NIL DEALS, LIKE OREGON’S “DUCKS OF FEATHER,” A MAIN REASON ATHLETES EXTEND THEIR COLLEGIATE CAREERS

College athletes at Oregon and across the nation are now able to make money off of their name. What does that mean for professional sports?

BY NINA-GRACE MONTES AND EMMA LOGAN

Across the NCAA, athletes have opted to stay in college for as long as possible since the rise in NIL deals. With the resources that Division I programs provide to its athletes — such as training facilities, gear, nutritionists, tutors, etc. — they’re able to get everything they need, and a majority of the time, it’s free.

The odds of being drafted by a professional sports team currently sit at less than 10%, and the chances of having a successful career are even lower.

Recently, a lot of athletes have come out and said that they’re going to stay in college as long as possible because it doesn’t make sense for them to leave everything that they’re offered with their college team if they’re not being forced to. Louisiana State center Angel Reese, who made multiple headlines throughout the women’s March Madness tournament, said she’s not in a rush to make it to the WNBA.

“The money I’m making is more than some of the people that are in the league that might be top players,” Reese said.

Following North Carolina’s 2022 National Championship appearance, center Armando Bacot decided to stay in college after the tournament ended, despite scoring at least 10 points and 10 rebounds in the six tournament games and being projected to be drafted into the NBA.

“Usually, at the end of a Final Four run, your best players leave,” Bubba Cunningham, the athletic director for UNC, said. “In this case, NIL was the reason why he stayed.”

Since NIL has only been around for a few years, colleges are still learning how to adapt to it. Some recruits are solely looking for programs that will give them the most money, and more athletes are entering the transfer portal for the same reason.

With NIL being less than five years old, there are a lot of kinks that need to be worked out within the NCAA and college athletic programs. But, overall, allowing the athletes to make money off their name, image and likeness has given them more opportunities than before. Most of the money that they receive during college is more than they’ve seen in their lives, which allows them to help their families as well as provide comfort for being on their own for the first time.

NIL from a University of Oregon perspective: Ducks of a Feather

“Ducks of a Feather” is a student-athlete brand supported by former and current Oregon athletes such as Marcus Mariota, Sabrina Ionescu, Haley Cruse Mitchell and Bo Nix. This brand was created by Oregon student athletes and proceeds of the sales go back to those same athletes.

“The Oregon brand has always stood for innovation and been immersed in culture, so it was natural for us to create the first unique online platform dedicated to representing and benefitting studentathletes,” Division Street CEO Rosemary St. Clair said about the creation of this unique brand.

Ducks of a Feather was created in partnership with Division Street, a group of Oregon alumni and donors, including Phil Knight, to help Oregon athletes make the most of their brand.

Their consistent merch, which can be purchased at any time, includes black hoodies and shirts with a simple duck logo and writing, featuring the brand name. It has been popping up on campus, worn by students, fans and most of all supporters.

Ducks of a Feather recently collaborated with GOAT — a resale site — to drop a limited edition redesigned version of Nike Dunk Low. This limited edition shoe was made possible by Tinker Hatfield, Nike’s Vice President for Design and Special Products. Hatfield is one of the most legendary shoe designers because of his work creating numerous versions of the Air Jordan collection.

He brought his creativity back to his alma mater and helped to design multiple pairs of shoes with defining qualities specific to University of Oregon culture. There were only 1,000 pairs in this drop released exclusively through GOAT on April 10th and sold out quickly.

“I have such a passion for the school and the athletes — it’s a dream to work on something unique like this that directly supports them,” Hatfield said on his contribution to one of the first collections of Ducks of a Feather called Flying Formations.

This first collection was a collaboration with the Oregon football team and Hatfield where he created “one-of-one digital art pieces” that were based on the Oregon Duck logo. The NFT’s were represented on the tongue of limited special-edition Nike Air Max 1s.

These shoes were auctioned on the Ducks of a Feather website, and 70% of the revenue from the auction went to football athletes that were contracted to provide content. While 10% of the revenue went to Division Street which was distributed to other teams.

“We continue to focus on creative and distinct ways for Oregon athletes to monetize their brands, and we think Ducks of a Feather will serve as a long-term platform to do that,” St. Clair said about the Flying Formations collection.