July 1 marks the first day that college athletes can sign endorsement deals, and several high-profile players wasted no time.
ESPN revealed at 12:20 a.m. ET on Thursday that Miami (FL) quarterback D'Eriq King and Florida State transfer quarterback McKenzie Milton have co-founded a company named Dreamfield. The company is a name image and likeness (NIL) business that is primarily focused on booking live events for student-athletes, which includes autograph signings and speaking engagements.
They also have to cash in on the crypto business, right? Dreamfield will also create non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Milton's will go up for auction on Tuesday and King's is scheduled to debut in late July.
"This is an opportunity for me to get my foot in the door to start being an entrepreneur, but this is also something that I'm passionate about, helping college athletes monetize off their name, image and likeness," Milton told ESPN. "This should have been something going on for a while, but now it's here, and it's a cool opportunity."
Milton and King weren't done there.
Jordan Schultz of ESPN reported at 12:21 a.m. -- one minute after the Dreamfield news was released -- that King, Milton and Hurricanes defensive back Bubba Bolden signed deals with College H.U.N.K.S. Hauling Junk & Moving. King and Bolden will both receive $20,000 in the deal with the moving company, according to Schultz. The company was founded in Washington, D.C., but now is headquartered in Tampa. It was created in 2003 by a college student who was looking for extra money during summer break.
July 1 is the first day that college athletes are able to sign endorsement deals. Several states, including Florida, signed bills into law that loosen the strict rules on players profiting off of their fame, and the NCAA passed a temporary measure on Wednesday that allows players in states without NIL laws to do the same. The NCAA is waiting until a federal law is in place or more permanent NCAA rules can be enacted to address the situation in a more comprehensive way.
"This is an important day for college athletes since they all are now able to take advantage of name, image and likeness opportunities," NCAA President Mark Emmert said in a statement. "With the variety of state laws adopted across the country, we will continue to work with Congress to develop a solution that will provide clarity on a national level. The current environment -- both legal and legislative -- prevents us from providing a more permanent solution and the level of detail student-athletes deserve."
Buckle up. The landscape of college athletics has changed, and Milton and King are the first to take advantage.
