What? Montana Athletes Offered Paid Political Endorsements
Note from Aaron: Democrat Senator Jon Tester voted to allow men in women's sports, and now a group supporting Tester is trying to PAY female athletes in Montana to endorse him? Wow. This is a huge story being broken by a student athlete and student journalist at The University of Montana. This, as Tester faces a tough challenge by Navy SEAL veteran Tim Sheehy (R-MT) in the 2024 elections. Check out the below report by Lily Meskers. I also reached out to the university's athletic department for their take on paid political endorsements by student athletes. (Their response is below) Lily will join us on Tuesday's Montana Talks statewide radio show a little after 9 a.m.
Lily Meskers is a junior majoring in journalism at the University of Montana, Missoula. She is also a Division 1 athlete and competes on the university’s track team
By Lily Meskers, University of Montana Student Athlete/Journalist
With the Montana senate race gaining national attention as a top contest for Democrats and Republicans, incumbent Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) and his backers are growing increasingly nervous about their prospects of winning reelection and several unpopular stances the Democrat has taken in recent years.
For years, Tester has balanced his positions on hot-button topics in order to remain in office in this solidly red state, however, in this presidential election year a deeply unpopular presidential ticket and a younger telegenic opponent are flushing out some of Tester’s votes that don’t sit well with Montanans, including his 2023 vote against the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act.” The act worked to amend Title IX to ensure that only biological women - and not men - could compete in women's sports.
His vote was roundly criticized. Just this summer, athlete turned women’s sports activist Riley Gaines visited Whitefish to call out Tester’s vote and raise awareness for the physical challenges women athletes face when forced to compete against men. Gaines rallied the crowd declaring, “This is the most anti-woman, anti-reality pursuit we have seen from this administration…Montanans...intuitively know that men and women are different.”
Perhaps that’s why Montana Together, a nebulous political group supportive of Tester’s reelection efforts, is seeking to pay college athletes to endorse Tester publicly. In early August, athletes from the University of Montana received an email from Jean Gee, the senior associate athletic director, about a potential Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deal. The email forwarded by Gee said the opportunity was available to “Athletes who attend college in Montana and are interested in spreading the word about Senator Jon Tester and causes you care about.”
The deal offered all university athletes a chance to participate and earn big money.
Montana Together promised anywhere from $400 to $2,400 for unscripted video endorsements on Instagram Reels, a popular social media forum for video clips.
The group encouraged athletes to “inform your audience about Senator Tester's track record in office and encourage him to maintain his support for these vital policies.”
Students at UM were surprised by the odd request. Katie Whitehurst, a senior track athlete at the University of Montana, said, “I stand by biological women competing fairly in women’s sports and the offer seemed guided towards only one political party.”
Since NIL’s establishment in 2021, there have been few cases of political involvement. One of the earliest political NIL deals was in 2022 Tennessee's 27th Judicial District, where candidate Colin Johnson asked the University of Tennessee at Martin quarterback, Dresser Winn, to endorse his campaign. According to a CBS article, “Johnson, on social media and repped Johnson's campaign apparel while at a football camp.”
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Here's The Note I Received from UM Athletic Director Kent Haslam:
Kent Haslam: "I received an email from Mateo at Opendorse in late July with an NIL opportunity for student-athletes. Opendorse is one of a few companies that work in the college athlete NIL space connecting athletes with NIL opportunities. Mateo said an organization named Montana Together was using Opendorse to source athletes who were interested in spreading the word about Senator Jon Tester and causes they (the athletes) were interested in. Athletics sent along the opportunity to all of the athletes in case any were interested. The athletes could then reach out to Mateo for more information.
As you may know, college athletes can now make money off the use of their name, image, and likeness. They are not allowed to use university intellectual property for those promotional activities (for example, Griz logos) unless they have secured those rights through a licensing agreement with the university or a sponsorship agreement with our multi-media rights holder (Learfield).
When athletics gets these type of general NIL requests, it is our practice to forward those out to all student-athletes, unless the requestor is looking for a specific athlete or team."