EXCLUSIVE: Northwestern finally enters the NIL game with TrueNU collective
We talked to TrueNU executive director Jacob Schmidt about Northwestern’s new collective.
EXCLUSIVE: NU finally enters NIL game with TrueNU collective
- Thread starter lou v
- Start date
So this whole thing is very confusing to me. Having a donor or business pay an athlete a bunch of money to come to your favorite university may be unseemly, but is it illegal? This article makes it sound like it is illegal, yet the way it is happening around the country with no complaints, investigations or problems suggests it is now legal. So, is it illegal or not in this new NIL age?
Anyone who is charitable can just donate to charities they care about directly, who can then use that money more efficiently. What value add is jumping through this extra hoop providing?
It's illegal in the sense that it's also illegal for political candidates to coordinate with their super PACs, yet that happens blatantly.
If I gave a shite about the charities, I would donate to them. I donate to charities often. I want to donate to help the team compete. You know, like every other program in the universe.
I sure as heck am not donating to that 800M useless white elephant they are building. Talk about a waste of money.
This puts NU further behind in recruiting. IMO. We already have trouble with high end recruits. Now we aren’t willing to pay what others will. Sounds like we won’t even be willing to compete? Also, why should older players even stay? Why not transfer and get paid while they can? Once they have their degree, there’s no incentive!
Yes, but the vast majority of people will will not benefit from the charitable deduction vs. the standard deduction as Hungry has pointed out
Maybe read the article first then? Seems like you don’t understand what this program is currently structured as.
EXCLUSIVE: Northwestern finally enters the NIL game with TrueNU collective
We talked to TrueNU executive director Jacob Schmidt about Northwestern’s new collective.northwestern.rivals.com
So far, Schmidt said that TrueNU has supported athletes in men’s and women’s basketball, and softball. He declined to provide any information about compensation, but confirmed that athletes have been getting paid. Eventually, Schmidt said that TrueNU aims to support athletes in all 19 sports at Northwestern.
Why are they doing that? If you are a swimmer or something you do not need to be paid to come, the degree is enough for those athletes.
We would be paying for something we do not need to pay for.
And if other schools start paying for their rifle teams and golf teams, let them. I don't care about any other sports than the big three, maybe ladies lacrosse I suppose.
But maybe there is some rule that makes us have to do it? (I doubt it).
Federico Burdisso is a world champion for Italy. Endorsements, prize money, national governing body support probably would amount to well over a quarter million a year.
It's hard to find a number, but I suspect he's worth half a million in nil money for the right program.
So some swimmers need to be paid. I suspect that plus a shitty coach are why he's transferring
I have no idea who he is, but I can somehow tell you our 1-5 QBs and RBs. That's why they're called revenue sports.
The fact that I think few of us knew (I won't say none of us knew because Pulmocat obviously did) we had a two time Olympic Bronze medalist on campus shows you how little followed these sports are by a huge majority of fans. This fund should be exclusively for the biggest sports or it's not going to get my money and a lot of other people's money either.
Why can't NU hire a marketing guy, someone who can sell ice to eskimo's to partner up players and teams with sponsors?
"Hi. we are the Northwestern Offensive Line and our job is to protect our quaterback......but when it comes to protecting your home or business we trust ADT Protective services in Lincolnwood" etc. etc.
And build a bigger stadium that seats more than 30k!
Why can't NU hire a marketing guy, someone who can sell ice to eskimo's to partner up players and teams with sponsors?
"Hi. we are the Northwestern Offensive Line and our job is to protect our quaterback......but when it comes to protecting your home or business we trust ADT Protective services in Lincolnwood" etc. etc.
And build a bigger stadium that seats more than 30k!
Wow, the negative nellies on this board. Why don't we wait and see how this plays out before we dump all over it?
Is NU allowed to hire a marketing guy, or anybody on payroll, whose job is to facilitate NIL deals? This is all supposed to come from third parties.
Giving is a very personal thing, we all have unique personal financial circumstances and we all have our favorite causes. Trust me, I am not a "big hitter" but I recently chose to make a year-end donation to TrueNU, along with my regular contributions to NU athletics. There are positives and negatives associated with NIL in collegiate sports but there is no doubting that it is real. By having a well-structured and well-thought out approach to NIL, we are trying to compete. If we chose not to play in the NIL arena, we would be screwing ourselves. If our fan base (including all of us on this board) can channel the energy we have shown in debating the topic of NIL into making donations to TrueNU, it would make a difference. Again, to be clear, giving is a personal thing and I am not telling any of you what to do. I just want to win and I think that TrueNU being successful can help NU be successful. Happy New Year everyone.
All this, plus it's all we have, imperfect or not. We can tell recruits we have an NIL. It's a start
This link to The Athletic was posted here during the last off-season if I recall correctly, Worth a repost. It's behind a paywall, sorry, but here are a few paragraphs (and maybe some of you subscribe...)
https://theathletic.com/3176571/202...ionaire-how-miamis-biggest-nil-deals-operate/
Five linemen, a star QB, a silver suitcase and a lawyer-turned-billionaire. How Miami’s biggest NIL deals operate
By Manny Navarro
Mar, 2022
Tyler Van Dyke is standing in the pocket — only this time he’s not on the field holding a football. The ACC’s Rookie of the Year is on the 10th floor of a pristine office building with a silver suitcase in his right hand.
Five University of Miami offensive linemen outfitted in black shirts, black pants and black aviator sunglasses are surrounding the Canes’ star quarterback as they walk down a hallway with a camera crew in front of them. “We all have makeup on. It’s not my favorite thing to wear, I guess,” Van Dyke tells The Athletic with a grin.
He and his teammates spend four hours on a Friday afternoon — three days before the start of spring practice — taking direction from former Hurricanes shortstop Johnny Ruiz to film a 60- to 90-second commercial for LifeWallet, a company owned by locally based lawyer-turned-billionaire John H. Ruiz.
All six college athletes in the commercial are getting paid good money to work for Ruiz, a Miami-born son of Cuban immigrants who attended classes at UM with Melvin Bratton, Alonzo Highsmith, Vinny Testaverde and other Canes greats in the mid-1980s.
Since December, Ruiz said he’s signed dozens of college athletes in different sports (swimming, baseball and golf) from Miami and FIU to name, image and likeness deals totaling more than $2 million.
Ruiz’s ex-wife is related to Mario Cristobal, but he keeps his distance from Miami’s coach and school administrators so as not to break any NCAA rules. Florida’s NIL laws – more stringent than other states – prohibit school employees at Miami from arranging NIL deals for athletes.
SNIP
“My background is being an attorney and introducing evidence in court,” Ruiz said. “So I’m already thinking of what the evidence is that we’re putting together in case somebody asks a question as it relates to the rules. I’m not criticizing any other program, but I’ve not seen any other program in the country that can (compare to) how we do it. We provide everything that’s going on behind the scenes. I invite anybody and everybody that wants to come see what we do because I think they leave here learning, ‘Hey, this is the real deal. This is not something that they’re not putting resources into.’ We as a company are putting a ton of resources in it.
“In addition to the actual money being paid to the players, we’re spending millions behind the scenes to make it work with the commercials, the dissemination and the staff. I mean, we have probably about 25 to 30 people working in production, just for the NIL aspect of it. So there’s a lot that goes into it.”
https://theathletic.com/3176571/202...ionaire-how-miamis-biggest-nil-deals-operate/
Five linemen, a star QB, a silver suitcase and a lawyer-turned-billionaire. How Miami’s biggest NIL deals operate
By Manny Navarro
Mar, 2022
Tyler Van Dyke is standing in the pocket — only this time he’s not on the field holding a football. The ACC’s Rookie of the Year is on the 10th floor of a pristine office building with a silver suitcase in his right hand.
Five University of Miami offensive linemen outfitted in black shirts, black pants and black aviator sunglasses are surrounding the Canes’ star quarterback as they walk down a hallway with a camera crew in front of them. “We all have makeup on. It’s not my favorite thing to wear, I guess,” Van Dyke tells The Athletic with a grin.
He and his teammates spend four hours on a Friday afternoon — three days before the start of spring practice — taking direction from former Hurricanes shortstop Johnny Ruiz to film a 60- to 90-second commercial for LifeWallet, a company owned by locally based lawyer-turned-billionaire John H. Ruiz.
All six college athletes in the commercial are getting paid good money to work for Ruiz, a Miami-born son of Cuban immigrants who attended classes at UM with Melvin Bratton, Alonzo Highsmith, Vinny Testaverde and other Canes greats in the mid-1980s.
Since December, Ruiz said he’s signed dozens of college athletes in different sports (swimming, baseball and golf) from Miami and FIU to name, image and likeness deals totaling more than $2 million.
Ruiz’s ex-wife is related to Mario Cristobal, but he keeps his distance from Miami’s coach and school administrators so as not to break any NCAA rules. Florida’s NIL laws – more stringent than other states – prohibit school employees at Miami from arranging NIL deals for athletes.
SNIP
“My background is being an attorney and introducing evidence in court,” Ruiz said. “So I’m already thinking of what the evidence is that we’re putting together in case somebody asks a question as it relates to the rules. I’m not criticizing any other program, but I’ve not seen any other program in the country that can (compare to) how we do it. We provide everything that’s going on behind the scenes. I invite anybody and everybody that wants to come see what we do because I think they leave here learning, ‘Hey, this is the real deal. This is not something that they’re not putting resources into.’ We as a company are putting a ton of resources in it.
“In addition to the actual money being paid to the players, we’re spending millions behind the scenes to make it work with the commercials, the dissemination and the staff. I mean, we have probably about 25 to 30 people working in production, just for the NIL aspect of it. So there’s a lot that goes into it.”
NU has a major donor plus others that have donated in excess of $1 bil to its athletic programs. 99% of schools would love to be in that position yet we can't seem to shake the feeling that somehow we are disadvantaged compared to others. Human nature I guess.
The accelerating conversion of P5 football to NFL Lite continues. This basically will be to college football what Citizens United has been to political campaigns. Whatever. I'm pretty much done with it.
I just watch now with occasional passing interest. Mostly out of habit. I noticed that I got as much pleasure out of watching FCS and Div II. All that is being talked about now at P5 is the national championship, transfers, coaching changes and money.
Michigan NIL program. We are far behind.
mgoblue.com
NIL Update from Warde Manuel on Collectives - University of Michigan Athletics
A letter from Athletic Director Warde Manuel on NIL and Collectives
mgoblue.com
We ARE disadvantaged, because our major donors insist on white elephants with their name on them rather than investments in attracting players and competent coaches.
Yes, I believe it is. CSC, You can pin this comment, save it, whatever. Our state-of-the-art practice facility with beach doesn't seem to have improved the program, why will 3/4 of a billion help? Go buy some expensive lipstick for our lovable old pig and spend the rest for competent coaching and player retention. Set aside some for inevitable buyouts.
It's a moot point. Evanston has already dropped a gigantic turd in the punch bowl, so I may be dead before it's finished.
I look at it this way. NU has a terrific few alums that want to buy it a new stadium. Fantastic. NU is beyond fortunate. Now if other alums want to step up and fund NIL, new coaches or whatever, then that's good also. Telling or wishing how someone wants to spend their money strikes me as a waste of breath and brain cells.
Tim, it's a problem of constrained resources. Of course, Mr. Ryan, @Alan Smithee and their ilk can do what they want, but I'd like to think that they want to do the most good for the program, the student athletes and the university, Instead of yet another Edifice Rex, where the average athlete will get to play around 20 days, let's do a modest rebuild and fairly compensate the kids that bring in the money. Also fund decent coaching. I'd rather sit on frozen aluminum bleachers watching a winning* team than watch that giant cow patty that we saw in 2021-2.
*doesn't have to be playoff good. Just don't be terrible.
