Miami Hurricanes NIL expected 100 percent Canes Connection in future
The response to the Miami Herald expose “’Red flags on top of red flags’: Problems mount for UM athletics booster John Ruiz.” Sunday has created a buzz. Manny Navarro of The Athletic and Gary Ferman of CaneSport reported that Canes Connection will be the dominant NIL group for the Miami Hurricanes in the future.
Navarro tweeted on Sunday that a source told him that eighty percent of the current name, image and likeness deals for the Miami Hurricanes are through the Canes Connection collective. Ferman stated in his article about future NILs for Miami that “Canes Connection Collective has been well-prepared and funded to take over.”
Per their website “Canes Connection clears the way for University of Miami student-athletes to be compensated for their name, image, and likeness through various opportunities.” Social media was abuzz on Sunday following the report from the Miami Herald. There were a lot of questions surrounding the Herald report.
Several Miami Hurricanes fans on Twitter criticized the choices of pictures used in the article. Other comments were upset with the Herald coming down too hard on the University of Miami athletic department. The role of a newspaper in a major metropolitan area is different from media in a college town.
The article from Ben Wider and Jay Weaver of the Herald is extensive. Reporting included coverage of where Ruiz’s company Life Wallet currently stands, acquisitions by his companies and personally and the NILs that Miami Hurricanes athletes have signed with the billionaire. Federal agencies and Ruiz declined to comment.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida are reportedly investigating Life Wallet per information obtained by the Herald through the Freedom of Information Act. Ferman stated the Miami athletic department was not blindsided by the Herald article.
Despite the report, Navarro reported that no Miami Hurricanes athletes that have deals with Life Wallet or Canes Connection have ever missed being paid. Ferman reported, “Canes Connection… has 75 of the 85 current scholarship football players under contract and the entire Miami men’s basketball team except for Nigel Pack…”
NIL was instituted by the NCAA on July 1, 2021, to allow athletes to earn money with their own endorsements. Still, in its toddler phase, NIL will continue to adapt and grow. Ruiz was quoted by CaneSport saying “It is business as usual…I am not the target of a civil or criminal investigation.”
Ruiz has donated to Canes Connection. How much Life Wallet or Ruiz will remain involved in Miami Hurricanes NIL in the future is unknown. CaneSport also quoted a Canes Connection email on Friday that stated “As Canes Connection has continued to grow, so has the number and diversity of our supporters.”
