With Division I college athletes across the United States finally getting the right to earn money based on the commercial use of their name, image and likeness (NIL) beginning Thursday under temporary guidance from the NCAA, Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz has trademarked a personal logo he intends to use on clothing.
The logo includes Mertz’s initials (“G” and “M”) and is wrapped to resemble No. 5, his jersey number. A rising star for the Badgers, Mertz threw for 1,238 yards and nine touchdowns and five interceptions in seven games during the 2020 season. In his debut as a starter, the young QB completed 20-of-21 passes for 248 yards and five TDs against Illinois.
Mertz is just the first of numerous college stars who will file trademarks on similar logos with NIL rights opening up to student-athletes, but he is the first to do so, according to The Athletic.
“We’ll see athletes put their numbers, names and trademarks on merch they’re selling,” according to The Athletic senior college football writer Nicole Auerbach. “We’ll see athletes announce that they’ll run camps. We’ll see sponsorships and endorsements. We’ll see sponsored Instagram posts. We could see tweets from players promoting a favorite local restaurant in exchange for a free meal. There is quite a range of possibilities.”
The interim NIL policy “leaves in place the commitment to avoid pay-for-play and improper inducements tied to choosing to attend a particular school,” the NCAA said in a release.
In a new Morning Consult poll, 61% of respondents said they support allowing student-athletes to make money by endorsing products and services or partnering with brands via NIL. In the poll, 42% of respondents said they believe schools should pay players, compared with 36% who oppose such a model. More than half said college athletes should be compensated equally, regardless of which sport they play or how much revenue that sport generates.
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