UCF QB John Rhys Plumlee lends support to venture looking to help athletes
As UCF’s quarterback, John Rhys Plumlee is the face of the Knights’ program.
His performance on the football field has made him one of the most recognizable college athletes in the country and afforded him opportunities to profit from his name, image and likeness.
Whether deals with local car dealerships, apparel companies or restaurants, Plumlee has enjoyed the benefits of NIL and shared most of those opportunities with his teammates.
He’s hoping his support could help other athletes like himself. That’s why he signed up to be an ambassador for a new company, Athletes.org, which is working to inform and organize athletes on the challenges facing an ever-changing college landscape.
“When I first started college in 2019, there was no NIL, so when it came out, it was craziness right there,” said Plumlee. “People didn’t know what to make of it and didn’t know the rules and regulations behind it.
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“Luckily, I had people that approached me who understood what was happening and what was to come. But the reality of it was that’s not the reality for every college athlete. Not a lot of kids and not a lot of college athletes get the wisdom that I had from people who knew what they were talking about.”
When Jim Cavale founded INFLCR in 2017, it was right after the O’Bannon antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA, which eventually opened the door for college athletes to profit from NIL.
“I felt like that was evidence that this name, image and likeness thing was not a matter of if, but when,” said Cavale.
INFLCR sold software to universities across the country to assist them in supplying content to their athletes to share on social media. Eventually, it expanded by adding the ability for athletes to report their NIL deals to the schools. It also provided an education piece as well.
Cavale sold the company in 2019 but remained CEO through this summer.
As he looked for his next challenge, he saw cases similar to the O’Bannon one. He closely followed Johnson v. NCAA and House v. NCAA. The Johnson case centers on recognizing college athletes as employees, while House deals more in-depth with NIL.
“I saw the NCAA and a lot of athletic directors and [conference] commissioners go to Congress to get help, not wanting to come up with a new solution themselves,” said Cavale. “I felt like this was deja vu with O’Bannon, but this time, it’s not just NIL; it’s everything. It’s employment status, it’s revenue sharing, it’s medical coverage, concussion protocols, you name it.”
These issues and others like them catalyzed Cavale to create Athletes.org.
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“I felt we could create a different approach, kind of a stage or two behind unionization,” Cavale explained. “Unionization may or may not be needed because athletes may or may not be deemed employees.”
As the debate over the collegiate sports model rages during congressional hearings, some believe the model must be overhauled.
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh and Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick have discussed sharing some of the billions of dollars made by conferences by selling their media rights to college athletes.
Revenue sharing could be a result, particularly if recent legal challenges lead to athletes becoming full-time employees of the schools. That, in turn, could lead to labor pacts and, ultimately, unionization.
Cavale believes the better-informed athletes are on these subjects, there’s more of a chance to make better decisions for the future. He also hopes to help provide them a seat at the table with conference commissioners, athletic directors and school presidents.
“So let’s build an association for all athletes, all sports and all divisions and anyone can sign up. It’s free,” he said. “There are no dues because it’s funded by corporate partners who want their brand with these athletes and show the world they support them.”
Cavale envisions the associations comprised of chapters of athletes from the same conferences playing the same sport. These chapters play an important role in bringing organization to it all.
Ambassadors such as Plumlee will be leading these chapters and looking to get their teammates to register.
“It’s going to be an unbelievable resource for years to come,” said Plumlee. “It’s going to be a good space for athletes to be able to ask questions safely.”
Plumlee admits he had a lot of questions about the company before committing to it.
“What am I going to be promoting? I don’t want to put my name behind something that isn’t good. The more he told me about it, the more I wanted to support this,” he said.
Athletes who sign up with the company can find support from current or former athletes or experts who can advise on a wide range of topics such as tax concerns. There also is a registry for agents and collectives with a review system that allows athletes to see what they’re getting involved with.
Email Matt Murschel at mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @osmattmurschel.