NIL in College Sports

Whether you agree with NIL in college sports or not, it looks like it is here to stay. NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) has opened up a can of worms that can never be unopened. Like many things in this world, it’s all about the money. It allows college athletes to profit from their own names, images, and likenesses. They can sign endorsement deals, promote products and services, and participate in other legal money-making activities. The key element here is that it does not in any way jeopardize their NCAA eligibility.

College basketball and football are the two sports where we see the greatest impact, good or bad.  Before NIL, the NCCA and the universities supposedly held considerable control over athletes’ earning potential. Many coaches, wealthy fans, and sports agents were caught red-handed paying athletes to go to a particular school. Unfortunately, most of them were not caught and those that were got their wrists slapped. Many of these athletes received cash, cars, houses, expensive gifts, and more. Obviously, this was very unfair to the universities and coaches who were playing by the rules. I won’t mention individual universities or coaches, but some schools most certainly blatantly cheated more than others. I’ve lost all respect for those individuals and institutions as many of them were repeatedly deceitful. 

The NIL was designed to hopefully somewhat level the playing field for all universities. However, with athletes having this new bargaining power, in many cases, the highest bidder wins. This gives a distinct advantage to programs who can offer athletes more opportunities to monetize their NIL. Then this can lead to a shift in the balance of power among NCAA programs. Inevitably, certain universities then become more attractive destinations for high-profile athletes. Many would argue that nothing has really changed. Most of the highest-profile athletes already ended up at only a handful of universities before NIL. It’s been assumed that the monetization was already in place, just not legally.

The Cons of NIL

The adoption of NIL rules by the NCAA and various state legislatures is currently sketchy at best. These patchwork regulations make enforcing any of the rules extremely challenging. Schools in states with lenient NIL rules have the upper hand on those states that do not. This is going to cause the schools, athletes, sponsors, and others, to face messy compliance issues.

The entry of college athletes into the endorsement market has the potential to disrupt the traditional sponsorship landscape. This may cause competition with professional athletes for endorsements as brands seek out college athletes for marketing campaigns. This will obviously create new opportunities and challenges for both athletes and companies.

NIL has also led to discussions about the definition of amateurism in college sports. College athletes already receive scholarships to get a very valuable and free education. Now that they can profit from their NIL, some believe this blurs the line between amateur and professional sports. This debate over the fundamental principles of college athletics is ongoing, and there will be further changes in the future.

Financial opportunities will not be spread out evenly among all college athletes. Players in high-profile sports such as football and basketball will receive more lucrative deals.

Team dynamics could be negatively impacted as star athletes focus more on personal branding than team success. This can potentially ruin team chemistry and cohesiveness.

Some NIL opportunities will demand large amounts of time which can divert focus away from academic responsibility.

The Pros of NIL

College athletes will become more involved in business and marketing activities related to their NIL. This will allow them to be able to gain valuable real-world experience and skills. These experiences can have a positive impact on their future careers beyond sports.

Increased financial opportunities for athletes from their NIL can also boost the overall visibility of college sports. As the athletes engage more with fans and sponsors, it may very well help grow the popularity of college athletics. This can benefit both the individual athletes and their respective teams and universities.

NIL can be an incentive for athletes to stay in college longer and earn their degree. Some seek professional opportunities before they are ready due to the pressure of financial constraints.

With NIL comes the rights that potentially can contribute to greater diversity and inclusion in college sports. All athletes, no matter their background, have equal opportunities to monetize their name, image, and likeness.

Some athletes will endorse local and regional businesses within a university’s home area. This can potentially stimulate the economy while also giving the athlete and the respective business positive exposure.

In the future, the impact of NIL on college sports will depend on how it continues to evolve. and adapt to the changing landscape. The extent to which NIL affects the college sports landscape will be influenced by many things. You can be certain there will be ongoing discussions, new legal developments, and many questions to be answered. How athletes, schools, and governing bodies adapt to this new reality will be very interesting to watch.

Summary

Personally, I am literally torn as I can genuinely see both sides of the story. I feel like in many cases, universities have profited enormously in a way that is unfair to their athletes. In addition, as schools get richer and richer, tuition for the average student keeps going up. Where is all of this money going? Television deals for many of these conferences have reached astronomically high levels of money. They don’t get these deals without the athletes doing what they do.

On the other hand, should athletes have the power to have programs bid for their services? Where does academics factor in for many of these athletes? Does it factor in at all? Should athletes receive full scholarships, free room and board and NIL? Should they pay their scholarships back to the institutions if they leave the program early with no degree?

I certainly don’t have all of the answers, but NIL is a mess right now in its current state. What do you think?