Que$tion$ About NIL

[Goldendawg]

I don't think NIL/Portal is sustainable and do not like the current state of college football & basketball but I did break down & join BI in December at the request of my MSU Grad School son in the quest to get better players. A few questions:

1. How do these players get their salaries, oops, I mean NIL $? Pro-rated weekly over the season or the semester or what?

2. We recently had a men's basketball player (with a very impressive NIL I have read) leave the team. How does his departure in the middle of the season play out per NIL? Negotiated settlement, pro-rated over games/weeks on roster, weeks enrolled in school,?????

3. If a player blows up in a positive way during the the season (you know who I am talking about), can you tear up his NIL deal and give him a new, better one to show in good faith that you are going to take even better care of him next year?

4. Can a player in poor academic standing (you do know these players are student athletes first*) enter the portal and sign a substantial NIL deal if on academic probation?

5. Do they still have to be making progress toward a degree? Have seen some of these players have been at three to four schools in a couple of of years with 3 or more years of eligibility remaining. Bet their transcripts are a mess.

This is a big mess. Even pro sports have salary caps, contracts, rules to try to have some equality through the draft, etc.

[mparkerfd20]

There are no rules. That's just it.

[CharlieWinfield]

All good questions - let me try my best to answer them.

1. How do these players get their salaries, oops, I mean NIL $? Pro-rated weekly over the season or the semester or what?

There are a number of factors that go into it. There are a lot of one-time deals that could involve $500 or something along those lines, in which case they are paid immediately. For anything substantive, the amounts are paid monthly, and in varying amounts that take into account important dates.

2. We recently had a men's basketball player (with a very impressive NIL I have read) leave the team. How does his departure in the middle of the season play out per NIL? Negotiated settlement, pro-rated over games/weeks on roster, weeks enrolled in school,?????

I think rumors of deals often exceed reality; however, as a general rule, there are a lot of clauses in our agreements that provide protection (along with the proration above) that allow for agreements to be terminated.

3. If a player blows up in a positive way during the the season (you know who I am talking about), can you tear up his NIL deal and give him a new, better one to show in good faith that you are going to take even better care of him next year?

Agreements can be renegotiated at any time, and we work hard to maintain close relationships with players and to show them that we care about them personally. It is why we help with a lot of things, from travel arrangements to restaurant recommendations. So, yes, we work hard to keep showing every day that we are working in good faith and to react to every NIL opportunity we can.

4. Can a player in poor academic standing (you do know these players are student athletes first*) enter the portal and sign a substantial NIL deal if on academic probation?


I suppose they could, but it is hard. Eligibility is a huge issue - I guess it depends on how much one group will gamble on it.

5. Do they still have to be making progress toward a degree? Have seen some of these players have been at three to four schools in a couple of of years with 3 or more years of eligibility remaining. Bet their transcripts are a mess.

This is really important - particularly for basketball where players tend to but out of school as soon as the season is over. Prorating into the summer helps keep people on task with finishing up their school work and graduating. I don't know if APR will every really matter again, but it is best to be prepared, and, as you say, they are students, and we try to provide incentives for graduation, etc.

In fact, we are talking to a few donors now who are looking to extend NIL deals to those who earn Academic All-Conference / All American awards or graduate.

[State82]

Good info Charlie. Thanks for all you do to elevate MSU sports.

[Goldendawg]

Charlie, thank you so much for ALL you do for our athletic programs , athletes, and us fans at MSU. Really appreciate you answering my questions in this post. These answers made me feel somewhat better in today's Wild, Wild West of college sports. In fact, I plan to increase my quarterly donation to BI as soon as possible. Hail State!

[ScoobaDawg]

Charlie, thank you for all you are doing.

[viverlibre]

All good questions - let me try my best to answer them.

1. How do these players get their salaries, oops, I mean NIL $? Pro-rated weekly over the season or the semester or what?

There are a number of factors that go into it. There are a lot of one-time deals that could involve $500 or something along those lines, in which case they are paid immediately. For anything substantive, the amounts are paid monthly, and in varying amounts that take into account important dates.



This is interesting. I remember reading an account of a "go between" who paid the players on behalf of boosters, this was back in the wild, wild days of the 80s. He said his practice was to give a player as little as possible up front, string him along and pay them after each game or however periodically. He also wanted the players to be dependent on him for any type of extra needs they had, like help paying mom's rent, etc. This method was probably common up through the current NIL process.

[bigbub50]

Thanks for the answers Charlie and thanks for being a loyal dog and bridging the gap between ADs and through the death of our football coach.

I have a question. Can you comment generally on what kind of state our nil account balance is currently compared to a year ago. I know you can?t give specifics and I agree that is not wise. Would you comment on the rumors that state is in a much better situation than we were this time last year? Did we have a good year raising funds?

[BorneDawg]

Good questions Goldendawg!

[MaroonFlounder]

I like the way MSU and the BI are navigating this. There seems to be a strategy that has a chance to be more sustainable than the program to the north of us, who seem to be throwing tons of money around with reckless abandon. My hope is that as we move forward, our fanbase will have more and more confidence in the way this is being managed. Big thanks to Charlie for making sense out of a situation that we are probably still trying to figure out.

[MabenMaroon]

Appreciate the info on the very good questions presented. Thanks for all of your efforts and leadership with BI!

[Leroy Jenkins]

I shudder to think where we would be if Charlie didn't take initiative (no pun intended) on this whole NIL fiasco.

[Cooterpoot]

My wardrobe has turned into a collection of BI shirts, pullovers, and hats. If they start doing BI bourbon like OM does Vodka, I'll have to go to rehab.

[viverlibre]

My wardrobe has turned into a collection of BI shirts, pullovers, and hats. If they start doing BI bourbon like OM does Vodka, I'll have to go to rehab.

They produce vodka?

[somebodyshotmypaw]

Very good questions. And thanks to Charlie for answering.

[Cooterpoot]

They produce vodka?

No Foundry Distilling does it for The Grove Collective. Has a label with it on it and percentage of sales goes to collective.

[Coursesuper]

No Foundry Distilling does it for The Grove Collective. Has a label with it on it and percentage of sales goes to collective.

I knew I should have gone into the whiskey business years ago.

[viverlibre]

No Foundry Distilling does it for The Grove Collective. Has a label with it on it and percentage of sales goes to collective.

Obviously I didn't mean they distill it and bottle it. They have it produced and sell it.

Hopefully, Charlie is looking into something like this.