‘Our sport is our job’: How Sacramento-area athletes are cashing in on their fame
Dawsen Bacho and Brady Rodriguez are senior baseball players and roommates at Sacramento State. They both had a vision to host one day a baseball camp together, with the goal of connecting with the community and making money in the process.
Because of a new rule change by the NCAA, that vision is now a reality. On the eve of July 1, the NCAA decided all its athletes were allowed to receive benefits based on their “name, image and likeness” – NIL.
What that means for Bacho, Rodriguez and thousands of other college athletes is they finally can profit off of their names. Bacho and Rodriguez will host private camps for groups of youth baseball players.
“This is something we have thought about doing before even when NIL was released,” Rodriguez said. “It took us some planning and stuff but we were able to get the ball rolling this past week. The reason we partnered together is we have lived together for four years. We are a pitcher and catcher duo and we know we know everything we can teach them. It’s going to be a fun experience.”
Rodriguez also said, “It’s a great opportunity for college athletes to expand their network to the community. It’s going to bring college and youth athletes together. Our goal is to pack the stands (at our games. Hopefully, we can reach the community and they can support us and we can support them, too.”
NIL is a game-changer because most college athletes aren’t able to work a job during their playing career. Baseball has a rigorous schedule and time commitments, plus there’s study time for classes. But both Bacho and Rodriguez have name recognition, with more than 1,000 followers apiece on Instagram and plenty of name recognition in the baseball community. It makes hosting a camp a natural choice.
“It’s definitely nice for all college athletes,” Bacho said. “The fact that (we) can benefit off of our name and you can finally make money while playing a college sport and not have to get an actual job is huge.”
What is NIL?
The move to allow star college athletes to make money started decades ago. Big names like Reggie Bush and the Fab 5 at the University of Michigan were punished for receiving improper benefits, such as money from boosters. Players in the past were not able to be paid because they would lose their status as amateurs.
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling on June 23 on a case between the NCAA and former West Virginia running back Shawne Alston ended in a 9-0 unanimous decision against the NCAA. The Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s decision that NCAA restrictions on “education-related benefits” for college athletes violated antitrust law.
The Alston ruling marked the first time in more than 30 years that the Supreme Court has weighed in on the governance of college sports
Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the court’s opinion, which upheld a district court judge’s decision that the NCAA violated antitrust law by placing limits on the education-related benefits that schools can provide to athletes. Gorsuch and the other justices essentially decided it would be OK if schools provide computers or phones to help athletes make it through college.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh published a stronger opinion that said the NCAA’s rules that restrict any type of compensation, including direct payment for athletic accomplishments, might no longer hold up in future antitrust challenges.
One week later, on June 30, the NCAA’s board of directors adopted a temporary rule change allowing NIL activity. The NCAA instructed schools to set their own policy for what should be allowed with minimal guidelines. Twenty-four hours later, the first batch of state laws and the NCAA’s new rules went into effect.
The power of social media
Social media is a driving force for college athletes to grow their personal brands. It has led athletes to land endorsement deals with various companies and get free merchandise.
Take it from Casa Roble’s Dylan Overstreet that you don’t have to be a big-time recruit or star college athlete to make money off your social media brand. Overstreet is an incoming freshman football player at the University of Nevada with over 1.6 million followers on TikTok. On Instagram, Overstreet has more than 146,000 followers.
He gained his large following on TikTok after videos of him went viral last fall. The videos were recorded with photographer/videographer Damian Brunton, who has made videos of Overstreet dancing and playing football. It’s paid off: The videos have almost 40 million likes on TikTok.
The platform growth has set Overstreet up for potential major brand endorsements. The popular sunglasses brand Pit Viper has already sent Overstreet free merchandise. He is working with his management, MissmanagedLA, on securing big-money deals.
“It’s very crazy,” Overstreet said on his social media following “I would have never thought (I would blow up) but I always wanted it to happen. The fact that it happened out of nowhere was pretty crazy.”
Overstreet added, “(Having a big social media following) is huge. It opens up a lot of opportunities. Say if me and another player had the same skill level, but companies (would) rather reach out to me since I have more (of a) following. It’s a bigger opportunity.”
UC Davis incoming freshman basketball player Cameron Niles agrees TikTok is the way for college athletes to grow their platform. Niles has more than 60,000 followers on TikTok and over 21,500 on Instagram.
“You have to be different,” Niles said. “You have to have something that other people don’t have. These companies are getting hit constantly by other people that want to be in your position. You have to be able to stand out from others. I still think TikTok is the way to go to help your brand and your fan base.”
Niles is still waiting to secure his first NIL deal and has been in talks with Boost Mobile and Revive Superfoods. NIL, according to Niles, opens the door for college athletes who heard from companies in the past about sponsorship or brand deals.
Now that it’s legal for college athletes to engage in talks, the game has changed.
“It’s been pretty hectic,” he said. “I’ve always had a lot of endorsements and sponsors reach out to me, but I never really engaged in talks with them because I knew I wasn’t gonna be able to make money off of it or brand off of it. Ever since (NIL happened) I’ve been talking to a lot of companies trying to ink some endorsements. It’s been crazy and it’s been dope. I feel like it’s a big step for college athletes because they work their butt off to potentially go big. Now they can make millions of dollars and even if they don’t go pro they still have a lot of money in their pockets.”
Making a name on Instagram
Paisley Specht, who recently graduated from Folsom High School and will be a freshman basketball player at Idaho State has seen her social media following and brand blow up. She posts fashion shots as well as plenty of basketball pictures, as well as pictures of her exploring Idaho as she prepares for college to start.
Specht has gained a few thousand followers on Instagram during the last few weeks. It has led to companies reaching out to promote their brands on her social media pages.
She has already agreed to deals with clothing brands Yakkem Apparel and Dimer Collection. Specht is treating NIL like a job and is confident because of that more opportunities can open up.
“Before the NIL, I posted on Instagram casually for fun but not really that influencer-type look,” she said. “Damian (Brunton) told me it’s all about getting the followers and the platform that comes with being active on Instagram and taking your social media seriously, like a job. That’s where the opportunities come from.”
Specht credits Brunton, who has helped and given advice on how to grow her social media following, with putting her in a position to make money. Brunton has 676,000 followers on TikTok and more than 106,000 on Instagram. His connections with athletes and influencers have led to his friends landing deals.
“Damian has helped me a lot,” Specht said. “Obviously with his platform he has a lot of connections. He helped get me a deal with Yakkem Apparel. When I come home in August, we are going to do some photoshoots for them. That’s all sponsored content, so I get paid per Instagram post. The other day a smaller brand Dimer Collection sent me a shirt and paid me to do a story post and shout them out. There were two other athletic brands that are going to send me some clothes and pay me per post.”
She added, “I feel really lucky because as a freshman right now we have the most time to capitalize (off our NIL). I am making money off something that I would have never done a few weeks ago. … Our sport is our job and I feel like a lot of people don’t understand that unless you know somebody really close to you that is a college athlete.”
Barstool and Yoke Gaming
Oregon tight end D.J. Johnson from Burbank High School was one of the first college athletes to land an endorsement deal from the Sacramento area. Minutes after the clock struck midnight on July 1, Johnson posted to his Instagram a promotion for Yoke Gaming, which is a platform that allows fans to play video games with your favorite athletes.
Each college athlete was paid to post the advertisement on their social media pages for 24 hours. One of the co-founders of Yoke Gaming, Mick Asasf, reported to his Twitter page that over 10,000 college athletes signed up for Yoke Gaming in the first 18 hours.
College athletes are also gravitating to Barstool Sports, founded by Dave Portnoy. Thousands of college athletes from various levels and sports have joined. Athletes were given codes for free merchandise and in exchange say they are a “Barstool Athlete” in their social media bios. The Barstool Athletics page has more than 183,000 followers.
One of the first athletes to join as a Barstool Athlete was Antelope High School graduate and Sac State football player Carter Sullivan. Sullivan during July was sent free merchandise by PathWater, Revitalyte (a drink made by Barstool) and CBD hand lotion by Uncle Bud’s.
“I was just scrolling on Twitter and saw (someone got) posted as the first Barstool athlete,” Sullivan said “I thought that was pretty cool. I sent them a direct message when they only had like 3,000 followers. … Over the next week they blew up and they now have almost 200,000 followers.
“After they posted me, I was reached out by like 10 companies. For me to promote their items, they will give you a discount code and they will send you stuff to post and promote. … If you think about it, it works for people who have 20,000-40,000 followers. I know if I don’t have a (big) following I can’t do much. It’s pretty cool to get free stuff but other than that, I’m not really too focused on it.”
East Nicholaus High graduate Preslie Hewitt, a Nevada softball player, also joined Barstool Athletics. Hewitt says that on top of becoming a Barstool Athlete, she has been in talks with athletic apparel companies in hopes of landing an endorsement.
“I think this new rule is long overdue,” Hewitt said. “While I am grateful for (the) educational benefits we receive, the NIL will allow a level playing field for student-athletes to use their brand to help with outside costs like traveling home for the holidays, breaks, etc. NIL also creates an additional learning opportunity where student-athletes can get hands-on experience in business, entrepreneurship and marketing. This will be a benefit as we transition from athletics and education into our professions.”
Of course, profiting off their name recognition is relative. For some, it will mean free gear from brands looking for a little social media exposure.
Bacho and Rodriguez will host private camps for groups of youth baseball players, but they might attract clients a different way: through print media exposure. Parents interested in signing their kids up can visit https://bit.ly/2VlSq9u for more information.