Why Schools Cant Sell Jerseys With Players Names on Them

July 21, 2021 Read in Browser POWERED BY Welcome to FOS College, where we're reporting on the old-school — but potentially lucrative — way for college athletes to make bank on NIL: selling clothes. – Amanda Christovich

College Sports' New Threads Photo: Rand Bleimeister-UCLA Athletics/Design: Alex Brooks When the clock struck midnight on July 1, athletes started profiting off their NIL. As many predicted, some of the first ventures included sponsorship deals and social media endorsement posts. But athletes also waded into one of the more traditional ways to make money in the sports world: Apparel sales. Some have gone off on their own to manufacture and sell clothes; some have signed on with companies to co-design them; others will be compensated for the use of their names on the backs of official school jerseys. The Coveted Jersey Buying a player's jersey has been one of the most common ways for fans to support their favorite athletes in the pros. That wasn't possible in NCAA sports until now. Last week, The M Den, the official licensed retailer for the University of Michigan athletics, announced it would pay football players to have their names on the backs of jerseys, The Action Network first reported. As of Tuesday, about 100 players had agreed to the deal, Jared Wangler, whose company Valiant brokered the deal, told FOS. Players will get a cut of sales for the jerseys that will be sold for either $120 or $180 each. UNC went a step further. The school announced on Tuesday that it is launching a group licensing program open to all athletes who can sign deals to profit from "apparel and non-apparel" items featuring their likenesses alongside the UNC logo. Individual Designs It's not just jerseys — athletes are getting creative with other clothing designs too. Iowa basketball player Jordan Bohannon launched his own shop, selling T-shirts with his notable phrase "Thanks for the memz" for about $33 each. Nebraska volleyball player Lexi Sun teamed up with REN Athletics to sell $58 long-sleeve black crew necks with gold suns. And several players — from UCLA gymnast Margzetta Frazier to Kentucky basketball player Dontaie Allen — are selling apparel and other experiences on The Players Trunk, which previously could only offer former players' game-worn clothing. These current players can now sell original designs on the website. "Now's really the first chance you have to support your favorite [college] athletes," co-founder Austin Pomerantz told FOS. And already, the popularity of these items have "exceeded our wildest expectations."

Limitless Possibilities? Photo: Michigan Photography/Design: Alex Brooks As with many NIL opportunities, it's unclear just how much athletes could make by selling apparel — and who will bring home the most cash. But the first few weeks in the industry have already shown that there's an appetite for it beyond just the most famous men's basketball and football players. But just how lucrative this NIL venture could be compared to others — like social media posts, for example — remains to be seen. Range of Jerseys Wangler thinks the most lucrative opportunities will be at "blue blood" schools, but that eventually Division II and III athletes could benefit too if they "get creative." The sports that he thinks will be the most popular? Men's basketball and football, obviously. At Michigan, The M Den is currently only selling football jerseys and will attack men's hoops next. But he plans to help The M Den expand to other sports, too, since there's a "huge" opportunity for women's sports athletes to cash in. Wangler declined to disclose how much Michigan athletes will make off this particular deal. But he did say that their cut of the profits will be "significantly" higher than that of players in the NFL, which is usually 6-7% of the wholesale jersey price. 'Sky Is the Limit' Just like with jersey sales, women's sports athletes could benefit from individual design sales. Kentucky women's volleyball items, for example, sell out "within 24 hours" on The Players Trunk, Pomerantz said. When that first happened, "my jaw dropped." "You may be a walk-on on the bench, but you could have a huge personality, or a huge moment, and monetize that," Pomerantz said. A player could depict a buzzer-beater or another famous play on a shirt, for example, and sell thousands. If an athlete goes out on their own, they may have to deal with the cost of producing their clothing line. But that route has several benefits, including teaching them how to "hone in on their entrepreneurial skills outside of the classroom," NOCAP Sports CEO Nicholas Lord told FOS. Working with other brands may help with the production cost — though these companies will take a cut of the profits. While Pomerantz didn't disclose the exact percentage athletes receive from sales on The Players Trunk, he said they get "the lion's share" of the profit. T-shirts and hoodies go for around $30 and $60, respectively. Some players could make five or six figures, Pomerantz predicted. "The sky is really the limit."

Legal Boogeymen Photo: UNC Athletics/Design: Alex Brooks If the industry had already worked out all the legal kinks, it wouldn't be NIL. As athlete apparel sales grow, issues concerning both group licensing and trademarking have emerged. But already, schools and companies have found a few potential workarounds. Logo Usage While athletes have the rights to their NIL, they don't automatically have the rights to create products featuring school logos — or even their colors. School policies differ across the board. Arkansas, for example, won't let athletes use its logos or colors under any circumstances. Alabama requires athletes to apply for use of the trademark Alabama A. To get around this, some athletes just aren't using logos in their designs. But some athletes and their partner companies can negotiate with license holders to put logos on clothing — though they do have to pay for those rights, Pomerantz explained. This was the case, for example, with the shirts and hoodies created with Syracuse basketball player Buddy Boeheim. The Union Conundrum Compensation for anything that would require the use of multiple athletes' NILs, from jerseys to video games, falls under the dicey category of group licensing rights. That's when players sign a collective deal to share profits from these items. In the pros, players' unions negotiate these deals. But there's no official college athlete union — and the NCAA is determined to keep it that way, since it would classify athletes as employees, not amateurs. But Michigan and UNC have already been able to circumvent this issue, at least in the short term. Group licensing wasn't so much an issue for Michigan because The M Den is just paying athletes for putting names on "customized" jerseys, Wangler said. Other schools he works with have already called to ask if Valiant can help them set up similar deals. UNC created a group licensing program to offer solely to its students, which is less daunting than trying to negotiate a deal with athletes across many schools. "I see that potentially being a system that every university tries to replicate," Wangler said.

In Other News More than 40 college athletes at the Tokyo Olympics could cash in big on NIL for the first time, according to USA Today . The NCAA released its tax filings for the 2019-20 season. The filings revealed significant revenue losses due to COVID-19, a $2.9 million take-home year for President Mark Emmert, and $68 million in legal fees defending amateurism. Read more here . FBS conference commissioners gave speeches at media days, addressing everything from NIL to the Alston ruling. Read more here and here.

Final Thoughts Pro sports fans are never going to stop wearing their teams' jerseys and favorite athletes' apparel, because they provide a way for fans to connect with and support players. Now, they can finally buy this merchandise at the college level — and we know it's going to be wildly popular. Athletes might even get bigger cuts of the profits than their pro counterparts. We just don't know how much the profits will compare to other NIL ventures, like social media endorsements and sponsorships with major brands like PetSmart. But no matter how much money players actually make, it's a watershed moment that they can finally profit from the most quintessential products in sports. Tips? Feedback? Reach out to me at amanda@frontofficesports.com or onTwitter.

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Why Schools Cant Sell Jerseys With Players Names on Them

Source: https://frontofficesports.com/newsletter/fos-college-apparel-in-the-nil-era/

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