The Business of College Sports

I'm joined this episode by Rob Seiger, a partner in Archer & Greiner P.C.’s Sports Law Group, who has joined us once before to talk about issues international student athletes have been trying to navigate in order to take advantage of the NCAA's new name, image and likeness rules.   

Rob represents college and university athletic departments in immigration and related compliance issues for their foreign athletes.

If you didn't hear our first episode, listen to it here. In this episode, we're taking a look at a few specific instances where international student athletes have attempted to take advantage of NIL without violating the restrictions of their student visas. Are these situations good examples of how international student athletes can take advantage of NIL opportunities? Or, will we see the government make an example out of them for violating visa laws?

This is an important topic that still has more questions than answers, unfortunately.

You can follow Archer & Greiner on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

Former UGA quarterback Aaron Murray joins the podcast to chat about his new venture, The Players' Lounge. This NFT community was built by lettermen to empower relationships within the collegiate sports community through connecting current and former athletes with their respective fan bases while providing opportunities for student-athletes to monetize their individual brands.

Aaron joined the podcast back in January to talk with us ahead of their first NFT launch. That launch ended up generating $305,000 for the student athletes involved, a total of $28,000 each. 

Now Aaron is back to tell us how they've expanded their concept beyond NFTs and taken it beyond UGA to other schools.

We discuss:

• How The Players' Lounge got started
• The ways in which college athletes are engaging more with fans
• How NFT drops are translating to in-person events
• Their relationship with the UGA athletic department
• The pursuit of licensing agreements
• Expanding the model to additional universities
• Big picture goals for the future

You can follow The Players' Lounge on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

Are you a collective or thinking about starting one? Check out the new NIL Collectives Insider!

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

In this episode, I'm joined by Gary Veron, Associate Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Experience at BYU. 

BYU has been very proactive in its approach to name, image and likeness, so I invited Gary on to discuss what's going on in Provo. We dive into:

• How Gary's position morphed from compliance to an NIL focus
• Why BYU took a more proactive approach toward NIL right off the bat
• The overwhelming response from Provo and alum to NIL
• Why BYU has seen so many team-wide and group NIL deals
• How the story of the BYU athlete is different
• The course the athletic department created around NIL
• The Shark Tank-style competition they hosted for student athletes
• What student athletes have said they want more education on
• The role public speaking has played in NIL
• How collectives are impacting NIL and recruiting
• The letter of inquiry they received from the NCAA'

You can connect with Gary on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Are you a collective or thinking about starting one? Check out the new NIL Collectives Insider!

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

In this episode, I'm joined by Eddie Rojas, the founder of the Gator Collective. Eddie was a former baseball player at the University of Florida and was one of the first to start an NIL collective to support student athletes in their name, image and likeness endeavors.

The Gator Collective's success is marked by it's more than 2,000 members and $500,000 in annualized revenue, in addition to numerous one-time gifts. It was also the first collective to sponsor the athletic department it supports, which has allowed it access other collectives are missing.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The idea behind the Gator Collective and how its model works
• The in-person events and activations the Gator Collective has staged
• How they've mobilized Gator Nation
• What the formal sponsorship arrangement looks like with Florida's athletic department and how it benefits both parties
• How the Gator Collective built the relationship with the athletic department
• Big upcoming goals for the Gator Collective

You can follow the Gator Collective on Twitter and Facebook.

Are you a collective or thinking about starting one? Check out the new NIL Collectives Insider!

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

There is so much creativity and innovation happening in the NIL space right now, and Oklahoma State's The Brand Squad is a terrific example. 

If you aren't on a campus, you might not realize the level of interest non-athlete students have in being part of NIL. I've heard from law students, accounting students, PR students and all sorts of other students on campus who are trying to help their student athlete friends or siblings.

Well, at Oklahoma State, they've found a creative way to allow their marketing students to get hands-on experience in a way that benefits their student athletes. 

Today, I have Dr. Maribeth Kuzmeski on the podcast to tell us all about The Brand Squad she created in Stillwater. Through this innovative program, marketing students are getting certified to work with student athletes who opt in to get additional help with personal branding, working with brands and more.

We chat about:

• How the The Brand Squad was formed
• The training The Brand Squad goes through
• The ways The Brand Squad is working with student athletes
• How other schools could implement this idea
• Her new NIL textbook and courseware

Dr. Maribeth Kuzmeski is a professor in the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University. She teaches marketing including Personal Branding: Name Image & Likeness. Maribeth is also the President of Red Zone Marketing, an award-winning marketing consulting firm with clients throughout the United States. 

Maribeth started The Brand Squad at Oklahoma State, a select group of business students who have been trained and certified to assist student athletes with their NIL efforts. She also has a unique perspective and understanding of student athletes as her son played D1 hockey, nephew just signed to play football at Wisconsin, and she has nieces playing D1 volleyball and soccer. Maribeth has a bachelor’s degree from the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, an MBA from The George Washington University, and a PhD in Business Administration from Oklahoma State University. 

Here links to some of the things we mentioned in the episode:

Textbook and Courseware: https://www.stukent.com/higher-ed/name-image-likeness/

The Brand Squad: www.BrandSquad-OSU.com

Maribeth's marketing agency: www.RedZoneAthletes.com

Connect with Maribeth: https://linktr.ee/mbkuzmeski

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

I'm joined this week by Porter Grieve, CEO of Mercury, a white-label NFT platform that focuses on helping universities and sports teams to create one-of-a-kind digital fan experiences.

Mercury recently partnered with Kansas Athletics (read my piece on the deal) to create a new NFT platform. What I thought made this deal really interesting was how it was being combined with an NIL deal for the Kansas men’s basketball team.

The Kansas men’s basketball team will have a personalized NFT platform called Rock Chalk where fans will be able to buy, sell and trade Jayhawk collectibles. The first NFT drop is available on February 19.

Porter joined me to chat about:

• How the deal with Kansas came to be
• New revenue possibilities with NFTs
• How athletic departments can work with their student athletes on NFTs and allow them to benefit financially thanks to the new name, image and likeness rules
• The benefits of creating a community within your NFT platform
• How much time and effort it takes an athletic department to create an NFT platform like the one at Kansas
• The benefits of pairing in-person experiences, tickets, products and more with NFTs 
• Creative ideas for using NFTs to drive fan engagement
• And so much more!

Previously, Porter co-founded Trace Innovations, a biosecurity and contact tracing software company he started in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, which delivered Bluetooth- based health and safety technology solutions to private middle and secondary schools and small businesses nationwide. Prior to that, he founded Sage Wellness (acquired by Bearn), a holistic wellness app and engine that provided customized recommendations based on data ingested from fitness apps and wearables.

Porter also was Special Projects and Digital Development Manager for Italian soccer club AS Roma, actively shaping club and brand-wide strategy across digital media, communications, and PR, as well as managing all technology partnerships and third-party integrations for the digital team. Porter graduated from Washington and Lee with degrees in Economics and Philosophy.

Porter: Twitter
Mercury: Twitter

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

This week, I'm joined by Jason Belzer, CEO and co-founder of Student Athlete NIL, and Kimberly Beaudin, President and CEO of the College Football Hall of Fame, to talk about the inaugural NIL Summit being held June 13-15, 2022 in Atlanta at the HOF. 

The NIL Summit is an immersive multi-day professional development experience and gathering place for college sports’ most important stakeholder to share cutting-edge ideas, discover new interests, and learn how to maximize NIL opportunities to build their brands and amplify their voices.

Jason and Kimberly join me to discuss:

• The vision for the NIL Summit
• The NIL Awards
• How schools can help their student athletes grow through participation in the NIL Summit
• The tracks available for student athletes to learn from industry leaders
• How NIL fits into the College Football Hall of Fame's mission
• and so much more!

Jason Belzer: Twitter | LinkedIn
Kimberly Beaudin: Twitter | LinkedIn

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

For this episode, I'm joined by David Kaplan of The Hockey Guys,  a group of 10 NCAA hockey players who got their start on TikTok. The Hockey Guys have grown their reach to over 1.4 million followers and subscribers across multiple social media platforms.

I recently had David, along with two other members of The Hockey Guys, on my Game Face podcast, and we touched on a few things that warranted a deeper dive. In this episode we touch on:

• How they plan and create content as a group
• How their venture has evolved from a social media account into a thriving business
• The hands-on entrepreneurial experience the group is getting
• How they've tackled things like pricing and other negotiations
• The challenge of having international student athletes in the group and the solution they've found
• The opportunities for DIII student athletes
• How they found the right advisors and resources
• The reaction from their coaches, administrators and teammates
• What happens to The Hockey Guys after graduation
• ...and so much more!

 David serves as the CFO and Head of Consulting for THG Media, Inc. Since NIL legislation was passed, and with a background in Accounting and Finance, the majority of his work has happened behind the camera. David has been an integral part in corporate structuring as well as maximizing the revenue potential for The Hockey Guys. He plans on pursuing his CPA and was a former intern at a Big 4 Accounting Firm with an offer to rejoin the firm upon graduation.

You can follow The Hockey Guys on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and check out their podcast, No Bad Days.

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

Former UGA football players Ty Frix, Keith Marshall and Aaron Murray, along with Ty’s brother Trent Frix, recently created The Players’ Lounge, a digital collaborative space for college fanbases, with the University of Georgia as its initial focus. 

In addition to using a Discord channel to connect fans, the group will launch an NFT collection called DGD Mafia on Sunday, January 9 to benefit current UGA football players.

Those who purchase the NFTs will also gain access to exclusive content and experiences, both within The Players’ Lounge and also in physical locations. Fifty percent of all profits will go to current UGA football players who will leverage their name, image and likeness to help promote the NFT launch.

I recently sat down to speak with Ty Frix and Murray about this creative new approach that leverages the platform of former UGA players to benefit current student athletes. In this podcast, you can eavesdrop on our conversation about their plans and why they felt compelled to create something that benefits current student athletes after their own experience as players.

We also discussed how this model could be duplicated for other schools and fanbases, which I think makes it an intriguing listen for all college athletic admins and fans.

You can join The Players' Lounge community here and follow them on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

This episode, I'm joined by Wesley Haynes, President and Founder of The Brandr Group. His company has been on the leading edge when it comes to group licensing in the NIL era, signing nearly 20 schools to deals that allow their student athletes access to group licensing opportunities.

The Brandr Group currently has agreements with the following schools: UNC, Ohio State, Texas, Alabama, App State, Indiana, Michigan State, UF, NC State, Villanova, Nebraska, Maryland, Marquette, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Xavier, Purdue, and UGA.

Haynes and I discussed:

• How TBG's background in pro sports is helping them navigate NIL
• His meetings with the NCAA about group licensing
• How TBG's alumni programs opened the door for NIL work now
• Which student athletes are benefiting from group licensing
• What TBG's agreement with schools looks like
• The education is required to get student athletes on board
• What group licensing with student athletes looks like for brands
• The results for schools and student athletes that are working with TBG already
• Passive vs. active group rights

In the podcast, we teased some results from Ohio State and UNC, which you can read more about here.

You can follow TBG on Twitter or check out their website for more information.

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.