Cards Visit Dayton -- NIL Store Goes LIVE -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Women's Soccer Visits Dayton

Louisville women's soccer looks to earn their first win this season when they travel to Dayton for an 8:00 pm ET kickoff. This one will be streamed on ESPN+. For myself, I utilize ESPN+ for streaming, featured articles, and some fantasy football activities, but I don't blame you if you don't want to dish out the money for it.

The Cards began the season with a 0-0 draw against Indiana State and followed that with a 2-0 loss at Xavier. The offense has had no shortage of shots in the two matches, but few of those were on target, and none of those found their way to the back of the net. Offense was a concern we mentioned prior to the season and so far those offensive woes have grown.

Defensively, Louisville has been above average. They shut out Indiana State and even limited the Sycamores' possession time. One of the two goals by Xavier was a penalty kick so they only allowed one goal during real time.

The Flyers enter the match 2-0 with a pair of 4-1 wins against Loyola Maryland and Cincinnati. Dayton has surrendered the same number of goals as Louisville, but allowing one goal per match isn't bad when you've scored eight goals in two matches.

This is a difficult road trip for a Louisville team still trying to find its feet, but the Cards show hopefully get a little fire lit under them coming off a loss.

NIL Store Goes Live

As the world of NIL continues to grow around the NCAA and college sports, Louisville's NIL store has officially launched. On the website, you can go to your favorite student-athlete's page and view products for sale. Most players currently have a few t-shirt and sweatshirt options. These tend to have their name and jersey number listed but might also carry a Louisville logo.

Not every student-athlete is listed as they have to agree to be a part of the Louisville NIL Store program. With it having just launched, we may see more players pop up in the coming weeks.

You can go to louisville.nil.store to check out the merchandise if interested.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

NIL Updates and the Looming Season -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Inside of One Week to Action

The summer slump is just about over. Louisville women's soccer officially opened the calendar last Sunday with a road scrimmage against Miami (OH), but with no real information to show for it and no one able to watch it, it might as well have never happened. I imagine the men's team will have a similar situation with their exhibition match against Lipscomb this evening in Nashville (hopefully with a more desirable result). 

After today, the calendar goes dark for just a few more days before women's soccer gets things underway with the season opener at home against Indiana State on Thursday. Interestingly, field hockey appears to be dropping the alumni game this season, as I would expect it to be tomorrow if it was going to happen. The Cards open their schedule on Friday with a home scrimmage against Bellarmine. Volleyball will finally get in on the action next Saturday with the Red and Black scrimmage. Jeff will be sure to bring you all of the news and notes from that one with his column the following day.

Speaking of volleyball, the university announced earlier this week that single match tickets are now available for the matches at the KFC Yum! Center. If you'd like to get out to watch the Cards take on some premier competition and you won't be able to stand in line for one of half a dozen SRO tickets at L&N FCU Arena, now is your chance. Note that if you are a season ticket holder for volleyball, KFC Yum! Center matches are not included in the season ticket package and must be purchased separately. (For any other season ticket holders that aren't aware, tickets for the three neutral matches of the Cardinal Classic must also be purchased separately.) The university is hosting a special deal for anyone wanting to make an event of a Yum! Center match with a group of 10 or more. Be sure to check out the gocards site for more information on that.

Louisville NIL Shop to Open

Campus Ink is a merchandise platform backed by Mark Cuban. They built their brand on providing merch for fraternities, sororities, other student organizations, and fan experiences. They coordinate brand licensing with partner universities. In 2021, the platform opened the NIL Store, which provides a one-stop solution for student-athletes looking at merchandising. From the copy: "The NIL Store team handles all the creative, product creation, design, marketing, fulfillment and customer service for its student-athletes. Additionally, the NIL Store works directly with student-athletes to educate them on merchandising, marketing and sales trends to develop strategies for optimal success." Seems like a pretty good set up if you ask me. A lot better than picking a custom tee-shirt design store at random on the internet, having no brand license deal, and just hoping you can make some cash by posting the link on social media. 

The NIL Store currently has open stores with major universities including Illinois (Campus Ink was originally founded at Illinois in 1947 before relaunching in 2015; the production facility is still in Urbana), Indiana, Purdue, LSU, Duke, Penn State, Mizzou, Maryland, Michigan State, Virginia Tech, Syracuse, UConn, Iowa State, FSU, Northwestern, and Rutgers. Players that elect to join the platform will have their own "locker" in the store which houses their merchandise.

Walmart's "Custom Basketball Jersey"

If you ask me, this is the type of thing NIL rule changes were originally intended to foster (along with commercials, ad placements, autographs, etc). All of the other collectives and recruitment pools and everything else is a knock on effect of the big business of college athletics, but this stuff gets down to the intent of it all. Student-athletes are people that fans of university teams love and want to support. They want to get their autograph. They want to wear their gear. If you could have gone online and bought a specific Lamar Jackson jersey or tee-shirt knowing he would get the money, wouldn't that have been way better than buying the red #8 no-name Louisville jersey at Walmart? Everyone knew that was just LJ's jersey without a nameplate, but he wasn't allowed to reap the benefits of how popular he was in the area.

For all its warts, that part of NIL is worth it to me. It's just good to see the players that we support and that drive the teams we love getting the opportunity to actually get something for all that adoration, especially for those that don't have the chance at a cushy post-collegiate athletic career like most of the ones we cover here at Cardinal Couple. The next step is to make sure that international players (again, like many of the ones we cover) can also gain the benefit. One thing at a time.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

After having last week off, it's almost a full house for this week's show. It's a return to the studio for the aptly named World-Wide Jeff McAdams as Paulie, Jared, and I fill out the cast. We'll surely have plenty to talk about as we look back on the week that was, look ahead at the week to come, and take all the winding roads of conversation in between. As always, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Anchor (podcast host): Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Spotify: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Summer thoughts & opinions; FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 

Preface

I thought about something the last time I checked in that I think it would be a great opportunity to talk about some random things going on around us.  ...maybe not even necessarily about the Cards.. or sports even..  to get back to my roots of journalism and do a feature article.

When I started writing, it was mostly opinion and review based.  Never thought I would be a 'reporter' of any kind but I think it's safe to say I have done close to only that in recent years.   And I 100% came into this evening thinking what the heck am I going to write about tonight so I'm thinking now is the time to use my flex option on topics of discussion.  Think of it as a diary by Daryl. so here we go...

Hello again fans, 

It's Friday... there was a beautiful sunset last night after a very long stormy day in Louisville.  We opened the month of July with a day long storm clouding the city skies before opening to a gorgeous sunset of pink orange and yellows.  It woulda made a great backdrop for one of Jared's photo sessions!  

July makes me think of the Olympics.  I am excited for the Olympic games to start.  Got to watch a little bit of the gymnastics trials the other night. Your 2020 USA gymnastics team consists of :

Jamie Squire—Getty Images

Simone Biles, 24; Spring, Texas.

Sunisa Lee, 18; St. Paul, Minn. 

Jordan Chiles, 20; Spring, Texas. 

Grace McCallum, 18; Isanti, Minn. 

MyKayla Skinner, 24; Gilbert, Ariz.

Jade Carey, 21; Phoenix, Ariz.

Of course Simone Biles made the cut even though she did fall on her beam routine.. and while were on the subject, I'd like to thank Simone for falling off of the balance beam and making a mistake.  She was obviously upset for the misstep, (I do not believe her qualifying for the squad was ever in doubt) but she proved she is human.  There is so much pressure on athletes and Simone has been under that spotlight since she was about 16 years old.. it has been an incredible journey to witness and I look forward to her and the rest of team USA 2020 campaign in Tokyo.  

I think it will be interesting to explain to future generations about the 2020 Olympics held in July of 2021... like it will be some trick trivia question in a couple decades or something.  I don't know why the thought crossed my mind but I do look forward to reading about this part of the history books.  Also shout-out Spring, Texas on producing two Olympic gymnasts in that year(s).  Population about 61,000, getting two on the same squad seems like a pretty significant production. 

Moving on... 

In other big news of the week.. College athletes making cash for image.  AKA... NIL.

I admit I have been on pretty much one side of the fence of this argument for as far back as I can remember.. it was a topic in a couple of my college classes at UofL over 7 years ago and obviously a topic among anyone involved with college athletics for some time.  

If you've followed me long enough I'm sure I've voiced that opinion here and there... but I have never publicly said how I have moved closer to the fence and even crossed over on certain aspects of the proposal.  My agreements and concerns closely mirror what the others at Cardinal Couple have already expressed but I do want to mention the fact since we are here... Players are allowed to profit for their name and image and I just hope it doesn't get out of control. 

You know some people say that money is the root of all evil...  it can and does make murky water.  I can't pretend to know how to make it run smoothly and not spiral out of control.  But lets not forget what a crap-bag the NCAA is at governing student athletics... I did a lot of reading in the library at UofL surrounding athletics and the origins of them and how we got to where we are today and I do believe the original intention of the NCAA was in a good place..  but I think the once 'non-profit' organization with 'the best interest of the student athletes' has gotten far away from it's mission and a new governing body needs to be established but we are far from a day where that dream can be realized... this is MY diary, not yours! 

 
So to that I say screw the NCAA and let these athletes benefit off their own game since everyone else seems to be.  Hell, the reason I have certain well-paying button pushing jobs is because 11-12 women spend every single day practicing, working out and making sure to keep good grades, get enough sleep, drink enough water AND making special appearances around town to boost local morale all the while giving me memories of a lifetime while winning ballgames.  It truly is more than just a game...Its a lifestyle.  It IS life! 

It has become my life.  When people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I had no idea! I had zero idea of the field I wanted to be in or the way I wanted to make money to navigate life with.  My mom did always say to 'do what you love, the money will follow'.. and I read a book expressing just as much.  So I think today I can say I have done that so far!  Going to and talking about games is what I always did and wanted to do and now I do that as 'work'.  I know how lucky I am to have the opportunity to do so and I believe the thousands of athletes who have given me that opportunity should benefit from that. 

Have a great start to the holiday weekend out there, Cardnation and cheers to the RED WHITE (&blue) :)

Go Cards
~Daryl 

Russell to Team Canada -- NIL Begins -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 We are officially halfway through the 2021 calendar year. Yes, you read that right. We start the first day of the seventh month of the year today!

As of last night, college sports from the 2020-2021 season have finally concluded. Baseball can drag on deep into the year but Mississippi State blew out Vanderbilt in the final game of the best-of-three series late last night. Any Louisville baseball fan is sure to have a massive grin seeing Vandy walk home empty-handed.

We saw some good news for UofL women's basketball yesterday and there's a big moment that began at 12:00 a.m., this morning. But let's hit the good news for UofL first...

Merissah Russell Named to Canadian Olympic Team

Jeff Walz brings in great talent as well as student-athletes with a top notch work ethic. Merissah Russell is no stranger to that as her hard work paid off.

The rising sophomore was named to Canada's Olympic team for women's basketball. She is one of four alternates listed, but will travel with the team. If unforeseen circumstances such as illness, injury, or family emergencies arise for any of those on the roster, Canada will have the option to promote her to the active roster. Even as an alternate, Russell will receive a medal if the CNT places.

Russell competed for Canada in the FIBA Women's AmeriCup back in June, where her team went 4-0 in pool play and advanced to the semifinals.

Team Canada is currently ranked fourth in the world and has qualified for their third straight Summer Olympics. They have never finished higher than fourth, which happened at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

The United States sits in a world of its own at the top ranking. Australia is ranked second with a little bit of space between them and those ranked behind them. Spain safely sits third in the world. Canada holds just a small point advantage over France for the fourth spot in the FIBA rankings. A cutout of the Top 10 has been posted above.

We wish Merissah Russell and Team Canada the best of luck in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but I'll still be cheering for Team USA in the end.

NIL Takes Effect Today

The NCAA's board of directors met yesterday and decided to allow every college athlete to profit off their Name, Image, and Likeliness effective July 1, 2021. Many players from different sports and schools around the country have begun marketing themselves with some already having some type of marketing firm or manager/agemt to assist with their duties.

Some of the ways student-athletes can profit off their NIL include monetizing their social media accounts, charging for autographs, teaching camps or lessons, starting their own businesses, and participating in advertising campaigns.

There are some limitations. Some states, but not all states, have laws in effect prohibiting the endorsement of alcohol, tobacco, or gambling products as well as from using their school's name or logo.

We've discussed and debated the good and the bad of this already.

The "Good" includes:

-Student-athletes being able to make money

-Many student-athletes who are on a partial or no scholarship (more players than you think) now have extra ways of income to pay for school

-Schools can't hold all rights to ta player's NIL

The "Bad" includes:

-Everything sports related in college athletics will become monetized, hurting the consumer

-Schools could lose money to the student-athletes because of NIL leading to raised ticket prices to offset the losses or less investment in facilities and equipment

-Money-hungry student-athletes chasing a paycheck while caring nothing for their school, team, or fans anymore

Let's point out that most current student-athletes will not make much money at all. Remember the phrase "There are more than 460,000 NCAA student-athletes, and most of them will go pro in something other than sports"? Well, from an economic and statistical standpoint, 460,000+ student-athletes won't be able to make a decent profit.

Those with large social media followings will be most likely to make a decent profit. An LSU gymnast has 3.9 million followers on Tik Tok with many followers being interested in her skills or her physical appearance. A recently graduated softball player from Oregon has 752,000 followers on Tik Tok, with her followers having the same interest as the gymnast. A current women's basketball player at UofL has 721,000 followers on Instagram. Based off comments on her posts her followers also have similar interests as the other two. Her associate with Kobe Bryant also helped her gain a following. A football player who recently graduated from Clemson is flirting with 1,000,000 followers on Instagram.

The social media presence will be mainly affected by how well known the school is, how good their team is, how much TV time they get, and their physical appearance. Anyone familiar with the negatives of social media understands that physical appearance is one of the most influential parts of your following.

If you're smart, it can be pretty easy to manipulate how successful your NIL can be.

But to those student-athletes, please don't forget the school who you represent, or your teammates who are there and have your back, and most importantly don't forget your fans. Don't betray your fans and don't let things go to your head. If someone wants a picture or an autograph, are you really going to be so stuck up you're going to charge money? Treat your fans with respect and thank them for their support or you probably won't have as many fans in the future.

I see both good and bad in the NIL approval, but it's something I think can and probably will spiral out of control quickly and college sports within the next five years will be way different.

Let's close out on a good note. The weekend is almost here. We approach a holiday weekend and the Fourth of July. Go swimming, grill out, set off fireworks (in a respectful manner if you have neighbors), have a lazy day, do whatever. Just find a way to enjoy yourself. I typically find myself doing some photography work related to Fourth of July so if I may, I would like to share a couple photos from the past couple weeks on here.

Go Cards! 

Jared

UofL News Roundup -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Women's Soccer Welcomes New Assistant Coach

A new face will join Karen Ferguson-Dayes's staff on the sidelines next season as the University announced the hiring of Nick Stirrett. Stirrett comes to UofL from Oregon State, where he spent two seasons. The announcement credits Stirrett with helping increase OSU's scoring output from 6 goals to 31 goals in his first season. That will be a boon to the Cards as they look to replace their losses at the front. However, that may have just been coincidence as he appears to focus primarily on goalkeepers and defense. He was a big help there, as well, as the Beavers' sophomore goalkeeper had the fourth-best season in program history in 2019 with six clean sheets and a 0.980 goals against average.

Prior to Oregon State, Stirrett worked with goalkeepers and coordinated recruiting at the University of Illinois for three years. He was with Penn State for one year in 2015 and arrived there after a two year stint as the head men's coach at the University of Mount Union. Stirrett seems to have brought success along with him wherever he goes. Because his stints are so short, it's hard to tell whether there is correlation there or whether it is just coincidence. As Gabby Kouzelos enters her final season as a Cardinal, though, I'm sure she'd love to have an outstanding statistical season to improve her stock among the NWSL teams watching. The women's soccer season should get underway in a little over a month, so we'll see how the team looks with Stirrett alongside KFD for the remainder of the summer.

UofL Announces NIL Initiatives

The University has been busy in the background, it seems. Though Governor Andy Beshear did not announce his NIL Executive Order until Thursday afternoon (as Jared wrote about yesterday), UofL has already announced a number of items pertaining to NIL that have already been ongoing or are set for the months ahead and fall semester. From the University's release, the following items are in effect or will be in effect going forward:

• Throughout the month of June, student-athletes have been offered educational sessions to help aid them in understanding potential opportunities. Now that the EO is official, the sessions will soon include education on the University's rules and disclosure processes. 
• A pilot NIL law clinic this fall available to all UofL students including athletes needing guidance on their NIL opportunities.
• A sport administration elective class entitled "NIL in College Sports" offered for the 2021 UofL Fall semester.
• NIL, social media, and brand management education modules through UofL's "eLevate" partnership with OpenDorse, plus custom athlete assessments based on a student-athlete's current social media account and habits.  Information on that program announced earlier can be found at this link.
• Life skills programming (speakers, resources) through Athletics' Beyond the Buzzer and Cardinal Select programs.
• One-on-one consultations & continuing NIL education outreach provided to UofL student-athletes and their parents and guardians.
• A plan to partner with The College Licensing Company (CLC) & Game Plan for their "Compass" resources---which include online life skills education modules (including NIL related topics), NIL disclosure and reporting platform, and student-athlete career services.
• Creating a UofL NIL Advisory Board which includes several athletics staff, university staff and faculty members with subject matter expertise on media, marketing, branding, contracts, intellectual property, international student visas and employment, compliance and other areas to serve as an outlet for guidance in the rapidly evolving NIL landscape.
• UofL athletics administration continues to meet with individual teams and student-athletes to learn about their questions, proposed plans, and help them navigate through NIL opportunities

The University also announced that the NIL initiatives will be headed up by associate athletic director Matt Banker. According to the release, UofL is doing all of these items as they have been deemed permissible by the NCAA. "...the NCAA has indicated the following activities have been permitted by institutions without triggering impermissible institutional involvement in a student-athlete's name, image and likeness activity: (1) Providing educational programming on NIL and associated regulations; (2) Assisting in evaluating opportunities; (3) Assistance with compliance and disclosure expectations; and (4) Assistance in the evaluation of professional service providers."

As the University continues to develop its rules, regulations, and processes regarding athletes' use of NIL, we will continue to increase our understanding of how they will affect sports at UofL and how they may impact our coverage of those sports. UofL announced a particular site,   https://gocards.com/sports/nil, that will be a landing spot for all of their news, educational resources, and updates for NIL related matters. We will be monitoring it closely. If you're interested in reading more about the initial steps the University is taking, you can find the full release here.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

As Jared wrote yesterday, there will be more discussion on the NIL matters today on the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. The crew will be a bit thinner this week, as Daryl and I drop off for various reasons again, but there's still plenty for the three remaining knuckleheads to discuss. They'll follow up all of their prognostications with another summer quiz, so you won't want to miss that. Tune in to the Cardinal Couple YouTube Channel at 11AM for the live show or check out the replay or podcast whenever you can. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

NIL Compensation -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Kentucky Approves NIL Compensation

Friday's With Daryl have been put on hold again as Daryl spent last evening commanding the video camera crew at Louisville Slugger Field. The Bats started their home series against Indianapolis, which, coincidentally, Louisville City FC hosts Indy 11 this weekend. I-65 is sure to be busy the next few days.

The Commonwealth of Kentucky created all kinds of commotion yesterday. What started off as a day to discuss the possible NIL bills floating around different states quickly turned into Governor Andy Beshear signing an executive order making Kentucky the first state to allow NIL compensation by an executive order decision. Six states have already approved NIL compensation through their respective legislation. This will take effect July 1.

Several University of Louisville coaches and notables in the Athletic Department took to social media to express their thoughts on the matter, all seeming to be in approval of the decision.

Vince Tyra: "On behalf of our student athletes at the University of Louisville and other Kentucky institutions, we are incredibly grateful for Governor Beshear's Executive Order allowing them to earn additional compensation on behalf of their Name, Image, and Likeliness. Bringing the state of Kentucky into competitive balance with other across the country, and more specifically, the Atlantic Coast Conference was critical. His leadership, in collaboration with our universities and legislators in Frankfort, was welcomed and needed in leveling the playing field for our institutions and, more important, for our student-athletes."

Jeff Walz: "We applaud Governor Beshear on this ground breaking decision. This is the right thing to do. This allows our student-athletes to enhance their profile in the profession of their choice. This is about opportunity, and we are all for it."

Scott Teeter: "We commend Governor Beshear and the state of Kentucky on this thoughtful decision regarding Name, Image, and Likeliness. The success of our student-athletes has always been our highest priority and this decision provides them with even more opportunities moving forward."

Karen Ferguson-Dayes: "I'm very happy to hear that Governor Beshear issued an executive order on Name, Image, and Likeliness for the state of Kentucky. I fully support our student-athletes having an opportunity to advance themselves forward and this is a very positive step."

Mark Beckham: "I'm happy  and excited for my athletes to have the opportunity. The things they can do are limitless, which is a good thing. This is a new day in college athletics though; they can legally make money. We will see how it works, hopefully it is for the best."

Derek Copeland: "It makes sense that people should benefit from their own Name, Image, and Likeliness. These student-athletes work very hard to build and maintain their personal brand and should be rewarded when they do it so well. I am glad that our governor has taken these steps to allow for this to happen."

Arthur Albiero: "Kudos to Governor Andy Beshear by recognizing the importance of NIL to all student-athletes in our state and for the urgency with which he is treating this matter. I support the changes related to NIL as a path for our student-athletes to maximize their opportunities. It also keeps our state on a level playing field with the rest of the country. I am grateful to Governor Beshear's leadership."

Many of the men's coaches, including Scott Satterfield and Chris Mack, provided statements on the matter, all in favor.

There are still plenty of questions to be asked in regards to the NIL approval as well as how much different student-athletes will make. On the women's side, we expect to see Hailey Van Lith to be one of the players being able to do well with NIL based on her following. Women's basketball in general gets a lot more exposure than many other women's sports so those players have a good chance at doing well. Someone like Anna DeBeer, who has had an excellent career so far, could also benefit well. Mercedes (Mechi) Pastor is one of the most well-known collegiate field hockey players and has an international presence and may do well too.

What does that mean for places that cover UofL athletics, or collegiate athletics in general?

Well, first, we are one of those. The answer is plain and simple: we don't know. Cardinal Couple does not generate profit and does not make money by using different players' NIL. We do report the joy and excitement of UofL women's athletics. Will this even affect our normal operations here? Paulie is looking into this more and working with the terrific SIDs so we know how this will directly affect us.

Our Cardinal Couple Hour is back again tomorrow. We never know for sure who is going to pop in on the broadcast, but we can pretty much ensure Paulie, Jeff and Jared will be there.  We will dig into the Name, Image, and Likeliness more, but we will not have an answer to the question in the previous paragraph yet. However, the world famous CC Quiz will happen tomorrow. We always welcome you to join at home. Hint: study up your mascots.

Happy Friday, have a good weekend, and Go Cards!

Jared