LAKE MARY. Fla.—One credit union that took advantage of new rules and signed a college athlete as a spokesperson now says it expects to sign other.
As CUToday.info reported, $2.5-billion Addition Financial Credit Union has become one of the first in the country to take advantage of the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) new Name Image and Likeness (NIL) rules to hire a college athlete as a spokesperson.
In response, universities across the country launched programs aimed at helping their athletes both take advantage of and comply with the new rules.
Addition Financial launched a “brand partnership” with Dillon Gabriel, who at the time the deal was signed was the starting quarterback for the University of Central Florida. He recently announced his intent to transfer from UCF. The credit union’s agreement with Gabriel ran through the 2021 UCF football season. The Knights finished 8-4.
Three games into the season, Gabriel broke his collarbone and missed the remainder of the games. The junior threw for over 3,000 yards in each of his first two seasons at UCF.
Despite the setback, Gabriel, a native of Hawaii, was featured as part of Addition Financial’s social media outreach and other marketing opportunities.
“Dillon was obviously the face of UCF football,” said CEO Kevin Miller. “He's the quarterback everybody identified with at UCF. He and the UCF football team have had good success.”
Miller said the partnership with Gabriel worked well because both were interested in each other—Gabriel wanted to develop his own brand, he is interested in improving financial literacy in the local communities, and Addition Financial had always viewed Gabriel as a prominent and influential personality in their marketplace.
“It was a great partnership. He's a great person to work with,” said Miller. “He seemed like a perfect fit for the university and for the credit union.”
NCAA Changes Policy
The 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). Several college athletes already have deals in place valued at more than $1 million.
Addition Financial, which has its roots in serving an educational field of membership, was already working with the University of Central Florida, having begun its relationship with UCF Athletics in 2013 after acquiring the naming rights to the Addition Financial Arena on campus. That same year, Addition Financial was named the official financial institution of the UCF Knights.
Since that time, Addition Financial said it has provided support to the UCF Athletics program through scholarships, comprehensive financial education workshops for student-athletes, and sponsorship of other initiatives. In 2015, the credit union launched an affinity debit card program with UCF Athletics, offering two co-branded debit card designs. Every time the card is swiped, Addition Financial makes a donation back to UCF Athletics.
“We were familiar with Dillon because of our relationship with UCF. It has been a nice marriage in that we're already supporting the university. So, it made sense to work with Dillon,” Miller said.
Working Through Gray Areas
Miller said the credit union and Gabriel had to “feel” their way through the relationship, saying both were new to the NIL rules, which is one of the reasons it worked closely on the arrangement with its attorneys.
“What can you show, like Dillion’s number, the schools logo…We had to work our way through that,” Miller said. “The new rules definitely took some time to address. There are still a lot of gray areas.”
While the focus of the CU’s advertising was on Gabriel the player and not the school, ads were able to show Gabriel holding the CU’s UCF debit card, since that relationship with the school was already in place, Miller explained.
Much of the advertising also featured Gabriel wearing Addition Financial-branded clothing.
“But he also wanted to begin to build his own brand, and we were OK with that in our advertising, helping him to cross-sell,” said Miller.
Running the Option on Message
The credit union and Gabriel also adjusted to the quarterback’s injury by shifting the advertising message to how life and sports are unpredictable, which is why it’s smarty to be financially prepared for the future.
Miller, who said Additional Financial has not teamed with a professional sports athlete, said the organization discussed working with a younger football player, debating some concerns over the risks related to the conduct of college athlete vs. a more mature professional.
“While we discussed that, certainly, we never had any concerns about Dillon. He is a fine individual. It was a relationship we knew we would never have to worry about,” said Miller.
Before the deal was signed, Addition Financial decided to limit the agreement with Gabriel to the 2021 UCF football season.
“We did not want to tie anyone’s hands,” said Miller. “If Dillon decided to go pro, or anything else came up.”
Partnering With Second Athlete
Addition Financial has liked the arrangement with Gabriel enough to say it intends to sign another UCF athlete—this time a female. Miller did not say which sport she plays at the college.
“It was a good relationship with Dillon, and we are happy to have entered into it,” said Miller. “It is worthwhile to invest in a college athlete, we believe. And we are looking forward to good things from our next relationship with a UCF athlete.”
As CUToday also reported, Michigan State University FCU announced a deal to provide compensation to all eligible players on MSU Spartan women’s basketball team this season through name, image and likeness (NIL) contracts.