(InvestigateTV) — High school athletes are nailing down big sponsorship deals before college.
Our investigators explore the seismic shifts happening in worlds both big and small.
In this episode of InvestigateTV+:
- We delve into the high-stakes game of high school sports, where teenagers are now navigating five-figure endorsement deals and families are crossing state lines to cash in.
- We uncover a hidden medical crisis, where the lessons learned from Long COVID are finally bringing answers and validation to patients who were dismissed for years.
- We investigate the new frontier of travel scams, where your airline miles are a valuable target for digital thieves.
- Finally, we meet a hometown hero in Portland, Oregon, a referee whose unwavering dedication is helping to save youth sports, one game at a time.
High School Hustle: Athletes cash in on name, image and likeness as states grapple with regulations
Across America, states have various regulations when it comes to NIL deals for high school athletes. These regulations are typically set by each state’s high school athletic association, but in rare cases, lawmakers have tried to intervene in a push to legalize NIL endorsements for teen athletes still in high school.
State high school athletic associations – like the NCAA – are voluntary membership groups and are either set up as nonprofit organizations or private entities.
Our national investigative team looked at NIL rules across America and found that about three dozen states allow NIL deals for high school athletes.
Others strictly prohibit compensation for name, image and likeness, which makes getting one of those lucrative deals impossible without moving if athletes live in a state where it’s banned.
For one talented basketball player, moving from her home state of Missouri was the only option to score an NIL deal, her mom told InvestigateTV.
Meet this player and a hard-working teen wrestler who are both navigating the world of NIL.
Long-illness patients benefit from lessons learned after COVID
For years, Johnalynn Sinnott was a medical mystery, trapped in a cycle of debilitating illness that no one could explain.
It began when she was just 12 years old, when a simple case of the flu morphed into a month-long migraine. That was the start of a painful odyssey filled with countless doctor’s visits, ER trips, MRIs, and blood tests, none of which provided any answers or relief.
Her life was derailed. Her perfect attendance and straight A’s vanished, and instead were replaced by visits from truancy officers.
Worse than the physical pain was the psychological toll of being disbelieved.
“Multiple doctors, after tests came up negative or whatnot, just were like, ‘Well, you’re making it up,’” Sinnott recalls. “Some people just are that straight, like you’re making it up.”
She was scared, angry, and frustrated, suffering from an invisible illness in a medical system that seemed unwilling to see her.
Her story, it turns out, is not unique. She is one of countless patients who have suffered for years from post-viral syndromes, where the body fails to fully recover from an infection like the flu, leaving a constellation of chronic symptoms like brain fog, fatigue, and pain.
For decades, these patients were often misdiagnosed or dismissed. But a breakthrough came from an unexpected source: the COVID-19 pandemic.
Click here to watch the full story.
How airline miles, credits could disappear into the hands of hackers
Stacey and Brian Lester were looking forward to a trip, planning to use the roughly $800 in travel credits they had accumulated with American Airlines.
However, when they went to book their flights, they made a shocking discovery.
“My wife, Stacy, finds out that we have no credits,” Brian says.
The credits had vanished, used by strangers to fly from New York to Austin on two different days.
The Lesters are victims of a growing and insidious form of travel fraud. Scammers are increasingly targeting airline miles, points, and travel credits, treating them like a digital currency ripe for the picking. And as travelers are discovering, protecting these assets can be difficult, and getting them back can be nearly impossible.
Travel expert Julie Gill says that airline rewards are a valuable commodity for criminals. The fraud is often sophisticated, making it hard to trace.
“The problem with going after fraudsters is that they are typically not the ones actually flying the ticket,” Gill explains.
Instead, the criminals hack into accounts, steal the credits, and then sell the discounted tickets to unsuspecting travelers, who may not even be aware they are using stolen rewards.
Read the full story and find out how to best prevent this from happening to you by clicking here.
This referee officiates sometimes 20 games per week to help his community’s leagues, players
In the world of youth sports, there is a crisis brewing.
Thousands of referees and officials walked away from the game during the pandemic and have not returned, leaving leagues struggling to find enough people to officiate games.
The NCAA has called the situation “critical.” It’s a thankless job, often filled with high emotions from players, coaches, and parents.
In Portland, Oregon, one man is single-handedly trying to fill the gap, driven by a pure love for the game.
John Martin is a special breed of official.
At 55, he has worked more games than any other referee in the Portland Basketball Officials Association for six of the last seven years, officiating 15 to 20 games a week.
His secret?
“My best ability became my availability,” he says with a smile. “Once I learned there was such a need for capable refs to continually ref nightly, nightly, nightly, I just kept putting my hand in the air.”
Martin, a former coach who admits he used to have “a lot of problems with the refs,” brings a unique perspective to the court. He understands the passion of the game, but now sees it from the other side. He officiates middle school, junior varsity, and youth organization games, treating the kids with a blend of authority, respect, and genuine care.
Learn more about John’s story and his officiating style here.
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