City Councilmember Isaiah Thomas hosted a Name, Image and Likeness forum at the newly open Alan Horowitz “Sixth Man” Center Thursday afternoon. The councilman brought in numerous law professionals and business and financial guides to speak to high schoolers at his annual summer camp.
The festivities included three different panel discussions, each hitting a different branch of NIL. The goal of the event was to inform the campers about NIL deals, build a personal brand and teach them about financial literacy.
“A big part of NIL deals is of course knowing the rules and guidelines, but you have to sell yourself to the business,” Thomas said. “Businesses do not understand NIL deals. This is totally new.”
Temple has been working in close cooperation with Thomas since 2023, when he introduced his NIL protection bill to City Hall. The law, which was signed by Mayor Cherrelle Parker in March, gives protections to any high school student athlete that signs a contract. The protections give high school students free legal advice and financial literacy.
Temple professor Ken Jacobsen has pillaged the relationship between both Temple and the councilman. The director of Temple’s sports law program helps run the hotline that student athletes can call if they have questions. A lawyer from the law program will answer and give the caller legal advice on what they are inquiring about.
“What we do want to do is hit some of the five points of what the value is and how you can benefit from your main image and likeness,” Jacobsen said. “Councilmember Thomas had approved, by the City of Philadelphia, this program. This program is NIL education and NIL training, it’s not just a one-off.”
Five lawyers kicked the day off with a panel to talk about the ins and outs of the deals the athletes can sign. The landscape of high school and college sports was changed in July 2021 when the NCAA ruled that its athletes were able to make money off their name, image and likeness.
If a player made a cent off their name beforehand, they could have lost their eligibility to play.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania allows high school players to do the same. However, many teenagers don’t get the proper education on the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association’s rules.
“So on a high school level, it’s a little bit more restrictive in terms of your high school,” said Steven Vanyo, an NFL and NIL agent who represented former Temple linebacker Layton Jordan. “There are certain additional restrictions that [Philadelphia] Catholic League schools place on their assets as opposed to public school athletes in different areas.”
The law professionals spoke on how to avoid getting into legal trouble in regards to reporting your earnings for NIL contracts. They spoke on how many high school and college athletes forget to report the earnings they made, leading to paying tax consequences or having to stay within regulations.
The talk then shifted to the National Letter of Intent side of the bill, something that hasn’t been focused on as much in the past. NLI is the letter that high school recruits sign when they commit to a college. The letter prohibits any other school from reaching out to them, effectively ending their recruitment.
“You sign a contract, legally binding contract in exchange for that money,” said Diana Hymowitz, a third-year law student who helps run the hotline with Jacobsen. “Not every school participates in it. It’s fully voluntary on behalf of the student and the institution. The good thing about it is that it actually does solidify your recruitment.”
The first panel was followed by two more sessions of panels, diving into making a personal brand for yourself and learning the ropes of financial literacy. The last panel covered how to seek the right financial advice so you aren’t stuck in a hole in the long run.
Many people who sign these contracts are younger students, and many fail to understand the financial implications and language of the document they are signing. Some financial advisors they turn to might not have their best interests at heart, often dooming the student athletes before they begin their college career.
The panel gave them a chance to learn about the importance of money before they start their college lives.
“I didn’t realize until my older years, probably leaving college, that money just doesn’t happen,” said Christian Diaz, a youth mentor at Philadelphia Youth Basketball. “ You have to actually have the intent to figure out what you’re doing with it, and what its purpose is.”
NIL has changed the landscape of high school and college sports. There is still more work to be done with understanding the space as a whole, but Thomas is hoping what he is doing is a step in the right direction.
“We don’t want anybody losing their high school or college eligibility because you might have made a small mistake,” Thomas said. “At the end of the day, all of these people who are here, are here because they want to see NIL work.”
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