Show Them the Money
College athletes can now profit from their name, image and likeness. It may not be a perfect plan, but it's a start.
The arrival of July typically means summer is in full swing. Temperatures routinely get near or above triple digits, including where I live in Texas.
But July 1, 2021 probably feels like Christmas to thousands of college student-athletes. That’s the day they were finally liberated from the NCAA’S version of “profit jail”, prohibiting them from financially capitalizing on their success besides a scholarship.
Thanks to legislation in several states and a landmark Supreme Court decision against the NCAA, college athletes may now make money off their name, image and likeness. In the week following the new legislation and a relaxation of NCAA policies, many have already signed shoe deals, personal appearances and other endorsement opportunities. Many more will follow.
What’s a Student-Athlete, Anyway?
I’ve always been puzzled by the term “student-athlete”. Isn’t that supposed to mean being a student first, athlete second?
No, certainly not by the NCAA’s previous standards. If a regular student wanted to sell goods or line up speaking engagements, they were (and still are) perfectly free to do so.
If a student-athlete wanted to start a YouTube channel and make money from ads or profit from their 100,000 subscribers, they and their school would be in violation of NCAA rules. And we all know what happens if you defy the big, bad NCAA… right?
Not anymore, thanks to NIL.
But this is just the beginning of the story. If you love a good novel, you know it’s filled with twists and turns before the end, and things don’t always go as expected.
Thorns Among the Roses
Not everyone is as excited about NIL as a kid tearing open a Christmas present. In a Sports Illustrated article, three current and former athletes spoke out against the NCAA’s last-minute decision to opt for a simplified alternative instead of a more aggressive legislative policy.
Former Rutgers football player Ryan Cassidy, current Missouri volleyball player Brynn Carlson, and former Oral Roberts track and field athlete Bryce Choate are members of the NCAA’s Division I Student-Athlete Advisory committee. They expressed frustration to SI that the NCAA has mostly chosen to exempt itself from NIL state laws, allowing schools to follow those laws without penalty. Universities in states without legislation can create their own NIL policy, provided they follow guidelines such as prohibiting pay-for-play or recruiting inducements.
“We understand the NCAA is trying to divert and give member schools the power to create their own guidelines, but uniformity would be the best possible situation,” said Cassidy, SAAC’s national chair. “By July 1, we are going to need to implement a standard of what NIL looks like. Right now it’s not about temporarily fixing this problem.”
However, the Supreme Court decision in the Alston v the NCAA case last month raised concerns the governing body would face legal challenges to a more permanent legislative solution. Their thinking is a more streamlined approach would give student-athletes the same rights as the state laws that just went into effect.
The High School Impact
College athletes aren’t the only ones being affected by NIL. High school sports will also feel the shift in policy, especially on the recruiting front. Every athlete being sought by a college program will need to examine how that school will choose to handle the new landscape, whether it’s in a state that has a law or not. Potential recruits now have another factor to consider besides the success of a university’s athletic or academic program.
This is causing concern among a number of high school coaches, administrators and parents. While many believe elite athletes should be rewarded for their success, some are afraid the changes will cause adults to exploit the talents of those same athletes.
Others fear kids will concentrate more on self-promotion and less on building team values.
“They’re kids. They’re not professional athletes yet,” Verron Haynes, whose son Justice is a four-star football recruit, told the Washington Post. “Those are the conversations I’m having with Justice and with the schools. How are we going to protect them? … How are we going to make it about the purity of the game?”
Then there’s the issue of guiding athletes through the maze of opportunities the new laws present. Students could be easy prey for scams and misrepresentation unless they have guidance.
Fortunately, companies like INFLCR provide help. The Alabama firm has teamed up with over 100 college athletic departments to handle NIL content. Student-athletes can sign up and establish, manage and monetize their brand while staying compliant with NIL.
An International Gap
While American college athletes will reap the benefits of the new legislation, such is not the case for athletes from other countries who attend a university in the United States. The new legislation conflicts with U.S. visa laws that prohibit them from working more than 20 hours a week. This means international students won’t be able to cash in on NIL the same way other athletes can.
“It’s not unusual for progressive law changes to encounter bureaucratic obstacles in the form of antithetical and incompatible policies, so what we need to do is demonstrate that the visa laws need to change at the same time for the regulations to make sense,” Munya Maraire, CEO of World Wide Scholarships, told Sports Illustrated.
Over 1 in 10 athletes are international students, according to the NCAA. Unless changes in visa laws are made, they will lose out on the financial opportunities their American counterparts now enjoy.
The Bottom Line
Debate over whether student-athletes should be paid has been raging for years. Until recently, most of the discussion has centered around compensating them directly from the school they play for. NIL is by no means perfect. Some students will be overwhelmed with the process, get taken advantage of, or not reap the rewards they probably expect. But regular students face those same concerns: where to start, whom to trust, and how to balance it all with daily life. Athletes will now be on that same playing field, figuring out how to navigate the real world.
One thing is clear: something needed to change, and this is a good start. College athletes have been denied financial rewards for far too long. They may not be getting a piece of their school’s pie for their talents. But this allows them to have their own cake, and eat it too.
Hot Takes and Great Reads
I wondered how long it would take for former student-athletes punished for past NCAA violations to come out of the woodwork after NIL went into effect.
Former USC running back Reggie Bush wants his Heisman Trophy back. The NCAA stripped him of the award he won in 2005, after it was discovered his family was taking cash and living in a home rent-free.
In order for Bush to get it back, the NCAA would have to reinstate him. The Heisman Trust would then need to agree to give it back. That could open a Pandora’s Box of issues. If the NCAA overturns Bush’s past offenses, what about the thousands of other athletes and programs who were punished? Shouldn’t they get their records, championships and awards reinstated, too?
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The Virginia Tech athletics department recently announced the creation of a Hokies Youth Sport Spotlight program, in partnership with Virginia529.
The program will promote participation and good sportsmanship, while helping to grow the next generation of Hokies.
Click here to read about this great example of a university doing its part to grow a healthy youth sports culture.
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I saw this Letter to the Editor in the Greenfield Recorder in Massachusetts, and had to share. This former coach is right on the mark. His opinion is precisely the reason I started this newsletter: to give youth sports back to the kids. Couldn’t have said it better.
On Deck
Are you a good listener? If you’re a coach or parent, listening to your kids is just as important as giving advice. In next week’s newsletter, experts give some valuable tips on being a better listener. That’s something we could all benefit from, whether we’re in sports or not.
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