Student-Athletes or Businessmen?

RJ Foster, 27

Imagine at 18 receiving thousands, maybe even millions, of dollars just based on who you are. If you’ve been following collegiate sports for the past 4-5 years, NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) has taken them, especially football, by storm. The most premiere athletes receive millions of dollars at 18-years-old. These athletes are paid through sponsorships and the use of their name in products or businesses. Some of these sponsorships include things as crazy as athletes in early August of 2024 receiving Lamborghini’s in their new NIL deal. It is very obvious that NIL has grown in these past few years, and coaches have decided to take advantage of it. NIL has created many opportunities for thousands of athletes and colleges while boosting engagement and popularity on the collegiate level. Despite the crazy headlines and all the good that it has brought, many fans and even coaches have begun to view NIL as ruining the sport. They say that it is making people and players unloyal, creating an even larger divide between smaller and bigger universities and more. Despite the many successes that can be found in NIL, it should be reformed to minimize or eliminate the negative sides that affect players, teams, and fans as a whole.

There have been many ways that NIL has changed and improved collegiate sports, not only for athletics, but also for the players. It has given the players and coaches more opportunities for them to compete with one another. This past year, Ohio State finished the college football season by winning the National Football Championship. The Ohio State roster was described to have spent around 20 million on their football players according to the Ohio State Athletic Director (Fox Sports). Because of the amount of money they spent, Ohio State was able to receive some of the most premier players in football which is part of the reason why they won the National Championship. In the past few years, NIL has increased collegiate sports popularity and engagement with teams. People of all ages find collegiate sports more exciting and competitive compared to most pro leagues, and the added spice of money for players gives them more of an edge during games. An article by AJ Shiftlett makes the case that college football is more entertaining in general (Common Sense). Adding NIL into the equation makes college sports more entertaining and engaging, as the players feel they have more to play for.

Although NIL has brought a lot more notability and popularity to the collegiate level, it has many downsides that people describe as “ruining” sports. For example, many athletes lately have been given millions of dollars at a very young age. A couple of recent athletes are AJ Dybansta who is receiving 3.8 million dollars in NIL and Cooper Flagg who is receiving 4.3 million dollars in NIL (107.5 the Fan). Both players are around 17 to 18-years-old receiving the same amount of money that some seasoned and professional athletes receive. This not only may put a massive spotlight on them and their lives, but also creates problems with their money where athletes do not understand how to control or manage their money by themselves. Another problem created by NIL is the loyalty a player may have to their college. Many athletes look to be paid directly out of high school and receive playing time as freshmen. However, this often does not happen for these athletes, as the ages of players in college range from 18-25. Many colleges and coaches would rather have a more seasoned athlete with experience playing from the transfer portal. Jason Fuller of NPR states that between August 2021 to July 2022, there were around 21,000 people who entered the transfer portal(ProQuest). A fair amount of those players were seasoned players who were bigger and stronger than the younger athletes, looking for more money and a school to transfer to.  This shows how many athletes have thrown development and academics out the window. A final major problem created by NIL is the divide between colleges. Many colleges receive millions in NIL due to donations. Smaller colleges, however, do not get this same money for many reasons. One may be that they have never been a strong athletic school. Another could be because it is not nearly as big or prestigious as others. This often leaves them behind and prevents the smaller colleges from having the ability to compete with the other bigger colleges, as big-time athletes want to go to bigger and better colleges.

Many reforms to NIL could improve and simplify what it is. One reform to NIL could be a true contract when signing to the team. When you sign to the team normally for college, the NIL comes with your time played there at the school. However, athletes may leave whenever they want, leaving schools to spend money on players who may just leave after a year of not fully playing on the team. Instead of signing just to get the money, an athlete should also sign to stay for a certain amount of years. An athlete may get paid $500,000, but along with that, they have to stay at the school for 2 or 3 years. This way, the athletes are not flat out stealing money from these colleges without even being at the school for more than a semester.

As you can see, NIL has completely changed college athletics by improving all sports and athletes' lives and increasing popularity and viewership. Although this good has been found in NIL, there are also some debatable topics, such as creating unloyal people and throwing academics out the window. Both can be argued for and are true, but the reality is that NIL will be here to stay. NIL for many, especially high schoolers like myself, will be a very hot and relevant topic for athletes trying to play beyond high school.