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Hey Golfers —
Last week, John Daly and John Daly II signed multi-year partnerships with Hooters.
John Daly’s deal includes:
Hooters branded apparel
Hooters branded golf bag
Appearances
But we are here to discuss John Daly II’s NIL deal with Hooters and take a deeper dive into NIL in collegiate golf.
John Daly II’s NIL deal includes:
Social media campaigns
Hooters branded apparel — when applicable
Appearances
Before we get going — let’s have a quick refresher in Name, Image, Likeness (NIL).
In my opinion, no one understands NIL better than Andrew Petcash. I asked him to summarize NIL for us.
NIL is essentially your personal brand value.
Let me give you an example to simplify the concept.
Tiger Woods earns money from golf in one of three ways:
Prize money
Equipment contract
Endorsement deals
NIL is #3.
College athletes can’t win prize money or sign a contract with their schools, but they are allowed to sign endorsement deals.
NIL has been around since the beginning of professional sports; you’re now hearing about it because last July the NCAA approved it for college athletes.
Types of NIL deals athletes are doing:
Promoted social media posts
Making personal appearances
Running private training sessions
Signing autographs
However, in men’s football and basketball ‘NIL Collectives’ are being formed to basically pay players a salary — but that’s a topic for another day.
Now moving on to John Daly II and collegiate golf NIL.
John Daly II is a freshman on Arkansas's men’s golf team. He has played in one event this year, shooting rounds of 83-68-78, finishing 49th out of 52 players. He is currently ranked 942 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings. While those numbers aren’t stellar, he was a second-team Rolex Junior All-American coming into Arkansas; he can play.
John Daly II has known NIL deals with major brands.
Nike
TaylorMade
Hooters
Here is the interesting thing about NIL deals in collegiate golf. The correlation between athletic performance and NIL compensation isn’t necessarily positive. The correlation between large social media followings and NIL compensation is more positive.
John Daly II has over 100,000 followers on Instagram, allowing him to leverage his social media platforms to drive traffic and add value to brands.
It doesn’t hurt that his dad is John Daly, and they won the PNC Championship in December — resulting in millions of digital media impressions.
Opendorse — a digital platform for connecting student-athletes and brands, has disclosed several data points regarding NIL partnerships.
Football leads the way with 51.1% of the total compensation of NIL deals. Men’s Golf has received 0.3% of the total compensation, and Women’s Golf has received 0.2%. They rank 19th and 21st, respectively.
And this isn’t necessarily a surprise. College golf is a non-revenue generating sport with very little TV coverage.
Here is a breakdown of the top ten sports and men’s & women’s golf for the percentage of NIL compensation.
Collegiate golf has two hurdles in the NIL landscape:
USGA
F-1 Student Visas
While the USGA relaxed some of its rules around amateur status, they are still prohibitive.
Can’t work as a club pro
Can’t accept prize money over $1,000
Can’t accept money for teaching lessons
Not allowing collegiate golfers to profit from teaching lessons is unique to golf. Collegiate athletes around the country regularly hold camps and teach private lessons as a way to profit from their athletic ability.
College golfers are likely losing thousands of dollars due to the USGA amateur status rules.
The F-1 Student Visa is intended for education, not employment. Essentially making it illegal for international students to receive compensation for NIL partnerships.
Collegiate golf has a high number of international students.
Division I Women’s Golf — 32%
Division I Men’s Golf — 19%
About 1/4th of collegiate golfers can’t profit from NIL due to their international status.
Four international collegiate golfers are ranked inside the top ten in the World Amateur Golf Rankings for men.
Ludvig Aberg
Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra Coto
Alex Fitzpatrick
David Puig Currius
It’s even more for women. Five are ranked inside the top ten in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.
Ingrid Lindblad
Beatrice Wallin
Emma Spitz
Alexandra Forsterling
Hannah Darling
These athletes cannot sign NIL deals.
There does appear to be some movement in the F-1 Student Visa rules. International basketball star Oscar Tshiebwe announced he could accept NIL money, but it remains unclear.
Collegiate golf does have positives in the NIL space. Golfers playing in big-time amateur events like the U.S. Amateur can promote companies rather than being restricted to wearing university-sponsored gear. These events promote digital media impressions and TV time to bring value to brands.
Taking it a step further, amateurs can play in some of professional golf’s major tournaments. During the Masters, we saw three collegiate athletes teeing it up. However, only North Carolina’s Austin Greaser openly confirmed a NIL deal.
Several collegiate golfers have signed NIL Deals.
Rose Zhang, Stanford — Callaway
Preston Summerhays, Arizona State — Ping
Rachel Heck, Stanford — Ping
Marissa Wenzler, Kentucky — Puttview
Pierceson Coody, Texas — Rapsodo
While the monetary details of the NIL partnerships are not disclosed, we could expect some deals ranging from $5,000 - $15,000. A NIL sponsor told me they paid $10,000 for a player to wear their logo during non-school-sponsored events. This player is a top 100 ranked collegiate golfer and has numerous NIL partnerships.
Opendorse has data on the average compensation per athlete to provide some overall context.
NCAA - Division I — $594
NCAA - Division II — $53
NCAA - Division III — $35
Some collegiate golf NIL deals are as little as $10, while some are commission-driven. If a golfer has a large social media following, they can profit from NIL partnerships, regardless of how well they play.
I think NIL is good for collegiate athletics. It will take time for it to play out, and there will be mistakes made, but in the end, I support golfers having the ability to profit off themselves.
Have yourself a great Monday. Talk to you next week!
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I don't disagree with allowing college golfers to accept anything--prize $, expenses, & compensation for lessons. However, simply call them what they are--professionals. The prohibitions are political, so as not to rile professional organizations. Evidence is circa '82 when USGA announced amateurs could play for a modest amount of cash, and it "hit the fan" with pro orgs. USGA backed off. Let's get real. College golfers, certainly Divs I and II, can & do anything--expenses, transportation (even privately), you name it. They've done it for years. In this day in age, that's OK. Just call them what they are. As for college kids who prefer to remain "pure" amateurs, the USGA could allow them to do so by signing championship entries declaring they abide by their stricter rules. As for "World Amateur Rankings", my treatise will spare you, other than to say, it's driven by pro agents and lawyers. Nothing else need be said.
Cool to see NIL seeping its way in to college golf! The John Daly II deal is unbeatable, love them or hate them, the Daly's are fantastic marketers. Nice piece Jared and thanks for the inclusion.