MARKETING

MARKETING

GETTING PAID ON CAMPUS

How Xavier and UC are handling the new name/image/likeness rules for college

athletes. —JOHN STOWELL

T

he days of the student-athlete compensated only with a college scholarship are gone. This fall, when you see Desmond Ritter throw a touchdown pass or Paul Scruggs hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer, you’re likely seeing a student-athlete-entrepreneur at work.

College sports’ new NIL rules (that stands for name, imagine, and likeness) allow and therefore encourage amateur athletes to do what their universities have done for decades: Make money. “I’m all for it,” says Greg Christopher, Xavier’s athletic director. “Why was it that a talented student who maybe played in the Xavier band could play in a garage band or at a weekend wedding and get paid, while a student athlete couldn’t do anything to make extra money without losing eligibility?”

The changes came rapidly as politicians and even the U.S. Supreme Court recognized the unfairness of a system that awarded universities millions in ticket sales and TV contracts while the athletes winning those games couldn’t even accept a free Coke from an admiring fan. That all changed July 1, when the NCAA threw up its hands and adopted the NIL rule. State legislatures and governors followed up quickly with some rules of the road, but most of what happens next is up to the individual athlete and the universities they play for.

For a while, says John Cunningham, athletic director at the University of Cincinnati, it’s going to be the “wild west” in college sport—a capital market governed not just by athletic prowess but, perhaps as importantly, social media presence. “When we think of the NIL now, we naturally think of that high-level athlete and, certainly, that’s going to impact them in a very positive way,” he says. “But I think, too, of the high-profile student athlete who’s a big thinker and who knows how to market themselves through social media. The ones that put sweat equity into this and think it through are going to benefit too.”

Xavier tennis star Ahmeir Kyle, with more than 13,000 Instagram followers, was signed by Western & Southern Financial Group shortly after the NIL went into effect to cut a TV commercial for the W&S Open. She readily acknowledges it’s her social media presence, not her fierce forehand, that enhances her marketability. She believes Western & Southern and other companies she’s contracted with are attracted by her multiplier effect. “When I post for them, almost everyone who has reached out to me has thousands of followers, so that gains a great audience [for the companies I endorse],” says Kyle. Like many athletes, she’s mostly been paid in gift cards or free clothes from the companies she’s represented, though W&S did pay her cold, hard cash.

Christopher and Cunningham agree it will take a few years for the NIL market to sort itself out and for them to see the impact on recruiting and athlete retention. In the meantime, both Xavier and UC have placed guardrails around their athletes endorsing companies that sell sexually explicit products, performance-enhancing drugs banned by the NCAA, and tobacco or promote gambling.

THE IMPACT OF POOR SOCIOECONOMIC CONDITIONS ON YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH

by John Banchy, President and CEO

IF SOMEONE ONCE HAD A BROKEN

arm, and they went to the doctor and were treated, do you think this would adversely affect their future job prospects, relationships, or academics?

Likely not. But what about the onein-five teens in our nation who have a mental health issue? Sixty percent of those receive no treatment and nearly 25% receive inadequate treatment. This is akin to having that broken arm and not being able to see a doctor to address the problem.

Mental health illness most often manifests early in life. In fact, half of life-impacting mental illness begins by age 14. This trend leads to young people failing to complete high school and being more at risk for unemployment or underemployment. During the past several years suicide rates in our country have increased by nearly 60% among young people aged 10-24 and Ohio’s suicide rates have increased by 48%.

During the critical time where youth begin the transition to adulthood, untreated mental illness affects relationships, overall health, academics, future employment prospects and makes even the most routine facets of life difficult.

Best Point Behavioral Health is actively combatting youth mental illness. Our providers and therapists are present in 71 partner schools, where a child needing our help can be treated as part of their academic day. We also care for Greater Cincinnati’s most vulnerable populations across four states, over 300 neighborhoods and have clients, or former clients, in well over 300 schools in our region.

The reach of our services is demonstrative of the prevalence of mental illness among our nation’s youth. There are almost 2-million adolescents and teens diagnosed with severe depression in the U.S. Fourteen percent of teens are affected by depression and bipolar disorder; nearly one in three meet criteria for anxiety disorder by age 18.

As our team of passionate and dedicated providers continue to treat our young population, I hope you will get involved.

Our transition services are always seeking career speakers, participants in mock interviews, and job shadowing opportunities for our clients. Some volunteers do art projects with our kids while others find time to act as volunteer judges at science fairs.

In each of these scenarios, you are imparting an invaluable gift. You are demonstrating that you care and that you, like the rest of us, are incredibly hopeful they work toward receiving a chance to be successful.

Mental illness is an issue that can, just like a broken arm, be treated. Our youth do not suffer mental illness by choice. A lack of support, poor socioeconomic conditions and access to treatment are barriers our community must continue to address.