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PROVO — Across the country, over virtually every form of communication, the partnership between Built Brands and the BYU football program generated enormous amounts of positive publicity.
The multi-year deal, which was announced last week, allows Built Brands protein bars to cover the equivalent cost of tuition for each non-scholarship football player and provides $1,000 for the scholarship players. The program is part of the name, image and likeness rule that started last month.
For the next 24 hours or so that followed the announcement, which was coordinated with video of the walk-on players learning of the financial benefit, BYU and Built Brands were the toast of the college sports world and beyond. It was the first known deal that became public for all the players who paid their own way to attend school.
"Every single major internet entity (and) electronic media entity picked that story up and had nothing but praise for how BYU thought outside the box and how they were going to do that," said longtime BYU football and basketball broadcaster Blaine Fowler.
A former BYU quarterback whose son, Gavin, is a graduate assistant coach on the team, Fowler knew of the Built Brands association ahead of the announcement. The plan grew on him as he contemplated its impact on the football program.
But even Fowler, as he said during a subsequent interview with The Zone Sports Network, didn't expect the worldwide acclaim it received. The same goes for Built Brands co-founder Nick Greer, who indicated as much during a press conference the day after the deal went public.
"I just thought, wow, this is genius," Fowler said. "And then I thought, it's not just genius, it's cutting edge. It's leading out on this NIL thing. And it's not Clemson saying we're going to pay our quarterbacks $1 million and who cares about anybody else."
Fowler's money reference actually referred to Alabama, the perennial national powerhouse whose program figures to allow some players to benefit from a financial windfall. Last month, coach Nick Saban said quarterback Bryce Young, who has not yet started one game for Alabama, already was approaching $1 million in endorsement deals.
Good for Young, but few people root for Goliath to win again. Walk-on players are akin to David, which is the reason national media outlets gave the deal lavish reviews.
The purpose of Built Brands involvement, according to Greer, is to shift the conversation from spreading the love — or, in this case, cash — to include the whole lot rather than the singular.
When "we talk about NIL, we talk about the individual player," he said. "Can you imagine if teams were to partner with individual businesses? Let's talk about a sport like women's volleyball or men's golf — what about a business coming in and not just affecting the one, but affecting the entire team. I think that's the conversation we need to start having, to help these student-athletes go make a change out in the world because these are future leaders."
In general, the Built Brands relationship has the potential to help all BYU sports, as Greer points out. But football, which is trying to compete as an independent at a huge financial disadvantage compared to Power Five programs, likely can benefit the most with a trickle-down effect to all sports.
The football program, as is the case for virtually every big-time athletic department, is the primary revenue source that supplements most Olympic sports. There is a direct correlation between a football team's success and money available to adequately fund the other sports.
In addition to increasing the university's visibility, the Built Brands deal sends a strong message throughout college athletics that BYU is prepared to compete at the highest levels. The statement is especially timely with looming shake-ups in football, as BYU continues to hope for membership into a P5 conference.
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