Overview
Overview
O’Hagan Meyer maintains a national practice representing student-athletes, coaches, universities, agencies, collectives, and businesses in the fast-changing world of college sports. This includes Name, Image, and Likeness (“NIL”) and NCAA compliance consulting, contract review and negotiation, intellectual property licensing and brand protection, along with the related necessary legal services. Whether it is a coach looking for contract negotiation and drafting, a marketing company looking to grow its clientele base, or a business with a desire to endorse a specific player or team, our NIL Attorneys have the experience, knowledge, and skill to provide the necessary legal services to achieve client goals.
Athlete Representation
Our approach to athlete representation reflects our belief that the interests of student-athletes are best served by retaining attorneys who can help them in a wide variety of fields (as opposed to retaining an agent for mere negotiation who will need to retain an attorney after negotiations are complete). We bring expertise in contract law, negotiation, and compliance with university and NCAA regulations, without the additional cost of an agent. This expertise ranges from high school level student-athletes up to college athletes entering a professional-league draft.
The NIL Attorneys work with student-athletes to build brands reflecting their values and cultures according to their goals, budgets, and state restrictions. This includes assisting student-athletes in creating and marketing merchandise and other on-line content, contract review and negotiations, and community outreach.
Furthermore, our NIL Attorneys help international student-athletes navigate the complexities of student-visas and taking advantage of NIL benefits. We have developed creative strategies for international student athletes to either obtain celebrity status for a separate visa or obtain passive income from their NIL to prevent violation of their student-visa restrictions.
University Representation
Our work with universities in NIL-related matters includes compliance consulting, contract review, NIL education seminars and presentations, and developing sports business curricula involving student-athlete ventures. Given the rapidly evolving legal landscape of student-athlete compensation, based upon decades of litigation experience, O’Hagan Meyer has litigation mitigation strategies for potential litigation between universities and student-athletes in various capacities. This includes onboarding, handbooks, employer policies, wage and hour requirements, and discrimination or harassment disputes, among many others.
The NIL Attorneys have also worked closely with university-collectives since the beginning stages of NIL, and we have guided our university-collective clients through the constant changes in NIL laws and regulations. This includes the impact of the House v. NCAA settlement on both the universities and their respective collectives with regards to revenue sharing, player compensation, and scholarship limits.
Player-Agent Representation
O’Hagan Meyer attorneys have experience working with player-agents regarding agreements with student-athletes. Our attorneys regularly advise agents on the types of payments made to student-athletes from collectives, universities, and endorsing businesses. This includes compliance analysis, tax implications, and potential employment issues related to said payments.
