University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Athletics
STEVENS POINT, WI (WSAU) — Believe it or not some student-athletes at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point area already profiting from their name, image, and likeness following the NCAA’s decision two months ago to allow the practice.
“A lot of it is the online presence,” said Director of Athletics Brad Duckworth. “Social media influencers, product endorsements, certain websites take college students and [pay them] to be part of it.
“Some have been out in front of this and got excited about it, and we have others who don’t really know that this is on the radar,” he added.
Duckworth says right now they are taking a careful approach to craft regulations for their student-athletes to follow, especially given the newness of the decision and what it will mean for the Pointers now and in the future. “[For now] what we’ve done is asked our student-athletes to disclose their name, image, and likeness opportunities so we can help them ensure the compliance part of it. We’ve also asked that they not use our trademarked [symbols]- the dog head, UW Stevens Point, Pointers, or UWSP,” he said.
That policy will allow the student-athletes to benefit from the change as they are allowed to, while Duckworth and the rest of his staff figure out how they will develop resources to help future Pointers navigate the NIL landscape.
“We aren’t sure what we are educating them on. We don’t know what direction Division III is going to go. We are going to evaluate things in January and [ask] ‘how do we develop this type of course?’ Talk with people in our school of business- our campus small business resource- we do intend to partner with them [as well.]
“We are going to sit back for six months and see what this looks like, then see where our gaps are. But it’s certainly a challenge,” added Duckworth.
He also notes that the change came down at the flip of a switch on July 1st as the Pointers and the thousands of other NCAA affiliated colleges and universities were still navigating the COVID-19 pandemic and how to safely allow fans to return to games for the upcoming season.
The decision does open up some interesting possibilities for UWSP. Duckworth said following the men’s hockey team winning the 2019 Division III National Championship he received several inquiries from local businesses who were interested in having players and coaches out for public appearances or autograph events. They turned many of those offers down because if players would have been compensated. “That [wasn’t] necessarily permissible. Now, potentially that could be.”
Other changes would include seeing UWSP student-athletes on billboards or in TV, radio, or internet commercials. “How big? I don’t know, but that’s coming. And we need to help them navigate that process because the transition to college is hard enough,” he added.
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