alt=Jay DrewNutritional energy bar-maker Built Protein Bars is paying BYU football players an “additional $600” after questions arose recently about a name, image and likeness agreement the Utah-based company had with members of the 2022 team.
In a letter received individually by all 123 players, both scholarship players and walk-ons, Built CEO and founder Nick Greer said the latest payment of $600 “is an extra 15% of the proceeds from sales of the CougarTail Puff bar.”
The letter was shared on social media by at least one player, walk-on Joshua Singh.
“After making this payment, BUILT will have paid more than 30% of CougarTail sales back to BYU and BYU football players,” Greer wrote. “To be clear, this far exceeds the original commitment and hopefully leaves no doubt in your minds of our love and appreciation for you.”
Greer’s letter and Built’s additional payment comes after The Salt Lake Tribune reported last Sunday that six current or former BYU football players said the company had shorted the players for their promotion of the bars on their social media platforms.
Several players contacted by the Deseret News on Sunday night confirmed that 15% of the sales of the bars had yet to reach their pockets; running back Miles Davis preached patience, saying it was a “misunderstanding” and that he was confident the payments would eventually be made when the terms of the contract concluded on May 31.
Another player, who asked to remain anonymous, said the players had not received “royalties” from sales of that bar and a different bar in 2021.
“I don’t understand what is going on. This isn’t like them,” the player said of the company that Greer says has given more than $1.25 million to BYU and its players the past two years.
While vacationing in Europe, Greer told the Deseret News Tuesday that the players’ claims had left him “aggravated, frustrated and deeply saddened” and that the company had met its financial obligations to BYU and the players to date and would ensure more would reach their pockets after some payments to BYU Licensing and to a “football discretionary fund” controlled by head coach Kalani Sitake were made.
Through a BYU spokesperson, Sitake said last Tuesday that those funds had yet to reach his control and asked the players for patience.
In the letter to the players, Greer said Built has “yet to decide how to continue our relationship next season with BYU and NIL.”
When contacted Wednesday about the situation, BYU Athletics issued a three-paragraph statement in support of Built and the “$1.25 million dollars” it or its players have received from the company.
“As the first year of this new and extended agreement wraps up, BYU and BUILT are working on the final accounting and ensuring compliance on behalf of everyone — especially our players,” the statement read.
