N.I.Ls’ Effect on College Athletics

The landscape of college sports was changed forever when Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) was introduced on July 1, 2021, allowing college athletes to be compensated for their name, image, and likeness. Something that has never been done in college athletics before. Sparking a wide range of controversy, and one thing was for sure: The NIL era ruined collegiate athletics.  

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) was founded in 1906 and has served as an association for all colleges to run their athletic programs through ever since. Throughout that time, the athletes themselves could not be paid compensated in any way for their name. Athletes were to represent the university as an athlete and nothing else. They receive a stipend and that's all, not to say the conversion of athletes being paid has not been had. It was a prevalent talking point for years. 

NIL is not useless, and every instance of athletes receiving compensation is not a bad thing. It is not always a good thing, though.

Reggie Bush, running back for the USC Trojans (2003-2005) was awarded the Heisman trophy in 2005, being recognized as one of the most electric college athletes of all time. Bush then was drafted and played for the New Orleans Saints from 2006 to 2010. Which is when, in 2010, Reggie Bush's Heisman trophy was taken away from him after an investigation found that Bush was receiving compensation, housing, and more by a third-party lender during his time at USC, a policy against the NCAA. Removing Bush’s name from Heisman history. The only athlete to have their Heisman award taken away, even OJ Simpson, was never stripped of his Heisman title. 

Another Heisman winner, Johnny Manziel, was the youngest person to win the Heisman trophy. Earning the name “Johnny Football” he was a household name as a freshman. All of America tuned in to watch what Johnny Football would do next. Manziel was THE person to watch in 2012. Manziel has been outspoken about not being paid for his jersey sales. Manziel, along with other college athletes like Tavon Austin, Tim Tebow, Anthony Davis, Baker Mayfield, etc. Would have made a fortune off of jersey sales and merchandise during their college tenure. Because of these athletes being in college before the NIL system, they were never allowed to make money. But, should we be giving these athletes the extra opportunity to support themselves and their families by selling jerseys? Yes.

Athletes being paid for being recognized is not the problem. If some young Michigan fans wanted to buy a Denard Robinson jersey in 2012, Robinson should have got a cut. The issue of NIL becoming more prevalent in today's landscape is that everything has become a bidding war for athletes, more than before. Dave Portnoy, CEO of Barstool Sports, has been an outspoken donor for the Wolverines since NIL was announced. He has said that he will pay whatever price for the best recruits in the nation. And recently flipping No. 1 player in the country Bryce Underwood, with an NIL offer of reportedly $12 million through Portnoy's help. 

In other recent events, Tennessee Volunteers Quarterback, Nico Lamaleava, is leaving the university after determining that his $2,400,000 NIL deal is not enough money. Lamaleava is looking for $4 million in a new deal with a different program. Broadcasters like Paul Rosenabum are already saying to “stay away from this kid”

Colorado State recently was a victim of the bidding war, with programs offering $12 million for the Rams Quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi and Wide Receiver Tory Horton. The two players stayed loyal to the green and gold, but big bidders could be a big problem for programs like the CSU. If Oregon offered them that money, would they have stayed?

NIL is not a problem within itself, players should be able to make money off of their name. If people set out to buy something in order to support a college kid, the  majority of the money should go to the kid. But it should be capped at athletes making money off of jersey sales, merchandise, and personal deals. Not Terrell Pryor personal deals, where you're selling your championship rings for tattoos. But something like Travis Hunter, where he sells merchandise and has a Twitch /YouTube channel where he can accept ad revenue/donations. Something that fellow YouTuber, Donald De La Haye (Deestroying) was kicked off of the UCF football team for doing. The problem with NIL is, it changed the purpose of going to college for sports.

Most athletes used to go to college with dreams of making it to their respective professional sports league. Nowadays, making it to the collegiate level feels like already making it. If you make millions in college playing football, why play football in the NFL?

This may not be the biggest issue in the present tense, but this is the first generation of athletes to have NIL. Once NIL is in full effect for ten years, what happens when the money continues to go up? If someone like Lamaleava is making $2,400,000 in 2025, what happens when athletes determine in 2035 they’re worth $15 million? Asking prices for athletes will continue to go until they are to the point of professional athletes. At that point, there's no point in continuing your athletic career to the professional level. Since NIL has become a thing, athletes like Livvy Dunne, Quinn Ewers, and Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi are allowed to make money from their name, but athletes like Reggie Bush also had his Heisman status reinstated.

These types of things are good for the games of college sports because NIL has not ruined collegiate sports yet, per se. But it is already getting out of hand and will continue to do so until college sports players determine it is not worth it to play past their college days. The days of playing for passion are over, playing for brotherhood and memories will be long forgotten once players only prioritize where they can get a paycheck. 

NIL has ruined collegiate sports because it ruined what made going to college for sports so special. Playing for the love of the game, going to the same school as your dad, going to a school out of spite for the other team. All of these things that fueled college kids will slowly dissipate. Kids will now approach recruiting as a business deal, not an opportunity. There will be no point in going professional in your respective sport once deals reach professional level money. College sports will be a bidding war, till the end of time. The richest programs will always get the best players because they can set them up for life, an impossible thing to decline for most 18 year old kids. NIL is a good idea, but will become out of hand quickly as time goes on. NCAA athletics will still be around 50 years from now, so only time will tell how the integrity of college sports changes.