Kendrick Perkins' NIL company accused of 'preying upon' young athletes
By Joe Lago
An ESPN report has placed an ESPN analyst and his company under public scrutiny for its business practices.
On Thursday, a story by ESPN's Dan Murphy put a spotlight on a company co-founded by NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins called Nilly, which offers college athletes money in exchange for a portion of their name, image and likeness deals.
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Perkins and co-founder Chris Ricciardi said Nilly provides payments that range from $25,000 to hundreds of thousands and, in return, gets exclusive rights to monetize athletes' NIL opportunities up to seven years. Between 10% and 50% of NIL earnings go to the company and its investors.
Murphy talked to consumer finance experts who, after reviewing the Nilly contract, decried it as a high-interest loan that offers quick cash relief at too steep of a long-term price.
"To me it feels like you are preying on people who need the capital now and using that to cloud their focus on the future," said Michael Haddix Jr. of Scout, a company that provides financial education seminars to college athletic departments. "It feels predatory, and it's capitalizing on young people who need money and haven't thought through the long-term implications."
Chris Peterson, a Utah law professor, likened several parts of Nilly's contract to "other financial products that are labeled as investment opportunities but function as loans."
"These are trashy products designed to take advantage of young kids," Peterson said.
Perkins, a 14-year NBA veteran and NBA champion, said Nilly was created to help alleviate the pressure of athletes' financial situations.
"You have so many athletes and their parents who are struggling day-to-day," he said. "Because we're actually taking a bit of a gamble on what the student-athlete is going to make in the NIL space, the benefit is the kid — the student-athlete — is able to get financial security so they don't have to rush."
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