Sparkee
Blackbear
So then, what did they really mean by saying they didn’t receive a penny of NIL money?
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University of Maine 2024–2025: Freel-ing good
- Thread starter UMO Better Blues
- Start date
McGoverners
Active member
Boston (the band) > Boston (the university)
blackbears9
Member
Not that this is definitive, but if you google Alex Bump NIL, Tim Washe NIL the only things that come up are championship T shirts that went on sale last week. If you google Harrison Scott or David Breazeale NIL, their deals with OBC, US Cellular and the bakery in Orono come up. I think blaming a lack of NIL money is a pretty lame excuse.
Maine's never going to have multiple high end future NHL all-stars on the roster every year, but Barr has, and will continue to get guys who develop into elite college players. Losing to Penn State in the first round sucked, but it's not like it was a bad year.
walrus
Wind up workin' in a gas station
BU BC and Minnesota lost with tons of talent. I will say its disheartening not to get some guys who we think would fit in and can score from anywhere. NIL certainly doesn't make the NCAA more fair from a competition stand point, makes it better for the athletes though??
tylerzx2002
Well-known member
Looks like Patriks Berzins is going to St. Cloud State.
And not really a surprise but Conmy is heading to BC.
And not really a surprise but Conmy is heading to BC.
UncleRay
M-A-I-N-E, GooOOO, Blue!
> Boston (the college)
UncleRay
M-A-I-N-E, GooOOO, Blue!
I don't know, Wally. I think things need to sort themselves out a bit. I can really see these young guys making decisions based on a (very) few dollars today, and lose out on (many) dollars in the future. The old days of picking a team to play for based on the coach and the staff's ability to get you to the next level risk being tainted by a rich alum who will pay you to hawk their shoes/car parts/brewery. Although, to temper my argument, it is likely that schools with NIL cash to spread around also have the brains to find the best coach and the cash to pay him.
grooverider
Your Team Sucks
I dont understand the obsession with Conmy. Yes he can score but he isn't a good fit for Barr and his system with the cycle game and going into dirty areas and wearing people down
BC much more his style more finesse
Sparkee
Blackbear
Good article about Maine being Goaltender University: https://www.bangordailynews.com/202...top-university-for-hockey-goalies-joam40zk0w/
Fishman'81
Black Bear since D-2
"More Than A Feeling" was basically a re-work of "Tend My Garden".
(Yeah, almost all pop music involves rip-offs, I get that.)
tylerzx2002
Well-known member
Nadeau got his first NHL point tonight on an assist. Has had some good chances tonight despite playing fourth line minutes.
Again, no evidence, purely speculation, but suspecting they're speaking to technicalities. WMU NIL merch has been available for quite some time according to those intimate with the program. It is possible that they didn't use NIL in recruiting, however, the blanket statement of no NIL I think is incorrect. I think in reading between the lines, what they're really saying is they aren't dropping money like the BCs and BUs and that they may not be offering money to get you here, there is opportunity when you arrive.
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Sparkee
Blackbear
We got on this subject regarding Conmy getting NIL money. Then Drew said he thinks Maine is spending NIL on Boija, Holt, and Nadeau. All players regardless of country can get merchandise likeness NIL from merchandise sold with their name, image, likeness. But not all players can receive NIL money directly from the school or businesses as a form of salary. This is because of the visa issue, I believe. We are clearly talking about the schools with high dollar NIL using it to lure the top American born kids to their schools. We aren’t talking about merchandise royalty monies. SO, the point is that WMU didn’t spend money on luring their players to come to WMU.
Since Maine hockey is popular over the entire state I don’t see why Maine wouldn’t have decent NIL money purse for spending on players. There are likely plenty of donars and lots of businesses for that. However, I am not sure Barr is sold on going that route. Everything he says on his interviews in podcasts is that he wants to find the right people that fit in the culture he is trying to build. That culture is he wants people to want to be there, he wants people that work hard, he wants people that are humble, he wants people that push each other to get the most out of each other, he wants people that are good on and off the ice. So he might not be in favor of giving out money to certain guys but not others as it can cause discontent in the locker room. I’m guessing so far these NIL deals with the American players were done outside of the coaches involvement.
AMC
Registered User
One aspect that is of interest to me is the revenue sharing. Each school can share up to $21M with athletes going forward if you opt in. We've talked a lot about the roster limits that come with it. And obviously, Maine isn't going to get to $21M. But let's say Maine finds $2M to share. And, I realize that we are all a bit biased on this website, but Maine doesn't need to be shelling out money to compete in America East men's or women's basketball or CAA football. Those are going to be third or fourth tier recruits regardless. It can be handled with the small NIL deals.
Maine could spend all $2M on hockey (men's and women's, frankly). And the bigger resourced schools, your BC's, your Minnesota's, your Michigan's, your UConn's, won't. Every ACC school besides BC is going to spend all $21M on football and basketball. Unless BC wants to fall to the bottom of the conference (well, further down the bottom), they will need to as well. Same with the Big Ten schools. And UConn hoops.
Is $2M huge? No. But it's more in revenue share for hockey than the power 4 schools will spend. I'm actually kind of bullish on revenue sharing helping the hockey first schools- your Maine's, BU's, Denver's, North Dakota's, etc. Heck even UNH if their entire athletic department wasn't a shambles right now.
Maine could spend all $2M on hockey (men's and women's, frankly). And the bigger resourced schools, your BC's, your Minnesota's, your Michigan's, your UConn's, won't. Every ACC school besides BC is going to spend all $21M on football and basketball. Unless BC wants to fall to the bottom of the conference (well, further down the bottom), they will need to as well. Same with the Big Ten schools. And UConn hoops.
Is $2M huge? No. But it's more in revenue share for hockey than the power 4 schools will spend. I'm actually kind of bullish on revenue sharing helping the hockey first schools- your Maine's, BU's, Denver's, North Dakota's, etc. Heck even UNH if their entire athletic department wasn't a shambles right now.
I think he would be foolish to not make any use of the potential for endorsement deals at all. Sure, you want guys that are in it for the team, but to deliberately ignore it would be needless handicap in this day and age. Like you yourself said, the team's statewide popularity should be a window towards having the potential for very lucrative deals via endorsement; whether it's the local staples like OBC that have already been mentioned, or even bigger brands, I can easily envision the potential being there in Maine to earn NIL money from hockey.
UncleRay
M-A-I-N-E, GooOOO, Blue!
AMKirby, I get it, but I worry that the value of a college athlete shilling for a business isn't as great as some may think. Seriously - how much is OBC paying a UMaine hockey player? Two grand? Five??? In the end, I believe NIL money will fall into two camps: 1) reasonable money for a spokesman (read: not a lot for college hockey players); and, 2) stupid money from rich numbnuts with cash to burn so they can bask in the adjacent glory when "their" team wins. And I don't see a lot of that type of cash landing in Orono.
Im not suggesting that the entire recruiting philosophy be changed. Of course the priority is and should remain to select and pursue players who are going to play as a unit, as a team, because that's clearly been the identity they're trying to build anyway and was their strength all season. But again, completely ignoring the potential to offer NIL money would just be shortsighted. I don't think Maine will have truckloads of money either, but not offering anything to top players is just asking to be noncompetitive.
Sparkee
Blackbear
It seems to me so far there have been partnerships with local businesses such as US Cellular, Orono Brewing, etc… where guys go in for autograph promotions and things like this making $1000 here and there for the advertisement value. But I haven’t heard of Maine giving out money directly to players to lure them here. In fact, it seems the opposite if anything with Montgomery, Kuzma, and Cisar all de committing.
There is the revenue sharing though that comes into play after the house settlement. I could see players all getting equal amounts of that and it being fair to the players. If they all got say $10k more on top of full ride, then other potential NIL through business partnerships it would be pretty competitive. In this scenario it doesn’t put the Coaching staff in a position where they are responsible for paying certain players and not others. So I could envision Barr in-line with that. I just don’t see Barr going out and spending a lot on one player giving him the white glove treatment while he’s trying to promote humbleness, work ethic, play for each other, team culture, etc…
If that's the premise, then sure. The WMU comment was to the effect of implying they have zero (0) NIL at all which simply isn't factual.
Don't disagree that Maine is certainly in the group of more "traditional" teams not flaunting a bunch of money to lure kids on campus (mainly probably because they simply don't have the money to flaunt). The BCs, BUs, B10, etc. are certainly more guilty on that front. But also acknowledge and agree that in today's game, NIL will/has become a major aspect of the game and as such, Maine will have to play the game in some capacity or risk falling behind. As is/has always been the case in Orono, it will be about how to maximize the return on investment vs. just dumping more money at it attempting to drive your own result.
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UncleRay
M-A-I-N-E, GooOOO, Blue!
Sorry, I didn't mean to imply otherwise. I agree that NIL $$ should be carefully considered. I'm simply of the opinion that these deals will only be lucrative for a very few players. And that the vast majority of athletes who get deals will only be buying some clothes and a few rounds of bevvies. I don't believe there is massive value to a business to sign a player as a spokesmodel. We are in a honeymoon time right now where everybody is trying to figure it out. I think once businesses really see what NIL deals are worth, there won't be buckets of cash being passed around.