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A14 sports
Monday 21 March 2022
One $hining Moment: Players can cash in on NCAA success

By RALPH D. RUSSO Many athletes are not per-
AP College Sports Writer mitted to use their schools’
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — This marks and logos in their
March Madness, basketball NIL activities. In some cas-
players can monetize their es, they can’t work on NIL
shining moments. deals while representing
The NCAA lifted its ban last the school.
summer on athletes earn- The Players Trunk gear with
ing money off their name, Allen’s image makes no
image and likeness. Since reference to New Mexico
then, all kinds of business State, but it does use the
opportunities have sprung colors of the Aggies basket-
up from modest online en- ball uniforms.
dorsement deals to nation- Also, licensing agreements
al sponsorship campaigns between the NCAA and
to booster-funded collec- media rights holders CBS
tives that can pay athletes Sports and Turner put re-
thousands of dollars. strictions on what athletes
The NCAA Tournament is can use to create content.
a chance for new stars to Even if the content can
emerge, such as New Mexi- clear legal hurdles, it takes
co State’s Teddy Allen. quick work and insight to
Allen scored 37 points in an New Mexico State guard Teddy Allen reacts during the second half of the team’s college capitalize on newfound
upset over UConn on Thurs- basketball game against Connecticut in the first round of the NCAA men’s tournament Thursday, fame.
day, flexing, dancing and March 17, 2022, in Buffalo, N.Y. Associated Press “You still have to be knowl-
waving goodbye to the edgeable enough and
Huskies fans. co-founder of The Players social media accounts. a company that works with take enough initiative or
By Friday night, there were Trunk, an online merchan- Even before the tourna- thousands of college teams have help in being knowl-
T-shirts and hooded sweat- dise store for college ath- ment began, The Players and athletes on a range of edgeable and taking
shirts available for purchase letes to sell their gear and Trunk started making mon- NIL programs, said there is a enough initiative to make
online with a graphic of Al- memorabilia. ey on March Madness. potentially lucrative market the most of that new val-
len, the words “BYE BYE” Pomerantz, a former stu- The company produced for March Madness related ue,” Cavale said.
and the score and date of dent-manager for the Syra- shirts and hoodies for Wis- NFTs and digital collect- This first March Madness
the Aggies’ first NCAA Tour- cuse basketball team, said consin guard Chucky Hep- ibles. with NIL is likely to set a
nament victory since 1993. The Players Trunk reaches burn, whose bank shot in But that takes planning and blueprint for schools and
And by late Saturday night, out to athletes and offers the final seconds against coordination and the cur- athletes to better position
Teddy Buckets and the Ag- them a contract to make a Purdue sealed the Big Ten rent state of the NIL market themselves for sudden star-
gies were done, eliminated cut of the sales of the ap- regular-season title for the is not set up to allow ath- dom in years to come.
by Arkansas 53-48, with Al- parel. He declined to say Badgers, and Chattanoo- letes to efficiently take ad- “This will be the last year
len held to 12 points. what percentage goes to ga’s David Jean-Baptiste, vantage. that kids aren’t fully ready
“Everyone understands the players. who sent the Mocs to the The NCAA does not have for it,” Blake Lawrence, the
how crucial it is to really The shirts sell for $29.99 and NCAA Tournament with uniformed, detailed rules CEO of Opendorse, an-
capitalize on the moment the sweatshirts go for be- a long buzzer-beater in governing NIL compen- other company that works
in the moment. As this is tween $49.99 and $59.99. the Southern Conference sation. The association with schools and athletes
happening. As it’s the talk Pomerantz said the con- championship game. has instructed its member to manage NIL activities.
of the town. As it’s trending tract covers only sales of Selling merch is just the tip schools to follow state laws Lawrence said the mud-
on Twitter. That’s the time to the gear and all they ask of of the earning potential for where applicable or to cre- dled nature of current NIL
really make a strong post,” the athletes is to promote March’s shooting stars. ate their own rules in states rules and regulations is
said Hunter Pomerantz, the merchandise on their Jim Cavale, CEO of INFLCR, without legislation. holding back the market.q

Swiatek beats Sakkari to win Indian

Wells, No. 2 ranking

the BNP Paribas Open. Now, Swiatek has five ca- to go up 5-4. Sakkari led
Swiatek will rise from fourth reer titles, including the 40-30 on her serve, but a
to a career-best No. 2 in 2020 French Open. Her new double fault gave Swiatek
the world in Monday’s ranking equals the high- her third break point, and
WTA Tour rankings, trail- est ever by a Polish player, she cashed in on Sakkari’s
ing top-ranked Ash Barty, matching Agnieszka Rad- netted backhand to take
who skipped Indian Wells. wanska, who also reached the set.
Sakkari will move from sixth No. 2. Swiatek broke twice in the
to No. 3, the rising Greek Gusty winds affected serves second set for a 5-1 lead.
star’s highest ranking yet. and shots by both players, She served out the match,
Iga Swiatek, of Poland, reacts after winning the women’s singles Swiatek lost each of the who had seven double winning on a forehand in
finals over Maria Sakkari, of Greece, at the BNP Paribas Open first three times she played faults each. There were the corner of the baseline.
tennis tournament Sunday, March 20, 2022, in Indian Wells, Calif. Sakkari, all last year. Last seven service breaks in the Swiatek earned $1.2 mil-
Associated Press
month, the 20-year-old Pol- first set alone, with Swiatek lion and improved her re-
By BETH HARRIS Iga Swiatek defeated Ma- ish player beat Sakkari in holding twice. Sakkari held cord to a WTA Tour-leading
AP Sports Writer ria Sakkari 6-4, 6-1 Sunday the semifinals at Doha and once to tie the set, 4-all. 20-3 this year, including 11
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) — in an error-filled final to win went on to win the title. Swiatek won the next game matches in a row.q