to considering not only their long-term needs, but the power they hold in shaping how current and future college athletes might be treated, is one of the key challenges. 

Cavale and Athletes.Org have leaned on CEO Brandon Copeland, a former college and NFL football player, to set the stage. Copeland was a former NFLPA player rep and is helping implement a similar model as Athletes.Org tries to work with various college teams across multiple sports. That model tasks player representatives to keep apprised of issues for their team and represent them at the bargaining table.

Stahl and the CFBPA are pushing for a very similar model. Both the football-focused CFBPA and broader-based Athletes.Org are banking on their groups not just being composed of current athletes but also getting meaningful contributions from former players. 

And Stahl, specifically, doesn't want his efforts to only include Power Four players.

"You don't just matter if you play for Ohio State, you don't just matter if you play for Alabama," Stahl said. "And so what we're saying is there needs to be another pathway people need to understand, to get out of their individualized box that you can only act as an individual. 

"What we're trying to say is players need to act collectively, and that could be through a formal collective bargaining process. But there are other ways in which individuals can come together and act collectively to better the lives of the group." – Andrew Graham

+Bru McCoy is back on Rocky Top for his redshirt senior season, and so is his NIL deal with the Moonshine Mountain Cookie Company.

McCoy, one of the top offensive weapons for the Tennessee offense, was announced as Moonshine Mountain Cookie's "Cookie Monster" for the upcoming season.

It's the fourth consecutive year the cookie maker has run the NIL campaign, working with a star Vol player each time. The marketing move debuted in the inaugural season of NIL in 2021, with defensive back Alontae Taylor. Cedric Tillman was the Cookie Monster in 2022 and McCoy took over the title in 2023. With him expecting a monster 2024 season, it made sense for him to reclaim the label.

As part of the agreement, if McCoy scores a touchdown in any game this year, Moonshine Mountain Cookie Company gives away two free cookies to each customer at any of its three Knoxville locations. Financial terms of the partnership were not made available.

McCoy holds an On3 NIL Valuation of $256,000. With more than 41,000 social media followers and the Tennessee brand behind him, his NIL value will only rise with a big season on the field. His Roster Value is also high as one of the top receivers in the SEC.

+Lamborghini Austin announced Texas Longhorns football players Isaiah Bond and Michael Taaffe were selected as the dealership's 2024 NIL partners.

The dealership – which has become a staple for deals with Longhorn standouts since the dawn of the NIL Era – said Bond and Taaffe were selected for the promotional agreement because of their "strong academic achievements, community leadership and success on the field." Financial terms of the partnership were not made available.

Bond, a junior receiver, is a former four-star recruit from Buford High School in Georgia. He transferred to Texas after two successful seasons as a star wide receiver at Alabama. Bond enters the 2024 season as a preseason second-team All-SEC pick. He holds an On3 NIL Valuation of $643,000, which sits at No. 75 in the On3 NIL 100.

Taaffe, a junior safety, is a former walk-on from Austin Westlake. He's played in 27 games with 10 starts in his Longhorn career, and he was named honorable mention All-Big 12 after the 2023 season.

+Colorado State incoming freshman women's basketball player Brooke Carlson signed an NIL deal to promote Clyde's Donuts – a family-owned and operated Chicago area bakery that's been in business since 1920. Carlson, a point guard, attended Batavia High School in the Western Chicago suburbs. The deal was facilitated BXLENT Management & Marketing and terms were not made available to the public.

+Texas State senior soccer player Anna Dunch is promoting Hangry Joe's, an iconic San Marcos, Texas, eatery, through a new NIL deal. Hangry Joe's has been active in the NIL space with multiple Texas State athletes promoting the restaurant on social media. Dunch, a defender, played in all 20 of Texas State's matches in 2023.