By Ray Birch
PASADENA, Calif.–One credit union with close ties to a major university says it may take advantage of new rules governing college sports and consider signing an athlete as a spokesperson, but before it decides to pay a college player, the CU said it would look closely at several details.
Among the issues it will be considering: whether the university should get some of the sponsorship money, whether the athlete will be able to wear the school’s jersey or their jersey number in commercials, and code of conduct clauses.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which had long prohibited college athletes from accepting any outside money in order to support “amateurism” across all sports, has now approved a temporary policy to allow college athletes in all three divisions to get paid for the use of their name, image and likeness (NIL).
Numerous college athletes have already announced deals with various sponsors, and some have even formed companies to help other athletes with deals of their own.
Numerous credit unions in the U.S., many of which were chartered to serve employees, faculty, students and others associated with colleges and universities, already have school sponsorship deals in place. One of the highest-profile deals is between the $5-billion Wescom Credit Union and the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA).
Wescom sponsors the Associated Students of UCLA, UCLA Athletics, UCLA Campus Life and Recreation, the high-profile Rose Bowl Stadium, and Pauley Pavilion Presented by Wescom Credit Union, which is home to the school’s basketball teams.
As CUToday.info reported, Wescom also recently became the Official Banking Partner of the UCLA Alumni Association
“We have discussed having a relationship with a college athlete as a Wescom spokesperson and I think it's something we would be interested in,” said Melissa Pederson, SVP of administration at Wescom CU. “But in doing so we would have to make sure that we're protecting the relationship we have with the university.”
Power of Social Media
Pederson said she has no opinion on whether a college athlete would have the same advertising impact as a player/spokesperson from a professional sports franchise, adding often the marketing appeal would be based on relationships credit unions have or don’t have with universities and where they are located.
“Depending on the market the credit union is in…and if the college athlete they are looking to sign has great followers…,” observed Pederson. “Much of what is happening now with branding and advertising has to do with social media. And if the player is very popular on social media, that could garner more engagement for the credit union—and get to that Millennial and Gen Z group everyone's really trying to go after. I think we will see a credit union stepping into this arena.”
Another issue many credit unions affiliated with colleges and universities will also need to discuss is the high likelihood that competing institutions, including other credit unions, may opt to hire a school’s athlete themselves.
Another Big Question
With the new NCAA rules, a big question remains unanswered, according to Pederson.
“What’s still undetermined at this point, to the best of our knowledge, is whether college athletes will have access to their numbers, or be able to wear their school’s jersey when acting as a spokesperson,” explained Pederson. “We just have to investigate this more.”
Very often in professional sports athletes do not have rights to their team’s jerseys, and they wear a different but similar jersey should the advertiser be unwilling to pay the licensing fe
e to the professional franchise.
Divide the Payment?
Pederson said credit unions, as supporters of their communities and backed by the cooperative principles of the movement, need to also consider how much, if any, of the revenue stream heading to a player(s) retained as a spokesperson should go to the university, instead of going only to the player.
“That is something that needs to be discussed,” said Pederson, who reminded Wescom Credit Union currently has a relationship with UCLA.
Wescom has sponsored UCLA since 2015, and recently extended it to 2028.
https://www.cutoday.info/Fresh-Today/Wescom-Does-Post-Grad-Work-With-UCLA-by-Adding-Relationship-With-Alumni-Association
That close relationship with UCLA, Pederson said, hopefully would help convince players to work with the credit union if Wescom CU opts to use a Bruin in its marketing initiatives.
“Would it be easier for us, as opposed to other financial institutions, to sign a college athlete? That’s a good question. I'd like to think that since we're on campus that athletes would have more awareness of us, and would understand, too, that we provide a good value to the university and to the students,” she said.
One Youthful Issue
Asked whether the credit union would have more concerns over a younger athlete’s behavior off the field than a more seasoned professional and how that might impact the credit union, Pederson said she had no opinion, adding, however, Wescom would want to carefully discuss the potential issues with the athlete.
“Of course, you want them to be of high character and you want them to bolster your brand, rather than doing the opposite,” she said. “There clearly would need to be, contractually, something that would align them with good choices.”
Pederson emphasized if Wescom CU were to sign a college athlete from UCLA, it would also discuss the move with the university.
“We would not want to jeopardize the relationship we have with them, and we would work very closely with UCLA to ensure all parties involved benefit,” she said.
Other CU/University Relationships
A sample of other credit unions that have various deals in place with university athletic programs includes:
- Cardinal Arena on the University of Louisville's campus is now named after L&N FCU following a naming rights deal.
- In Michigan, American 1 Credit Union said it has entered into a deal with Spring Arbor University for the naming rights to school’s primary sports venue.
- UK FCU has a naming rights partnership with the University of Kentucky for the esports complex in The Cornerstone, a new multi-use facility.
- The arena at Southern Utah University has been renamed the America First (CU) Events Center.
- In Philadelphia, La Salle University’s major athletic facility is now the Tom Gola Arena at the TruMark Financial Center.
- The University of South Carolina sold the naming rights to its baseball stadium to Founders Federal Credit Union.
- Canvas Credit Union has a $37-million naming rights deal for Colorado State University’s college football stadium.