The recent changes in laws surrounding Name, Image, and Likeness (“NIL”) have opened exciting opportunities for student-athletes to benefit from their personal brands. However, along with these opportunities come complexities that can significantly impact an athlete’s future. This is why hiring an attorney at Steven Krieger Law to help you navigate NIL deals is a wise investment for student-athletes and their families. We are dedicated to empowering our student-athlete clients to thrive on and off the field, so here are six ways we help our student-athlete clients thrive off the field, so they can focus their efforts on the field. 

1. Understanding the Legal Landscape

The NIL environment is governed by a mix of federal, state, and institutional regulations. Steven Krieger Law helps our student-athlete clients and their families understand:

• State-Specific Laws: Each state has its own rules regarding NIL, and compliance is critical to protect eligibility. We will help you understand which regulations apply in your jurisdiction and help navigate them.
• Institutional Policies: Colleges and universities may have their own NIL policies regarding what is permissible. We will help you interpret these policies and ensure compliance to prevent accidental violations, which could impact eligibility and your ability to practice and compete.

2. Navigating Contractual Obligations

We litigate contract disputes, so ensuring that the negotiated NIL deal is accurately reflected in the contract is our first priority so our student-athlete clients avoid costly litigation. We accomplish this by focusing on two main areas:

• Drafting and Reviewing Contract Terms: Since we litigate contract disputes, we understand how to draft and review contracts to clearly outline the terms and conditions of the agreement, ensuring it aligns with our student-athlete clients’ goals. This includes understanding compensation structures, deliverables, timelines, and rights of usage.
• Identifying Potential Pitfalls: Contracts can contain hidden or ambiguous clauses that may harm your future prospects, such as restrictive covenants or unfavorable termination clauses. It’s our job to identify these provisions and negotiate different language, before they become problematic for our student-athlete clients.

3. Ensuring Fair Compensation

Understanding the market value of an athlete’s NIL can be challenging.  Steven Krieger Law helps our student-athlete clients in several ways:

• Valuation Guidance: A crucial role is helping our student-athlete clients secure fair compensation from sponsors by leveraging our industry expertise and negotiation skills.  Understanding the market value of a student-athlete is essential for ensuring that our student-athlete clients receive fair compensation for their endorsements and partnerships. Steven Krieger Law conducts thorough market research to assess comparable deals to establish a baseline for negotiations. We advocate on behalf of our clients, articulating the unique value each athlete brings to a brand and use that value to justify compensation that aligns with our student-athlete clients’ value.
• Avoiding Pay-for-Play Pitfalls: Since pay-for-play agreements can jeopardize an athlete’s eligibility, we ensure that NIL agreements comply with NCAA regulations and state laws, protecting our student-athlete clients’ future.

4. Tax Implications and Financial Planning

Monetizing NIL rights introduces new tax obligations for our student-athlete clients related to tax compliance and financing advising. 

• Tax Compliance: NIL earnings are considered taxable income, and understanding the associated tax responsibilities is crucial. We help our student-athlete clients and their families navigate these requirements and assist in structuring deals to optimize tax outcomes.
• Financial Advising: Although we are a litigation firm, financial concepts like net present value of money, deferred payments, ownership/equity interest, etc. are crucial considerations when negotiating NIL partnerships and agreements. 

5. Protecting Personal Brand and Reputation

We guide our student-athlete clients in building and protecting their personal brands, ensuring that they align with their values and long-term goals and limiting litigation exposure. 

• Brand Strategy: Our attorneys, on our own or through collaborations with clients’ team, provide advice on marketing strategies and public relations to enhance brand visibility.
• Addressing Potential Conflicts: Avoiding potential conflicts between our student-athlete clients and their high school, college, or university is critical to a successful NIL deal. Further, we also want to avoid conflicts between potential business partners – especially if there is an exclusivity provision in the agreement. 

6. Ongoing Support and Guidance

The NIL landscape is ever-changing and Steven Krieger Law provides our student-athlete clients with ongoing support as new opportunities and challenges arise. 

• Legal Advice on Demand: Whether it’s entering new NIL agreements or handling disputes with a prior agreement, we ensure that our student-athlete clients understand the legal circumstances and are comfortable with the path forward. 
• Updates on Legislation: As NIL laws evolve, we ensure that our student-athlete clients understand the legislative landscape by keeping our clients informed about changes that may affect their rights or opportunities.

Conclusion

As a student-athlete, you worked hard to achieve success professionally, personally, and academically. As a result of the countless hours of hard work, you now have the ability to financially benefit from your efforts through partnership and sponsorship opportunities with business entities, but you have to navigate the complex world of NIL agreements.  In sports, you have coaches and mentors to assist you through complex situations. In business, like NIL agreements, if you need assistance or counsel, Steven Krieger Law would be delighted to discuss partnering with you and your team to help you maximize your potential.