TCU communications office
Antonio Banos of the Neeley School leads students through the details of brand and contract management, and business formation, as well as financial literacy for TCU's newest entrepreneurs.
TCU athletics director Jeremiah Donati on a phone call recently praised the Horned Frogs basketball team as one “that sets the tone” in Big 12 games.
The athletics department and the acclaimed Neeley School of Business have partnered to set the tone for the new world of college athletics with a course designed to empower student-athletes and provide the tools to flourish in what has become known as the era of the NIL.
Last summer, in a break from years of mandate and tradition, the NCAA decided to allow athletes to profit from their name, images, and likeness in the wake of a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that redefined the concept of amateurism in an industry — college athletics — that collectively generates “billions of dollars in revenues for colleges every year,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in a majority concurring opinion.
The Neeley school, in collaboration with athletics, has developed a course in its entrepreneurial studies that provides applicable, real-world learning for students who are now no longer merely student-athletes but now entrepreneurs.
“It’s a big deal for us, not only on campus, but for recruiting,” says Donati. “Student-athletes have filled the class. Interest is really high. Basically, what we did when this legislation was passed was instantly create 525 entrepreneurs in our athletic department.
“While in the short term getting an NIL deal is a big deal for some of our student-athletes, I think the bigger deal is long term — you’re setting them up with an entrepreneurial skill set they’ll have for life, long after leaving TCU. That’s the bigger play here.”
The genesis for the class was a lunch meeting between Donati and Daniel Pullin, John V. Roach Dean of the TCU Neeley School of Business, two years ago to start a conversation about ways athletics and the business school could better collaborate for students and a discussion of the great prevailing issues that could be coming down the pike. Donati raised the issue of name, image, and likeness, which has been a topic for years.
“Over those two years we were able to devise what we believe is a leading approach,” Pullin says, a unique value proposition, he adds.
The curriculum is not merely for student-athletes but for all students who are seeking a real-world, experiential opportunity on how businesses and brands are built.
The curriculum was developed by Rodney D’Souza, director of the Neeley Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and Antonio Banos, the assistant director who teaches the class, which centers on brand management and building a marketable audience, contract management, business formation, taxation and legal information as well as financial literacy.
“When the partnership started, we knew that most of the emphasis that people would think would be on ‘personal brand, social media, and get some deals,’” Banos says. “We knew because of our experiences it’s not about ‘personal brand’ but ‘personal entrepreneurial brand’ that they need to build. We knew these student-athletes had just become entrepreneurs that very second. Whether it’s getting deals or doing the side gig or offering their skills there had to be a foundation of entrepreneurship in there.”
Every athlete has an expiration date. Most end when college eligibility expires. A select few have long, prosperous professional careers, but even those will end at some point. The focus here is to take what they have as a personal entrepreneurial brand as a sports figure and build on it.
Baseball player Luke Boyers says he has already gained a new perspective on better representing himself and engaging on social media while building a bigger audience there as a stage to sell things. Hannah Springer is a nonathlete and president of Frog Army, a marketing arm that promotes the TCU basketball program. She believes what she learns in this class will have value in helping companies navigate the NIL space.
“It’s really exciting for athletes and nonathletes to take advantage of it,” says Bri Gonzalez, a senior member of TCU’s equestrian team. “It’s so new and growing so rapidly, I felt like this class would be a good opportunity to bring some insight on the key components on what it will take to be successful in this space, not only in your athletic career but outside of it.
“In reading the key takeaways and principles this class will offer, it’ll stretch far beyond our athletic career to further develop my entrepreneurial aspirations.”