Gophers at NIL disadvantage? Huskers, Iowa to benefit?

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fmlizard

fmlizard

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Pure theory here, but could the Gophers be a less lucrative destination in a NIL world than some other Big Ten schools? Consider that there are a certain amount of local sponsorship / endorsement deals available for athletes. MSP is larger than a lot of other Big Ten markets, so the pie is larger. However, it must be split with all of the Vikings, plus pro athletes from all the other teams in the area.

Consider a place such as Nebraska, with no pro teams. In Nebraska, the most famous people in the state right now are:

Warren Buffett
Scott Frost
Old Tom Osborne
Adrian Martinez

The first guy doesn't need a sponsor and the next couple already have deals. So a mediocre QB not as good as Tanner Morgan might be in line for some fat Runza and Nebraska Furniture Mart endorsements while Tanner or any other Gopher won't have many offers.

Does limited competition in non-pro markets like Nebraska or Iowa give some teams an edge in NIL marketability?
 

It is a step up from Casa de Autos...

The Pandora's Box has been opened. It unleashes both blessings and curses.
 
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You raise an interesting point. The flow of money to the vast majority of college athletes will come from local brands and local individuals. While Minnesotans do like sports and have considerable affinity to certain teams, there appears to be significantly fewer bat sh!t crazy alumni. Furthermore there appears, based solely on my perception, that the sports population in MN places a different financial and social weight to the value of college sports than many other parts of the country.
I had mentioned in a different post that I thought there will emerge in football and basketball some powerhouses over the next 10 years from the schools that are now perennially in 30 to 100 rank simply because of a bat crazy billionaire alumni.
 

There will be winners and losers. How is this going to impact the Olympics? How is it going to affect pro sports? Lots of questions.
 
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fmlizard said:
Pure theory here, but could the Gophers be a less lucrative destination in a NIL world than some other Big Ten schools? Consider that there are a certain amount of local sponsorship / endorsement deals available for athletes. MSP is larger than a lot of other Big Ten markets, so the pie is larger. However, it must be split with all of the Vikings, plus pro athletes from all the other teams in the area.

Consider a place such as Nebraska, with no pro teams. In Nebraska, the most famous people in the state right now are:

Warren Buffett
Scott Frost
Old Tom Osborne
Adrian Martinez

The first guy doesn't need a sponsor and the next couple already have deals. So a mediocre QB not as good as Tanner Morgan might be in line for some fat Runza and Nebraska Furniture Mart endorsements while Tanner or any other Gopher won't have many offers.

Does limited competition in non-pro markets like Nebraska or Iowa give some teams an edge in NIL marketability?
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It's hard to say; though like you point out the pie is larger here. I've got to think Gophers like Jordan Murphy and Antoine Winfield would have done okay. And if a native Minnesotan reaches a certain level, he or she will certainly be doing okay (whatever that means). Lindsay Whalen, by the time she was a senior, might have hauled in quite a bit.

We may be front-runners, but there is still a lot of Gopher love in this state. People will get excited about them if you give them something to be excited about.
 


This subject brings us back to the need, or ability, to keep local talent at the U.

Can you imagine the draw of a Joe Mauer or Kevin McHale type athlete in terms of compensation?

This is bit off subject, but based on what I've seen so far, I think recruiting the State of Illinois will become more difficult with Beilema in charge at Illinois.
 

It's all speculation at this point. It is interesting discussion. No one can say for sure.


I don't really feel like the relative level of the recruits and players in the Big Ten is going to change a whole lot.

I think it will pretty much be the same as what it has been. Some players will now also be able to make some nice side change, is what it is.



I guess the real, actual question will be something like:

- how many times will it happen that a player chooses Nebraska or Iowa over the Gophers, moving forward now, who would have chosen Minnesota back in 2017, 18, 19 ... ?


It might be more than zero. But I don't feel like it's going to be a game-changer.


Could be wrong though.
 

And keep in mind: sometimes it can actually be a blessing in disguise to miss out on your #1 guy in a position, and get the "fall back" guy, who ends up developing into a better college player.

It was just being talked about in the other thread: I think it's actually a good thing that we "missed" on Benhart. He looked silly last season against us, at times.
 

What the "new"ways to get csh to college athletes does is to bring out into daylight what had been done sub rosa for decades.
There were/are a lot of "jobs"out there for big donors and the schools in which no real work was done either by the players or their family members.
And of course very large chunks of $$$ given to family members that passed through multiple hands making it hard to trace.
NE is still going to be a difficult place to recruit to because of geography and IA is still seen as having built in endemic racism.
 



I am just curious if the "Row the Boat" leadership vision will lead to NIL endorsements/speaking opportunities for players. I think a lot of corporations would love to have Morgan come in and speak on Row the Boat culture at this moment in time. His name and likeness are now connected with something that is not about Minnesota Gophers, but about something that connects with corporate America leadership branding. I am guess there could be a load of money and opportunity if a smart college student would just be willing to capitalize on this.
 
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It seems likely the number of birthday party appearances, speaking engagements, meet and greets, photo shoots, ad shoots, and social media obligations - planning/shooting/editing one to two vids per week or more - may possibly skew incentives and possibly impact some students’ ability to focus on their athletic and academic obligations.

I could be totally wrong.

Then again, a student athlete can always focus on making hay while the sun shines, deal with skool later. The coaches will have a lot to navigate in terms of dealing with helping students meet their obligations, particularly at some institutions.
 

Plato said:
What the "new"ways to get csh to college athletes does is to bring out into daylight what had been done sub rosa for decades.
There were/are a lot of "jobs"out there for big donors and the schools in which no real work was done either by the players or their family members.
And of course very large chunks of $$$ given to family members that passed through multiple hands making it hard to trace.
NE is still going to be a difficult place to recruit to because of geography and IA is still seen as having built in endemic racism.
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Which isn’t much different from “real life”
 




gophernut1 said:
I am just curious is the "Row the Boat" leadership vision that PJ Fleck is getting traction on from a public speaking perspective may lead to NIL opportunities. I think a lot of corporations would love to have Morgan come in and speak on Row the Boat culture at this moment in time. His name and likeness are now connected with something that is not about Minnesota Gophers, but about something that connects with corporate America leadership branding. I am guess there could be a load of money and opportunity if a smart college student would just be willing to capitalize on this.
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I'm not sure how a player endorsement type deal works when it is tied to a coach's slogan ... would be interesting to know how / if that works within the rules.

Although as far as I can tell there aren't many rules now & we don't really know how that plays out.

For me the real question is how / if non hardcore / only game in town college football markets will do much with NIL.
 

MplsGopher said:
Sounds like more of the same, of how it's been the last XX years anyway.
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On steroids.

Furthermore if the bolded is true, why were NIL rule changes needed? You guys are arguing with yourselves and saying ludicrous things.

This is a new era.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
why were NIL rule changes needed?
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No need for illegal rules to prevent things that don't need to be prevented.

Often times, changes to make progress are good.


No need for you to pretend to argue against it just for the sake of doing that - your MO when it comes to any. single. change towards progress.
 

MplsGopher said:
No need for illegal rules to prevent things that don't need to be prevented.

Often times, changes to make progress are good.


No need for you to pretend to argue against it just for the sake of doing that - your MO when it comes to any. single. change towards progress.
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Predicting responses to economic incentives is perfectly within the rules of agreeable discourse. There are usually known and unknown consequences to any rule change. Let’s see what happens, shall we?
 

I think the interesting thing - as far as differences between schools - will be to see which businesses are more aggressive in reaching out to athletes. that is where you could see a difference from one school to the next.

a business in Columbus may be more quick to reach out to OSU athletes - or a business in Iowa City may be more quick to reach out to IA athletes compared to a business in MN. as noted, there are a lot more options in the Twin Cities. If you want an athlete connected with your business, would you rather have a Twin, a Viking, a Wild, a Wolf, or a Gopher?

I could see Gopher players getting more local or smaller deals - Dinkytown restaurants, etc.

Let's face it - if it's a question of Kirk Cousins vs Tanner Morgan for an endorsement deal, I suspect most businesses would rather have Cousins, based strictly on name recognition.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I think the interesting thing - as far as differences between schools - will be to see which businesses are more aggressive in reaching out to athletes. that is where you could see a difference from one school to the next.

a business in Columbus may be more quick to reach out to OSU athletes - or a business in Iowa City may be more quick to reach out to IA athletes compared to a business in MN. as noted, there are a lot more options in the Twin Cities. If you want an athlete connected with your business, would you rather have a Twin, a Viking, a Wild, a Wolf, or a Gopher?

I could see Gopher players getting more local or smaller deals - Dinkytown restaurants, etc.

Let's face it - if it's a question of Kirk Cousins vs Tanner Morgan for an endorsement deal, I suspect most businesses would rather have Cousins, based strictly on name recognition.
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What you're saying is true but you also have to factor in cost. It is going to cost a business way more to get Cousins than it would to get someone like Morgan.

Will be interesting to see how much impact this ends up having. I still think the biggest impact will be felt on the basketball side. In football, I can see the top players maybe benefitting some but I doubt it will go real deep, at least as far as significant dollar amounts are concerned.
 

gophernut1 said:
I am just curious is the "Row the Boat" leadership vision that PJ Fleck is getting traction on from a public speaking perspective may lead to NIL opportunities. I think a lot of corporations would love to have Morgan come in and speak on Row the Boat culture at this moment in time. His name and likeness are now connected with something that is not about Minnesota Gophers, but about something that connects with corporate America leadership branding. I am guess there could be a load of money and opportunity if a smart college student would just be willing to capitalize on this.
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I admit Fleck makes my teeth itch so I doubt if many corporations are waiting with bated breath to hear about "row the boat culture".
 

Local media pumps up local recruits. That helps people to stay home.

Only truly big time recruits will get paid wherever they go.
 

Plato said:
I admit Fleck makes my teeth itch so I doubt if many corporations are waiting with bated breath to hear about "row the boat culture".
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Do you speak for all corporations?

There are a lot of management types that eat that stuff up.
 

Plato said:
I admit Fleck makes my teeth itch so I doubt if many corporations are waiting with bated breath to hear about "row the boat culture".
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No doubt, sure everyone locally feels exactly the same way that you do....I mean just look at how many of us just love your Badger loving takes on a Gopher Forum. You clearly have your finger on the pulse when it comes to Gopher football.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
On steroids.

Furthermore if the bolded is true, why were NIL rule changes needed? You guys are arguing with yourselves and saying ludicrous things.

This is a new era.
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Now we can get a CFB video game with actual teams and players in it again...:p
 

fmlizard said:
Pure theory here, but could the Gophers be a less lucrative destination in a NIL world than some other Big Ten schools? Consider that there are a certain amount of local sponsorship / endorsement deals available for athletes. MSP is larger than a lot of other Big Ten markets, so the pie is larger. However, it must be split with all of the Vikings, plus pro athletes from all the other teams in the area.

Consider a place such as Nebraska, with no pro teams. In Nebraska, the most famous people in the state right now are:

Warren Buffett
Scott Frost
Old Tom Osborne
Adrian Martinez

The first guy doesn't need a sponsor and the next couple already have deals. So a mediocre QB not as good as Tanner Morgan might be in line for some fat Runza and Nebraska Furniture Mart endorsements while Tanner or any other Gopher won't have many offers.

Does limited competition in non-pro markets like Nebraska or Iowa give some teams an edge in NIL marketability?
Click to expand...
Me thinks there is a mighty lucrative tire deal at New Mexico State...
 

MNVCGUY said:
No doubt, sure everyone locally feels exactly the same way that you do....I mean just look at how many of us just love your Badger loving takes on a Gopher Forum. You clearly have your finger on the pulse when it comes to Gopher football.
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Now that's what I call a bitch-slapping. Well done!
 

It might change the calculation for some recruits being the big fish in a small pond might be more lucrative than being buried on the depth chart at a helmet school. The prospect of early playing time will be more attractive also.
 

Boomtime said:
This subject brings us back to the need, or ability, to keep local talent at the U.

Can you imagine the draw of a Joe Mauer or Kevin McHale type athlete in terms of compensation?

This is bit off subject, but based on what I've seen so far, I think recruiting the State of Illinois will become more difficult with Beilema in charge at Illinois.
Click to expand...
What do you mean by based on what you have seen so far? None of the top 10 guys in Illinois have committed to Illinois thus far.
 

MNVCGUY said:
What you're saying is true but you also have to factor in cost. It is going to cost a business way more to get Cousins than it would to get someone like Morgan.

Will be interesting to see how much impact this ends up having. I still think the biggest impact will be felt on the basketball side. In football, I can see the top players maybe benefitting some but I doubt it will go real deep, at least as far as significant dollar amounts are concerned.
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I don’t see how it doesn’t get abused with recruiting.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
Predicting responses to economic incentives is perfectly within the rules of agreeable discourse. There are usually known and unknown consequences to any rule change. Let’s see what happens, shall we?
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Yes, with all of the people that have thought about solutions for this and most other problems, someone would have come up with the perfect solution by now, if there was one. Though, changes in circumstances can make some options more enticing over time.

The grass usually appears greener on the other side, so many changes can be easy to sell to people. As you said, only time helps to determine whether this and other changes actually lead to "progress."
 

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