D'Angelo: Athletes like FAU's Alexa Zaph teaching us what NIL is all about
Tom D'AngeloAlexa Zaph's mind started to race when NIL legislation was passed by the NCAA in July. The Florida Atlantic University junior looked at it as an opportunity and a challenge to see how she could promote her brand as the starting point guard on the women's basketball team.
This was not just going to be about the premier athletes from the elite athletic programs, she thought ... even if she had some doubts if that would be true.
"I was feeling 50/50," she said. "Part of me thought I'm going to thrive with this. Part of me, too, was ... this is for the big time Alabama football players. I saw it kind of as a challenge I'm really going to try and put myself out there and really learn how I can make myself approachable in that way."
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Zaph started posting products from her favorite health food restaurant, Raw Juce, on social media. She sent a long e-mail to the company that produces the hydrating product she prefers, Liquid IV.
Suddenly, she was partnering with both companies, promoting their products on social media with a few appearances as part of the deal.
"I think it's so amazing," said Zaph, who is from Jupiter and is Oxbridge Academy's all-time leading scorer. "All student-athletes work so hard and we deserve to put our name out there and we deserve to benefit from this. Everybody should try to take advantage of this.
"If you constantly keep reaching out to someone they're going to have to (listen)."
This is the part of the NIL that should be celebrated ... and not Nick Saban subtly using it as a recruiting tool by announcing his quarterback is approaching $1 million in NIL deals. It's athletes at schools like FAU, and especially those not playing the higher profile sports, benefitting by not having to pay for their drink or acai bowl and making a few extra bucks for spending cash that should convince everyone this is something that was long overdue.
"What we've realized is there are student athletes on our campus with real brands and they have real value," FAU athletic director Brian White said. "It shows that creative advertisers can benefit from the use of the student athlete brand which is a cool thing."
Athletes closely monitored by universities
John Stephenson, FAU's associate AD for compliance, spent the summer studying state law on NIL once the NCAA's choice to ask Congress to create a federal NIL law bombed, and it became the responsibilities of the states.
"If you're not using it as a recruiting inducement, if it is not pay for play, they basically didn't want to touch it," Stephenson said of the NCAA. "Their whole thing was if you have a state law follow that."
FAU created its own policies, more than three pages of rules that cover, among other things, the use of agents, the school's involvement, restrictions on being involved with companies that conflict with FAU's institutional values, booster involvement and disclosure requirements.
"What we told them ... if you get in the line at Chipotle, instead of them giving you a burrito, which is an extra benefit, they can say, 'if you tweet out that we're doing this particular promo at this location then we can give you a burrito.'"
FAU has partnered with Opendorse, which maximizes the endorsement value for athletes. All deals must be disclosed to the university by first uploading the agreement through a data base and then showing proof of performance. That includes a picture of the athlete at a required appearance or a screenshot of the athlete promoting the product on social media.
"The last thing we want is for our student athletes to do something that might jeopardize their eligibility, and that's the last thing they want," White said. "And the companies that support our student athletes, the last thing they want is to do anything that's going to end up causing a student athlete harm.
"I think everybody's heart is in the right place. We're trying to navigate a new thing and so far I haven't seen any negatives that have come out of it. I've seen a lot of positives."
FAU athletes from across all sports are benefiting. Companies such as Gopuff delivery service, YOKE gaming, Barstool Sports, Up2U Wear and Vale Food have signed Owls players.
And these deal are not for Clemson or Ohio State football player money. Far from it. Some involve no money, just promoting the product for free samples or merchandise. Others include cash, from as little as $5 up to $800. FAU athletes have signed deals that pay them $25, $210, $500 (for a TikTok post), $800 and other amounts.
"We hope this is a trend," White said. "We hope there's many more. Our athletes have a lot to offer in terms of brands ... There's a whole lot of sports here where we have athletes that are as good at what they do as any in the country and they can offer a lot of value to brands that are willing to be creative and find their niche markets."
White said his favorite NIL deal is from the Florida Panthers, who reached out to every female athlete at FAU (about 200) to make them ambassadors to the organization by being part of the street team, appearing at a game, etc. The pay is believed to be about $150 to $200 each.
The Panthers hope to sign 100. About 20 have accepted so far.
"It couldn't be any better," White said. "It's a great thing and it's a great thing for women's sports."
Zaph not done selling her brand
Zaph isn't through. The Owls leader in assists and free throw shooting last season now is reaching out to clothing companies. And she is helping her teammates with the process.
"They say, 'I don't have many followers,' " she said. "It's not about your followers. I don't have that many followers either. It's all about how you present yourself.
"If you go in with a negative attitude, you're not going to benefit from this at all."
Zaph, who wants to be a nurse after graduation, also has partnered with Gopuff, the food delivery service that has its own small grocery store. She was given a $25 credit to spend on their web site and once she fulfilled her duties she was paid $30.
"I love doing stuff like that," she said. "Thirty dollars here and there, I think it's pretty good."
Absolutely it is ... and what NIL is all about.
But that would not make a great recruiting pitch for Nick Saban.