BleedGopher
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per ESPN:
Talmage Gunther wasn't expecting an ordinary Thursday in August, amid the often painful monotony of preseason camp, to become the most emotional day of his college football career.
The BYU walk-on wide receiver knew something strange was afoot when he walked into the Cougars' team facility after practice to find boxes of protein bars stacked above eye level throughout the room. A few minutes later, Nick Greer, CEO of Built protein bars and a BYU alum, was offering to change Gunther's life with an endorsement deal. In exchange for promoting the company at two in-person events and on social media, Greer was offering to pay each of the team's walk-on players enough money to cover tuition.
"It was a dream come true," Gunther said. "It was, it still is, amazing."
In quieter circles around the NCAA, though, the announcement also set off alarm bells. If BYU can facilitate a deal to help Gunther and his young family by covering his cost of attending college, what's to stop another school from lining up sponsorship deals worth hundreds of thousands of dollars for its athletes? And if a school starts asking its boosters to sponsor athletes, at what point does the sponsorship cross the line into a payment that is no different from a salary with some creative accounting?
These kinds of vast gray areas and unsettled questions in the new NIL era in college sports are making the path forward more complicated for NCAA members trying to thread a thin needle. They are currently tasked with making sure athletes receive more of a fair share of the giant profits they help generate while also convincing politicians, federal judges and the general public that college sports are primarily an education-based enterprise.
Veron says he understands the concerns about schools facilitating deals, but he believes that any school with its athletes' best interests in mind is in an ideal position to help them maximize their opportunities while providing an added layer of protection from "sharks and charlatans" trying to take advantage of the new marketplace.
Shortly after announcing BYU's deal with Built, Veron says he heard from more than a dozen administrators and coaches from around the country who wanted to know more about what the Cougars were doing.
"We got a bunch of schools saying, 'Hey, what's going on at BYU? We're hearing about this. How is this legal?'" Veron said. "A coach in the SEC reached out to me and asked how we did this."
www.espn.com
Go Gophers!!
Talmage Gunther wasn't expecting an ordinary Thursday in August, amid the often painful monotony of preseason camp, to become the most emotional day of his college football career.
The BYU walk-on wide receiver knew something strange was afoot when he walked into the Cougars' team facility after practice to find boxes of protein bars stacked above eye level throughout the room. A few minutes later, Nick Greer, CEO of Built protein bars and a BYU alum, was offering to change Gunther's life with an endorsement deal. In exchange for promoting the company at two in-person events and on social media, Greer was offering to pay each of the team's walk-on players enough money to cover tuition.
"It was a dream come true," Gunther said. "It was, it still is, amazing."
In quieter circles around the NCAA, though, the announcement also set off alarm bells. If BYU can facilitate a deal to help Gunther and his young family by covering his cost of attending college, what's to stop another school from lining up sponsorship deals worth hundreds of thousands of dollars for its athletes? And if a school starts asking its boosters to sponsor athletes, at what point does the sponsorship cross the line into a payment that is no different from a salary with some creative accounting?
These kinds of vast gray areas and unsettled questions in the new NIL era in college sports are making the path forward more complicated for NCAA members trying to thread a thin needle. They are currently tasked with making sure athletes receive more of a fair share of the giant profits they help generate while also convincing politicians, federal judges and the general public that college sports are primarily an education-based enterprise.
Veron says he understands the concerns about schools facilitating deals, but he believes that any school with its athletes' best interests in mind is in an ideal position to help them maximize their opportunities while providing an added layer of protection from "sharks and charlatans" trying to take advantage of the new marketplace.
Shortly after announcing BYU's deal with Built, Veron says he heard from more than a dozen administrators and coaches from around the country who wanted to know more about what the Cougars were doing.
"We got a bunch of schools saying, 'Hey, what's going on at BYU? We're hearing about this. How is this legal?'" Veron said. "A coach in the SEC reached out to me and asked how we did this."
Schools brokering NIL deals adds layer to college conundrum
The lack of uniformity in NIL rules has enabled some schools to directly assist athletes. The trend is growing, and it could impact congressional and court decisions about the NCAA.
Go Gophers!!
