Tech Intersect #2: Mike McCann: Publicity Rights in Collegiate Sports and Crypto in the Pros

In this episode, Sports Illustrated legal analyst and contributor, Professor Mike McCann, and I discuss how pro athletes like NBA star, Spencer Dinwiddie of the Brooklyn Nets, is leveraging his earning potential by issuing a cryptocurrency (PaINT) via the Ethereum Network’s blockchain to tokenize his earnings and engage fans and investors directly. We also talked about when and how scholarship-athletes might actually benefit financially from their name, image and likeness.

 

Given trailblazers like college basketball star, Ed O’Bannon, the mega millions that schools make off the backs of the athletes who compete under their names, and the rising public support for these athletes to receive some type of economic benefit, we conclude that it’s not a matter of if but when college scholarship athletes truly and meaningfully participate in the upside of the value they generate for schools and the NCAA. As a former scholarship athlete and former professional tennis player, this topic is near and dear to my heart.

 

Guest social assets: Twitter @McCannSportsLaw

Court Justice: The Inside Story of My Battle with the NCAA, by Ed O’Bannon and Michael McCann
The Oxford Handbook of American Sports Law, by Michael McCann