Kristen Ruisi and Maria Sinatra spoke with American City Business Journals ahead of the NCAA's March Madness. The following is an excerpt.
The start of March means increased talk of college basketball. The business of college sports is rapidly changing, though, evolving in ways that create new engagement opportunities for business owners. Those possibilities are most visible in the form of Name, Image and Likeness deals with student-athletes.
NIL deals are similar to traditional endorsement deals in which a business contracts with an athlete to promote a product or service — but NIL deals refer to agreements with college student-athletes in particular. Venable LLP attorneys Kristen Ruisi and Maria Sinatra shared with me five things business owners should consider before engaging in an NIL contract:
1) Examine the state laws, college requirements and NCAA requirements that might be applicable: The current rules governing NIL deals are a patchwork of regulations that vary by jurisdiction and by individual school. That means it’s necessary to know where a targeted student-athlete resides and attends school so a business owner can understand the regulatory framework that might apply to an NIL deal with that individual.
“One of the first things [a business owner] may want to do is identify who they want to work with,” Sinatra told me. “That’s going to dictate a lot of the other steps that they may need to follow.”
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