From Athletes to Influencers: How UMD student-athletes are profiting off of their names
In June, the NCAA announced that it would allow student-athletes to profit off of their name, image and likeness. (Pixabay)
Track-and-field runners Caleb Dean and Kamari Trotz came to the University of Maryland as student-athletes but because of the new NCAA policy, they'll be leaving as entrepreneurs too.
In June, the NCAA announced that it would allow student-athletes to profit off of their name, image and likeness (NIL). Dean and Trotz, members of UMD's men's track and field team each launched a business venture. What they are selling: their brand.
Dean, a junior kinesiology major is partnered with a local brand called Route One Apparel. Trotz, a sophomore information science major, is partnered with a protein powder company called Yolked. In addition, they are both ambassadors for Unagi e-scooters and received free scooters that would usually cost close to $1000 each.
Dean and Trotz both said they have not made any cash from their deals yet. Brands typically base their deals on the popularity of the athlete and their sport. Dean said he wouldn’t even be in this position had he not gained attention competing in the 400m hurdles at the U.S Olympic trials this summer. But overall, Maryland track athletes are just trying to get what they can.
“I feel like since I'm a track athlete, I have to reach out to these bigger companies and these bigger brands first,” said Dean. “If I played football, I feel like these companies would reach out to me. But I'm not in that position, so I have to play my cards right.”
Screenshot from Kamari Trotz’s promotional post for Unagi scooters on TikTok (@flyyguyymarii)
According to Trotz, the university monitors student-athlete compliance with the NIL rules and encourages students to seek these opportunities. The university gives student-athletes little to no guidance beyond that, Trotz said. That being said, the athletes on the men's track team have stuck together through this process.
“We communicate on the deals that we have and say ‘hey, you should hit up this company...they're doing this type of deal.’ We give each other tips and things on how we can capitalize on the deals,” said Trotz.
The two athletes said it was pretty easy from there. It was as simple as posting a short video to their social media. Recently, Trotz posted a vlog to his TikTok that followed a day in his life as a student-athlete where he featured his scooter. Dean said being in front of the camera comes naturally so he doesn’t think much about what he posts.
Still, some athletes have not been as hasty to start working as brand ambassadors. Gerald Norgbe, a junior finance major and track athlete, just doesn’t think he is ready.
“Caleb said he loves the camera. I do not. I’m not as comfortable in front of it... If you weren’t really making content before, you now have to become a content creator, and that might not come as easy to some,” said Norgbe.
All the athletes said the NCAA policy was long overdue. In March, college players took to Twitter about NIL rules using the hashtag #NotNCAAProperty. The Supreme Court tipped the scale in favor of the athletes via the NCAA v. Alston case. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in his opinion that the NCAA business model “would be flatly illegal in almost any other industry in America.”
Even so, some sports fans are against athletes profiting off of their likeness. Sports reporter Terence Moore wrote in an opinion piece for Forbes that the new NIL policy could not only damage college sports programs but divert athletes’ focus from winning to making money.
Dean said this about people who still believe colleges shouldn’t let athletes get paid.
“They just enjoy watching us perform and they enjoy watching us win. They don’t really know what it takes to be an athlete, and they don’t know the work that we put in on a daily basis.”