President, MWW. Passionate about boosting brand voices globally for over two decades.
getty
The National Collegiate Athletic Association places restrictions on student-athletes, from requiring them to meet academic standards to barring them from being compensated for commercial endorsements.
Forbidding student-athletes from profiting off their names, images and likenesses (NIL) comes down to the NCAA’s amateurism rules. The essence of those amateurism rules is currently being put to the test by the Supreme Court, which is deliberating whether or not the NCAA can limit the benefits that college sports programs offer student-athletes.
Should the NCAA lose its case, the effects will eventually tumble down to NIL rights, giving student-athletes monetization opportunities. Regardless of the Supreme Court ruling, states such as Florida and Nebraska have passed laws to broaden the NIL rights of NCAA athletes.
With the influencer marketing industry estimated to become worth up to $15 billion by 2022, new NIL rights will expand the pool of desired brand ambassadors by thousands, unlocking powerful opportunities for brands.
MORE FOR YOU
Real-Time Marketing, Nationally And Locally
The biggest shift in marketing opportunity is that on any level—national, regional, hyper-local or niche sports—brands can execute campaigns leveraging student-athletes in real time.
For instance, a brand sponsor’s social channels could feature programming with a student-athlete the night before a marquee game to build excitement and engage fanbases more directly.
Brands will also be able to capitalize off cultural moments in the world of college athletics as they happen and establish themselves as relevant mainstays in those conversations. Imagine as a national retailer, having star players from the Baylor men’s basketball team or Stanford women’s basketball team posting branded content minutes after their championship wins. Or being the family-owned restaurant that sells a branded menu item moments after the local star quarterback’s winning touchdown.
Expanding The Reach Of Women’s Sports
Women’s collegiate sports have traditionally lived in the shadow of their male counterparts, receiving less coverage, conversation and sponsorship dollars. However, the athletes themselves have massive potential for elevating the popularity of their programs through their personal brands.
Consider the Cavinder twins, who play basketball for Fresno State and, according to The Fresno Bee, have over 2.8 million followers on their TikTok account, with an average view count of 400,000 to 1 million on individual TikTok posts. Or Olivia Dunne, a gymnast at LSU who ESPN reports has approximately 5 million combined followers on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.
Just by forming a deal with the Cavinder twins or Dunne, a brand could have the same reach they would have if they took out a TV ad during one of those basketball games or gymnastics matches, respectively.
Ramifications For Schools And Athletes
Of course, these NIL rights will affect the student-athletes themselves and their schools.
The prerogative of student-athletes to monetize off their athletic careers in real time (many student-athletes never make it to pro sports) comes with a downside, too. Even without NIL rights, student-athletes have to work on their personal brands from day one. If they decide to represent a brand, whether it’s a national fast-food chain or a local coffee shop, their online behavior will be scrutinized even more highly, which may halt the very existence of such partnerships. Brands will have an added responsibility of setting clear expectations for, and even training, their student-athlete ambassadors to diminish the risks associated with online behavior and cancel culture. The public relations consequences will be more severe when a student-athlete is associated with a brand.
The marketing field for brands will broaden, especially in certain sectors. The NCAA has AT&T, Capital One and Coca-Cola as official corporate champions. If NIL is enacted, look for competing brands in these categories to quickly strike deals with individual athletes. Could a quarterback or women’s soccer goalie have a deal with Pepsi, while Coca-Cola has a deal with their university and the NCAA? You bet! This leaves us with a future of higher brand involvement and ultimately, competition within the NCAA off the field, too.
Forbes Agency Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?
Go to Source
Author: Bret Werner, Forbes Councils Member
