College athletes in Montana are being offered cash to make endorsement videos for Sen. Jon Tester as he campaigns for one of the Democrats' most vulnerable seats of the 2024 cycle, according to emails shared with the sources.
A group called 'Montana Together' recently sourced athletes at the University of Montana (UMT), offering payments in exchange for the promotion of Tester, according to the school's athletic director, Kent Haslam.
In July, the initial contact was made on behalf of 'Montana Together' through a representative at Opendorce.com, a platform used as a marketplace for athletes to score Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals. NIL is a policy approved by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 2021 that allows college athletes to monetize their content.
The group was offering student athletes a range of offers from $400 to $2,400 in exchange for a video 'spreading the word' about the Democratic senator, a copy of the emails shared with the sources reveals.
'We have an NIL opportunity for Montana student-athletes, and I could use your help getting the information below to any individuals who you recommend applying for this campaign. Montana Together is using Opendorse to source athletes for an NIL deal,' the email obtained by the sources reads. 'Who are they looking for?: Athletes who attend college in Montana and are interested in spreading the word about Senator Jon Tester and causes you care about.'
The deals were offered as follows: $400 for two scripted videos, $800 for two unscripted videos, and $2,400 for four unscripted videos.
Tester's campaign told the sources that they had no knowledge of these actions and are not in communication with the group.
Lily Meskers, a UMT track athlete and journalism major who first made public the offer to athletes, told the sources that she 'immediately felt frustration' upon receiving the email.
'When I first received the NIL deal offer, I immediately felt frustration. I had to ask myself, ‘Why would someone seek my endorsement when their values directly negatively impact me?’ Tester's vote against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act is against everything I’ve worked toward as a female athlete,' Meskers said. 'This vote is a gateway to biological men taking away scholarships, medals and roster spots from female athletes. Many female athletes on my team shared this frustration.'
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), chaired by Montana's Republican Sen. Steve Daines, highlighted Tester being one of 51 Democrats who voted against a GOP-led amendment to prevent biological men from competing in women's sports.
'Jon Tester sided with woke DC Democrats when he voted to let men compete in women’s sports, now his dark money allies are trying to pay students off to cover up his far-left voting record,' NRSC spokeswoman Maggie Abboud said in a statement. 'Jon Tester is spiraling and resorting to every underhanded tactic in the book.'
