Wild wild west. That is what some pundits call it. The correct term is Name Image and Likeness. The face of of college football has been cosmetically altered with the infusion of big dollar deals. If you are a fan of college kids being compensated it is a chiseled masterpiece. If you think it ruins college football, it is a black eye.

Regardless of stance, the landscape has forever changed. A 2023 Miami targeted high school prospect Nico Iamaleava is an 18 year old five star recruit from Downey, California. Iamaleava made headlines recently when he committed to the Tennessee Volunteers. A portion of an Athletic report which could be read above the website’s paywall details Iamaleava signed with a “school’s NIL collective.” The article does not name the prospect or the affiliated collective.

From Stewart Mandel:

On Friday, a five-star recruit in the Class of 2023 signed an agreement with a school’s NIL collective that could pay him more than $8 million by the end of his junior year of college, The Athletic has learned. He’ll be paid $350,000 almost immediately, followed by monthly payouts escalating to more than $2 million per year once he begins his college career, in exchange for making public appearances and taking part in social media promotions and other NIL activities “on behalf of (the collective) or a third party.”

Miami is in the game. The Hurricanes were very proactive in recognizing the benefits of a major metropolitan city with diverse business opportunities and the abundance of them. What the University of Miami might lack in alumni base, it far more makes up in the NIL market with its collective ingenuity and keen business sense.

John Ruiz is on the forefront. Ruiz is an attorney who’s net worth is valued in the billions. The revenue forecasts laid out in SEC forms project that MSP Recovery, his special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), will earn $3.1 billion in revenue by 2023 and $23.8 billion by 2026. If those projections hit, MSP Recovery will rake in more money annually than the world’s largest law firm by gross revenue.

The Ruiz team is a very active social media force and the endeavor is absolutely intentional. Rivals have taken notice. Envy is a root in the human soul that blooms the beautiful petals of jealousy. Personally what I think is missed in translation by most is the simplistic nature of the actual conversation.

The more you talk about it, the more you mention NIL, the more you realize the social media envy is an actual fuel source that provides tangible real value. The business savvy side of John Ruiz cannot be undersold. His consumer product Life Wallet, a medical information records data base platform which allows accessibility to first responders, is reaping the benefits of exponential exposure.

The Miami Hurricane athlete benefits, the consumer product that is attached to them benefits. It is a win win for all parties involved. The messaging is what naysayers are balking at. But let’s get this straight, apparently some don’t like bravado infused confidence with the in your face nature of a couple tweets announcing NIL partnerships. They didn’t like Michael Irvin dancing down the sideline either.