LSU athletes can benefit from revenue sharing with new NIL rules

BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First News) — When the LSU baseball team lifted its eighth championship trophy Sunday, it symbolized the end of a consequential era for college sports: the beginning of name, image and likeness (NIL). New rule changes will impact what it takes to stay atop the college sports world.

“You have to be able to adapt,” said Fritz Metzinger, a New Orleans sports attorney.

A House settlement earlier this month paved the way for revenue sharing. Under this new model, athletic departments will be able to spend up to $20.5 million on the people who drive a program’s success.

“Schools like LSU can now directly pay their student athletes,” Metzinger said.

That will add a new wrinkle to what has been possible since 2021, when the NIL era first began. For the last four years, athletes could only profit from endorsement deals. Metzinger said an “arms race” started to acquire top talent, and a “pay-for-play” system developed across college sports.

Groups called collectives stepped in to become fundraising arms for schools. At LSU, the collective is called Bayou Traditions. The money required to field top teams increased over the last four years, particularly in football and basketball.

“These collectives have become very powerful,” Metzinger said. “Local businesses that’re LSU supporters or Tulane supporters have thrown a lot of money at it.”

Baton Rouge attorney Gordon McKernan got in early.

“I signed (former LSU women’s basketball player) Alexis Morris,” McKernan said. “I think it was the first NIL deal at LSU. I don’t remember.”

McKernan signed many more athletes to deals, where they appeared on billboards, in commercials, and on social media posts. The money necessary to keep these players in Baton Rouge continued to rise.

“You’ve got to have the facilities, the tradition, all the winning and all that stuff is great,” McKernan said. “But you have to have the money, or they’ll go somewhere else.”

Under new changes, boosters will be relied on less. An athlete who signs any deals with a booster or collective will need to prove the deal isn’t a pay-for-play situation to a newly-created board, Metzinger said, as programs can use their own revenue for that money.

“I’ve been told they’re not going to ask me for as much, or other boosters, as well,” McKernan said. “Like, ‘hey, we’ve got more money now, we’re in a good spot.”

Athletes can still do third-party deals, which will be advantageous for businesses and athletes in a culture that has become increasingly star-powered.

“Any other businesses can pay any athlete whatever they want,” Metzinger said.

AJ’s Sports Cards on Drusilla Lane in Baton Rouge has been doing NIL signing deals with athletes, where they come to the shop and autograph memorabilia for fans.

“I think it’s good for the hobby,” said Nikki Erckert, AJ’s Sports Cards owner. “The little collectors get to meet their heroes.”

Erckert said the first NIL deal was with former baseball player Tre Morgan. The return on investment was immediately apparent.

“At least 150 people showed up to our very first in-person signing,” Morgan said.

The next AJ’s signing is Saturday, and it will feature members from the newly crowned LSU baseball champions. Erckert said that the signing was set up months in advance.

“A show that probably would’ve brought in about 500 customers…no telling what that’s going to look like now,” Erckert said.

Under the new rules, Metzinger said LSU is primed to continue to thrive athletically because of the business support, marketability and revenue opportunities.

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