Syracuse booster ends NIL support for school

Syracuse’s “most high-profile athletics booster,” businessman Adam Weitsman, says that he will “no longer provide name, image and likeness deals to SU athletes or bring celebrities to Syracuse University athletic events,” according to Brent Axe of the Syracuse POST-STANDARD. Weitsman cited Syracuse Chancellor Kent Syverud as “the reason for stepping away.” Weitsman: “From what I understand, hearing it from sources at the university, he did not like the high-profile nature of the celebrities coming to games and the way I was going about NIL, discussing it with the media.” Earlier this year, Weitsman said that he would “pay more than” $2M “in NIL deals to current and future Syracuse athletes.” Weitsman “gained notoriety” by bringing celebrities and star athletes, such as former NFLer Tom Brady and Bucks F Giannis Antetokounmpo, and “sitting courtside with them at Syracuse basketball games.” Weitsman said that he would “honor any current NIL deals but would not form any new deals.” Axe noted Syracuse “does have its own NIL collectives, an NIL store and other initiatives to support student-athletes,” but “no other boosters, at least publicly, that provide the public reach and influence of Weitsman” (Syracuse POST-STANDARD, 4/11).

A MAJOR SETBACK: In a separate piece, Axe wrote Syracuse is “ not back to square one ” in the NIL game following Weitsman “pulling his high-profile and high-priced support” of the athletic programs. But it is still “a major setback.” Axe: “Weitsman brought SU juice in the NIL and public relations game it couldn’t buy.” Axe added a “conversation” between Weitsman and Syverud “perhaps could have melted the ice between them and saved the gravy train from going off the tracks.” Syracuse’s NIL approach has “never screamed innovation” and the school's approach has been “cautious.” While the “dividends of the Weitsman way can be argued, one thing cannot: It made Syracuse stand out in a crowded NIL field” ( Syracuse POST-STANDARD, 4/12 ).