🏅 Chevron Ruling and College Sports

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Happy 4th of July!

A huge development in the Supreme Court could change whether or not athletes are considered employees. Ole Miss’ collective director is fed up with portal tampering. Oh, and we finally know how much money the NCAA has spent on legal fees this year. It’s all coming up now in NIL Wire.

Oh — another fun update. On Saturday, we’re dropping our list of the Top Ten Stories of the Year So Far! You won’t want to miss it!

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KICK-OFF

Chevron Ruling Will Impact College Sports

If you follow national politics at all, you’ve likely heard about how the Supreme Court recently overruled the longstanding Chevron deference. Well, funny enough, that decision could impact whether college athletes are considered employees in the near future.

Here’s the nuts and bolts: The Chevron deference refers to a 1980s ruling that made it nearly impossible for businesses and individuals to challenge agencies in court. Now that that ruling has been overturned, the NLRB’s decision on whether student-athletes are employees is weakened.

“With agency deference gone, whether the National Labor Relations Board concludes college athletes are, or are not, employees within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act could prove more vulnerable to legal challenge,” said Sportico’s Michael McCann. His full write-up is really good; check it out by clicking the link. (More)

Does LSU have the Biggest Brand?

As NIL celebrates its third birthday, LSU wanted to let everyone know who runs the NIL game. The school’s athletic department just published a piece making the argument that LSU is the best brand in college sports for student-athletes wanting to maximize their NIL. 

They make a compelling case. Angel Reese, Jayden Daniels, Flau’jae Johnson, and Livvy Dunne were four of the biggest NIL brands during the 2023-2024 academic year, and all donned the purple and gold.

Buoyed by some more metrics – like the school’s rapid social media growth last year – LSU has a claim to the throne. The only question is: should we attribute the NIL success to the LSU brand? Or a rare collection of sports talent? (More)

NIL Club on Pause for Florida High Schools

The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) recently approved NIL for high school, which opened doors for platforms like NIL Club — a platform that helps student-athletes create paywall content for fans, much like Patreon. NIL Club’s immediate popularity among high school athletes saw over 50,000 sign-ups, leading to the creation of numerous high school pages in Florida.

However, the rapid growth hit a snag when FHSAA Executive Director Craig Damon clarified that NIL implementation must wait for State Board of Education ratification. Consequently, the NIL Club temporarily deactivated all Florida high school pages.

No student-athlete in Florida will receive money from NIL Club until the board's approval. This move underscores the importance of compliance with state regulations and highlights the ongoing adjustments needed to balance opportunity with maintaining the integrity of high school sports. (More)

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WHAT’S TRENDING

Ups and Downs

• TCU announces their budget will allow them to distribute the maximum amount of Rev-Share money – $22 million per year 📈

• Niagara University has been “hemorrhaging” fans and NIL donations, which speaks to a larger problem: Can schools in the MAAC even survive the impending budget cut? 📉

• After one of their star baseball players entered the portal, Ole Miss’ collective director tweeted, “Tampering is a real problem.” It’s worth noting that Ole Miss’ football program has arguably benefitted the most from the transfer portal in the country 📉

DOWN TO BUSINESS

NCAA’s Legal Fees are Piling Up

According to its most recent tax filing, the NCAA paid $62.5 million in legal fees last year. That number represents a jump from fiscal years 2022 and 2021, when the bill hovered around $52 million, but remains lower than the organization’s $67.7 million bill in 2021.

It’s not hard to see why the 2020s have been so expensive for the NCAA. In 2021, NIL became an official policy. After that, the NCAA has dealt with lawsuits from every angle – including the House v. NCAA suit, which is technically still ongoing. If I were to guess, 2024 will likely be their most expensive year to date as they try to agree to terms on the House settlement. 

About a decade ago, the NCAA was only spending about $10 million on legal fees. Those days seem to be long gone. (More)

• Baylor is partnering with Playfly to launch Playfly Max, which will help the school generate additional revenue to help pay for rev-share in the future.  

• The Peach Bowl Conference announced a deal with Teamworks that will give compliance and recruiting software to every school.

COLLECTIVE 101

Collective Spending Breakdown for 2023-24

Over 80% of all NIL funding comes through NIL collectives. Luckily, Front Office Sports just released a statistical breakdown of how those collectives distribute money – organizing the data by sport.

It may come as little shock, but football accounted for 72.2% of collective spending in 2023-24 – meaning nearly ¾ of NIL donations go towards the gridiron. In second place was men’s basketball, which took in 21.2% of the budget. Women’s basketball and volleyball took in 2.3% and 0.8% of collective spending. 

When you see collective spending laid out like this, it makes sense why so many athletic department officials fear how Title IX might be applied to NIL. (More)

• Syracuse just named Alex Kline, a former NBA scout, as their new NIL GM. Kline most recently worked in the New York Knicks’ front office.

• BYU will not dissolve its NIL collective, although it’s hard to say whether or not it will be brought “in-house” yet.

ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT

Frederick Richard

• School: University of Michigan

• Position: Floor, All Around, Bars 

• Sport: Gymnastics 

• Class: Sophomore 

• Accolades: 

  • Three-time NCAA All-American (2024)

  •  Big Ten Gymnast of the Championships (2024)

  •  Big Ten All-Around Champion (2024)

  • First Team All-Big Ten (2024)

  • NCAA Champion, high bar, parallel bars, all-around (2023)

• NIL: Fredrick has built a massive following, landing him NIL deals with brands like Crocs, Snoop Dogg's cereal, CVS, and Marriott Bonvoy.

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NIL BLITZ

♦️ NC State drops the licensing company from their lawsuit, now honed in on just the NCAA 

♦️ What is “sports tourism”, and could it help schools bring in more revenue?

♦️ Learfield and Michigan are partnering for another season of Michigan Made: Football 

♦️ Texas Tech launches official NIL beer for the upcoming season

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BATTER UP

Today’s Poll Question:

Last Edition’s Poll Results:

Will Messi be worth $50 million per year over the next two years if he brings the MLS title to Inter Miami?

• Yes - 32%

• No - 68%