Name Image Likeness Daily Update (UIL LD)

Key: NCAA Issues Name, Image and Likeness Clarification for Schools (10-28-22)

Only a small percentage of athletes benefit

Dennis Dodd, 10-26, 22, College football powers quickly being reminded money doesn’t necessarily buy wins in this sport, https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-football-bowl-projections-tcu-jumps-into-new-years-six-illinois-profile-continues-rising/

On Saturdays, fans aren’t gathering to argue the amount of scholarship checks. Only a small percentage of players will get any significant NIL. All of them will play for Good Ol’ State U.

NIL deals benefit poor athletes and their families

HARRISON CANN, OCTOBER 18, 2022, City & State, City & State explores the potential for high school athletes selling their name, image and likeness (NIL), https://www.cityandstatepa.com/policy/2022/10/city-state-explores-potential-high-school-athletes-selling-their-name-image-and-likeness-nil/378601/

Adam Breneman, a former Cedar Cliff High School star who went on to play tight end at both Penn State and the University of Massachusetts, said he witnessed teammates struggle to make ends meet when he was playing college football. “Some guys would get a Pell grant, which helps low-income families, but a lot of them were sending that money (home) to support their family,” recalled Breneman, now a college football analyst and vice president of Name, Image and Likeness and media for the digital brand-experience company Mercury. “There were a bunch of guys that literally were living with $50 in their checking account while they were superstars in college.” Now, the NIL market, which is growing rapidly at the collegiate level, is set to trickle down to high school sports. While the vast majority of student-athletes won’t get deals worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, many could still benefit from smaller deals with local companies. “You see a lot of great stories of a lot of great athletes that have monetized and been able to provide for themselves and change their life,” Breneman said. And even for those making a few hundred or thousand dollars off paid social media posts or event appearances, “that is more power to them; that changes their life, too.” The “name, image and likeness” policy – or NIL – allows student-athletes to earn money from their personal brands through sponsorships, paid appearances and product promotions. After a longstanding restriction on players’ publicity rights was disputed in court, the National Collegiate Athletic Association granted players the right to accept money from businesses in exchange for using them in products or advertisements and to promote themselves or other companies in public appearances. For many collegiate athletes, the past year of NIL deals has made a world of difference, particularly those who would have relied on a part-time job to pay for necessities not covered by an athletic scholarship. In July, less than two weeks after the first anniversary of the state’s NIL legislation taking effect, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association – the state’s governing body of high school sports – approved a preliminary NIL plan during a board meeting in State College. Melissa N. Mertz, associate executive director at the PIAA, said given the recentness of the NCAA ruling, some officials were shocked to hear high schoolers brought up in the NIL conversation, but that many in leadership thought it was better to get ahead of the issue. People weren’t as aware of the rise of the micro-influencer in the athlete world. – THILO KUNKEL “One of the other reasons that they strongly encouraged us developing language and giving strong consideration to adopting the policy was to get our arms around it,” Mertz said. “At the collegiate level, it’s like the Wild Wild West.” For decades, the NCAA strictly limited the involvement student-athletes had with endorsement deals. No collegiate athlete could earn money off their name, image or likeness while remaining NCAA-eligible, leaving many modern athletes with growing online brands out of a potentially lucrative market. Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 2020 decision in Alston v. NCAA, the long-standing rules prohibiting college athletes from being compensated for using their name were deemed to have violated federal antitrust law, leaving states free to implement their own NIL regulations. One year later, the first batch of state laws and the NCAA’s new rules took effect, allowing any collegiate athlete to profit off their brands and sign endorsement deals.

Most athletes are at least making something

According to NIL platform INFLCR, the average NIL transaction during the first year was about $1,815. Football players averaged deals whose average was worth just under $4,000, while sports like swimming, rifle and golf saw deals ranging from $1,000 to $9,000. Thilo Kunkel, associate professor at Temple University’s School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management, said the media often overlooks the number of small NIL deals taking place. “People weren’t as aware of the rise of the micro-influencer in the athlete world,” Kunkel said.

Female college athletes also making millions

Rick Talendar, 10-17, 22, Chicago Sun Times, After decades of working for nothing, college athletes following the money, https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/10/17/23410175/after-decades-of-working-for-nothing-college-athletes-following-the-money-nil-deals

Still, to think that even after a Hall of Fame NFL career, plus brief stardom in Major League Baseball, Sanders would be a college coach someday? No way. His presence at Jackson State, one of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities, shows how much the college game has changed in the last few years. With players anywhere now able to profit off their name, image and likeness (NIL), you don’t hear much talk about the ‘‘amateur ideal’’ that was the old mantra of the NCAA. That is, unless you’d call Fresno State twin women’s basketball players Haley and Hanna Cavinder and their million-dollar deals (partnerships with 31 brands, according to Forbes.com) amateurs. And there’s Alabama sophomore quarterback Bryce Young with an NIL valuation, according to sports data company On3.com, of $2.6 million. And, yes, Sanders’ son Shedeur, Jackson State’s quarterback, is cashing in with sponsorships from Gatorade, Beats by Dre and Tom Brady’s apparel company. The apple doesn’t fall far from the daddy tree, clearly. But almost any enterprising college athlete can get some money these days at a variety of sales points. Consider that Nebraska freshman football player Decoldest Crawford signed a deal with a heating-and-cooling company (Brrrr!) and that Alabama cornerback Ga’Quincy ‘‘Kool-Aid’’ McKinstry inked a deal with — ta da! — Kool-Aid.

Female athletes also benefitting from NIL deals

Scot Jaschik, 10-17, 22, Women Gain From Sports Deals, but Men Gain the Most, https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2022/10/17/women-gain-sports-deals-men-gain-most

While male athletes have gained the most from the new ability to sell their name, image and likeness, female athletes are gaining as well, according to an analysis published by CNBC. The analysis found that: Since the NIL era started in July 2021, women’s college basketball players have ranked the third highest among compensated sports. There is a huge gap between the athletes in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I football and everyone else. Football players gained almost half of all deals. But six women’s sports are in the top 10 among all college athletics for NIL compensation.

Examples of the value of NIL deals

Marjorie Cortez, 10-14, 22, Poll: 68% of Utahns back college athletes monetizing names, images, likenesses, https://www.deseret.com/utah/2022/10/13/23393655/poll-results-utahns-support-college-athlete-pay-nil-names-images-likenesses

According to Action Network, which provides readers original reporting, insights, betting tools, data and odds, college football’s highest NIL earners this year are:

University of Alabama’s Bryce Young, with a total valuation of $3.2 million in NIL deals.
Ohio State University’s CJ Stroud, with a $2.5 million NIL valuation.
University of Southern California’s Caleb Williams at a $2.4 million NIL valuation.
Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigbas at a $1.7 million valuation.
University of Texas’ Bijan Robinson, also with a $1.7 million NIL valuation.

Meanwhile, among the top 10 football teams from the AP Top 25, the No. 1 school for player NIL valuation — based on average earnings across the team— is Texas A&M at $85,000. Rounding out the top five are the University of Michigan, Oklahoma University, University of Georgia and University of Alabama at fifth, despite having some of the biggest single NIL deals on its roster, according to Action Network.

The website ranks the University of Utah No. 9 for $29,000 average earnings across the teams.

NIL deals hide massive inequity

Brad Wolverton, 10-12, 22, NCAA Athletes Can Finally Make Money, but They’re Still Shortchanged, https://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa-athletes-finally-money-still-120500067.html

It is true that the NCAA’s losses in O’Bannon v. NCAA and NCAA v. Alston, along with new state laws, have allowed college athletes to begin monetizing their name, image and likeness and have given players additional education-related benefits. But as the NCAA’s pie has gotten exponentially bigger, most athletes’ share of that pie still amounts to crumbs. Yes, some superstars are getting their bag: One five-star football recruit in the 2023 class will reportedly make $2 million/year, thanks to a wealthy booster collective. Increasing numbers of star football and basketball players—including Nijel Pack, who’s pulling in $400,000 a year the next two seasons at the University of Miami—are making money that’s on par with top NBA G League players. And South Carolina’s women’s basketball team, the defending national champs, just signed an NIL deal giving each player $25,000 this season. But consider that major conference coffers are bulging. In August, the Big Ten finalized a seven-year, $7-billion-plus media-rights package, worth more than double its 2016 deal. The latest agreement will distribute up to $100 million a year to each Big Ten school. In contrast, the average NCAA athlete has pocketed just $3,711 in NIL money, according to Opendorse, a platform that facilitates NIL deals for athletes. That’s more than they could make bagging groceries, but it’s hardly enough to cover a used truck. The headlines about six- and seven-figure player payouts are obscuring the fact that—on more important health and equity matters—big-time athletic departments are continuing to shortchange athletes. During my decade covering college sports until 2016, I spent much of my time exploring inequities in the NCAA system, including reports of coaches meddling in athletes’ medical decisions and players making do with miniscule scholarships. Those same problems continue to persist today, as players lack true health and safety protections and fair compensation for their work. One way the NCAA attempts to distract from how it’s lining its pockets on unfairly compensated athlete labor is by touting the more than $2 billion a year in athletic scholarships its member schools hand out. But the NCAA’s use of scholarships as an altruistic defense shines the spotlight on another problem: the complexity and lack of transparency surrounding athletic aid. Over the years, I’ve interviewed hundreds of people—from academic advisors to athletic trainers to whistleblowers—and I understand what life is like inside big-time athletic departments. But I have rarely encountered a system as flawed as the multibillion-dollar athletic recruiting industry. That’s why I’ve decided to chronicle NCAA sports again through a new podcast called Sports Scholarship Stories, which explores the business of athletic recruiting through the lens of former NCAA scholarship athletes and insiders. The show builds on an article I wrote on the subject, “The Myth of the Sports Scholarship.” As I’ve focused my attention on athletic recruiting, I realize what a maze it is for parents and kids, and how poor of a view some former scholarship athletes have of coaches. “To put it most succinctly, the coaches are trying to get you for as little money as possible—they’re cheap, basically,” Allison Goldblatt, a former UCLA and UNC swimmer, told me in the podcast’s first episode. I’m not naive enough to think my podcast will fix the problems with athletic recruiting. But by elevating athletes’ voices, I’m hoping to help more families understand the realities of athletic aid.

NIL deals even help Division III athletes

Nick Pantages, 10-12, 22, NIL gives opportunity for student-athletes at Springfield Colleges, https://scstudentmedia.com/nil-gives-opportunity-for-student-athletes-at-springfield-college/

The fight from collegiate athletes to have the right to make money for themselves through advertisements, social media and other forms of marketing was fierce. Student-athletes were playing a huge role in the success of billion dollar companies, but didn’t receive any portion of the revenue they were creating. With their persistent determination, the NCAA finally cracked. On June 30, 2021, the Name, Image and Likeness policy, known more commonly as NIL, was created. It allowed athletes across all levels and divisions of collegiate sports to become compensated based on the three terms in the name. The main beneficiaries of this are the elite Division I collegiate student-athletes. The players who play for high-profile schools with big social media presences are the ones who receive the six-figure deals with large-name companies. This leaves Division III athletes, like the ones here at Springfield College, in a peculiar position. Many have had to find interesting, new ways to utilize and capitalize on these rules, as many of these athletes do not have the tens of thousands of followers that the higher-profile Division I athletes do. One of the athletes at Springfield College who has found a way to benefit from the NIL rules is Emma Robinson, a junior on the Springfield College field hockey team. Robinson, a native of Wilbraham, Mass., has used these rules to develop a partnership with her longtime and local gym, Continuum Performance Center in East Longmeadow. “I have trained there since I was younger and the owner asked me last winter if I could do a partnership with him to represent their brand to college athletes,” Robinson said. Continuum Performance Center is a gym that uses personalized training methods to help their athletes maximize their training regimens. Continuum Performance Center Robinson thinks her time at CPC had a positive effect on her athletic performance, describing her experience as “great.” Financially, it helps as well. Although it does not bring Robinson any extra money, she gets to go to the gym for free. With athletes in particular, many do not have the luxury of the on-campus facilities in the offseason. This forces many athletes to cough up some money for a gym membership, which is an expense that many collegiate athletes simply do not want to pay for. Although it does not net her any extra money, the ability to be able to use CPC’s advanced facilities for free in the offseason is definitely a benefit for Robinson. One thing that NIL deals accomplish is putting an emphasis on the social media presence of their players. Many players with big-name NIL deals have posts with their social media accounts featuring the company they have a deal with, and Robinson’s deal with CPC is no different. Robinson created a social media fitness account that is associated with the gym, which is something that she enjoys. Robinson also used her fitness account to put her spin on her side of fitness, featuring some healthy recipes and food to satisfy the nutritional benefits athletes need, along with the physical activity. The social media aspect of Robinson’s deal helped her in more ways than just is what is seen on the outside, however. On the page, you see the vibrant healthy foods and workout pictures, but the account is more than that to Robinson. “I feel like the whole overall experience has given me confidence,” Robinson said. “Even making that fitness account was way out of my comfort zone, but I ended up having a lot of fun doing it.” This small fitness account sums up the unknown benefits of the NIL rules for Division III athletes like the ones on the campus of Springfield College. Despite the lack of financially stable deals, the impact NIL has had on athletes like Robinson is noticeable – and it has shown some of the positives it can bring to the campus of Springfield College.

NIL deals don’t violate Title IX because the deals aren’t controlled by the universities

Greg Hunter, 9-27, 12, https://www.wvnews.com/bluegoldnews/nil-has-greatly-changed-things-in-college-athletics/article_128c039c-39ee-11ed-b9c5-a35f736ae09e.html, NIL has greatly changed things in college athletics

“There are pros and cons about bringing it in-house,” explained Lyons. “Certainly, you would have more control, but what are the Title IX implications? The larger deals are generally going to male student-athletes in football and basketball, and that’s the case nationwide. If (NIL) is not within the athletic department and I don’t have the say-so about who gets what dollars, it’s our understanding that we’re not under Title IX regulations. If I bring it in-house and I start doing the deals, I have to have proportionality. When there is a business or donor who wants the deal to go to a particular athlete because it’s about marketing, do I run a Title IX risk? If we do it in-house, I believe we do run that Title IX risk of not doing it proportionally. If (NIL) is outside and these businesses want to donate to a particular student-athlete, they can do so and it’s not a Title IX situation. Some of our female student-athletes have benefited, so I’m not saying that’s not possible. We’ll just have to see how this all evolves to say whether it should be in-house or outside.”

NIL deals are capitalistic

Bradley Gitz, 9-19, 22,

OPINION | BRADLEY GITZ: Pigskin capitalism, https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2022/sep/19/pigskin-capitalism/

The common assumption is that conservatives resist change. On the other hand, those who support capitalism and associate innovation and prosperity with the profit motive that drives them are also often depicted as conservatives. This is contradictory because there is nothing remotely conserving or static about the impact of capitalism, as is now being reflected by what it is doing to college football (and college sports in general). The Supreme Court ruling in NCAA v. Alston allowing college athletes to profit from their “name, image, and likeness” (NIL) means that some will make more money than their coaches before they’ve played their first down.

Quotes/Thoughts on NIL

I don’t think you can use the quotes in this card for cards in your debates but there are argument ideas

Gopher Hole, 9-16, 22, https://gopherhole.com/boards/threads/cbs-candid-coaches-more-than-one-year-in-is-name-image-and-likeness-helping-or-hurting-college-athletics.107495/, CBS: Candid Coaches: More than one year in, is name, image and likeness helping or hurting college athletics?

Quotes that stood out Helping “Probably too early to tell but I think it is helping the college basketball product. You saw some really good players return to college because of the financial implications.” “We are keeping more guys in college basketball and the really good players at each program are more likely to stay at their school than transfer.” “Overall NIL is helping college athletics — (but) it does need some guardrails. Even pro sports have salary caps. It has made coaching more of a challenge because there is an expectation of getting a deal at the snap of your fingers.” “I like NIL — I just don’t think it’s been managed properly. Some of the money out there right now, I just don’t understand or see how it’s sustainable. I certainly think NIL should be an option for college athletes, it’s just gotta be managed somehow better. It’s out of control right now. I don’t understand where all this money is coming from and how it can be sustainable. It’s good for a place like my school because we would never cheat, and now it allows us to offer our players something in a legal way. It’s a good thing for college basketball, but certainly somehow needs to be managed a little better because it’s just a little bit out of control right now.” Hurting “It’s increased so many ways for people to move money to players, handlers and families that have nothing to do with NIL but can fall under the guise of it. Pay-for-play is more brazen than ever before. There is no teeth in any legislation that you don’t feel the right lawyers couldn’t get you through.” “Recruiting has become a silent auction for recruits going to the highest bidder. It’s not about where the best fit is anymore, style of play, role, development, etc. for a recruit’s future.” “I think NIL has eliminated ‘college’ athletics, and much of this is due to the lack of progressive thought by leadership in the NCAA. They had numerous years and opportunities to find ways to allow players to profit off true NIL. Because of their backtracking, they got backed into such a corner they essentially opened the floodgates — to not players profiting of name, image and likeness, (but) legit pay-for-play. I do think the market corrects itself in the years to come. I think less people will be interested in giving money on the front side.” Overall, I think the combination of NIL and the transfer portal has hurt college athletics. I think both on their own would be fine, but when you put the two together you have poison. Mid-major farm teams. Collusion at the high-major level and free agency with no contracts. At least in the NBA there is a salary cap and contracts with penalties.”

The alternative of paying employees means high taxes and the evisceration of Title IX protections

Dosh, 9-10, 22, Kristi A. Dosh is the founder of BusinessofCollegeSports.com and has served as a sports business analyst and contributor for outlets such as Forbes, ESPN, SportsBusiness Journal, Bleacher Report, SB Nation and more. She is also the author of a book on the business of college football, Saturday Millionaires. Kristi is a sought-after consultant and speaker on topics related to the business of college sports and a former practicing attorney, The Future of NIL and Compensating Athletes with NCAA President Mark Emmert, https://businessofcollegesports.com/name-image-likeness/the-future-of-nil-and-compensating-athletes-with-ncaa-president-mark-emmert/

Although Emmert admits making student athletes employees has some “nice common sense,” he says it’s more complicated than people realize. “Employment law doesn’t differentiate whether it’s a high-revenue sport or a low-revenue sport. It’s based upon what is the relationship between the employee and the employer. So, if the football team at Florida are employees, so are the gymnasts, so are the tennis players, so is the softball team. “Well, alright, who cares? Well, let’s think about this across all the country. Then they’re all employees, right? And all the employment laws of every state that apply then apply to all college athletes, basically. It’s a little more complicated than that. “Now you don’t recruit a student. You hire them, and you fire them. You negotiate with them, and you have to pay taxes as an employee on everything you get.” He went on to discuss how much an athlete might owe in taxes on their income, scholarship, room and board, along with books, supplies, non-athletic clothing and anything else you receive. “You’re now no longer part of Title IX, by the way. Title IX has promoted gender equity, and college sports is irrelevant under that scenario, because it’s an education law. It has nothing to do employment. That’s a really important fact. There’s no Title IX for workers. There’s a Title IX for students.” “You’ve got age discrimination laws that you’ve got to deal with. All of the issues that we deal with in an employment relationships–now it’s an employment relationship–many universities, having run universities, I’m very confident with this, many, many, many universities would say, ‘No mas, I’m not doing that.’” Emmert went on to say that although it might make economic sense to do it for football and men’s basketball, it doesn’t make sense for other sports. “Every time you open a book, a playbook, you’re paying minimum wage. You take a trip, you’re paying the golf team minimum wage for eating at the training table, for lifting weights, for everything. That becomes an employment relationship. And if you’re not lifting weights hard enough, do you get fired?”

NIL needs to be done at the federal level because a patchwork of state laws is inconsistent

After sharing how many “agents” have contacted me who aren’t aware of state licensure requirements, and some of the predatory contract terms I’ve seen, I asked President Emmert if the NCAA is considering certifying agents for NIL representation or if he thinks it’s even the NCAA’s place. “We did, in fact, create an agent model for certifying them to represent athletes in the basketball draft and some other activities, but it hasn’t expanded around this NIL arena. And I think it probably needs to, whether it’s the NCAA doing it, or some other independent entity, is neither here nor there. It needs to be some credible entity that can say, ‘Yes, this person actually has the cred to and the knowledge to write a contract with you and and provide you with some sound advice.’ “That that’s a role that needs to be played here. Again, you can’t overstate the problem of having 30 or so states with different state laws. We’ve got this crazy patchwork of laws. In some states, universities are allowed to be involved in some of these activities. In some states, they’re forbidden from it. In some places, there are some constraints on agents. In some places, there’s no constraints on agent. We need some standardization across the country on this issue. “And the NCAA as a collection of the 1100 schools of college sports needs to be involved in that. Whether they run it or not, I’m agnostic about, but there has to be a role there, because there are people engaged in those kinds of predatory contracts, and we need to make sure that doesn’t happen.” There are so many additional nuggets from this interview, but we’ll have the full audio available very soon. Bookmark this page and check back or follow me on Twitter to check it out when it becomes available.

NIL deals help athletes earn business skills and often result in charitable contributions

Mariah Guzman, 9-9, 22, https://247sports.com/Article/Texas-Football-Bijan-Robinson-talks-NIL-donating-backpacks-in-Austin-192984124/ , exas Football: Bijan Robinson talks NIL, donating backpacks in Austin

Bijan Robinson is a star running back for Texas and arguably the best back in the country. Along with his success on the field for the Longhorns, he’s also experienced a load of success signing name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals since it was implemented in June of 2020. Robinson has several deals, including ones with: Lamborghini, Raising Cane’s and even his own dijon mustard. Robinson joined former USC quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart on FOX College football and discussed how NIL has impacted him and fellow athletes alike. “Now that it’s here, it’s good for us to start learning the business side of things,” Robinson said. “It’s important for me to understand and what fits best for me. It’s a good thing college players are being able to get paid now. And not just getting paid money, but really learn behind the business things that they want. And then, making those relationships. Relationships are important. Whenever those relationships come across my face, I think that I need to take advantage of it and understand this can build something for something greater as time goes on in my life. It’s definitely a blessing that we have it now. I think that when people see, when other people see those opportunities for me, it gives them an opportunity to do something for themselves now that we get to make our name known in another light other than football.” Robinson has taken his NIL deals a step further. On Aug, 31., it was shared that the running back donated more than $3,000 worth of backpacks to Austin Harmony School of Excellence. “That kind of stuff right there is what means the most to me,” Robinson told Leinart. “Those kids can’t afford a lot of things and they’re struggling to get a backpack. Like one girl came up to me and was like, ‘Hey, I don’t have a backpack.’ And I was like, ‘Man, just a backpack?’ We take for granted a lot of different things, but when they can’t afford a backpack I feel that it’s a issue that we need to settle up. And for me, I thought it was important to just give them all something they appreciate and something that they don’t have to buy. But it’s coming from me, and it’s coming from my heart. When I talked to those kids, especially the football team, I wasn’t trying to talk to him to be the role model or the Bijan Robinson they see on TV or on social media. Like I was just trying to be a friend to reach out from me to them so they can feel where I’m coming from and understand me the most. That kind of stuff is what means the most to me.”

NIL deals provided needed financial support to community college athletes

Adam Cocco, Assistant Professor of Sport Administration, University of Louisville, 9-7, 22, Community college athletes could earn $48 per Instagram post under the right conditions, https://theconversation.com/community-college-athletes-could-earn-48-per-instagram-post-under-the-right-conditions-189502

With all the hype surrounding lucrative endorsement deals for athletes at Division I schools, it’s easy for people to get the impression that players at smaller schools – and community colleges in particular – could be left behind in what is now known as the “NIL era.” But a study I did recently with Anita Moorman, a fellow professor of sport administration, suggests that’s not necessarily the case. In an article we published in the Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, we concluded that community college athletes can earn an estimated $48 per sponsored post on Instagram. Of course, that amount pales in comparison to the multimillion-dollar deals secured by some Division I athletes. But when you consider the fact that community college students often struggle to meet their basic needs, enabling those who are athletes to earn $48 by posting on Instagram seems a worthy endeavor to pursue. The math behind the money In order to arrive at our $48 figure, we had to come up with a way to calculate how much each player should get paid for each sponsored Instagram post. To make our estimate, we didn’t look only at how many Instagram followers each player had. We also looked at how many “likes” and comments their posts generated. We used a formula that basically takes into account how many followers an athlete has, as well as how many likes and comments the posts generate, and how much a company was willing to pay for those things. To figure out the part about how much a company is willing to pay, we took a look at the going rates. Of the 23,248 athletes competing in the California Community College Athletic Association during the 2019-2020 athletic season, we found 1,168 athletes – or about 5% – who had public Instagram profiles with at least 1,000 followers. We treated these athletes as potential social media influencers and applied standard influencer marketing rates to figure out how much money they could make for each sponsored post on Instagram. We figured that companies would be willing to pay $10 to reach 1,000 people. Economic struggles Based on our calculations, we found 11 community college athletes with an earnings estimate over $200 per sponsored post. An average male community college athlete could earn about $47 per post. And our calculations show that the average female athlete could earn $51 per sponsored Instagram post – $4 more than the men. This difference is driven by the ability of female athletes to generate more engagement on their Instagram posts. Overall, almost 93% of the athletes in our sample had an NIL value estimate between $20 and $100 per sponsored post. This is just a fraction of the average NIL value of a sponsored Instagram post for a Division I athlete, which is over $500. Still, every dollar counts, especially when you’re a community college student. For the most part, community college athletes don’t get athletic scholarships. Community college students commonly experience financial hardships that lead to a range of issues, including food and housing insecurities. For those reasons, enabling community college athletes to profit from endorsements would put some in a better position to meet their basic needs while in school. In order for community college students to reap the potential benefits of NIL deals, at least a couple of things need to happen. Education is needed First, community college athletes would benefit from greater access to education resources that can help them learn the ins and outs of NIL deals. This includes education on financial literacy, time management, personal brand development, contract negotiation and a host of other topics. Since community colleges typically have less money than four-year colleges, we think it would be helpful if the athletic associations that govern sports at community colleges would provide these educational resources to the schools and their athletes, rather than leaving it to the schools to secure these resources on their own. Some steps have already been taken in this regard. For instance, the California Community College Athletic Association announced a partnership with two companies – Spry and Accelerate – to provide all member institutions with NIL education. Spry is a company that provides a technology platform to help schools track and monitor NIL deals. Schools have an interest in tracking NIL deals to make sure they comply with athletic association policy, institutional policy and state law. Accelerate is a company that offers educational resources focused around NIL topics. The National Junior College Athletic Association announced a similar partnership with Opendorse on August 17, 2022. A bigger voice Community college athletes are not typically included in the national NIL discussion. Congressional witness lists show that community college students are seldom, if ever, invited to congressional hearings on NIL issues. Inviting community college students to the table would help broaden the scope of the discussion. Although California amended its NIL legislation to grant community college athletes the same NIL rights afforded to their peers at four-year institutions, active NIL legislation in five other states – Maryland, New Jersey, Oregon, Tennessee and Texas – still contains language that expressly or implicitly excludes community college institutions. This shows that not all states are on the same page when it comes to granting community college athletes access to endorsement deals. With all the Division I students who are capitalizing off endorsement deals, this is one of the most exciting times to be a college athlete. One estimate projected college athletes would earn almost $579 million during the 2021-2022 school year. Another estimate suggests NIL earnings will increase to over $1.14 billion during the 2022-2023 school year. It’s clear that Division I students will profit tremendously from NIL deals. The question for community college athletes is whether they’ll be able to profit, too, or whether they will be relegated to the sidelines.

NIL used to buy players

Athlon Sports, 8-22, 22, Money Talks: Name, Image and Likeness Raises the Stakes for Players and Schools Alike, https://athlonsports.com/college-football/money-talks-name-image-likeness-raises-stakes-players-schools-alike

As the football world focused its attention on the NFL Draft in late April, a headline-stealing report emerged: New USC head coach Lincoln Riley and the Trojans were testing the limits of college football’s new name, image and likeness policy, attempting to lure reigning Biletnikoff Award-winning wideout Jordan Addison of the Pittsburgh Panthers into the transfer portal and on to SoCal via a reportedly massive NIL enticement. The reactions were swift and vehement. Some accused the Trojans of tampering, since Addison had not yet entered the transfer portal when the reports of the offer emerged. Others simply called it the sport’s new normal. If it weren’t obvious before, it is now: Free agency has officially come to college football. Nick Saban himself observed that NIL “creates a situation where you can basically buy players.” The fallout of the Addison case is still developing and will doubtless reverberate for months to come, but it’s only the latest example of college football’s Brave New World of unfettered capitalism and free-market competition.

The first year of NIL has brought money and mirth, but also plenty of pitfalls. Addison’s reported move to USC — a school that new Pitt quarterback Kedon Slovis had left only months before — felt to some like a foreboding whoosh down the slippery slope toward chaos. The effects on the sport itself, some seemingly quite worrisome, are only starting to come into view. But we do know this: empowering student-athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness has yielded a gold rush that is distinctly American — equal parts optimistic and opportunistic. And in a distinctly American manner, it’s the older folks, not the kids, who are most likely to screw it up. Which brings us to the other wild card in the NIL fallout: the transfer portal. Just like the grass is always greener, the green is always greener. A transfer to a new campus brings plenty of untapped marketing opportunities. More than 3,000 players entered the transfer portal between last August and the start of 2022 alone, according to Axios. Clemson’s Dabo Swinney called it “chaos” and “tampering galore.” Rams Are Reportedly Waiving A Veteran Quarterback This Tuesday It’s a re-recruiting season, of sorts, and sometimes it gives way to a re-re-recruiting, as some athletes are entering the portal multiple times. That means the prized recruit that got away may never really get away, at least in the mind of the local car dealer. If you think all this will cause unlimited angst and headaches for college coaches, you would be right. Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin has said that de facto “free agency” is already in place, and players will “go to where they get paid the most.” If social media followers bring in deals more than on-the-field performance, you can just imagine what kind of perverse incentives that will create among players who are already addicted to seeing their likes count skyrocket. Making matters worse (for the coaches anyway), the NIL recruiting process will start as early as the actual recruiting process starts — or even earlier. And one of the questions recruits will have is: Does the school have a collective? That’s a nifty name for a start-up company devoted to helping facilitate deals for athletes. The people behind the collectives can be anybody from superfans to business executives (or both). “About one out of three Power 5 schools has a collective,” says Lawrence. “Every Power 5 school, by the end of 2022, will have a collective.” Translation: Expect many more people to have skin in the game — for better or for worse.