🎰 The NIL Holdout Heard Around the World

All’s fair in love and war…especially when it comes to NIL money

Oh boy, weren’t those the days when you would sit around the TV and imagine being a stud college athlete playing for pride, your school, and course the school swag? (Yeah, that might’ve been the dream in 1995 😂). And of course with the implementation of NIL, things have only gotten 50x more complicated.

Now, let’s introduce you to the UNLV Rebels former starting quarterback, Matt Sluka. The Holy Cross Crusaders transfer who made his way to Las Vegas over the summer to play Power 5 ball, recently made the decision to opt out of the season and no longer play for the Rebels after starting the season with a perfect 3-0 record. Citing unspecific, unfulfilled “commitments,” the senior said he will utilize his redshirt year and seek to transfer next season for his final year of eligibility. So what happened? What are the next steps for the university to bring back their starting quarterback? Will we be seeing more of these “holdouts” from future players in this NIL-era?

Let’s get after it…

What happened between Sluka and UNLV?

• Sluka reportedly agreed to transfer from Holy Cross to UNLV last year at least in part because of an oral promise from UNLV offensive coordinator Brennan Marion that Sluka would be paid $100K.

• The money would apparently be paid by a UNLV-tied collective, Friends of UNLV…but, he did not receive any money, and the school and its collective recently countered with an offer of $12K paid over four months.

• However, UNLV said in a statement that a representative for Sluka made “financial demands” for the QB to keep playing, which the school interpreted as a violation of both NCAA rules and Nevada state law.

• Why is this such a big deal?

  • Well the announcement immediately went viral because it was the first time a college football player has ever left a program mid-season due to an NIL dispute 😲.

  • Now the kicker…the deal was only made verbally from UNLV’s OC.

  • This could really turn into a legal issue. The key issue is whether an alleged promise not in writing is enforceable….

• ⚖️ Welcome to Legal Talk…sometimes oral contracts can be enforceable when the necessary elements for contract formation are proven. Those elements include offer, acceptance, consideration (each side promises to do something of value), meeting of the minds, clear terms and that the parties have legal capacity to enter into a deal.

  • But some contracts must be in writing.

  • Under Nevada law, as is the case in other states, oral contracts are generally unenforceable if they can’t be performed in one year.

• But, according to Sluka and his representatives, the QB enrolled at UNLV under the idea that an NIL offer couldn’t be signed until he enrolled at the school.

  • That used to be the case, until February 2024 when a federal judge determined that this process artificially suppressed an athlete’s negotiating leverage (clearly Sluka didn’t have A+ representation).

  • This decision lead to athletes signing NIL contracts before enrolling at their respective schools.

What are the next steps in this process?

• Long story, short: Sluka’s out. But the real issue behind this is the fact that UNLV was not going to listen to Sluka’s demands.

• Where a potential next step was definitely on the table...VP of Vegas-based sportsbook, Circa Sports, tried to get involved by offering $100K to UNLV to give to Sluka.

  • But, the university passed on the opportunity and said the QB is no longer with the program.

• So why wouldn’t the university just pay up? It would seem like UNLV administrators are not going to let college students use their leverage against them.

  • But, to be frank, that might end up being the wrong move…

• This could end up leading to further damage to the football program and athletic department as potential recruits could end up having a sour taste in their mouths for UNLV not coming through with an NIL offer (regardless if it’s verbal or not) — now you make the call, is that worth more or less than $100K?

  • Could you imagine if this was the starting QB for Alabama, Michigan, or Georgia? (Ummm yeah right, pay up universities!)

• Separately, with the expanded 12-team college football playoff more teams have the opportunity to knock on the door and compete for a National Championship.

  • (Although a long shot) UNLV’s 3-0 start positioned themselves to be in the conversation for the CFP — which if they made it, would be worth millions to the school in both current and future income!

  • But without their starting QB, that ends up being more like a dream 😴.

So where do we go from here? It’s a great question. But don’t be surprised if this is the true start to a college athlete labor movement domino effect (cc: Dartmouth, Northwestern) — with the potential for a CBA or union. Even NCAA President, Charlie Baker, is raising his voice that he believes the terms of the proposed House v. NCAA settlement would alleviate some of the issues plaguing the NIL industry. This settlement proposal has a long way to go, but be warned, if this does go through, this would allow the NCAA to have more control over the NIL landscape, and specifically NIL collectives

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Quick Hitters

• ⚾ The MLB Playoffs are already underway as we write! And because of that, we have some good news coming from the diamond: The league’s regular season ended with a total attendance of ~71M. The figure grew by 0.85% from a year ago and, more importantly, showed no decline from 2023’s 9.6% gain. With the new total, MLB generated its first back-to-back years of attendance growth since 2011–2012 and its best overall figure since 2017.

  • Average game times shrank to two hours, 36 minutes—a four-minute reduction from last year and MLB’s lowest figure since 1984.

  • MLB last year introduced a series of rule changes to tighten the pace of play and introduce more on-field action, including a pitch clock, larger bases, and a ban on extreme defensive shifts.

  • And who says the Zillenials hate baseball?! MLB ticket buyers ages 18-35 have jumped by 8.5% in the last five years.

  • The Los Angeles Dodgers led the league for the 11th consecutive year with a total draw of 3.94M, up slightly from the club’s 3.84M in 2023. And unfortunately, again, the A’s ranked last with a figure of 922,286.