http://www.skullcandy.com/blog/2012/12/20/skullcandy-shows-support-simeon-career-academy-jabari-parker
Really not liking this...
Not sure if this counts as a no-no in the NCAA eyes... But doesn't look very good.
They're sponsoring the school, not Jabari, from what I understand.
It's really surprising that this would be allowed, and I would suspect that when the NCAA is made aware of it they will ask Skull Candy to take it down. They use Jabari's image and compile a bunch of information about him. I don't see him directly endorsing the products as far as saying "you should use these." They're sponsoring the school, but he is clearly the focal point of the ad.
There is a photo of Jabari wearing the headphones. I am sure some Carolina fans would argue that is not appreciably different from what Leslie McDonald did for the mouthguard company.
To be honest, I am at a loss to explain the difference myself other than the fact that when a photographer posted a pic of Leslie McDonald wearing the mouthguard, Leslie tweeted back with the name of the company that made it.
That said, Skullcandy is a big company with a legal department and Simeon is school well-versed in high school and college eligibility issues. I would bet that both of them have been aware of this for a while and know that it is not problematic.
-Jason "it is clear that Jabari is doing nothing active to promote the headphones -- is a pic of him merely wearing them promotion on his part?" Evans
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
Teams can have sponsors and in many cases most do it BECAUSE of certain athletes. Nike sponsors tons of high schools across the country. Shabazz was sponsored by Adidas his whole life.
Not just that but the school benefitted in a MAJOR way b/c of this - free headphones for class and the profits from all the headphones they sale. Talk about a good team banquet.
And while the article certainly zooms in on Parker - it's not an advertisement. Players get stuff - most of it is legal. Parker was in probably 30 magazines last year - ALL of them had to contact him through his school or his parents.
Oh and the NCAA only can regulate recruiting and impermissible benefits to amateur athletes - not schools. That's the local school board's jurisdiction.
I would guess the main issue would be compensation - did Jabari receive anything in return for SkullCandy using his image (free product, cash, promise of future contract)? Did LM receive anything (free mouth guards, services, cash)? I would assume if no then everything should be ok, if yes then likely trouble.
I think we can safely say that it is only an issue IF the NCAA WANTS it to be an issue...
I am not smart enough to discern what is allowed and what is not and I am not sure the NCAA is smart enough either.
If there is nothing more to the LM issue than the company using his image without compensating him for it, then I have no idea why he is in NCAA purgatory. Didn't UNC tell them to stop as soon as they found out???
Makes you think that something else is going on, but who knows??
I think there is an assumption being made (verified only through twitter) that McDonald received mouth guards (valued at between $150-1500 depending on if they are custom made) while other students did not, thus he was given an advantage for being an athlete. In Jabari's case, the whole school received the headphones.
The part about McDonald's name being used on the iceberg mouth guard web page - that seems pretty similar.
The situation was covered in depth here back in march.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/garcia/...ship-deal.html
Seems it's mainly just exploitation on Skullcandy's part but shouldn't be any trouble for Jabari.
A company using an athlete's likeness for promoting its products happens, but the key is if the athlete himself is aware and then promotes the product. I'm sure Jabari has no idea, and was just wearing headphones. Didn't McDonald tweet something like "Check these out!"? That seems like a clear difference to me, but maybe McDonald didn't say anything at all and was unaware of them using him on their website - then, it would be a similar situation (except if he received items for free in exchange for being able to use him on their website).
I can't believe the school would agree to this. It appears to be in direct violation of the NCAA's rules on amateurism, especially the part about asking the players to verbally endorse their products. Simeon is accustomed to dealing with future college and pro athletes, so they MUST have cleared this with the NCAA prior to signing this agreement with skull candy. Right? (Please say yes).
haha I saw this posted in the comments section of one of the articles linked from here that I ready today. I think it was one of the football articles. The poster did the right thing and "took a screen shot and forwarded it to the NCAA to see if anything comes of it". What a joke!
Sure it's nothing. Yes the NCAA goes after ridiculous stuff. But still think that post was the best part lol.
Here's a copy of the NCAA bylaws: http://www.ncaapublications.com/prod...ds/D114OCT.pdf (Note: this is a large 434-page PDF so only click if you're really interested in digging into this)
Section 12.5.2 (pg. 85 of the PDF) deals with non-permissable promotional activites. I can't see how Jabari is in violation.
I think the key is he did not receive remuneration from Skull Candy AND this promotional activity (if it indeed counts as a promotional activity) occurred in high school, before enrollment at Duke.