As of July 1st, 2021, the NCAA is allowing college athletes to profit off of their names, images, and likenesses. This rule is a great opportunity for athletes with a strong social media presence to make money, but I think that there is an opportunity for all athletes to take advantage of this rule change. I am proposing a survey to provide insight into the new interim rule. I wish to research ways to make this policy beneficial for all athletes by providing informational tools to support them in leveraging the NIL interim policy. My plan is to survey the University of Richmond student-athletes to understand how to maximize the NCAA Name, Image, and Likeness policy for agentless athletes. From this survey, I wish to produce a tool to help guide University of Richmond athletes through the new NIL rule change.
As of right now, the majority of sponsorships are being facilitated through social media messages and direct messaging. I hope to analyze the process student-athletes go through to become an influencer or partner with these brands, companies, and businesses.
I am a student-athlete at the University of Richmond and have an internship volunteering with the sports marketing department this academic year. I am passionate about giving every athlete the resources they need to profit from the NIL policy. I will have to collect information from multiple stakeholders such as agentless student-athletes at the University of Richmond, Richmond’s compliance office, as well as companies and brands.
This is an engaging topic. As usual, my first concern is ensuring you propose a project that you can accomplish and that will produce meaningful results for you and those who seek to engage in your research. I’d like you to start getting as specific as you can about the following stated goals: “I am proposing a survey to provide insight into the new interim rule. I wish to research ways to make this policy beneficial for all athletes by providing informational tools to support them in leveraging the NIL interim policy.” What specific insights do you want to uncover? What kinds of informational tools are you proposing? Might the study and analysis be a separate project from developing informational tools? What do you mean by “profit” and “beneficial”? Will you have standards for “benefit,” or will you seek to engage participants in helping you determine what would be beneficial?
Hello Dr. Hocutt – I addressed some of you questions in my research questions post, but I also wanted to comment here for you to see. I am hoping to uncover insights on what sponsorships University of Richmond athletes are getting and what they are looking for? I am presenting an information tool on how to promote your student athlete status to sponsors. These tools could be in forms of videos or pamphlets. I think that these informational tools will be a separate part from the research because I have not been able to identify if it is a need yet. When I use the word “profit” I am referring to the means at which an athlete is paid monetary value or free items in payment for their advertisement services. I believe that the standards of benefit will have to be determined by the athletes I speak with.