Sports Law Handbook

Endorsement Contracts of Professional Athletes

Sports contracts can be divided into three general categories:

• professional services contracts (sometimes called standard player contracts)
• endorsement contracts, and
• Appearance contracts.

 Unlike the professional services contract, the endorsement contract does not involve an employer-employee relationship. Rather, it is one of contractor- independent contractor. An independent contractor is a person or business who performs services for another person pursuant to an agreement and is not subject to the other’s control or the manner and means of performing the services. An independent contractor is distinguished from an employee, who works regularly for an employer. The exact nature of the independent contractor’s relationship with the hiring party is important since an independent contractor pays their own Social Security, income taxes without payroll deduction, has no retirement or health plan rights, and often is not entitled to worker’s compensation coverage.

An endorsement contract is one that grants the sponsor the right to use (i.e., license) the athlete’s name, image, or likeness in connection with advertising the sponsor’s products or services. In most professional sports, the leagues prohibit individual players from endorsing alcoholic beverages or tobacco products. Also, the NFL recently established a policy that players may not endorse certain nutritional supplements. There are no set rules for an endorsement agreement other than that they be legal. The more a sponsor feels that the athlete can assist in the sales of the particular product, the greater the likelihood of more money.

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The NCAA News

Coaches

Men’s and women’s lacrosse assistants – Ryan Glennon, a former player at Colby and assistant coach at St. Lawrence, has been named as an assistant coach for the men’s program at Delaware.

Sacramento State announced that associate head baseball coach Reggie Christiansen will succeed John Smith, who will retire after the 2010 season. Christiansen is entering his second season with the Hornets and his first as the team’s associate head coach. He served as the team’s hitting coach last year, when the Hornets posted their fourth-highest batting average (.318) and fourth-highest home run total (63) in school history.

Women’s basketball – East Stroudsburg assistant men’s basketball coach Justin Potts has been named the acting head coach of the women’s basketball team. Potts will maintain his responsibilities with the Warriors’ men’s basketball program.

Men’s and women’s swimming and diving assistants – Army hired Nadia Staubitz as an assistant coach for both programs. The 2007 California graduate joins the staff after spending a year as an assistant coach at Hunter.

Directors of athletics – Bill Hayes, whose career in college sports spans 36 years, has been named the new athletics director at Winston-Salem State. He will begin his tenure there on January 1. Hayes is currently the athletics director at Florida A&M and was head football coach at Winston-Salem State for 12 seasons, during which the team won three Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association championships.

Softball – Jordan Stevens has been named the head softball coach at Union (New York). Stevens spent the past two seasons as an assistant at Rhode Island and has also served as an assistant at Niagara.