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CINCINNATI — You won’t find a bigger fan of the NCAA’s relatively new Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) rules than Dustin Grutza.

Grutza played quarterback for the University of Cincinnati in the early 2000s. The rigors of schoolwork and team obligations made it difficult for him and his teammates to hold part-time jobs during the school year, he said.

As a result, it wasn’t uncommon for some of his teammates — many of whom were on scholarship — to struggle to find the money to go out to a nice dinner or catch a movie in the theater.

Now, as a board member of Cincy Reigns, Grutza works to help create NIL opportunities for current and future UC Bearcats to ensure they don’t have to go through what he and his teammates once did.

The NIL collective is a fundraising apparatus that helps Bearcat fans, alumni, businesses and donors offer direct financial support to UC student-athletes.

The most recent Cincy Reigns deal is a beer collaboration with Cincinnati-based brewery Rhinegeist. They’re calling it a Cincy Light. It’s the low-calorie version of Rhinegeist’s Cheetah lager.

Cincy Reigns will receive the equivalent of $2 for every case of Cincy Light sold and $1 for each individual 12-pack. 

Their plan is to release cans of Cincy Light just in time for the upcoming college football season. But because of public response, Rhinegeist plans to push up the release of the beer on draft.

“This gives UC athletes another opportunity to get paid,” Grutza said.

Working to help UC ‘Reign’ as it moves to Big 12

Founded in November 2022, Cincy Reigns aims to create a “vibrant and robust financial ecosystem” for UC coaches and players.

Grutza is one of several former UC athletes who serve as a Cincy Reigns board member. Others include Chicago Cubs outfielder Ian Happ, Green Bay Packers tight end Josiah Deguara and Olympic volleyball standout Jordan Thompson.

Dustin Grutza played quarterback at UC from 2005 to 2008. (Photo courtesy of Dustin Grutza)

“It would have been a different world if we had NIL when we played,” Grutza said of the current state of college athletics.

“Players today can manage their career in a way that we weren’t able to at all,” he added. “It’s giving them a chance to set up the best opportunity for sports in college and life thereafter.”

Grutza picked UC for college because of a combination of reasons ranging from academics to his team’s coaching staff. He also grew to love Cincinnati, where he still lives today. Those factors should still all matter, Grutza said, but he admitted that the chance to get paid while playing would have played a factor in his decision-making.

On top of the new rules regarding college transfers is creating an “entirely new understanding” of college athletics, Grutza said.

The NCAA doesn’t allow donors or businesses to use NIL compensation to encourage a prospective student-athlete to enroll in a particular school. That’s called “pay for play.” But just knowing that there are opportunities out there for athletes, can help attract athletes, Grutza said.

Grutza declined to go into specifics, but stressed Cincy Reigns hopes to raise “millions of dollars” to compete with other major colleges and universities.

He expects the need to continue to climb as UC ventures into the Big 12, one of the NCAA’s so-called Power 5 conferences in Division I.

“This is a necessity for any program that wants to attract and keep great student-athletes,” Grutza said.

‘Our athletes don’t have time for a full-time internship’

Cincy Reigns receives additional NIL education from Altius Sports Partners. Greg Harrell is Altius’ on-campus NIL general manager at UC. He works with student-athletes to carve out personalized strategies to monetize their brand. 

Harrell dives into local Cincinnati businesses in the categories of interest for all athletes to establish relationships. They also discuss their major and try to set up opportunities that will benefit them later in life.

During the 2021-22 school year, more than 100 UC student-athletes across 18 sports benefitted from NIL deals. There were agreements with Range Rover, Beats by Dre, Dr. Pepper and Skyline, which signed the entire football offensive line to a promotional agreement that included a weekly commercial series.

UC’s offensive line appeared in a weekly commercial series for Cincinnati-based Skyline Chili. (Photo courtesy of YouTube)

Harrell described NIL as the “new varsity sport” at UC and other major colleges and universities across the country.

“It’s really about helping athletes take advantage of things they’re already doing on a daily basis,” he said.

The University of Cincinnati has a portal — Bearcats Exchange — where businesses can reach out to specific UC teams or players about business opportunities. Each student-athlete has a profile.

The portal also allows fans, or donors, to submit a request to pay athletes for things like private lessons or an appearance at a youth practice.

Businesses can look at an athlete profile and make the offer online, Harrell said. When the deal is complete, it automatically gets disclosed to UC compliance.

State law requires UC to disclose all such deals. It also keeps them in line with NCAA rules and makes the process more transparent, Harrell said.

“It simplifies the process for all parties involved,” he added. 

All deals are quid pro quo, Harrell said, meaning the athletes have to perform work to get paid. That could mean wearing a brand to class or eating something and posting about it on social media.

Not all NILs have to do with money, either. Athletes can also get things like a free meal at a restaurant or apparel for posting about it online.

“Our athletes, in general, don’t have the time to go out and work full-time co-op or a full-time internship to get work experience, and NIL gives them a legit way to do that,” Harrell said. He gave an example of Bearcats Sports Properties’ partnership with Cincinnati-based Medpace.

The company picked 10 athletes, from six different sports, to take part in an NIL partnership. Medpace selected athletes based on their major, social media following and hometown.

On “Medpace Mondays,” the students wear company gear to class and around campus and send out a social media post about it.

“They’re giving our athletes great marketing and business experience, but they’re doing it in a way that isn’t overwhelming for them in their schedules,” Harrell said.

Brewing up opportunities for student-athletes

The Cincy Light project stems in part from Grutza’s longstanding relationship with Rhinegeist’s founders, Bob Bonder and Bryant Goulding. 

He thought the brewery would make a perfect partner, given the size and the scale of its operations. Rhinegeist is the 23rd-largest craft brewing company in the country, according to the Brewers Association.

The brewery had wanted to create an easy-drinking lager for a while, said Marissa Beck with Rhinegeist. Cincy Light has 4.2% alcohol and just over 100 calories.

Cans of Cincy Light will be available before the UC football season, but the brewery is looking to speed up the release of the draft version because of demand. (Photo courtesy of Rhinegeist)

When Cincy Reigns presented them with the partnership, it “just made sense,” Beck said.

The connection between UC and Rhinegeist dates back nearly as long as the brewery’s 10-year history, Beck said. Some signage at UC’s Nippert Stadium and Fifth Third Arena was the brewery’s first business partnership.

Rhinegeist’s interim CEO, Adam Bankovich, helped create Catskeller, a former campus pub in Tangeman University Center.

“We had wanted to do a beer with UC for a very long time and we’re kind of waiting for them to give us the right opportunity to do it,” Beck said. “This was that opportunity.”

Rhinegeist doesn’t view this as a one-and-done beer run, though, Beck said.

“We plan for the liquid, the branding, and the partnership to be a staple in our portfolio for many years to come,” she added.

There are some rules for what types of businesses student-athletes can promote. In Ohio, it’s illegal for student-athletes to enter deals with any company that sells tobacco, nicotine or marijuana products. They can’t endorse gambling or sports betting businesses, either.

The partnership with the brewery isn’t forbidden. However, Beck said Rhinegeist doesn’t plan to include any current student-athletes in its promotional materials for Cincy Light because it’s an alcohol product.

Instead, they’ll use famous Bearcat alums and “fun trips down memory lane” to help market the brand.

Money raised from the sale of Cincy Light will go into Cincy Reigns’ general athlete fund, Grutza said. Cincy Reigns can distribute those dollars “as needed.”

Cincy Light will be available throughout Cincinnati where Rhinegeist beer is sold, Beck said. She noted the brewery is working through the proper channels to make sure it’s available at Nippert Stadium and Fifth Third Arena.

Rhinegeist also plans to host fundraising events at its Over-the-Rhine brewery to support Cincy Reigns’ mission.

“We’re determined to do what it takes to help get the University of Cincinnati to the next level. In this case, that’s drinking beer,” Grutza said.