NIL FAQs Answered by Athlete Advantage CEO Fred Johnson

One year and two days after the NCAA lifted a barricade that prevented student-athletes from profiting from their name, image and likeness, Cristian Conyer‘s commitment to Tennessee over Kentucky started a week of debate around the BBN about NIL.

“What’s Kentucky doing? How exactly does it all work? Is it even legal?”

Mark Stoops clarified some answers to those questions Thursday morning on Kentucky Sports Radio. A few hours later, KSR received perspective from the other side. Fred Johnson is the CEO of Athlete Advantage. One of the primary NIL entities in town, Athlete Advantage represents more than a dozen Kentucky student-athletes in multiple sports, from Maddie Scherr to Will Levis and JJ Weaver.

Johnson shares exactly what Athlete Advantage does, how it works and why their services can benefit businesses across the Commonwealth.

Is this all legal?

“It’s 100% legal,” Johnson tells KSR. “Last week we signed our 150th NIL deal. And we’re very proud that all of those deals are business to business. None of those involve donor or booster dollars to an athlete.”

Kentucky’s head football coach made it clear that they are not interested in pay-for-play schemes put on by NIL collectives. Athlete Advantage is not a NIL collective.

“We’re about as far away from a collective as you can get,” says Johnson. “We manage individual student athletes and today we manage about 80 athletes from 18 different universities across the country, Power Five, Group of Five and the Big East.”

Not a NIL Collective, Kind of

Instead of saying “collective” to describe a pool of money for student-athletes, Mark Stoops and the University of Kentucky prefer the term ‘pre-funded endorsement marketing dollars.’ Athlete Advantage has this type of ledger for businesses called “The 15.”

“It gives a business the opportunity to manage their marketing spending over a multi-year period,” says Johnson. “So if you’re a business owner, most businesses run on a three, four or five-year business plan and in there they’ve got an expense line item for marketing. Well, we want them to be able to more easily manage their marketing budget and say, ‘Hey, we recognize the value of a partnership with a student-athlete from the University of Kentucky. So we’re going to pre-allocate $100,000 to be spent in marketing with student-athletes — plural — from the University of Kentucky.'”

Essentially, Athlete Advantage has created a marketing firm for local businesses to use to collaborate with UK student-athletes. The 15 has been evaluated by in-house counsel and independent third party attorneys.

“It’s been referred to as the most legally constructed form of a collective in the industry,” Johnson says. “We don’t like to call it a collective because of the negative connotation of pay for play. And the negative connotation of donor dollars coming into this.

Marketing Dollar Details

Must UK approve the deal?

The University of Kentucky compliance staff only reviews the contracts between student-athletes and businesses to ensure they do not violate state laws.

“Anytime we strike an agreement, we actually submit the contract and everything through University of Kentucky for their final approval,” says Johnson. “Now, they’re not looking and saying, ‘Hey, this is a good deal or a bad deal.’ They’re making sure it’s within the boundaries — it’s not gaming, it’s not gambling, it’s not alcohol or things like that.”

Can I work with a specific athlete?

Yes. If your business is thinking big, as in the Big Blue Wall, you can work with Kenneth Horsey, Tashawn Manning and Athlete Advantage’s team to create a customized marketing campaign that varies from traditional media and billboards to social media.

What kind of fun marketing content can be created?

Athlete Advantage has brokered many of the deals you’ve seen KSR write about in the past, like Will Levis’ promotion through Claiborne Farms and JJ Weaver’s ‘6 Finger Discount.’ These marketing efforts aren’t exclusively advertising based. Horsey has made paid appearances at schools and clubs to share his inspiring life story. Levis signed autographs on a coal miner’s helmet and a pickup truck at a festival in Harlan.

Can a Regular Fan Donate Money to Kentucky’s NIL Efforts?

One person asked me this week, “I have $100 with NIL’s name on it. Can I donate it?” That money cannot go into the pool of marketing money for players. However, you can spend that money by purchasing some of their merchandise at Kentucky Branded.

“The Branded team is working to get more creative on different items. So when they buy a t-shirt that says Kenneth Horsey on it or Tashawn Manning on it, That is an NIL transaction for that young man or young woman and it benefits them financially.”

Robert Dillingham just committed to play for John Calipari a few weeks ago and he already has merchandise available for sale.

What Athlete Advantage Provides its Student-Athletes

While most of the this week’s NIL developments are focused on how businesses can get more involved in the process, it’s also important to note how NIL benefits the athletes. Even though we always think of the financial gains, Athlete Advantage provides much more than that.

1. Legal Protection

“We want to ensure at all points in time that student athlete is protected both with their eligibility as well as legally protected. That’s our number one priority and our North Star is our mission. That protection, ensuring that student-athlete is eligible, it actually benefits the universities that our athletes attend. Because when we strike an endorsement deal, we have a compliance questionnaire that we go through with these businesses to try to identify or pre-identify any bad actors. The last thing we want to do is to put a young lady or a young man’s eligibility at risk.”

2. Brand Development

“We help them figure out kind of who they want to be and who they are from a market perspective. We work with them on their social media. And we have a couple of partners who grew up in the marketing and media space. They do a great job working with our players to help them begin to brand themselves through social media.”

3. Marketing and Financial Assessment

Johnson’s team at Athlete Advantage helps evaluate the market to ensure the athletes are getting a fair market price. They’re also cold-calling and emailing prospective companies to strum up business for the athletes.

4. Mental Health Services

Even though the University of Kentucky provides student-athletes access to mental health services, they may not feel comfortable speaking to someone employed by the university. Athlete Advantage members can speak to their mental health team at no charge. It’s not just talking to a shrink.

“We want to give them avenues to have support if they need it,” says Johnson. “We’ve helped find internships for players. We’ve reviewed resumes for folks who are leaving the playing field, graduating and going into the workforce. Sometimes these kids just need someone to talk to. Their girlfriend breaks up with them and they want to go out to dinner and have a conversation. We do those things.

“We had a Division-I athletic director who was evaluating our services and referred to us as ‘the good uncle.’“

Final NIL Pitch

The NIL world is still new. While it may be scary, it also presents an opportunity to explore the possibilities that are finally available between student-athletes and businesses. The rising tide lifts all boats.

“Are there hurdles and negative things that have been put out there? 100%. But I also think if I’m a UK fan, I want to there’s a lot of good work being done supporting these athletes,” says Johnson. “And for those businesses that would like to learn more about how to maybe build a campaign how to drive some attention, some views, some clicks their way, you know our our address. You know how to get a hold of us. We’re happy to have a conversation with anybody.”