Student-Athlete Brands in the Age of Name, Image, and Likeness

• Author: Jeremy M. Evans
• Pages: 26-29

Published in Landslide® magazine, Volume 13, Number 2, a publication of the ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law (ABA-IPL), ©2020 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved.

This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.

Student-Athlete

Brands in the Age

of Name, Image,

and Likeness

BY JEREMY M. EVANS

I

n California on or around January 1, 2023, student-athletes

(or college athletes) will begin selling their name, image,

and likeness (NIL) for prot.1 In Florida and Colorado, this

will occur two years earlier around the summer of 2021.2

The prospect of student-athletes being able to prot from

their NIL is a terric opportunity that allows for capitalism

and amateurism to live side by side.

Professional athletes and celebrities in entertainment have

consistently lent their voice, appearance, and talents to brands

via commercials, voice-overs, and products for pay. Now

student-athletes will have their turn, albeit a short run, con-

sidering college generally lasts between nine months and

ve years, with the highly recruited athletes generally leav-

ing college for the pro ranks earlier. Nonetheless, it will be a

legal opportunity to make a prot while enrolled as a student

before earning a salary as a professional athlete or, better yet,

money to save for future needs if an academic or sports schol-

arship pays for most of the tuition and expenses.

There are ve things that will be fascinating to watch as

student-athletes seek trademark protection in the age of name,

image, and likeness.

The Value of Social Media

Social media is a very powerful tool.3 Instagram inuencers are

paid for sharing information based on their number of follow-

ers, and many student-athletes have thousands, if not millions,

of followers. The sharing of information is generally an adver-

tisement for a brand or product (e.g., a brand partnership in

industry talk). The difference in potential value of college ath-

lete brand partnerships on social media is exponential. This is

because sports are played on a daily, or at least weekly, basis,

whereas in entertainment, a lm or television series with one

specic actor occurs one to 12 times per year depending on

the content. In other words, the student-athlete is appearing on

television at least every week during the college sports season,

which adds to their popularity on their social media platforms.

Where popularity grows (e.g., more followers, likes, com-

ments, shares, and views), the price of utilizing a social media

platform to share a brand partnership goes up.

Social media will become a further representation of the

personal broadcast system for college athletes, meaning those

with a lot of followers and high engagement will receive

offers to enter into brand partnerships and get paid to post

and/or possibly take ownership stakes in companies, while

potentially receiving products as well. Social media is indeed

a referee that moves the sticks of monetization.

The Great Brands

Michael Jordan’s “Jordan” brand is iconic. The Jumpman is

known worldwide alongside Coca-Cola and Gatorade and is

associated with many current and former professional ath-

letes. Jordan was popular in college and, as a freshman,

hit the jump shot that clinched the 1982 NCAA National

Championship for the North Carolina Tar Heels over fellow

freshman Patrick Ewing’s Georgetown Hoyas. What if Jordan

could have beneted from NIL during his freshman season or

beyond before he was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 1984?

A good question, but consider the following. Social media did

not exist. Broadcast television rights were not nearly as expen-

sive to purchase or viewed by as many fans as today. Streaming

and mobile phones were not available with the technology used

by consumers today. Lastly, the NCAA along with the NBA and

NFL have become more popular since 1982, not less.

On the other hand, Baker Mayeld, Cam Newton, Zion

Image: Leo Patrizi, GettyImages