Funny tweet on NIL

[Stan]

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

One of my clients hired an AI consultant for $1.8M to download Co-pilot and do 3 trainings on basic AI (co-pilot, using internal open AI, etc.). My point? With Capitalism you're free to make terrible decisions too.

 

[minnyrules11]

It’s not nil but pay for play with the majority. It’s a giant waste all so you can buy your Alma mater a title. Wish they would get rid of scholarships then and just make it minor league and leave it up to the individual if they want to go to class.

If they are marketable great. Jersey sales, promoting a product or appear in fast food commercials like Caleb Williams makes sense.

 

[GopherGrit]

This goes right back to the point I was making in the other thread.

What possible value is there in donating to NIL?

- you aren't an "owner" of the team, there is no such thing in college
- you money vaporizes into thin air at the end of the season
- zero tangible ROI

Absolutely not sustainable long term, and the collectives all need to be shut down and abolished.


There's a clear and obvious reason why there is no such thing in NFL or other professional sports ... I'm talking about fans, boosters donating their own personal money to players. Not talking about actual, bona fide endorsement deals.

 

[Gold Vision]

This goes right back to the point I was making in the other thread.

What possible value is there in donating to NIL?

- you aren't an "owner" of the team, there is no such thing in college
- you money vaporizes into thin air at the end of the season
- zero tangible ROI

Absolutely not sustainable long term, and the collectives all need to be shut down and abolished.


There's a clear and obvious reason why there is no such thing in NFL or other professional sports ... I'm talking about fans, boosters donating their own personal money to players. Not talking about actual, bona fide endorsement deals.

It’s because what you’re describing, and what’s going on in practice, isn’t NIL. These “donations” are pay for play with no real deliverables attached.

If NIL were truly regulated to the original intent, every sponsorship and endorsement would be tied to a fair market deliverable for the product, service, or appearance. Quid pro quo arrangements.

What’s allowed vs. not allowed​

Allowed when all are true:​

• You are paid specifically for use of your NIL, such as ads, posts or appearances
• The deal has a valid business purpose tied to a real product, service or event offered to the public
• Compensation is within a reasonable range for people with similar fame or influence
• You may use an agent or marketing professional for NIL activities

Not allowed:​

• Pay with no required promotional activity or deliverables
• Agreements that say your NIL will be used later with no defined plan
• Pay-for-play, including payment to attend or compete for a specific school or compensation for athletics participation or achievement
• Compensation outside a reasonable range for similar deals

 

[scalgopher]

Cheapies are losers that love to bitch!

 

[btowngopher]

This goes right back to the point I was making in the other thread.

What possible value is there in donating to NIL?

- you aren't an "owner" of the team, there is no such thing in college
- you money vaporizes into thin air at the end of the season
- zero tangible ROI

Absolutely not sustainable long term, and the collectives all need to be shut down and abolished.


There's a clear and obvious reason why there is no such thing in NFL or other professional sports ... I'm talking about fans, boosters donating their own personal money to players. Not talking about actual, bona fide endorsement deals.

I think you are underestimating how much rich people are willing to throw away to see their team win.

 

[PMWinSTP]

Cheapies are losers that love to bitch!

So you think that was money well spent? Same overall record as last year, one less win in conference.

 

[GopherGrit]

I think you are underestimating how much rich people are willing to throw away to see their team win.

Why aren't they doing it in the NFL?

You can't tell me some rich oil man wouldn't give $5M of his own money as a "NIL deal" (fake as hell) to be able for the Texans or Cowboys to sign some key player at under the salary cap?

 

[GopherGrit]

It’s because what you’re describing, and what’s going on in practice, isn’t NIL. These “donations” are pay for play with no real deliverables attached.

If NIL were truly regulated to the original intent, every sponsorship and endorsement would be tied to a fair market deliverable for the product, service, or appearance. Quid pro quo arrangements.

What’s allowed vs. not allowed​

Allowed when all are true:​

• You are paid specifically for use of your NIL, such as ads, posts or appearances
• The deal has a valid business purpose tied to a real product, service or event offered to the public
• Compensation is within a reasonable range for people with similar fame or influence
• You may use an agent or marketing professional for NIL activities

Not allowed:​

• Pay with no required promotional activity or deliverables
• Agreements that say your NIL will be used later with no defined plan
• Pay-for-play, including payment to attend or compete for a specific school or compensation for athletics participation or achievement
• Compensation outside a reasonable range for similar deals

Exactly correct!

 

[GooningGopher]

Why aren't they doing it in the NFL?

You can't tell me some rich oil man wouldn't give $5M of his own money as a "NIL deal" (fake as hell) to be able for the Texans or Cowboys to sign some key player at under the salary cap?

This is retarded and you know it. We all know there something more meaningful if you went to a university vs being in proximity to an nfl team.

 

[btowngopher]

Why aren't they doing it in the NFL?

You can't tell me some rich oil man wouldn't give $5M of his own money as a "NIL deal" (fake as hell) to be able for the Texans or Cowboys to sign some key player at under the salary cap?

Probably because they know the owner can afford to pay it.

 

[Word]

Probably because they know the owner can afford to pay it.

I am pretty sure it's not allowed by the pro contracts either.

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

Gilbert Areneas tells a story about how the team who gave him a contract skirted the rules when he was a FA.

They weren’t able to to pay as much as another team, but made it up by buying him a $5M house, cars and jewelry. Whatever you think of them, this behavior was shown to have happened with Kwai Leonard’s contract by Steve Balmer.

There’s a million ways to pad someone’s income and keep it off the books.

 

[GopherGrit]

Probably because they know the owner can afford to pay it.

SEC teams all opted into the House Settlement and all will dole out around $14-15M out of the athletic department, somewhere around there. That's equivalent to owners paying their players near the salary cap.

That's the same "they can afford it", in both cases. I don't think that's the reason it doesn't happen in the NFL.

And yet we see plenty in college wanting to donate millions in fake "NIL" deals/collectives.

 

[GopherGrit]

For the heck of it, I put the following prompt into ChatGPT:

"In the NFL, is there anything stopping a group of fans of a team from forming an NIL "collective" to provide NIL controls to various free agents in order to lure them to sign with the team they are fans of?"

Here is the response (take with grains of salt, as always with generative AI !):

In the NFL (professional football), the situation is very different from college athletics — and yes, there are significant legal and regulatory barriers that would prevent a group of fans from setting up an NIL-style “collective” solely to pay free agents as a way to influence where those players sign.


Here’s why:

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1. NFL Players Are Employees Under a Union Contract​

NFL players are professional athletes and employees of their teams, governed by a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the NFL and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA). Their compensation for playing (base salary, bonuses, guarantees) is strictly regulated by that CBA and by the league’s salary cap system — and team payrolls must conform to those rules. Use of NIL-like payments to circumvent salary-cap limits would likely be treated by the league as disguised compensation, which is prohibited. Teams and players can’t circumvent those salary-cap rules with third-party payments tied to play or signing. NFL Players Association

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2. NFL and NFLPA Control Endorsements and Licensing​

While NFL players can earn money from endorsement deals and marketing separate from their team contracts, those deals must be independent and comply with league/NFLPA policies. The NFLPA has specific Partnership & Endorsement Policies governing how third parties can work with players commercially. Any organization using NFLPA trademarks incorrectly or implying an NFLPA affiliation without approval is violating policy. NFL Players Association


In practice:

• A player can sign endorsement deals on their own.
• But a fan collective trying to funnel money to a player as a condition of signing with a team would almost certainly be viewed as a compensation inducement tied to entering a contract, which strays into prohibited territory.

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3. You Can’t Legally Pay for “Play-For-Play” Influence​

In the college space, the big issue historically has been “pay-for-play”, where boosters or collectives essentially paid athletes to play or enroll at a certain school — something college regulators have tried (with mixed success) to curb. Football Scoop


In the NFL, the concept is even tighter: players’ salaries and benefits are collectively bargained, and external incentives that effectively function as additional compensation for choosing or performing with a team would likely be challenged under the CBA and league rules as attempts to circumvent salary or labor regulations.

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4. Influence and Collusion Risks​

A group of fans pooling money to influence player decisions could raise collusion or antitrust concerns. For example:

• If wealthy fans essentially “buy” free agents for a team, that could distort competition and run afoul of league and union rules.
• The NFLPA has historically litigated in areas involving compensation and collusion claims, and the league’s salary cap and player movement rules are part of what the union bargained for. Sports Litigation Alert

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5. Endorsements vs. Employment Compensation​

There is a legal category for players to earn money outside of their team salary — individual endorsement and licensing deals — and players do this all the time. Those deals:

• Must be arms-length commercial agreements,
• Cannot be contingent on signing with a particular team,
• And must not be a disguised additional salary tied directly to football services.

Players routinely sign endorsement deals for individual products, appearances, or personal marketing, but those are separate from contract negotiations with teams.