With some questionable exceptions, collegiate student-athletes have never been paid for their play on the field, court or anywhere else. That’s not the case anymore.
Two years ago, the NCAA approved the Name, Image and Likeness policy that allows athletes to benefit from endorsements and other income-producing work such as autographs and appearances. Student-athletes making six- or seven- figure incomes are rare. The most popular student-athletes with NIL deals are University of Southern California quarterback Caleb Williams and Louisiana State University gymnast Olivia Dunne, who reportedly makes $3 million a year with several endorsements including Sports Illustrated.
Universities operate their NIL programs in different ways. Oklahoma State University works to include all student-athletes, so everyone prospers.
Haneen Rashawn, OSU’s assistant director for NIL, said, “If we do something for football, we do it for everyone. There’s a line of opportunities from the quarterback to walk-ons.”
Two main revenue streams exist for the student-athletes: collectives and directives. Collectives, which are independent of a university, can serve a variety of purposes. Most often, they pool funds from boosters and businesses, help facilitate NIL deals for athletes and also create their own ways for athletes to monetize their brands. The term “collective,” which generally means a cooperative enterprise, has no particular legal significance.
Money in a collective can also assist recruiting the better athletes to a particular university such as Texas, who uses potential NIL money and agreements to entice student-athletes to their school.
Meanwhile, directives are different because they are one-to-one financial transactions, typically between a booster or businessman and a specific college athlete from the school they want to support.
At OSU, directives are designed to come up with merchandise ideas, such as trading cards, that benefit all student-athletes.
“We’re making sure everyone is involved,” Rashawn said. “Every team has participated in a directive. We really do value everyone.”
Directives are handled through the marketplace, which allows money from a business or booster to go directly to the student-athlete. Typically, student-athletes perform some type of work or make appearances on behalf of the company or booster.
For the most part, Rashawn said companies or boosters are encouraged to contact the OSU office so they can bring the two parties together.
“There’s definitely a lot of evolving with NIL. We probably have not scratched the surface yet,” she said.
OSU’s highest paid student-athlete, Tori Ortiz, excelled in track and field, and made a “six-figure” income while at OSU. Ortiz, who still lives in Stillwater, makes regular trips to Miami, Florida, to help former OSU football speedster and Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill with his clothing line, Soul Runner.
OSU is not connected to a collective, Rashawn said.
Other OSU athletes such as quarterback Alan Bowman, formerly from the University of Michigan, arrived in Stillwater wanting to work with mental health experts and have since helped promote the 988 mental health hotline. Bowman and OU quarterback Dillon Gabriel have partnered on a mental health commercial, Rashawn said.
But Bowman isn’t doing everything for free. As part of the directive, he will record a video for fans of boosters starting at a price of $130. Social media posts start at $127 and in-person appearances are $248 and higher. These types of revenue-producing vehicles may vary on starting price, depending on the athlete and their popularity. This type of information can be found at www.opendorse.com.
The University of Oklahoma’s sports information department did not offer as much information about their NIL program.
“Everything we do in OU Athletics – including the education we provide around NIL – is to advance the holistic development of our student-athletes, enriching them for a lifetime,” an OU athletics department spokesman said. “In the age of NIL, our student-athletes have a distinct opportunity to leverage their personal brand with the OU legacy, leading to endless possibilities for their futures. We're fortunate to have myriad partnerships and contributors who believe in our mission and want to support our student-athletes in their pursuit to benefit from the use of their own name, image, and likeness.”
Published reports show 1Oklahoma Collective has partnered with College Football Hall of Fame coach Barry Switzer to form a one-of-a-kind nonprofit organization that serves some of the most impactful charities through the Name, Image and Likeness of OU student-athletes.
The student-athletes are compensated by the collective for making appearances at the nonprofits. Boosters and business owners contribute money to the nonprofits for the specific reason of paying the athletes for their public appearances and work.
On3 Sports reported that Crimson and Cream, a collective that benefits OU, is among the top 20 in the nation.
No. 17 on the list, Crimson and Cream has more than 1,800 members, and more than 300 athletes have signed deals with the collective, including more than 90 female athletes. On3 Sports also reported a merger with Strengthening Oklahoma to bolster OU’s influence.
Crimson and Cream brokered teamwide deals for the scholarship players on football, basketball and softball teams with Hal Smith Restaurants, according to On3 Sports. As a result, each athlete will receive $500 in restaurant credit. Athletes can share meals with each other for free. In addition, players can treat their families and friends to dinner.
In return, athletes must create content using their credits at a Hal Smith Restaurant, which has 85 locations across seven Midwest states including Norman.
Some of those restaurants include Charleston's, The Garage, Hefner Grill, and Louie's Restaurant and Bar.