NCAA Looking Into BYU Football’s High-Profile NIL Deal With Built Bar
Dec 10, 2021, 5:57 PM
BYU football has a navy blue helmet in their uniform identity. (Jaren Wilkey/BYU Photo)
(Jaren Wilkey/BYU Photo)
PROVO, Utah – The NCAA is looking at BYU regarding their name, image, and likeness deals. BYU football’s team-wide endorsement with Built Bar is at the center of the probe. Sportico first reported this news.
Along with BYU, Sportico also reports that the NCAA is looking at the University of Miami. The Hurricanes football program has a team-wide sponsorship with MMA Gym American Top Team.
BREAKING: @NCAA Probes @BYUCougars, @MiamiHurricanes NIL Deals for Potential Pay-for-Play Violation https://t.co/Cjv5DtdJ3w
— Sportico (@Sportico) December 10, 2021
Built Bar’s multi-year endorsement of BYU football also included NIL agreements with individual football team members. All 123 players on the BYU football team signed separate deals with Built Brands, LLC. The move, when officially announced back in August, captured global headlines. It took place more than a month after the NCAA’s interim NIL policies went into effect on July 1, 2021.
Built’s individual NIL agreements included $1,000 to scholarship BYU football athletes and compensation to walk-on players that would be comparable to the tuition costs for an academic year at the faith-based campus.
At the agreements were signed, many around the college football landscape believed this would change scholarship allocation forever. Schools are only allowed to have 85 scholarship athletes, but they can have 123 players on the roster in a given season.
BYU Athletics spokesperson Jon McBride provided a written statement to KSL Sports on the NCAA’s probe to BYU.
“We have communicated with the NCAA concerning the Built Bar NIL arrangement. They have informed us they do not have any additional questions at this time. We will continue to monitor and abide by the NCAA interim NIL policy.”
Knowing that name, image, and likeness were on the horizon, BYU launched a program called Built4Life in June. BYU classifies Built4Life as a “wholistic career development program for BYU student-athletes that will prepare for life beyond BYU Athletics and help them capitalize on NIL opportunities to monetize their personal brands.”
Overseeing the Built4Life program is BYU associate athletic director Gary Veron. Veron has an extensive background in NCAA compliance from his time at BYU, Charles R. Drew University (Los Angeles), BYU-Hawaii, and Wyoming.
Emmert: The NCAA is investigating "a number" of schools for NIL violations.
— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) December 8, 2021
On December 8, NCAA President Mark Emmert said at the SBJ/Learfield Intercollegiate Athletics Forum that the NCAA is investigating ” a number” of schools for NIL violations.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
