News: NIL collective backed by Ira Lubert, LaVar Arrington, David Taylor, and others launches for Penn State athletes

[OptionBob]

Just a few thoughts on NIL, FWIW:

1) It's too bad what has happened to college football. Part of the charm of the sport was seeing kids develop over time, after they had made a commitment to the university of their choice. Even in pro sports, at least players are theoretically committed to an organization through the term of their contract. Now, in college, there is no real commitment by the player or by the university.

2) On the positive side, Bama or TAMU cannot keep every good player. On an 85-man roster, half of those kids are going to be disappointed with their role on the team and transfer elsewhere within a year or two. So perhaps talent will end up spreading out to a wider variety of programs.

3) Penn State's main advantage in the NIL game is not that it has a small group of high rollers, or even a main high roller like Phil Knight at Oregon. Penn State's advantage is our huge alumni base, and this NIL effort is an attempt to capitalize on this advantage. Well played.

4) What happens in a situation where a kid gets a huge NIL deal and then bails out of the program after a year because there is a better deal somewhere else? Do the NIL donors get a refund?

5) The worst part of this will be when lesser programs with fewer dollars are used as a farm system for the richer programs. I can easily envision that a kid has success at a Mountain West program, the fanbase gets excited about the kid, but the kid jumps for a better deal at USC. This is very similar to MLB, where small-market teams struggle mightily to complete. That's not good for the sport in the long run.

I expect Penn State will come out just fine in the brave new world of NIL. But I'm not sure I care that much anymore.

Good points, especially the comment about smaller programs becoming "farm teams" for the Big Dogs. Imagine the bidding war for a guy like Josh Allen out of Wyoming. I think he stayed all 3 years at UW after transferring from a junior college. I doubt the Cowboys would be able to keep such a talent today.

 

[SurgeOne]

I believe the athletic dept. as a whole is sponsored by Nike, no? There might be a tie between the two but I'm not too sure.

But the most interesting aspect of Kelsey Amy being involved seems to be in the "gear" dept. - kids love gear i.e. apparel, hats, shoes, etc. My initial thoughts centered around individual "shoe deals" and what not - Nick Singleton getting his own cleats for the season, sponsored by XYZ in Harrisburg. Shoes designed by Amy.

From a football/basketball perspective, seems like a huge recruiting play there.

Penn St better rip open the wallet for wrestling. I think it’s my fave sport for the last 10 yrs or so

 

[PSUSignore]

5) The worst part of this will be when lesser programs with fewer dollars are used as a farm system for the richer programs. I can easily envision that a kid has success at a Mountain West program, the fanbase gets excited about the kid, but the kid jumps for a better deal at USC. This is very similar to MLB, where small-market teams struggle mightily to complete. That's not good for the sport in the long run.

This already happens, refer to the transfer portal. By rule, coaches aren't permitted to recruit players until they are officially in the portal but everyone knows that rule is constantly being broken, CJF has even publicly commented that by the time PSU talks to some kids in the portal they are finding out the players have already decided on their transfer destination.

 

[BobPSU92]

CJF has even publicly commented that by the time PSU talks to some kids in the portal they are finding out the players have already decided on their transfer destination.

Sounds like poor clock management by Franklin.

 

[Got GSPs]

It's too bad what has happened to college football.

I prefer the olden days too, but NIL (and the portal) aren't going to lessen my love of college football and basketball.

This is all on Mark Emmert and the lack of leadership at the NCAA. They could have put forth a rule that allowed for players on an individual basis to get money for signing autographs and use of their NIL in video games and other promotions. There lack of action, keeping their heads deep in the sand, has led to a wild west and varying laws from state to state.

 

[PSUSignore]

I prefer the olden days too, but NIL (and the portal) aren't going to lessen my love of college football and basketball.

This is all on Mark Emmert and the lack of leadership at the NCAA. They could have put forth a rule that allowed for players on an individual basis to get money for signing autographs and use of their NIL in video games and other promotions. There lack of action, keeping their heads deep in the sand, has led to a wild west and varying laws from state to state.

I think the NCAA gets a bad rap for this. I suspect the NCAA knew that it would be impossible to control once any door to NIL payments was opened, and they kept the hard line stance because they felt that was governable. Everyone could have predicted that with NIL opening up, coaches, players, agents, boosters and companies would all exploit every loophole.

 

[HarrisburgDave]

Well, I’m done with “college” football. I will miss it. I’m not the only one who saw the sport heading in the wrong direction.

I would like to see a serious debate over the future of professional sports at the University.

 

[Got GSPs]

I think the NCAA gets a bad rap for this. I suspect the NCAA knew that it would be impossible to control once any door to NIL payments was opened, and they kept the hard line stance because they felt that was governable. Everyone could have predicted that with NIL opening up, coaches, players, agents, boosters and companies would all exploit every loophole.

Nope. They thought they could fight and prevent it instead of managing it. They could have had rules that would have been consistant across all states and maaybe excluded the most blatant pay for play scenarios that are going to happen now. It wasn't the NCAA that created NIL, but they are at fault for the mess that it is now. A leader would not have let this happen.

 

[GrimReaper]

I think the NCAA gets a bad rap for this. I suspect the NCAA knew that it would be impossible to control once any door to NIL payments was opened, and they kept the hard line stance because they felt that was governable. Everyone could have predicted that with NIL opening up, coaches, players, agents, boosters and companies would all exploit every loophole.

No they don't. NCAA had more than a few opportunities to reach settlements that would have prevented the Wild West, but the Emmert-Remy Daisy Chain just wouldn't have it.

 

[marshall23]

NIL collective backed by Ira Lubert, LaVar Arrington, David Taylor, and others launches for Penn State athletes

Penn State athletes now have access to a new NIL collective. 'Success with Honor' is backed by some of the school's most prominent alumni.

www.on3.com

anyone else stunned that they used "Success with Honor?" I guess they desperately want money......I haven't heard any administrator or PSU lackey utter this since 2011....I've heard nonsense like "comprehensive excellence....." That one made me throw up in my mouth.

 

[OuiRPSU]

anyone else stunned that they used "Success with Honor?" I guess they desperately want money......I haven't heard any administrator or PSU lackey utter this since 2011....I've heard nonsense like "comprehensive excellence....." That one made me throw up in my mouth.

Was “Success with Honor” ever trademarked?

 

[Keyser Soze 16802]

Ira Lubert. Success with honor. Get the **** out.

Right? The guy does all he can to kill the Paterno legacy and now he's chairing something that uses one of Joe's most famous terms as its name? It's disgusting

 

[marshall23]

Was “Success with Honor” ever trademarked?

No idea

 

[PSUSignore]

anyone else stunned that they used "Success with Honor?" I guess they desperately want money......I haven't heard any administrator or PSU lackey utter this since 2011....I've heard nonsense like "comprehensive excellence....." That one made me throw up in my mouth.

Jay was involved somehow so the Paternos would have had some awareness of the name. I saw a post from him somewhere this week talking about it, and how he contacted several of the people on the advisory board and they all said yes.

 

[OuiRPSU]

No idea

Took me 2 seconds to find out that Penn State owns the trademark, which I assume means this is either a university-related/sanctioned group, or they’ve been given permission to use it. Either way, I’m not giving it a dime.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

 

[HarrisburgDave]

Oh, hell no!

if you have a professional team then let it pay for itself.

What’s next? Are the Phillies, Penguins and 76ers going to hit up “fans” for a fund to pay free agents? That’s what this sounds like.
I’m done. Adios.

 

[PSUFBFAN]

Do people have the right to (legally) spend their money as they want? ABSOLUTELY!
Do people (college athletes in this situation) have the right to accept whatever amount of money someone else is (legally) willing to give them? ABSOLUTELY!!

However, if I decide to come up with a list of potential sources for my personal financial donations, whether that list is 2, 5, 10, or 100+ organizations .... the very LAST entry on that list will be a legal slush fund to bribe 18-21 year olds to play sports for "my" team rather than another team. Especially when those athletes are then deciding where to play based upon the highest bidder, or they quit a team mid season to go somewhere else, or they quit (I'm sorry, I mean "opt out") the team before the season is over.

I will continue to financially support organizations that help people who through no fault of their own, are much less fortunate in life's challenges than I have been.

That doesn't include 18 year old kids who are about to sign a deal for a free college education and then go on to sign professional contracts for tens of millions of dollars a few years later. Yes, I understand this slush fund is intended to help all athletes, but let's be real. It's really intended to keep Johnny 5 star (football and basketball) happy and enrolled at PSU instead of someplace else. It's not intended to support the 2nd string woman's field hockey goalie.

Yes, I understand my opinions are in the minority. Yes, I understand this is the future of college sports. Yes, I understand that PSU needs to do this to compete with the other schools if we want to compete for the best players, titles, etc. I have no issue with those of you that choose to support this initiative. If this helps PSU win championships, great. If it fails to generate enough money to bring the best athletes to PSU and we never win another title, so be it. I will go on with my life.

 

[BobPSU92]

Do people have the right to (legally) spend their money as they want? ABSOLUTLEY!
Do people (college athletes in this situation) have the right to accept whatever amount of money someone else is (legally) willing to give them? ABSOLUTLEY!!

However, if I decide to come up with a list of potential sources for my personal financial donations, whether that list is 2, 5, 10, or 100+ organizations .... the very LAST entry on that list will be a legal slush fund to bribe 18-21 year olds to play sports for "my" team rather than another team. Especially when those athletes are then deciding where to play based upon the highest bidder, or they quit a team mid season to go somewhere else, or they quit (I'm sorry, I mean "opt out") the team before the season is over.

I will continue to financially support organizations that help people who through no fault of their own, are much less fortunate in life's challenges than I have been.

That doesn't include 18 year old kids who are about to sign a deal for a free college education and then go on to sign professional contracts for tens of millions of dollars a few years later. Yes, I understand this slush fund is intended to help all athletes, but let's be real. It's really intended to keep Johnny 5 star (football and basketball) happy and enrolled at PSU instead of someplace else. It's not intended to support the 2nd string woman's field hockey goalie.

Yes, I understand my opinions are in the minority. Yes, I understand this is the future of college sports. Yes, I understand that PSU needs to do this to compete with the other schools if we want to compete for the best players, titles, etc. I have no issue with those of you that choose to support this initiative. If this helps PSU win championships, great. If it fails to generate enough money to bring the best athletes to PSU and we never win another title, so be it. I will go on with my life.

THON. Easy decision.

 

[91Joe95]

Oh, hell no!

if you have a professional team then let it pay for itself.

What’s next? Are the Phillies, Penguins and 76ers going to hit up “fans” for a fund to pay free agents? That’s what this sounds like.
I’m done. Adios.

Sadly, you don't care enough about paying Lubert's management fees.

 

[WVilleLion]

How long to even get to the same level that the initial donation that UT had? Which was $10M.

I say years. And sadly by then UT, and a few others will have raised (indirectly) $25M+.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

 

[Keyser Soze 16802]

Tom, what are your thoughts on the good guys working with Ira? From the outside it looks like a deal with the devil

 

[BobPSU92]

How long to even get to the same level that the initial donation that UT had? Which was $10M.

I say years. And sadly by then UT, and a few others will have raised (indirectly) $25M+.

It isn’t a contest, except that it is.

 

[BobPSU92]

Sadly, you don't care enough about paying Lubert's management fees.

Give early, often, and in large sums. ira will tell us when he has enough money.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Tom, what are your thoughts on the good guys working with Ira? From the outside it looks like a deal with the devil

Ira does have a rep for not doing anything unless it's to his advantage. However, he was instrumental in bringing BOB to PSU and very instrumental in bringing Cael Sanderson to PSU, and I'm not aware of those actions being done to his financial advantage. (Bringing Cael did work out to his advantage in terms of seeing PSU wrestling succeed. Ira does like PSU wrestling, and I believe he rents out a luxury suite each year at wrestling nationals.) So while I'm always cautious to learn what Ira's motivation or gain is, I get the sense (not confirmed) that this is more of his seeing a need (to keep PSU competitive in athletics) and being involved in a possible solution where he's not gaining financially.

Jason Belzer's involvement in Success With Honor is a bigger concern to me, but I know almost nothing about his compensation for his efforts with this group.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Success With Honor Subscription Invites Alumni To Impact Future Of Penn State Athletics

Advised by high-profile Nittany Lions like LaVar Arrington, Calvin Booth, and Lisa Salters, Success With Honor seeks to bridge the gap between alumni, brands, and student-athletes.

onwardstate.com

 

[PSUJam]

Success With Honor Subscription Invites Alumni To Impact Future Of Penn State Athletics

Advised by high-profile Nittany Lions like LaVar Arrington, Calvin Booth, and Lisa Salters, Success With Honor seeks to bridge the gap between alumni, brands, and student-athletes.

onwardstate.com

"We have almost seven figures raised, and the vast majority of the money has been allocated to all sports,” Belzer said. “Probably 75%.”"

 

[Tom McAndrew]

 

[Nits1989]

I didn‘t know Lisa Salters is an alum. Shame on me. That’s pretty cool. I’m glad to see PSU is competing at NIL.

 

[PSUJam]

 

[Tom McAndrew]

I see that Jason Belzer is also involved with a NIL collective at Rutgers.

Also of interest from the below article:

"KTR joins collectives for Illinois, Indiana (two), Maryland, Nebraska, Ohio State (two) and Penn State (three)."

Rutgers boosters launch NIL collective ‘Knights of the Raritan’ | What it means

'Knights of the Raritan,' an NIL collective headed by a group of Rutgers donors that was launched on Thursday.

www.nj.com

 

[CvilleElksCoach]

I see that Jason Belzer is also involved with a NIL collective at Rutgers.

Also of interest from the below article:

"KTR joins collectives for Illinois, Indiana (two), Maryland, Nebraska, Ohio State (two) and Penn State (three)."

Rutgers boosters launch NIL collective ‘Knights of the Raritan’ | What it means

'Knights of the Raritan,' an NIL collective headed by a group of Rutgers donors that was launched on Thursday.

www.nj.com

Jason's company is the platform upon which SWH is built. His staff is helping out PSU and doing quite a bit of the footwork in setting up events and communicating with potential provides. If anyone is interested in more details about SWH or would like to engage the services of one of our Student Athletes, let me know. I can help you out and put you in contact with the appropriate resources.

 

[Midnighter]

It isn’t a contest, except that it is.

 

[WVilleLion]

F n Emmertt and NCAA thought they could fend off paying athletes and instead we have ended up with something a thousand times worse.

NIL is already spiraling out of control and it will get worse.

 

[BobPSU92]

F n Emmertt and NCAA thought they could fend off paying athletes and instead we have ended up with something a thousand times worse.

NIL is already spiraling out of control and it will get worse.

emmert’s got this.

 

[Midnighter]

emmert’s got this.

Emmert and the NCAA…

 

[PSUJam]

 

[CyphaPSU]

There are a hundred ways big money folks will find their way around these guidelines—just like they have for decades.

 

[NoBareFeet]

Booo. I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I hope Penn State never pays a dime of "NIL" money to any athlete.