KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — In a push to influence federal lawmakers on issues concerning college athletes, Knoxville-based Spyre Sports and four other Name-Image-Likeness collectives from across the country teamed are lobbying members of Congress this week.
A patchwork of state laws governs the NIL space. On WBIR's Sunday morning program, Inside Tennessee, University of Tennessee's NIL Director Kat Jones said federal laws are one solution for NIL deals.
"I would like to see us all one day working off of the same set of rules," Jones said.
Spyre Sports Vice President of Fundraising Brandon Spurlock said in Texas, NIL collectives are allowed to coordinate with universities and to offer donor benefits to people who donate to the collectives, even though they are separate from the universities.
"That's not something that we're set up to do currently in our state," Spurlock said. "That's one thing that's changed in the last month or two that's created an advantage or a disadvantage."
Spurlock said collectives are exploring pay-to-play proposals for college athletes, too.
"Where the revenue is coming from, how athletes are being compensated, I think that's what's going to go through a major change here in the next two or three years," Spurlock said.
Power-5 schools may have to split off from the NCAA or from universities, to make that happen, Spurlock said. A challenge is using logos and school names, even if the sports are separated from the NCAA.
"The probing questions are about amateurism and the entertainment aspect of college athletics," Spurlock said. "The athletes make 50% of the revenue in the NFL, and in college athletics, it's far from that."
Lawmakers, conference commissioners, the NCAA president, coaches and athletics directors will be at the summit, sponsored by the University of Arizona.