By Gwyneth K. Shaw
Anastasia Snodgrass came to UC Berkeley last fall looking forward to the academic challenges of college and the athletic demands of being a Division I runner.
She also came with a handful of endorsements — a growing trend among college athletes since the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) 2021 decision allowing them to earn money from companies that use their name or image for everything from a major ad campaign to a single sponsored Instagram post.
The move was a seismic shift in collegiate sports: Finally, student-athletes would be able to benefit from the NCAA money machine. And these name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals have garnered eye-popping payouts for star quarterbacks, point guards, and other big-name athletes.
But athletes like Snodgrass from lower-profile sports or programs are also inking sponsorships, albeit for much smaller payouts — as low as $50 or $100. And without professional representation, young athletes are vulnerable. Even a mid-range deal between $5,000 and $20,000 might not warrant hiring an agent or lawyer.
“When I started doing it, I was just taking whatever I could get,” Snodgrass says. “And then as I kept going, I was thinking maybe I need to start negotiating — but do I need to be asking for more? Do I need to be asking for less? Is this appropriate for me to ask?
“I was learning as I went along, in the professional sense of how to negotiate with these companies and to really protect yourself. It’s very hard when you’re this young.”
Stepping up
Snodgrass found some resources through Berkeley’s Athletics Department, which has wrapped NIL issues into its general methods of ensuring the school is complying with the NCAA’s dizzying number of rules. She’s on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which represents athletes with these deals.
And she’s gotten a big assist from Berkeley Law students and lecturers. The Berkeley Center for Law & Technology (BCLT) stepped up to help through its new NIL Practicum and accompanying seminar, which was offered for the first time this spring. Under the instruction and supervision of seasoned attorneys with deep experience in the sports arena, students are working with athletes from around California to broker these deals.
“If you have a contract in the $1,000 range, that’s where we want to help, to make sure the money goes into the athlete’s pocket and not the pocket of some corporation,” says BCLT Executive Director Wayne Stacy, who proposed the program and is one of the course’s instructors.
The practicum’s guidance is available across the state, whether it’s a swimmer from Modesto who’s been approached by a local car dealership, a field hockey player from Carlsbad with an offer from a stick manufacturer — or a runner like Snodgrass.
“Being a ‘non-revenue sport’ athlete, it’s definitely hard to be able to really get your name out there, and obviously not too many people pay attention to cross country and track. So you definitely have to identify things like your brand image, who you are, and learn how to differentiate yourself from other athletes,” she says. “I had to have a lot of ambition and confidence to really put myself out there.”
The only criteria for working with the practicum, Stacy says, is that an athlete be enrolled in a California college or university, at least 18 years old, and not already have a lawyer.
“Our target is unrepresented athletes who are being offered these midsize sponsorship packages,” he says. “We want to make it easy, and make sure the money flows to the athletes. We’re here to help athletes and their families.”
A team of heavy hitters in the sports law world joined Stacy as instructors, including Richard Brand — managing partner of ArentFox Schiff’s San Francisco office and the head of the firm’s sports practice — colleague Zak Welsh ’15, Jade Smith-Williams of Bailey Glasser, and three lawyers from Gunderson Dettmer: Colin D. Chapman, Gina Marek, and Kerry Moller. Several were college athletes. Powerhouse agent Leigh Steinberg ’73 is an adviser for the program.
Even before the practicum formally began, Stacy says, the team spent time consulting with athletes from programs around the state. UC Irvine, for example, has 10 players considering endorsements — too few for its law school to run its own clinic but a strong indicator that Berkeley Law’s assistance will be useful there and elsewhere.
In addition to the hands-on in-state help, Stacy says, he hopes the program will become a national leader in NIL policy. One early goal for the broader effort was to develop a template agreement for NIL endorsements that could be adapted and used around the country.
“Something both sides can trust is a huge step forward,” he says.
A proactive partnership
The practicum has been “a tremendous resource” for campus student athletes, according to Cal’s Associate Athletics Director for NIL, Justin DiTolla. He spoke to students in the spring class about how these deals have changed the game, particularly in the compliance sphere.
“These services have benefitted numerous student-athletes with negotiation, contract advice, and providing guidance to international student-athletes,” he says. “NIL has grown exponentially since its implementation in July 2021 and student-athletes at Cal have continued to take advantage of their opportunities. The resources provided by the practicum have been invaluable to our student-athletes by providing legal services at no cost, giving them peace of mind knowing that they have legal advice.”
“We are grateful for the partnership with Berkeley Law and for the students and professors in the NIL Practicum.”
Law students who took the course also enjoyed the chance to do hands-on work in a cutting-edge area of sports law.
“The practicum was a great opportunity to learn about the rapidly changing landscape for student athletes and their NIL rights in real time,” says 2L Sarah Kate Zweig. “Because state laws and NCAA rules are still evolving and student compliance is a bit of a moving target, a space for student athletes to access guidance on their brand deals is massively important.
“Being able to provide some of that guidance and work with student athletes directly, especially during this time, was overall a very rewarding experience for me.”
For Snodgrass, a media studies major with an interest in marketing and public relations, seeking out and negotiating endorsements has been instructive and empowering. She took initial pointers from older friends and teammates and has welcomed the assistance from practicum students and faculty, particularly knowing some athletes who have found themselves in predicaments after not reading a contract’s fine print.
“The idea of NIL was not just a way for student-athletes to get paid — for me, it’s also about how to work with a company, how to promote a product, and how to learn different marketing techniques. That’s where I wanted to take it,” she says. “Some of the things I’ve learned are about how to differentiate yourself from other athletes and being able to build your own brand image, to sell yourself as who you are. I think the best thing about NIL is that it’s really that: your name, your image, your likeness. It’s unique and personal to you, and it’s different from everyone else.
“Learning how to navigate that whole process on your own is great.”