MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — From golf courses to car dealerships, local businesses in Morgantown are very interested in the possibility to hire WVU athletes and be able to use their names and likeness in endorsement opportunities.
The NCAA unanimously voted Tuesday to allow college athletes to profit from their names, images and likenesses “in a manner consistent with the collegiate model.”
Three divisions were created to begin figuring out how to update NCAA rules and those rules are expected to be in place by January 2021.
By then, Morgantown businesses may be chomping at the bit with the possibility to hire the star quarterback or point guard for a commercial or to help promote an event.
“Is there a market for something like this in Morgantown?” said Patrick Faust, general manager of Subaru of Morgantown. “Quite simply, yes, there is very much a market for something like this.”
Local business owners pointed to Morgantown’s position as a college town as to the reason for heightened interest in college athletes.
“I would think this will be looked at very differently in areas like Pittsburgh, Atlanta or New York,” said Phil Mouser, owner of Daniel’s men’s store in Morgantown. “You look at states like West Virginia or even like Oklahoma where the college teams are basically considered your pro teams, I would think the market is much greater in areas like that.
“There’s no doubt that WVU sports are considered our pro teams in West Virginia. I would doubt there are any businesses in Morgantown that wouldn’t at least consider the idea.”
Of the local business owners that spoke with The Dominion Post, none said they would be against hiring a WVU athlete to use their image or likeness, although opinions varied on what the final product would like.
An interesting take came from Donnie Schillinger, the golf pro at Mountaineer Golf Course.
Schillinger said it may not make a lot of sense to use the face of the star quarterback to promote the course, but he would be very interested in hiring members of the WVU golf team to work at the course’s First Tee program, which is designed to get children interested in the sport at a younger age.
“I think the connection with WVU would greatly benefit that program,” Schillinger said. “Kids could say they played with actual Mountaineers. That would be a great thing for everyone, I would think.”
Jeff Stewart, broker of Pat Stewart Realtors, said using an athlete to be a spokesperson may not be the best fit.
“I think I would look at it as hiring an independent contractor or employee,” Stewart said. “If they are capable of coming in and doing the work, sure, why wouldn’t I look at hiring a WVU athlete?
“I’ve always felt the NCAA was a little backward when it came to this issue. They’ve said these athletes can’t go out and hold a job for extra money, well, I’ve always felt that was wrong. College kids need extra money. Why should they be penalized just for being an athlete?”
Mouser has already had some experience with the topic. In recent years, he’s hired former football receiver David Sills and former men’s basketball point guard Jevon Carter for endorsement opportunities after their college eligibility had ran out.
“I would absolutely want to hire a current WVU athlete, but it would have to be the right fit,” Mouser said. “We’re a men’s clothing store, so it wouldn’t make much sense to hire a female college athlete.
“It would also have to be someone who helps move the needle for us and I think that’s one of the bigger questions in this whole deal: Just how many college athletes is this actually going to affect? I would say on a good year, you’d have maybe four or five that businesses would actually be attracted to.”
Which raised the other question of just how much would it cost for businesses to hire college athletes?
“There are market constraints to consider,” Faust said. “If you were to go back to Pat White’s third year here, well, there probably weren’t a lot of local companies who probably could afford the going rate for someone like that.
“It still comes down to dollars and sense. If the numbers work out, I think you’ll see a lot of interest in WVU athletes.”
The NCAA’s main concern in opening up this opportunity is creating an unlevel playing field, meaning bigger schools would gain a recruiting advantage by being able to offer better endorsement deals.
It certainly adds more on the plate of school’s athletic directors, such as West Virginia’s Shane Lyons.
“I’m sure you could see something like a school going after a quarterback and they go around to different businesses looking to see what kind of packages that can be put together,” Mouser said. “This whole deal opens up a slippery slope. There are a lot of companies across the country with deep pockets. Let’s just say when this deal becomes official, I wouldn’t want to be in Shane Lyons’ seat.”
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