Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals are taking center stage during March Madness. While some critics of NIL believed these deals would be the end of any semblance of parity in college sports, this year’s NCAA Basketball Tournament has proven to be the opposite.
In the Men’s Tournament, No. 9 seed Florida Atlantic University has made a surprise run to its first-ever Final Four. No. 5 seed University of Miami and No. 5 San Diego State University will also join FAU in their first Final Four appearances as well. No. 4 seed University of Connecticut rounds out the fourth team in the Men’s Final Four – the first-time ever that there are zero No. 1 seeds competing in the Final Four, let alone in the Elite 8.
In the Women’s NCAA Bracket, two No. 1 seeds, undefeated South Carolina and Virginia Tech, as well as No. 2 seed Iowa and No. 3 seed Louisiana State University, made the Final Four.
A year ago, University of Miami booster John Ruiz made big headlines when he announced on Twitter that he had signed Kansas State basketball transfer Nigel Pack to a 2-year, $800,000 NIL deal, that also included a car, through his company, LifeWallet. Miami made an Elite 8 run in the tournament last year without Pack, but his presence has definitely made an impact in the tournament this year as the Hurricanes’ leading scorer. It’s tough to say if NIL is the reason why the Hurricanes are winning, when other programs like FAU and SDSU have been impressive this year without four- and five-star recruits and very little NIL activity.
NIL deals aside, the big-time athletic programs clearly aren’t taking over college basketball, as this year the men’s and women’s tournaments have proven to showcase a largely balanced playing field with plenty of upsets from the “smaller” schools.
Thus far, there have been three overtime games in the Women’s Tournament and one in the Men’s Tournament. Buffalo Wild Wings (“BWW”) has signed NIL deals with multiple players for their overtime heroics in connection with their “Overtime Wingtime” campaign, which rewards fans with six free boneless wings each time a game goes into overtime in the men’s and women’s tournaments. University of Colorado guard Jaylyn Sherrod signed a BWW deal after leading the Buffaloes to an overtime win over Duke. University of Southern California’s Destiny Littleton and Marquette’s Mackenzie Hare similarly signed deals with BWW after sending their teams into overtime (although both USC and Marquette were on the losing side of the game at the end of OT). Michigan State’s Tyson Walker, who sent the game to overtime against Kansas State, also did an #OvertimeDeal.
Kansas State’s Keyontae Johnson, who two and a half years ago collapsed on the court as a member of the Florida Gators and was told he would never play again, made a remarkable recovery in his career and led the Wildcats to the Elite 8. Johnson participated in a NIL deal during the tournament with TurboTax.
Iowa’s Caitlin Clark has led the Hawkeyes to their first-ever Final Four appearance, as she registered the first-ever 40-point triple-double in NCAA Tournament (Men’s or Women’s) history, with 41 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists in their Elite 8 win over Louisville. A day later, Clark’s summer skills camp sold out within hours. Clark is currently offering two, two-day camps for $175 a person per camp.
Other notable brand activations include Buick’s #SeeHerGreatness campaign, which included Clark, UCLA’S Kiki Rice, Stanford’s Cameron Brink, South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston, and UConn’s Azzi Fudd.
The Men’s and Women’s Final Four take place this upcoming weekend. Greenspoon Marder’s team of sports and entertainment attorneys has experience working with college athletes, brands, collectives, and agencies to help draft and negotiate NIL deals.
By: Josh Goldberg, Esq.