Today, De’Montre Tuggle becomes the first Ohio University student-athlete to sign a monetary NIL deal. As part of new NIL guidelines, student-athletes may be compensated for the commercial use of their name, image, and likeness arising from their skills and accomplishments. 

“We’re thrilled to do our part to support NIL compensation for Ohio Bobcat athletes under the current NIL guidelines and look forward to other businesses joining us to do the same,” said Ted Thompson, Co-Manager of BobcatAttack.com and Ohio University alumnus. “I think I can speak for Bobcat fans across the country when I say we can’t wait to see student-athletes back doing what they love.” 

Founded in 2000 and operated by Ohio University alums Ted Thompson and Ryan Carey, BobcatAttack.com has been the go-to internet fan site for Ohio University sports fans to talk about their beloved Bobcats. 

“I’m extremely excited to work with BobcatAttack.com to promote their fan site,” said De’Montre Tuggle, Ohio University Football player. “I feel that this is an amazing opportunity to finally be able to benefit from name, image, and likeness and am hopeful that this is the start of something great as I head into my final season here in Athens.” 

“As businesses continue to explore what this means for them, it’s important to remember this is still about the student-athlete,” said Brad Konerman, NIL Consultant and Student-Athlete Advocate at 14fifty Partners, a consultancy brought in by BobcatAttack.com on the NIL deal and supported Tuggle in working with the athletic department at Ohio University. “NIL offers student-athletes opportunities to be compensated monetarily in ways previously not possible, but it is equally about deepening the relationships student-athletes have with their donor and fan bases to capitalize on marketable brand value.” 

Name, image, and likeness stories have topped the headlines of news outlets across the country for the last several weeks, culminating on July 1 when new guidelines became effective across the country.

“Athletes being compensated for their hard work on and off the field is long overdue. The new NIL laws are a great step forward and will be a positive for both the student-athletes and athletic programs,” said Ryan Carey, Co-Manager of BobcatAttack.com and Ohio University alumnus. 

# # # For more information related to this press release, please contact info@14fiftypartners.com # # # 

About De’Montre Tuggle: 

De’Montre Tuggle, age 22, enters the 2021 football season as a Redshirt Senior. Majoring in exercise physiology pre-physical therapy, Tuggle’s 2021 football season is primed to be his best. He has already received several prestigious pre-season honors which include 1st Team All-MAC preseason selections from Athlon Sports and Phil Steele. Through his career at Ohio, De’Montre has rushed for 1,047 yards and 17 touchdowns, averaging a remarkable 6.8 yards per carry.

 

Good for the guys. This could get pretty exciting for the players, but like most things there will be some unintended consequences.
I’m looking forward to some really funny agreements coming from this.

I believe it means that all BA rice paddy grunts have to hock their war medals to finance Mr. Tuggle’s NIL payments.

I have always found the advertisements on this site highly relevant and a huge driver for my consumer purchases!

I thought the first deal would come from the The Hole In The Wall.

"American Top Team to offer $540K worth of NIL deals to Miami scholarship football players"

Sam Cooper
Tue, July 6, 2021, 2:34 PM·3 min read
The name, image and likeness era of college athletics is not even a week old, and we’ve already seen some significant deals struck. One that emerged out of the University of Miami on Tuesday falls into that category, especially for its unique — and lucrative — structure.

American Top Team, a South Florida-based MMA training company, has finalized its plans to offer NIL contracts to every scholarship football player for the Hurricanes. CaneSport.com first reported the deal, which is for all 90 of Miami’s current scholarship players.


Per CaneSport, the Miami Rivals.com affiliate, the players will be offered a $500 per month contract worth up to $6,000 per year to “endorse American Top Team through their social media accounts, personal appearances and other marketing vehicles.” If all 90 players were to accept the offer, the total investment from American Top Team would be in the range of $540,000.

"The NIL legislation is an amazing opportunity for businesses and fans to directly impact the lives of these players and the national reputation of our team," American Top Team founder Dan Lambert told CaneSport. "I originally planned to just enter into deals with a few players and then it hit me that there is a way bigger play here. With the right contacts, effort and financial commitment, we can reach every player and get this city firmly behind this team where it should be. We can bring back ‘The U.’"

Lambert — who is a huge Miami fan, clearly — created a marketing company to oversee the entire process and help the Miami players arrange these deals. Former Miami standout Kendrick Norton is involved in the effort, as is MMA star Jorge Masvidal. Masvidal is a Miami native who trains at American Top Team.

Manny Diaz makes 3.1M, so players making 500 a month are really being underpaid. Good for them to see a little coin.

Can you explain the overage check please?

Whatever. If the coaches can make millions, I'm glad the kids are seeing some money. Regarding players getting tuition and room and board, it's kind of like
working at a restaurant for only your meals. So if you take 85 football and 15 basketball players and put them on a campus of 15000, not a big cost to the university.