NIL orgs with media operations?

[MeanGreenATO]

An interesting development has popped up in Miami. LifeWallet, which is a major NIL player at Miami, has apparently contracted students for media coverage for their site, lifnetwork.com. And they have acquired credentials to cover the NCAA Tournament, including the men's Final Four.



Curious to hear people's thoughts on this. There's an obvious conflict-of-interest angle that is plenty icky, but I'm a little more interested to see the long-term impact of NIL orgs publishing content.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

Didn't an Alabama beat writer jump to an NIL? Do we know if that came with "coverage" (snort) responsibilities?

 

[dixiehack]

Didn't an Alabama beat writer jump to an NIL? Do we know if that came with "coverage" (snort) responsibilities?

Aaron Suttles, late of The Athletic (and the Tuscaloosa News before that).

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

Does he provide "coverage" of Bama, or is there no pretense of what he's doing (which surely pays better than what I'm doing so good for him)?

 

[dixiehack]

No clue. I ain’t paying for that ****.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

As you noted, it's all paywalled, but Aaron has a piece titled "Alabama basketball gave you lots of things to love and to look forward to" so yiiiiikes.

 

[dixiehack]

Speaking strictly as an amoral fanboi, I don’t want any NIL money getting diverted to some dude writing puff pieces. Put that towards another edge rusher.

 

[tapintoamerica]

As you noted, it's all paywalled, but Aaron has a piece titled "Alabama basketball gave you lots of things to love and to look forward to" so yiiiiikes.

Not the only Athletic staffer to have crossed the thin line between that outlet and the official, institutional side.

 

[MeanGreenATO]

I think it's different from what Suttles is doing at Alabama because that is clearly in-house content. But the LifeWallet stuff is more insidious because they seem to be pretending they're sports writers. Which is not the case.

 

[tapintoamerica]

I think it's different from what Suttles is doing at Alabama because that is clearly in-house content. But the LifeWallet stuff is more insidious because they seem to be pretending they're sports writers. Which is not the case.

How did they get credentialed? That's disturbing.

 

[dixiehack]

I get that self respect don’t pay the bills but woof.

 

[tapintoamerica]

I get that self respect don’t pay the bills but woof.

Truly gross.
NIL will siphon off cash that used to go to the annual fund for athletics, which most places use for current-use scholarships.
This is everywhere. Alabama just looks worse than others with that sort of appeal.

 

[OscarMadison]

Pro franchises have been blog farming for years. This seems like the next logical step.

 

[playthrough]

I can see it advertised as "value added" for a donor -- with your generous donation you'll get exclusive coverage from Joe FormerBeatGuy. Not that much different from getting a glossy magazine or something.

The lines are so blurred nowadays that this doesn't give me pause if a guy can make a living from it (it's no slimier than ex-journos working for betting sites), but as mentioned one would think credentialing could be an issue. Then again we've all seen worse in press boxes.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

Pro franchises have been blog farming for years. This seems like the next logical step.

Some hockey teams these days have more of their writers/producers in the press box than mainstream media members.

 

[wicked]

Maybe some of the Trumpists will stop giving to his PACs and instead give to the NIL cause. I'd be ok with that. Our country would be a lot better off.

 

[LanceyHoward]

I get that self respect don’t pay the bills but woof.

Who is the guy in the video? What is his current job?

 

[dixiehack]

That is Aaron Suttles, who was discussed upthread.

 

[MeanGreenATO]

I know Suttles personally so I have a bit of a different take on the whole situation. He's a genuinely good dude.

College media has been toast for a while. When message boards took over as the go-to spot for content, it eroded the whole market. The difference in editorial standards (or the complete absence of any) has created an uneven playing field.

At least the collectives aren't trying fool anyone about what they're doing.

 

[OscarMadison]

Some hockey teams these days have more of their writers/producers in the press box than mainstream media members.

It's been going on in some markets since the '10s.

At one of my old shops, we compared notes on NHL media coordinators who wanted to approve and possibly rewrite articles before they went live.