UNF student-athletes taking advantage of new NIL rules

UNF student-athletes are taking advantage of the NCAA's new name, image, and likeness (NIL) rules by racking up sponsorship deals.

On July 1, 2021, the NCAA announced that it would allow student-athletes to benefit from their name, image, and likeness. Before this groundbreaking change, student-athletes would be suspended and face other various forms of punishment for reaping any benefit regarding NIL.

Similarly, Florida joined various states by passing a law stating an academic institution could not block a student-athlete from earning NIL compensation.

Dylan Kelley, a pitcher for UNF Baseball, has taken advantage of these new NIL rules. Kelley represents two national brands, Smoothie King and Barstool Sports. While he is not profiting financially from these sponsorships, Kelley is still finding ways to benefit through merchandising and exposure.

Kelley joins seven other Ospreys in representing Barstool Athletics, one of the most notable brands to attract student-athletes since the implementation of NIL. As it stands currently, over 7,300 student-athletes have joined Barstool Athletics, which provides merchandise and exposure.

"I don't get any money from either two of my sponsorships, but I get free merchandise," Kelley said about his benefits. "At Smoothie King, I get free merchandise and free product, and the more I post about that product, the more I receive."

When asked about how the locker room handles NIL deals, Kelley said, "We're just happy for each other and think that it's really cool. There's no issues in the locker room."

When it comes to making sure there are no legal issues, Senior Associate Athletic Director for Compliance Donna Kirk has taken the lead in the transition of amateurism at UNF. Kirk works with the UNF General Counsel's Office to ensure that student-athletes abide by Florida Law and NCAA regulations.

Kirk oversees the 37 student-athletes who are currently taking advantage of the NIL rules. However, coaches and school administration cannot assist in finding these deals due to Florida Law. Instead, the student-athletes must take it upon themselves to reach out to various businesses to find these deals.

While many national sports media outlets have suggested NIL is "the end of amateur sports," Kirk doesn't see it that way. "I kind of equated it myself to the Olympics," Kirk said. "If you remember way back when Olympic athletes could not do endorsements or [make] money. It was purely amateur, so that whole notion of 'oh my gosh, we could have the dream team with Michael Jordan,' and they were clearly not amateur, they were professionals."

Kirk would say that she doesn't believe the Olympics "have lost any mustard" since the 1992 Dream Team. "I think people will just accept it and that [student-athletes] are just taking advantage of opportunities."

When it comes to what's next on the horizon regarding college athletes making money, Kirk is aware of the speculation in the media and has her thoughts on what might be on the way. She brought up NCAA v. Alston, a case in which The Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of Shawne Alston, a former University of West Virginia football player, that the NCAA could not limit the education-related benefits athletes could receive. Kirk believes the most significant part of this case was Justice Kavanagh's closing statements. "Nowhere else in America can businesses get away with agreeing not to pay their workers a fair market rate on the theory that their product is defined by not paying their workers a fair market rate."

"That, in itself, then opened the doors for lawsuits to come," Kirk said. "As soon as lawyers can dig their claws into student-athletes that will go with them to file a lawsuit, that's what I think is next."