Name, image, and likeness deals, or "NIL," have allowed college athletes to profit off their fame since 2021. That's when, in the face of mounting legal pressure, the National Collegiate Athletics Association changed its NIL regulations. This spring the University of Michigan hired the outside firm Altius Sports Partners to coordinate NIL opportunities for athletes at Michigan. Employed by Altius but stationed on campus in Ann Arbor, Terése Whitehead is the executive general manager for NIL opportunities at Michigan.
Whitehead talked to Michigan Public's Tyler Scott about her work and the rapidly changing NIL world. Listen above, or read the transcript below:
Tyler Scott: Are you similar to an agent for athletes at Michigan?
Terése Whitehead: Not exactly. So my role is more overseeing the strategy and operations and putting processes in place between all of the various stakeholders engaged in NIL. So that includes the collectives that work outside as third parties. Champions Circle is an official partner of Michigan Athletics, so I work very closely with them, and then also Learfield or Michigan's Sports Properties, which is the multimedia rights partner, working with them on how to generate revenue and create more opportunities for student athletes. So I am very well versed in negotiating those deals. But my job here is more to advise the entire ecosystem on how to really maximize the work that they are doing and bringing some of those opportunities to student athletes.
T.S. Previously you worked with the NFL Players Association on player services and consumer products and strategy. Pro athletes have been able to make money off their name, image, and likeness for decades. How similar or different is coordinating NIL for college athletes versus working with pros?
T.W. That's such a great question and I am still learning every single day what those differences are. One of the first things that struck me is just, again, how old our student athletes are compared to how old our professional athletes are. So when I was at the NFL Players Association, I was, before NIL, educating the rookies coming into the league on what name, image, and likeness was, what group licensing was, and how to utilize their rights to generate revenue, and also to help build these brand connections where they could, you know, do more marketing and endorsements. Now, these students are so far advanced in the world of sports as a business and building these skillsets like public speaking and being in front of the camera and even some of them as content creators and being behind the camera as directors and producers of their own content. They are so fully versed, I should say, on what the business of sports is. So that was kind of one of the first differences I noticed is, before, I was teaching athletes how to leverage their NIL and what it means in professional sports. Student athletes are ahead of the game and really understanding the business of sports.
T.S. Of course, we're in the middle of another football season. College football gets some of the biggest ratings on TV or radio of anything. What are the differences in the types of NIL opportunities available for football or basketball players compared to athletes in less popular sports?
T.W. Yeah, I think that the biggest difference is that for the, what we say, "revenue generating sports" — football, basketball, women's basketball — the opportunity is much different because of the viewership on those sports and the broadcast rights and everything that goes into being at a school and playing at a school like Michigan. The opportunities are different in that they have a little more visibility to a much wider national and international fan base. So the opportunities there could look like, you know, much larger deals with high level brands like a Peloton or a Beats Headphones. Will Johnson just did a deal with them through Learfield. But I'd say it's it's much more commercialized. For our Olympic sports, there is still an opportunity there. As an example, Michigan had 45 student athletes participate in the Olympics. And each and every one of them very quickly had to figure out how to leverage that stage, whether it was through social media and doing, you know, get-ready-with-me videos or giving behind the scenes content on their life and experience, you know, on the Olympics, at the Olympic Village or just sightseeing in Paris. These are all things that, again, student athletes are kind of entrepreneurs in that way.
T.S. You mentioned Will Johnson. Just for listeners, he's a cornerback for the University of Michigan football team. Revenue generating versus non-revenue generating: That means that football, basketball, women's basketball make money as a program for the athletic department, are revenue-positive, while the other sports aren't, right?
T.W. Yes, correct. And I personally like to look at it much differently in that it kind of has a negative stigma when you say non-revenue. So we look at it as the Olympic sports.
T.S. Michigan was finalizing a contract with Altius just before the NCAA changed NIL regulations this April. Schools are now able to directly be involved in coordinating NIL deals with athletes and third parties They weren't before. Does that change the value of what an outside firm like Altius can bring to a school when they now can plan and coordinate things themselves?
T.W. Yes. So Altius Sports partners, we were kind of one of the first movers in college NIL, even back before everything launched in 2021. And the value that we bring to the institutions that we work with is really understanding the national landscape. So I am here supporting Michigan specifically. And, you know, I think one of the things I can say for the athletics staff specifically, and everyone, really, the student athletes, the coaches: These rules change almost daily. It is difficult to stay on top of, "What can I do? What can't I do? What can I say? What can't I say? I could say this yesterday, but I can't say that today." It's a lot. So part of the value that, you know, this role brings to this situation is staying on top of that and informing, educating, giving perspective on some of these rules changes, and then, most importantly, building a strategy for this — an ecosystem at Michigan that meets the short-term objectives but really is focused on the long-term goals as more changes come, like revenue sharing as an example.
T.S. Revenue sharing isn't here yet, but looks like it's on the way. Schools might have to share profit from broadcast contracts with student athletes. There was a massive multibillion dollar proposed settlement in an antitrust case against the NCAA, though ESPN reports a judge last week pressed pause on that deal over some concerns she had. How do you see revenue sharing playing out?
T.W. Well, it will be a big change. And I think this is also where, you know, when I look at my work with the athletics department, they are facing things that they have never had to face before. There was never this opportunity to share revenue with student athletes. And in fact, there were schools that got in trouble for flying, you know, cash here or there to student athletes as part of a recruiting tool. And this is all pre-NIL. So it's going to be a big change, and it's one that I think is welcomed by all parties involved, but it does take a lot of strategy there, and thinking through the operations and thinking through the best way to cut expenses while affording more revenue to participate in that revenue sharing.
T.S. In another potential massive change. Four former Michigan football players who played prior to the NIL era, just sued the Big Ten Conference and NCAA over the continued use of their names, images, and likenesses without being paid. What's your take on that lawsuit?
T.W. I will say that college NIL is and will continue to be fueled by lawsuits, which again, is kind of the evolution of college sports, right? There's a new lawsuit every day. And when I think about it, you know, I put my former hat on, as overseeing licensing and group licensing at the NFLPA. Part of my work there was protecting athletes' interests, right? And when you are utilizing an athlete, a celebrity, any public figure's name, image, or likeness in a commercialized way, where a company is generating revenue off of that person's notoriety, it's an issue. And in the professional world, there are rights agreements for that. And so what's complicated with college sports is before NIL it was expected that if you come to our school or if you play in our conference, we can utilize your rights. Now, with NIL, it's making it more complicated for the people who came before that are continuing to be utilized in a commercial or highlight footage, etc., it's opening these doors where, you know, there has to be some sort of equal playing field for use of rights of former athletes in this landscape of current athletes generating revenue off of their use of likeness. So I would just say, I mean, it's not surprising and it's not going to be the last lawsuit that we hear about in this area.
T.S. If these four former Michigan players are right, and players from prior to 2016 could be owed NIL compensation, what could the implications of that be across the college sports ecosystem?
T.W. I think that schools believe this should happen. But as we go further back and these lawsuits continue, it's it's going to be complicated in figuring out where the revenue comes from. I think most people look at, schools and say, oh, they're making so much money off their broadcast deals and their ticket sales, and their sponsorships. But what I think the average fan may not understand is in some cases, that is fully funding the entire machine. That is student athlete scholarships, that is facilities, and ensuring that coaches and student athletes in every sport have the basic tools like nutrition and training and, you know, everything that they need to perform and be winning programs. So there's not a true amount of revenue there where people are making money off of this. It's almost like making money to reinvest into the system. So that's just kind of my personal thought on it, not professional, but, you know, it's something that I think, honestly, at the NCAA level, really should be a responsibility there more than it is at the conference or school level. It's bigger than every single conference because it dates back to some of the fundamental challenges that college sports was facing before NIL.
T.S. Terése Whitehead is the now executive general manager for the University of Michigan Athletics Department through its partnership with Altius Sports Partners. Terése, thank you for coming into the studio.
T.W. Yeah, thank you so much for having me. And Go Blue.
T.S. You're listening to Michigan Public. The University of Michigan holds Michigan Public's Broadcast License.
