LOS ANGELES — CamSoda has announced its intention to ink name, image and likeness (NIL) sponsorship deals with college athletes, after new state laws and NCAA rule changes went into effect on July 1.
CamSoda issued a statement today from VP Daryn Parker, who said it was “a shame it took the NCAA this long to bring about this change.”
“Where was this when Tim Tebow, Reggie Bush, Johnny Manziel, Diana Taurasi, Adam Morrison and so many others were in college?” Parker added.
As ESPN reported about the development — which they called the "most significant changes in a generation" — the first weeks of "a new era in college sports have provided a glimpse at the wide range of possibilities that now exist for athletes, and have already started to reveal some cracks in the NCAA's futile efforts to keep money and boosters from attempting to influence a program's recruiting prowess."
CamSoda's Parker opined that “college athletes deserve to make money for their fame and build their brand to be able to set the market and drive pay like we have seen done by the Paul brothers in boxing.”
Parker assured potential endorsees that “not only will we promote our CamSoda athletes across our social channels, but as part of their partnership with us the athletes can stream themselves live and give fans intimate access to their personal lives. For example, they can break down their recent performance and game tape and provide in-depth, behind-the-scenes insights or hold Q&A sessions.”
“Basically, give people what they’ve been clamoring for for many years,” he concluded.
In an interview with a sports reporter for the Daily Caller, Parker elaborated that CamSoda was “looking to work alongside some of the nation’s top athletes. We have a devout global audience that we can leverage in our relationship with them to draw eyeballs to them and generate buzz across social. We are not biased and do not have a set criteria for who we are looking to work alongside. They can be SEC football players, Big Ten basketball players or Pac-12 softball players.”
“Come one, come all,” Parker told the Tucker Carlson-founded news outlet. “We’re open for business.”