February 22, 2021
By: Wayne Epps
RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH
Several months ago, VCU vice president and director of athletics Ed McLaughlin had a conversation with Chris Hudgins, vice president and general manager of sports marketing company Team Services, LLC., about how the NCAA’s name, image and likeness legislation would change the college athletics industry.
McLaughlin and Hudgins have known each other for close to 20 years, dating back to McLaughlin’s time working in the athletic department at American University, from 2004-06. They had remained in touch, and their chat last year about name, image of likeness (NIL) — the NCAA parameters that are expected to permit athletes to earn money from their personal brands — eventually yielded a meeting that Hudgins facilitated with a team that was forming to tackle the topic.
The talks led up to an official partnership, that VCU announced last Tuesday. Hudgins and Team Services teamed with another Maryland sports marketing company, Maroon PR, to form a new group called SAIL, which stands for Student Athlete Image & Likeness.
SAIL’s purpose is to help schools navigate NIL rules, and VCU is the first school to sign with it.
"Ed and VCU bring a lot to the table,” Hudgins said. “And really, more than anything, he shared the same vision that we do in terms of really providing a value for his student-athletes.”
Momentum toward NIL legislation has been building for a while. In October 2019, the NCAA Board of Governors directed the NCAA’s three divisions to examine policy updates in that area.
VCU, at that time, officially expressed its support for the step forward.
“A critical step will be to ensure that the student-athletes enter into business relationships in which they are protected and fulfill the mission and values of the university that they represent,” VCU president Michael Rao said as part of a statement then.
In April 2020, the Board of Governors approved the areas for modernizing NIL rules, permitting athletes to garner third-party endorsements and to be paid for their businesses, social media promotion and more. The work would not include school or conference involvement.
A vote to enact NIL legislation was scheduled for last month, but with some looming uncertainty, including a Supreme Court case on the parameters of athlete compensation and federal legislation on the topic, it was delayed.
Still, Hudgins said the indications are that the NCAA will want to have something in place for the 2021-22 academic year.
With the legislation still pending, McLaughlin said he believes there is value in VCU launching its partnership with SAIL now, to prepare for what is likely coming.
McLaughlin said he wanted VCU to be ready for the change. He also said he wants potential recruits to know a service like SAIL would be available to them and that they wouldn’t be coming to a school that’s not prepared to deal with NIL.
SAIL would not serve in an agent role, representing athletes in deals. It’s more helping them navigate the space the right way and maximize opportunities.
“We're not looking to profit off of [what] these people do,” said John Maroon, president of Maroon PR. “We're there to look out for their best interests and the best interests of their schools.”
Maroon said there will be a lot of things athletes are going to have to look out for once NIL legislation is in place, and opportunities are available — from protecting their eligibility to compete, to protecting their personal brands, to keeping their schools’ best interests in place.
SAIL would be in place to help be a guide in the process, answer questions and raise questions that may not have been thought of.
Maroon foresees that opportunities to benefit from NIL legislation will be there for not just athletes in revenue-generating sports like football and basketball, but also in non-revenue-generating sports.