How many schools have let them use a logo so far? I’ve only seen UNC that just recently came out with a branding thing related to allowing players to use theirs.
In what ways has football recruiting been hurt specifically? Genuinely asking, I follow football recruiting a lot less than I used to
Unless lots of schools are allowing logos, which I’ve yet to see (although I could have just missed it), I don’t see how anything here is particularly restricting. My apprehensions on NIL not helping Michigan relatively have more to do with Michigan and it’s supporters/boosters being much less likely to throw money at their players than I am with Michigan’s rules being too restrictive
If Michigan isn’t spending its time constantly trying to figure out how to get its huge fan base to spend $$ on its athletes, they are doing it completely wrong. Hunter jerseys need to be available in M Den, stat.
On a recent mgoblog roundtable the consensus seemed to be that Michigan was going to take a little longer than most to figure this out, and thus far seems quite focused on being judgemental rather than opportunistic.
i think it’s fine to be pretty skeptical of the stuff that the players bring to the university? but there’s a huge stack of things that do not currently have any last names on them that should already have last names on them.
i’m also gonna beat a dead horse here and say that they need to spin up NFTs and say “100% of proceeds go to players” or something similar. eating the cost of licensing a platform is whatever compared to how it turns on the spigot for these guys.
other schools are being way more aggressive with policies(use of logo trademarks and facilities) and indirectly brokering/promising deals to recruits. Hell thats what delivered duren and bates to memphis.
According to the University’s guidelines for logo usage by student groups, only sponsored student organizations — ones that are supervised by an executive officer, dean or University director — can gain access to the coveted block ‘M.’
But even sponsored student organizations must adhere to strict logo-usage rules that are considered by some to be archaic. For instance, they’re prohibited from using the block ‘M’ as part of their own logos. Instead, they can use it on promotional materials such as flyers and posters.
To Googasian, these regulations are understandable, even if they are cumbersome.
“While inconvenient, I totally recognize the University’s restraint from allowing every student organization to use these trademarks,” Googasian said. “We have every intention of following the guidelines … so we do not cause any problems for the administration. Ultimately they are not trying to be critical or unsupportive of student groups but defensive of their own trademarks and who uses them.”
Well yeah. I’m fairly certain that’s supposed to be against the rules in general. Of course Michigan’s not gonna do stuff like that. That’s not surprising. That’s straight up never happening
I’m seeing that 2 schools came out with licensing agreements and that happened in the last week. That’s not affecting recruiting or putting us behind.
Are any other schools selling player jerseys like we are?
If NIL becomes just that the schools that already went around the rules continue to do so with new rules then it doesn’t help or hurt Michigan, it’s just status quo
Michigan one month in not figuring out how to license the Block M and their trademarks doesn’t surprise me. They are super protective in general (obviously, it ends up on a lot of junk, but I’m sure they get a pretty penny for it). I hope they find a way to get players access to it sooner than later, but they’re trying not to devalue it since they have their own business interests to protect.
Yeah, agreed. But this sends you right back to where the debate started. What they are trying to ``protect’’ is valuable thanks to the people who are now legally entitled to reap the rewards from that value beyond getting a scholarship. It would be pretty darn foolish for the school to position itself as less able to accept reality and justice than the NCAA has been.
While I’m not trying to suggest that Michigan isn’t behind the curve on NIL, as an attorney who has been involved in litigating, licensing and counseling as to trademark issues, this is not quite as simple as just OK, you can use the logo, have at it. If players leave (either via transfer or early entry), get suspended from a team, etc., and safeguards aren’t in place to prevent them from using it in the aftermath, or if players use the logo or trademark improperly, or in ways which can harm the University, there can be significant consequences from a legal point of view. Contracts and license agreements have to be crafted and signed by all parties including the players. This is not to say that these things cannot be worked out, or even, as noted, that Michigan shouldn’t be up and running on this–we should be–just to note that when schools or players say that they’re going to permit use of the trademarks and logos, that comes with constraints which they may not acknowledge publicly, but which nonetheless exist.
Sure, and it makes total sense that the athletes that have helped build it up should have access. From Michigan’s point of view, I’m guessing they’re looking at the millions they probably make in sponsorship dollars every year and don’t want to suddenly make that more difficult if players start using their logos and trademarks more liberally. I think OSU has the ability to override, and I’m sure that’s something Michigan would want as well. I also think there’d be an argument about the logo having value independent of the athletes, and that the copyright holder should have the ability to protect it.
This isn’t necessarily related to your point, but my other thing with NIL would be that it’s not exactly like it’s proven to be an immediate game changer in recruiting other than Duren and Bates. Bryce Young is apparently a millionaire, but Bama hasn’t immediately landed every top target (they will anyways). Every Miami player is apparently getting thousands a month and D’Eriq King has seemingly signed with every company in Florida, but no significant changes there.
I’m sure it’s going to be huge soon, especially at the top level, but I feel like freaking out about Michigan so far because a few schools have made announcements without a tangible recruiting bump would be a little over the top. It sounds like they need to get things in order, but a Michigan player signing a huge deal now probably wouldn’t immediately move the needle for anyone.
These and @Jeffrey_E_Schiller’s are all good points. For my part I suppose it just stings a bit more to hear a current player voicing frustration. It makes it feel more immediate, almost like an emergency
It’s almost like bribes have become legal and fans are chastising their schools for not getting into the business fast enough. Without a lot of concrete evidence, either.
