But It's a Thick Crowd
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Advanced Economics
Last week I mentioned Prime Video’s upcoming documentary The Money Game, which will shine the spotlight on star athletes at LSU, some of the biggest beneficiaries of the NCAA’s nascent NIL era to date.
With students heading back to campus and college football (and the billions in advertising media that will play alongside it) revving up, NIL is going to be front-and-center for the foreseeable future.
Now entering its fourth year, NIL has evolved quickly from a curiosity–a space for early adopter brands to experiment with a new class of celebrity endorser and influencer–to a bustling ecosystem where large brands are regularly putting college superstars out in front in much the same way they’ve done with pro athletes for years, whether it’s in major marketing campaigns or billion-dollar video game releases.
Unsurprisingly, NIL also became the perfect way for wealthy boosters to do what they’ve always done–give players financial incentive to select their favorite school over another–supercharged by the ability to do so out in the open, instead of through poorly-concealed gifts like brand new cars and cushy jobs at alumni-owned businesses.
Today, the name of the game is the NIL collective, typically a group formed outside of the university but increasingly funded, at least in part, by the universities themselves.
These collectives are finding all sorts of ways to cash in, here are just a few of the recent examples:
Division Street Unveils First-of-its-kind Athlete Storytelling Home on Airbnb
UK fans who donate to NIL collectives to receive K Fund priority points
This week came news of the latest escalation in the battle for NIL supremacy:
Colorado sought NIL funding from Saudi Arabia's PIF in unprecedented move
According to a story from Sports Illustrated, the Colorado Buffaloes–home to last year’s most hyped story of September and “Coach Prime” Deion Sanders, the only name in college football who can shine as bright as the new era of “student athlete” megastars–reportedly courted leaders in Saudi Arabia to fund their NIL collective.
Colorado officials have disavowed the individual in question, Trevor Reilly, who they say went rogue in approaching representatives from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
The headline may be a sizzler, but it does seem as though this particular story is short on steak. While Saudis have been rightly accused of “sportwashing” their reputation through investments like the LIV Golf league, the path to PR upside through potential financial backing of the Buffaloes is certainly murkier. The PIF will presumably take a lot of calls offering opportunities to invest in American and European sports, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they entertained the opportunity.
Whether or not oil money from the Saudis or another wealthy middle eastern country finds its way into college athletics may be beside the point. College athletes are already getting flooded with good ol’ fashioned American oil money, not to mention virtually limitless money from other billionaire alumni.
We are already seeing college sports–especially football–change rapidly due to NIL. High school athletes are now negotiating like the pros, expecting schools to show them deals that can reach eight figures if they want them to sign a letter of intent.
As the cost of talent goes up, and the money bestowed upon teenagers grows, we can count on a host of second-order consequences, from programs who can’t compete shutting down to student athletes and their newfound riches becoming the target of all sorts of people with less than noble intentions.
After a series of legal decisions against them, the NCAA is working with Congress in the hopes they’re provide help putting rules in place that might, at least to some extent, bring order to today’s NIL wild west. But it’s probably too late for a sheriff to roll into town and make a real difference. A clearer set of rules about how much money can be divvied out and from whom may be established, but it’ll be hard to establish any true sense of law and order.
The casino is open and the big money game for college athletes is just getting started.
Thoma Bravo’s RealPage Sued by US in Rental Collusion Case
Is there a housing shortage, or just grotesquely manipulated markets misaligning supply- and demand-side pricing?
There’s no doubt more housing is needed, especially in crowded markets like Austin and Los Angeles. But it’s hard to get an accurate sense of just how much (and where) until we clear out corrosive elements like RealPage–software that has been allowing large rental properties to efficiently share data and collude with algorithmic precision–to correct prices on available units, and see where we really stand.
RealPage and their parent company Thoma Bravo have been a bald-faced collusion case for years.
Don’t take my word for it, ask their sales deck.
Thoma Bravo and RealPage aren’t just bad for renters, they’re a net negative for any city in which they operate. They pervert real estate markets to enrich their executives while disincentivizing landlords to compete on quality and value as they would in an actual free and open market. DOJ, do your worst.
How Running Went High Tech
As run clubs become the new Tinder, the struggle for status is real.
“The biggest flex is turning up to run club with a perfect recovery score on Oura or Whoop.”
Gen Z moves fast: it’s already not enough to have the job in finance, you’ve got to get your heart rate variability right too.
Chick-Fil-A Hatches Plans For Streaming Service As Reality TV Comes Home To Roost
The future of the streaming wars will come with a side of mediocre waffle fries.
Not surprisingly, the reaction from Wendy’s social media team–a thread of potential programming for the platform–was on point:
But my favorite response channeled Jack Donaghy to perfection:
In a future edition, I think have to do a deeper dive on how many other things in 2024 feel like a 30 Rock bit. The Simpsons are still the 🐐 of predicting the future, but 15+ years later, 30 Rock nailed modern vibes.
Where has the year gone? One day you’re trying to avoid blowing off digits with fireworks, the next thing you know it’s decorative gourd season.
As is tradition, the Pumpkin Spice Industrial Complex is already in full swing and just recently launched their latest innovation:
Worried that tossing back a couple boozy PSLs might pull you into the WC and off-trend? Dude Wipes has you covered, in the classiest way possible:
How much money do we think Big Gourd makes from Pumpkin Spice season annually? Has to be nine figures, right?
Who are the coolest people you know? Why not make their day with a free subscription to the internet’s hottest new club?
The more the merrier. Don’t worry, we’ll order up more lobster and pancakes and bloody mary fixins Spiked Dunkins.