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American Top Team owner and Miami Hurricanes football fan Dan Lambert will give every Miami Hurricanes scholarship football player $500 a month in exchange for advertising his Florida-based mixed martial arts gyms on social media, according to Dan Murphy of ESPN.
If every player accepts the arrangement, Murphy will be on the hook for $540,000, per that report.
“I want to help the kids. I want to reward them for what they do, and I want a better product on the field, too,” he told Murphy. “I want to improve the reputation of the school and the team I love so much. I think it’s a cool opportunity to get involved and make a difference.”
It would be the largest reported endorsement deal for college athletes since the NCAA allowed college athletes to begin earning money off their name, image and likeness rights last week.
Lambert said he’s consulted Miami’s compliance department and has hired attorney Darren Heitner to ensure he’s not breaking any rules with the deal.
Darren Heitner @DarrenHeitner
Contracts are drafted.<br><br>This is the biggest <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/NIL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#NIL</a> play yet.<br><br>Every player on the football team can benefit. Beautiful concept orchestrated by <a href=”https://twitter.com/AmericanTopTeam?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@AmericanTopTeam</a>. Thrilled to be a part of so many athletes having the opportunity to make money!
“There are improper ways of fans supporting their players, and now there is a legal way to do it,” Lambert said. “And if there is a legal way, and you can dot the I’s and cross the T’s, I’m going to do it.”
Heitner said the only stipulation the state of Florida has in place regarding NIL rights and contracts is that an entity that has financially supported a university cannot make NIL deals with its athletes. But American Top Team has no previous financial arrangements with Miami University.
“There’s no prohibition on an entity who may have a booster as a member,” Heitner said. “The only restriction is if the entity itself supports the institution or the athletic department.”
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