The Brown and White spoke with women’s rowing freshman Jenna O’Dell, men’s lacrosse freshman Tyler Lahey and men’s track and field freshman Jordan Layos to discuss their athletic sponsorships, made possible by the NCAA’s new name, image and likeness (NIL) laws.
Q: Who are you sponsored by and how did the partnership begin?
Jenna O’Dell: I am sponsored by Barstool Athletics. Basically, it started when I saw a post on Instagram. I thought it was a scam, but then my friend and I were joking around and we ended up both doing it. I signed up and I got an email saying, “You are a Barstool Athlete.” Then, I submitted a bunch of pictures and gave them information about my sport.
Tyler Lahey: Right now, I am sponsored by Rhoback and Liquid I.V. I reached out to them, filled out an application, signed a couple of things and that’s how I ended up getting sponsored.
Jordan Layos: I am sponsored by Liquid I.V., which started when I emailed them. They sent me an application to fill out and they got back to me within two weeks.
Q: Are you making real money?
JO: I am not because we are acting more as representatives for the company, but they are giving us free stuff. I got a sweatshirt, a hoodie and a t-shirt, which are all coming in the mail.
TL: Not at the moment. Right now, they are sending me stuff, so I am getting free products. I also have a discount code which if people use, then I make money off of it, but they are not paying me an actual salary.
JL: I can make real money, which is set up through PayPal. I only make money if people use my discount code, but I haven’t really been telling people to do that.
Q: What are the obligations of your endorsement?
JO: Basically, you can’t represent any of their competitors. Obviously, you can’t wear their merch and do something stupid, which is kind of a given. For me, it is not that difficult because I already have those obligations. It is just a lot of social media things that you have to be careful of.
TL: For Liquid I.V. I can’t get sponsored by any other hydration companies, like Gatorade, for example. With Rhoback, unless I terminate my contract, I can’t be sponsored by any other athletic clothing company, like Nike or Under Armour.
JL: In order for them to send me more products, I have to post something on my Instagram story three times a month, and (Liquid I.V.) sends me two more bags of (merchandise) every time I do that. They asked me not to be sponsored by any other sports drink, but I can be sponsored by other companies.
Q: How do you decide which endorsements to accept?
JO: A lot of people just accept whatever they can get. I think it is just the ones that make you the most money. Also, I want to be able to trust the company since you are making an agreement with them. I think Barstool is very open because they sponsor so many people, so they have to be really flexible, which I like.
TL: I applied for I think five or six endorsements, and I basically accepted the best deal. I accepted the deal that I thought I would profit the most from, as well as a deal with a company that I really liked and I thought had a good foundation. I also made sure that they took care of their athletes.
JL: I was going to do one with Body Armor, but it wasn’t guaranteed that they were going to send me anything. Also, Barstool is very slow because everyone tried to become a Barstool Athlete. Liquid I.V. is much smaller than Barstool so I was actually able to get my stuff. Barstool has been taking months, so I ended up giving up on that, and I know a lot of my friends have too.
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