As college football programs shuffle departments around to creatively handle the impending House settlement that will bring revenue sharing to name, image, and likeness, the Washington Huskies are leading with innovation.
The University of Washington announced on Friday the creation and hiring of the school’s new senior director of contracts and cap management, Cameron Foster.
Foster will be the lead negotiator on revenue share agreements in an inventive approach to proactivity surrounding the settlement, NIL, and revenue sharing.
The future of college athletics is inching closer to the professional business model of the NFL, and UW is at the forefront with a cap management team that Foster joins.
An alumnus of the school, Foster founded Reign Sports Management after working for the top agency Steinberg Sports and Entertainment as their Senior Vice President, where he’s worked with Patrick Mahomes, Sean Rhyan, and Tua Tagovailoa.
His notable clients include alumni Vita Vea, Kaleb McGary, and Napoleon Kaufman.
He has represented athletes in various leagues-primarily in football, but has had clients in the NBA, WNBA and MLB.
Foster spoke about the metamorphosis of college sports in a press release from the school announcing the hire.
“We are truly at the beginning of a transformational period in college sports,” Foster said. “The complexities of negotiations, cap management, and revenue share have added challenges to the traditional athletic department, and I am excited to join a department leading the way on cutting-edge approaches to turning challenges into opportunities. I look forward to partnering with our leadership, our coaches, and our student-athletes to ensure that we are maximizing our opportunities to compete for championships.”
It’s an intriguing hire as schools prepare to pay athletes for their NIL through revenue sharing and will be consequently involved in direct negotiations and contracting with athletes and their agents.
Schools have begun to shape athletic departments with the settlement in mind, with head coaches and general managers explicitly implying paying players for performance.
It’s not clear how many programs have put personnel and staff in place to directly handle complex contractual legalities and cap management, something that was never involved in the more distant amateurism version of the sport.
University of Washington Director of Athletics Pat Chun asserted in the release how critical Foster is with the transformative environment.
“As we plan for a future under the terms of the House Settlement, change will continue to be the norm in college athletics,” Chun said. “UW Athletics has been working to define what our staffing needs will need to look like in the new environment. We are excited that Cameron is joining the UW Athletics family. He has made a career of advocating for athletes across a range of complex financial and legal matters, and we welcome Cameron back to his alma mater.”
The Huskies have primed their college football program to capitalize on revenue sharing and succeed immediately with Foster’s hire.
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