Gervon Dexter sues to get out of 25 year NIL Deal.

[Sassy Squatch]

https://www.espn.com/college-footbal...l-violated-law

The NIL contract that Chicago Bears rookie Gervon Dexter signed with a speculative investment capital company while playing at the University of Florida in 2022 violated a state NIL law in place at the time, the Florida state legislator who sponsored the bill told ESPN on Tuesday.

Dexter, a second-round draft pick, agreed to pay Big League Advance Fund (BLA) 15% of his pre-tax NFL earnings for the next 25 years in exchange for a one-time payment of $436,485 in 2022, according to a copy of a federal lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Gainesville, Florida, on Friday.

According to published reports, Dexter signed a four-year, $6.72 million contract with the Bears on June 16, meaning he would owe BLA about $1 million over the lifetime of that deal.

Florida Rep. Chip LaMarca, who proposed the initial legislation in 2020 that allowed college athletes in Florida to profit off their name, image and likeness, described Dexter's deal as a "predatory loan."

"The deals were supposed to be that an athlete could participate in the free market and when they graduate, whether they go on to play professionally or not, any future contracts are null and void," LaMarca said. "In other words, we didn't want someone having access to someone's future without them having proper guidance and proper representation."

The original Florida NIL law, Senate Bill 646, included the following provision: "The duration of a contract for representation of an intercollegiate athlete or compensation for the use of an intercollegiate athlete's name, image or likeness may not extend beyond her or his participation in an athletic program at a postsecondary educational institution."

[Sassy Squatch]

He's a ****ing idiot for signing that but what in the actual **** is going on with these NIL deals. I hope this is just an incredibly extreme case and not the norm.

[dlphg9]

What a ****ing slimy ass company. Pretty much got a ****ing pay day loan. I've never heard of an NIL deal like this, but I bet there are many like it. Sleezy ass ****s.

[mabbott]

Why would you sign 15% for 25 years... that is just stupid! Even at a base NFL salary they are making way more than 400K.

[WhawhaWhat]

Scholarship athletes getting suckered into student loans too.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Sassy Snatch

He's a ****ing idiot for signing that but what in the actual **** is going on with these NIL deals. I hope this is just an incredibly extreme case and not the norm.

Wish in one hand, shit in the other - tell me which fills up first.

I'd be SHOCKED if this isn't incredibly common. And if this investment company doesn't have a pretty iron-clad contract, I'd be equally shocked.

Best argument Dexter may have is some unconscionability argument but man, that seems pretty long. I don't know if there are some weird rule against perpetuities kind of arguments he could try but those are pretty arcane and don't typically get you very far.

Guy signed a bad deal - happens all the time. He wasn't gonna give the $400K BACK if he blew out his knee.

This feels like a strike suit designed to lower the amount he'll need to pay or more likely cut off that amount after this rookie deal.

[Kiimo]

The NIL deal that's the equivalent of giving college freshmen a free t-shirt if they sign up for a 30% credit card

[crispystl]

Wow

[DJ's left nut]

I'm also guessing there's a choice of law provision within that contract that gets around that Florida statute, but that's gonna be a pretty sticky argument - those can get pretty complicated to argue in favor of.

[DRM08]

Originally Posted by mabbott

Why would you sign 15% for 25 years... that is just stupid! Even at a base NFL salary they are making way more than 400K.

Only reason to make such a bad deal from the player end is if he believed he would not have much of a career in the NFL.

[Sassy Squatch]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Wish in one hand, shit in the other - tell me which fills up first.

I'd be SHOCKED if this isn't incredibly common. And if this investment company doesn't have a pretty iron-clad contract, I'd be equally shocked.

Best argument Dexter may have is some unconscionability argument but man, that seems pretty long. I don't know if there are some weird rule against perpetuities kind of arguments he could try but those are pretty arcane and don't typically get you very far.

Guy signed a bad deal - happens all the time. He wasn't gonna give the $400K BACK if he blew out his knee.

This feels like a strike suit designed to lower the amount he'll need to pay or more likely cut off that amount after this rookie deal.

Eh. This seems like he'll actually have a pretty easy time breaking this deal. But I know **** all about the intricacies of how that would work.

The original Florida NIL law, Senate Bill 646, included the following provision: "The duration of a contract for representation of an intercollegiate athlete or compensation for the use of an intercollegiate athlete's name, image or likeness may not extend beyond her or his participation in an athletic program at a postsecondary educational institution."

[KCUnited]

Dibs on Dextor's conservatorship

[Jerok]

400k now for 15% of your future earnings isnt a bad deal when you could suck or get injured and not see that kind of money ever again.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Sassy Snatch

Eh. This seems like he'll actually have a pretty easy time breaking this deal. But I know **** all about the intricacies of how that would work.

The original Florida NIL law, Senate Bill 646, included the following provision: "The duration of a contract for representation of an intercollegiate athlete or compensation for the use of an intercollegiate athlete's name, image or likeness may not extend beyond her or his participation in an athletic program at a postsecondary educational institution."

You'll go down a business licensure rabbithole that I simply can't speak to at that point.

The contract terms will almost certainly contain a choice of law provision asserting any dispute will be governed by the law of X state (almost certainly not Florida). Now the other side of that coin is likely to be that there may be requirements to conduct business in Florida (i.e. registration requirements) that in some way invalidate those choice of law provisions - hard to say.

But I would think that a company that's in a position to pay an athlete $400K (and lets not act like that's not a pretty goddamn massive number for a college athlete that maybust out altogether) would also have the financial backing to make pretty sure they're on firm legal footing.

This is a contract offered in 2022 with an NIL statute passed in 2020. They had a couple years to make sure they had their ducks in a row.

I'm not gonna say 'oh poor Dexter' on this one - the guy got more money than many folks will see in their lifetimes. With the time value of money, this company will essentially break even over his rookie deal (That $430K with interest rates being what they are will double pretty easily over about 6 years) and there are precisely ZERO guarantees past that. And there were no guarantees BEFORE that rookie deal when the contract was offered.

It's the 2nd contract where there's any real return and in the meantime it's essentially an unsecured loan for nearly half a million.

Honestly, that's a business practice that, the math says, will not work over any prolonged period of time. It would take 2 or 3 bad investments to put a company like that underwater.

[raybec 4]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

You'll go down a business licensure rabbithole that I simply can't speak to at that point.

The contract terms will almost certainly contain a choice of law provision asserting any dispute will be governed by the law of X state (almost certainly not Florida). Now the other side of that coin is likely to be that there may be requirements to conduct business in Florida (i.e. registration requirements) that in some way invalidate those choice of law provisions - hard to say.

But I would think that a company that's in a position to pay an athlete $400K (and lets not act like that's not a pretty goddamn massive number for a college athlete that maybust out altogether) would also have the financial backing to make pretty sure they're on firm legal footing.

This is a contract offered in 2022 with an NIL statute passed in 2020. They had a couple years to make sure they had their ducks in a row.

I'm not gonna say 'oh poor Dexter' on this one - the guy got more money than many folks will see in their lifetimes. With the time value of money, this company will essentially break even over his rookie deal (That $430K with interest rates being what they are will double pretty easily over about 6 years) and there are precisely ZERO guarantees past that. And there were no guarantees BEFORE that rookie deal when the contract was offered.

It's the 2nd contract where there's any real return and in the meantime it's essentially an unsecured loan for nearly half a million.

Honestly, that's a business practice that, the math says, will not work over any prolonged period of time. It would take 2 or 3 bad investments to put a company like that underwater.

It seems less of an NIL issue and more of a usury issue. I am not sure what they used his name/likeness for to make it an NIL agreement as much as it is just a loan.