Ep 115 | NIL: What's in it for the students?

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Look up the top 50 ways for a high school student to earn money. And then apply the name, image, and likeness game plan to that. And I think you'll see the true value of what NIL offers our kids.

SPEAKER_00 0:19

Welcome to the Voices United in Education podcast. Each week we showcase the teachers, administrators, and community members who go the extra mile to contribute to the success of every student in Escambie County. You'll meet the real people behind the titles and learn about the amazing resources to support every student's success. Warren Buffett famously said, it's good to learn from your mistakes. It's better to learn from other people's mistakes. This is certainly the sentiment of parents as they do their best to steer their ambitious children on the path of free enterprise. The problem is many of the entrepreneurial opportunities now didn't exist 10 years ago, much less when parents were high school students. So how do you help your child in emerging industries? My next guest has a Bachelor of Arts in Physical Education and a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership. He was a state champion powerlifter, coach football, basketball, softball, and tennis. He was also the founder and co-owner of a medical supply company. This cross-section of student athletics and business makes him the ideal person to share about why name image likeness is important for students, even those not in sports. Today he's going to get us up to date and share some important resources. Escambia County District Athletic Director, fellow Nebraskan Casey Tealy. Thanks for being here.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

Oh, I appreciate it. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

So can you give us the reader's digest version or the too long didn't read version of NIL to get everyone up to speed?

SPEAKER_01 1:55

NIL, name, image, and likeness is an opportunity for anyone to uh go out and be able to make money off of their name, image, and likeness. And the way the NIL is set up and the resources that the Florida High School Activities Association has provided for Scambia County and everyone in the state of Florida, it's like a business plan. And I think because of my business background, right out of college, I didn't go into education. I went into business. And when I look at the NIL and I look at the resources that are associated with this, I just go, oh, geez, this is a business plan. And the first thing I did, and I mean this sincerely, is I looked up what's the top high school jobs that kids use to get money. And it's babysitting, landscaping, mowing. Maybe they put on a little clinic for themselves, tutoring or whatever. And so there's, although there's opportunities for that five-star Division I college student that has 50 major college offers to capture a name, image, and likeness contract, every one of our students that's looking to be an entrepreneur or to own their own business, this is a business plan. And they couldn't have better resources available than what the FHSAA in Escambia County has provided for them.

SPEAKER_00 3:19

So what kind of resources are there that they would apply to not only student athletes but non-student athletes?

SPEAKER_01 3:25

Yeah, if if you look at the resources the FHSAA's applied, talks about what's the basis of a contract. What are the basics of a contract? And it spells out that you do this, they do this, and how you get into this. Talks about if you're making money, you're gonna have tax consequences. And so it provides you some information, you know, with that. If you're looking to copyright your name, your image, your likeness, it has resources for that. Time management, first and foremost, if you're still a student, your first primary job is being a student, do it, getting the best grades you can, going to school every day, working hard. And so then this is something that you're gonna have to manage after you take care of your day job, so to speak, is being a student. If you're an athlete, take care of that, and it's something else. So there's time management classes and there's other things in there as well.

SPEAKER_00 4:17

That feels like something that everyone should take. I mean, that sounds pretty amazing.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

Yes. So we're governed by the Florida High School Activities Association, referred to as the FHSAA. We also, high school athletics in the entire nation are under what's called the NFHS, National Federation of High Schools. The National Federation of High Schools has, and we've got this on our website as well, where the NIL is, has a free course online, doesn't cost you anything. Just go and plug in your email address, create your own password, and it has about a 45-minute introduction to NIL and it explains things so well. And again, if you're sitting out there as a student, hey, I want to start a babysitting business, I want to start a t-shirt company and sell t-shirts, I want to go down to the beach and sell people ice cream, you know, uh treats or cold drinks. So many kids in the state of Florida have done that before. They've been entrepreneurs, they've done those extra. And here is a game plan here to do this.

SPEAKER_00 5:20

Wow. Okay. So a lot of kids nowadays also have this like social media ambition, right? They want to be YouTubers or just, you know, creators in that space. And it's important, especially for young minds who aren't you know fully developed yet, to understand that, you know, in addition to death and taxes, the internet is permanent, right? What's on the internet is permanent. And so is there any training or guidance in how to navigate social media when it comes to your reputation and the future, your future self, which as a young person you may not even be able to imagine?

SPEAKER_01 5:58

That's a piece where I need to do a better job of putting something out there educationally. I I back up and I tell kids this, okay? So the University of Florida, University of Alabama comes and wants to rep have you wear their uniform, represent their university on TV in front of millions of people, in front of 80 to 100,000 people, they better feel pretty darn good about who you are as a person. When I was a small college head football coach in Fremont, Nebraska, we'd go to recruit a student. The first thing we do is look up their social media. If there's uh alcohol on there, if there was uh foul language, if there was anything negative that you can think of was on there, we we dropped them and we tell them, you know, because this was a 2007 to 11, so social media was starting, it was really gaining traction. And we would we were counseling our collegiate athletes, hey, you're gonna be going and applying for a job at IBM, you're gonna be applying for a job at uh Berkshire Hathaway. You better not have something on social media that makes them feel uncomfortable, or they're not gonna hire you. And so we were talking to 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23-year-olds and giving them guidance on social media with this. And uh the NIL, and they call it out in the information that we have, you know, they they can't represent an alcohol company. They can't represent Anheuserbusch, they can't represent uh tobacco, they can't represent, even though like marijuana is is medical marijuana is uh allowed, they can't represent that. So there's things that they need to look at. And I think the best lens to look at that is again, if I had Warren Buffett wanting to pay me a million dollars or anyone that wanted to pay me a million dollars, they want to see a wholesome, clean, positive social media image. So polish that website.

SPEAKER_00 7:56

And so for the student athletes who are looking at professional athletics as their career, what's what exactly is an NIH deal? Because for those of us, you know, who, unlike you, had this long uh career fully in athletics, we don't really know.

SPEAKER_01 8:16

So there's perception versus reality. Okay. So if you look at the NIL deals, the vast majority, the more the largest number of contracts and the largest amount of money, which that NFHS course does a great job of educating on it. It has this pie chart, and there's this little two, three, four percent sliver of red, and that's the people that are signing NIL deals, you know, in the United States. It's very, very small. I'll give another example later on today. And the vast majority, the 40% of that, which breaks every subgroup up, and the by far the largest one is incoming freshmen into college. So that five-star, four-star athlete that has a social media presence is good and is there they have 30 Division I college offers, then the NIL collectives start feeding those universities and and then we make an offer. Those are the ones that are capturing the big money that everyone it's like a lottery. You know, okay, very, very, very few people win the lottery, you know, from that. So it's interesting. A little bit, but not the big thing.

SPEAKER_00 9:29

If it's a lottery, if it's a very small percentage, I love that you use the word lottery, because I think for most of us, we understand what the chances are that we could win the lottery, right? So that puts it into perspective. But if the chances are small, in your opinion, why is NIL so important if there's such a small percentage of students who are actually getting those deals?

SPEAKER_01 9:51

Yeah. And again, I think that you'll always dream. We come from Nebraska, and and I hope people appreciate this. So Nebraska has its legendary walk-on program. And so they'll have 85 scholarships on football like everybody else does, but they'll have 50 extra kids that go there and they pay their own way. And one scholarship per year is awarded to one of those 50 kids. But every one of those kids thinks they're going to win that scholarship. We're kind of ingrained with that, you know, as athletes, you know, you have such a positive, you just know you got to work hard and play by the rules and do the right things and good things happen to you. And more often than not, they do. Okay. But whether it goes to the nth degree of a large NAL deal or not, you know, it's it's not the case. I think the true value of the material that we have, and this is my opinion, but I know a lot of people in education goes, geez, I wish we in education we would teach kids how to balance a checkbook. We teach them how to pay their bills, to manage their time, to run a business. Here it is. This is a real life experience, again, where they can start, you know, look up the top 50 ways for a high school student to earn money, and then apply the name, image, and likeness game plan to that. And I think you'll see the true value of what NIL offers our kids.

SPEAKER_00 11:09

It sounds like it's a very modern way to teach life skills.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

Yeah, in my opinion, yes, very much so.

SPEAKER_00 11:16

That's so fascinating. So, what kind of obstacles would a student with an NIL deal face?

SPEAKER_01 11:23

Okay, I'll I'll give you a couple of examples. So in Florida, this is just a few months old. All right. So down in Sarasota County, there's two examples. All right. So this offensive lineman had a CPA firm that said, Hey, we want you to on game day, or certain periods of the time, we want you to wear this t-shirt that says, Hey, need your taxes, come to, and I'm just gonna say Joe's CPA service. And they did the right thing, the parents and school, and they're gonna pay him a little bit of money, you know, every week to wear the t-shirt, you know, around town because he's a good athlete, people know who he is. And they did the right thing. So they contacted the FHSAA because that's what he's under guidance with right now. And the FHSAA said, no, you can't do it. And it's because the owner of the CPA firm was on the chain gang as a volunteer for that high school. So it would be a recruiting violation if they did this or perceived as that. Another example out of another county was a business offered, a business offered a uh student, and they just needed to have a certain number of media posts, and then they'd reference the business. But that was the one person that owned the business was the brother of the head football coach. And so again, they're tied to the school. So and again, they did the smart thing, they referred to the FHSAA. Hey, can we do that? Then they have this list of questions. Is there well that yeah, this is my uncle that owns this business, and his my father is our head football coach. And oh, well, you can't do it because of the athletic interests that are showed there. So if you are offered an NIL deal, contact the FHSA to make sure you don't violate your immediate eligibility. And then if you think you're an NCAA Division I athlete, contact the NCA, describe the contract that you're looking into, who are the people that are involved with it, and make sure everything's good. And so that has happened. There was a car dealership in Tennessee. Tennessee had one athlete, and I don't remember how many months it was, but they they uh as soon as Tennessee approved NIL, they only had one athlete that got a deal, and it was a car dealership. But it was a business, there was no relation, you know, or anything like that. And so the the uh NAL deal was sanctioned and approved.

SPEAKER_00 13:45

Aaron Powell It sounds a lot like like SAGAFTRA actors union, you know, like someone who reads the fine print so you don't have to.

SPEAKER_01 13:54

Yep, I I would agree. I think that's good.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

If you score an NIL deal, then what else do you need to do? I mean, what are there steps that parents should be mindful of?

SPEAKER_01 14:06

Well, I think the first thing is have an attorney look at the contract. And and I would have the attorney or contract contact the FHSAA, and then again, if you're an NCAA athlete, because if you get into a professional athletic contract in high school, you'll void your amateurism for not only high school but for college. So you can damage yourself beyond. So you need to have someone from your your family, and I would suggest a legal person look into that to make sure that there's nothing that immediately violates your amateurism, which is policy 9.9 by the FHSAA, or your future amateurism, which is with the NCAA. So I think that's step one. Uh I think the second part of it, and this is another Sarasota County athlete, he's a five-star offensive lineman. So he's one of the best 15-20 football players in America coming out of so he didn't get a money NIL deal. Adidas approached him and his family and said, Hey, we would like to, and this is just in the last couple of months, and we would like to approach you, and so what we're gonna do is we're just gonna give you shoes, clothing, no money, but we're gonna give you a bunch of gloves and a bunch of gear and everything like that. Well, the problem with that is anything over $600 is gonna be taxed, okay? And and so you say, Well, I'm not gonna declare that on your taxes. The problem is Adidas is gonna get the tax credit for spending that, and they're gonna turn in an IRS form saying that you received X number of thousands of dollars, which then you're gonna have to pay taxes on that. So even if you don't get money on the tax end, so you need to have an attorney look at it from a legal standpoint. You need to have a CPA or a tax professional look at it to make sure you're good there. And again, this is just good business practice.

SPEAKER_00 15:56

Isn't it interesting though to compare all of these opportunities and obstacles to like when you grew up? There were no opportunities, no obstacles either. But it's just like a different landscape entirely.

SPEAKER_01 16:08

Yeah, yeah. It it it it's a game changer, and there was no opportunities for college athletes to monetize you know what they're doing or have them represent. And so now there's uh you know, a lot of them that are making some very good money from that. So I I think it's a great opportunity. Our school district supports our athletes, our students, our families, and we want to see them do well. And I think just have an attorney look things over and make sure you're good for the FHSAA, make sure you're good for the NCAA, even if there's money not involved, but it's a contract, have a an accountant or somebody from a tax standpoint look at it and make sure you don't get into a problem there.

SPEAKER_00 16:49

And this is something that is quickly being adopted by more and more states, as I understand, right? 30?

SPEAKER_01 16:56

Yeah, more than half of the United States is is involved in this, and many of other other states are very close to adopting it in some way, shape, or form.

SPEAKER_00 17:06

Is there anything else that you want to be sure that parents hear about this before we wrap up?

SPEAKER_01 17:11

If you think that there's an opportunity for an NIL deal, go to Escambia County School District's website, click on departments, A under departments, the fourth one down is athletics, and on the main page right there is the NIL opportunity. The other thing is every Escambia County School District student and their family has an opportunity to put up a profile that can go nationwide and it's under Core Course GPA. And they also have NIL educational materials in there, but we can create their own recruiting profile. They don't have to pay somebody to help them find colleges or universities. We have footed the bill for a software system that can create their own. And we have over 1,100 students right now in our high schools that are participating in the core course GPA software. And so that that's a really good thing. But if you're listening to this and you have a piece of paper, you know, my office is 850-316-3963. And you can call me, I'll direct you there, or again, just go to Escambi County School District Department's Athletics and look at the NIL information there. And my phone number and email is on that as well.

SPEAKER_00 18:22

Awesome. Thank you so much. This is such good information for parents to have, good resources for them to have as the landscape, like we said, continues to change. And we want to make sure that our young people have the opportunities that go along with it.

SPEAKER_01 18:37

Yeah, and the I can't begin to stress enough, it's not just if you're an athlete, the NIL. If you're hardworking, organized, intelligent, driven, and you want to create your name, image, and likeness, a business opportunity. Here's the footprint uh to work from.

SPEAKER_00 18:54

Awesome. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 18:56

My pleasure.

SPEAKER_00 18:58

Thanks for listening. Be sure to subscribe and share. Voices United in Education is a production of Ascambia County Public Schools.