What has anybody heard on this year NIL deals ? The rumors online was the Hagens brothers got like 100k , BU got bunch of players and Mooney got a lot from Minny ? Are some of the bigger schools like Michigan Bu Bc ND plan on having budget for it and other schools have zero interest ? thx
Rumors are just that. At the risk of being attacked and labeled a fake by those that know little and offer even less, I'll share what I know (not that I am an expert in this matter either btw)
In regards to Mike McMahon's tweets that 1st and 2nd rounders are receiving low six figure deals in college hockey, I asked two player agents that I know personally and they were both shocked hearing that. Why would someone that is plugged into the world of college hockey make such a tweet I asked, well they said in the world of negotiations unscrupulous lawyers (such as themselves they joked) will put information out there in order to drive up the price. Now, they weren't saying that's what happened but they believe that McMahon inadvertently factored in total costs to get that six figure range. So total tuition, room and board plus the Alston money most big programs dole out comes to around 80-85K at schools like B.U. or B.C. If a high end prospect is then offered a 20-25K NIL deal (and that is feasible they said though on the higher end) then voila you have your annual six figure deal. Another person, who I trust as he works in an AD office, did tell me that one of the eastern schools did offer and fund NIL deals to three players worth 50K per year but that was more or less a one off due to special circumstances.
Now I really think there is some confusion to what NIL is and how it's dispersed. The schools do not and cannot offer direct payment in the form of NIL deals (at least not yet, get to that in a second) and the intent behind the whole concept, based on the Alston and O'Bannon suits, is that the NCAA as a governing body cannot limit what a student earns in terms of selling endorsements through their name, image or likeness. So a prominent athlete can sign media endorsements, license deals or even hawk cars at the local dealership for cash payment. Some athletes have become very rich doing this, such as Livvy Dunne, but there is another way athletes can receive money and that is through boosters that are now known as collectives.
The collective aren't directly tied to the school or the AD office but they maintain very close relations. They are set up solicit direct donations and then disperse those donations to athletes for some sort of work concerning the athletes N.I.L. In reality though the athletes perform very little work, such as throwing out a tweet to support the local chicken dinner, and this is essentially pay to play. The vast majority of this money is funneled to the various football programs and in very distant second the basketball teams. The reason why is simple, those are the sports with the most exposure and fans and where most donors want their money going to. Right now there is a complete free for all mega arms race going on within the FBS and that is where the vast majority of those NIL collective deals are going to. This leaves little for hockey. Brandon Naurato doesn't have access to a large pool of money through the collective because all of it, or at least most of it, is being funneled to the football program. A ton of AD's claim this is unsustainable, that it is ruing the sport and that something has to give.....enter the House Settlement.
The House Settlement is an attempt to rein in the collectives by directly paying players. If this goes through, NIL deals worked outside of the the AD's office will be subject to review as to their merit in terms of being truly deals based on endorsements and licensing or if they are just naked money payments masked as NIL. The total expenditures on players will be capped at 22 million for each institution,
Now in relation to hockey, yes a rich donor right now, can say to a school get me a Michael Misa and I will work out a deal worth a million dollars or even a 100k . This hasn't happened but it could but it also unlikely because again, most of these rich donors are focused on football and that has crowded out a lot of that money.
In relation to the CHL and the NCAA, well it's a bit trickier and harder to dole out that money to international students (that's another post entirely).
In short, NIL money is in college hockey but the dollar amounts just aren't that large to compete against say an ELC from the NHL. Could this change, sure but seeing that college hockey is quite niche, I doubt you'll see a lot of money flowing in.
