About 28 months ago, the college sports landscape underwent a tectonic shift.
After increasing pressure from state laws and a Supreme Court decision, the NCAA put one interim policy in place, allowing college athletes to enjoy their name, image and likeness for the first time since the governing body was established in 1905.
While each NCAA division has been divided into different tectonic plates, each still faces its own aftershocks.
On3 asked over 50 stakeholders what their biggest issue was with the NIL space, with each opinion different from the other because of how divisive NIL has been. Interviews with commissioners, sports directors, coaches, athletes, NIL and legal experts and others are part of The State of On3 College Sports project. As part of the series, On3 examines the biggest issues facing college sports today and what the future will look like. On3 will publish its responses, along with accompanying stories, over the coming days, with Monday’s focus on how NIL has fractured college sports.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS: College speakers discuss the biggest issues with NIL
At Division II and III levels, attempt to obtain approval VOID offers and dollars remain a challenge for most athletes. And in Division I, the cracks are everywhere. College football continues to move towards a professionalized model. NIL serves as a stopgap between amateurism and revenue sharing.
NIL supported by a booster collectives distribute payroll, with the top half of the Power 5 operating on multi-million dollar budgets. Others are late to the NIL game, unable to produce dollars overnight. The same rings true in college basketball.
“Not everyone has the same amount of money, so it’s a challenge for a lot of schools.” Memphis basketball coach Penny Hardaway said On3. “Donors and everyone trying to get involved to help have been very busy. You are tired of donors. You always come back to the same donors.
Executives say NIL problems show new model needed
For many, these concerns about the collective are just further evidence of the need for a new model of college sports. Situations like a Florida collective Cancel a $13.85 million contract with a rookie and a Michigan State collective cancellation of agreements with 35 to 40 athletes are proof of this.
Cases like this Johnson v. NCAA case or the NLRB proceed against the NCAA, Pac-12 And U.S.C. could impose an employment model if the NCAA does not act quickly.
“So for me, the NIL, although it is important, it is not the main problem that we need to solve,” Texas A&M sports director Ross Bjork said On3. “What we need to resolve is what is the financial agreement between the athlete and the institution, and what is that structure.”
Added Athletes.Org founder Jim Cavale: “I think the fact that the majority of NIL, about 80%, comes from a separate entity from the school that is funded by donors, that pays athletes’ salaries in exchange for legitimate NIL activities like appearances and other things, being a band-aid for the school that doesn’t share gross revenue with the athlete, it’s – the hourglass is coming to an end.
Title IX compliance, a major concern NIL
However, NIL collectives are not linked to schools. THE Utah-targeted collective, the Crimson Collective, announcement in October, it rented all 85 scholarship football players – and no female athletes – 2024 Dodge Ram 1500 Big Horn trucks for free.
The agreement serves as a case study among the thousands of agreements that have been executed by collectives. Title IX has been a complex issue for many stakeholders to understand, as the booster-run organizations are not tied to institutions, yet represent the most dollars in the field.
“NIL and Title IX are about to collide – and it’s just a question of when and where,” prominent Title IX attorney Arthur Bryant of Bailey & Glasser, LLP said On3. “Title IX states that schools must provide male student-athletes and female student-athletes equal treatment and benefits, and almost no school in the country now does so without an NIL.”
This is not to say that women have not been successful. Names like Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, Livvy Dunne And Paige Bueckers were among the biggest earners of the NIL era.
Sponsorship deals and social media have also only increased the popularity of women’s basketball. Last year’s national title game between Iowa And LSU define a new recording. And some of the best talent earn more than their WNBA what the contracts would look like.
Speaking to On3, Bueckers said she thought there was an idea that high-caliber basketball players wouldn’t leave for the WNBA because of NIL. This is not the case.
“It doesn’t really have anything to do with NIL, but I think people kind of have this misunderstanding of, ‘Oh, I don’t want to go to the WNBA because I’m not going to get paid that much or I “I won’t have as many NIL contracts,” the former National Player of the Year said. “Like I said before, it can continue and even grow in terms of the changing landscape of the WNBA and how it is covered and sponsored.”
Lack of clarity for international student-athletes
U.S. immigration regulations currently prohibit international students in the United States on an F-1 student visa from participating in employment. F-1 visas provide only limited types of work authorization, most of which must be tied to the degree the athletes are pursuing.
For this reason, international athletes cannot legally compete in the NIL in the United States. About 20,000 international high school and college athletes across the country are in the same situation. Typical NIL agreements require athletes to perform service for compensation, which conflicts with immigration policy.
Some have signed agreements in international waters, like the former Kentucky star Oscar Tshiebwewho filmed deal activations during his team’s trip to the Bahamas.
“The real lack of clarity, the fact that there is any risk at all is very embarrassing,” NIL’s lawyer said. Darren Heitner » spoke about the struggle international athletes face. “So, for me, the biggest problem is that. I hope that Congress recognizes that this is an easy solution and will focus on this issue, rather than getting caught up in these much more robust pieces of legislation that go well beyond the NIL .
NCAA pushes Congress to resolve NIL frustrations
From Charlie Boulanger took over as president of the NCAA this spring. He made countless trips to Washington, D.C., to lobby Congress to develop a Void federal mandate. Earlier this fall, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearingmarking the 10th legislative hearing on college sports since 2020.
Baker spoke as a witness, alongside Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti And our Lady sports director Jack Swarbrick. The NCAA wish list includes an NIL transaction log, a certification process for agents and a uniform NIL standard.
Although Congress may not produce legislation as the presidential election approaches, the NCAA has begun to craft policies for his membership.
“There are legitimate concerns about the lack of transparency in the space, which can put student-athletes at risk of exploitation,” Baker said. “Currently, there is no standard contract for NIL, like you might have if you purchased a home, and that leaves student-athletes open to deals in which 50% or more of their income are paid to attorneys or agents, or the terms of the agreement may be terminated at any time by the other party.
For SECOND Commissioner Greg Sankeyguaranteeing pre-emption of state laws is at the top of the to-do list. Legislators from Arkansas, Colorado, Missouri, new York, Oklahoma And Texas passed bills this summer to prevent the NCAA from launching investigations into NIL activities.
“The biggest problem I have is that this was introduced state by state,” Sankey said. “You’ve seen states pass laws and then roll back reasonable laws. And states that have adopted appropriate frameworks have fallen back in a sort of competitive race.”
NIL is here to stay
One thing that will never change in college sports is that NIL will always exist. If revenue sharing were to actually exist in the near future, sponsorship deals would remain common. NIL collective financial schemes may lose their luster, but athletes who promote local and national businesses will still be at the heart of college sports in the future.
“I have always made it clear that NIL is the stopgap between what is happening now and what the revenue sharing will be,” said Jason Belzerthe founder of NIL student-athlete which manages more than 40 collectives across the country.
“That’s functionally what a lot of collectives do. Obviously, we focus all our efforts on true NIL. When revenue sharing becomes a reality, the actual NIL will matter even more because, just like when you’re a free agent and a professional sport, you still want to go play in New York or Los Angeles, because you want be in the two biggest. media markets in the country. NIL will import.
