Armed Forces Considering the NIL Space
The United States Military Has Proposed a Plan to Offer College Athletes Scholarships for Service
The United States Armed Forces has seen the opportunity in the college athletics space, and they want in. Given the new opportunities presented by NIL, deals have sprung up all over the place for college athletes and the military seems to think they have a pretty lucrative offer to add.
In theory, the proposal would involve certain branches of the military to provide scholarships to student-athletes – outside of football and basketball – in exchange for a certain amount of service. On the surface, this seems incredibly similar to the process at the federal service academies, and many ROTC programs across the country. It also guarantees a certain level of physical fitness from the enlistee which is rarely found in traditional enlistees.
All branches of the military have struggled with retention over the years from basic enlistment. Many individuals who decide to enlist lack either the health requirements or physical endurance required to succeed in the military, and those two concerns are almost entirely wiped out when recruiting a college athlete.
To dig deeper into this idea, branches could require specific majors for specific athletes in order to fill needs such as cybersecurity and mechanical engineering, which makes sense if they plan to financially support the college journey.
All in all, I think the idea itself is fantastic. ROTC and federal service academies have been doing this for decades, and to open the pool to a larger population of predominantly qualified individuals makes a lot of sense. As with any big life decision, I do think it’s important that each kid who agrees to something like this has a realistic and transparent understanding of what the agreement entails. Many high school athletes – whether it be for vanity or true financial need – will find it hard to pass up free college and an opportunity to play college sports, but if that offer comes with five years of military service then that needs to be communicated just as loudly during the offer process.
I also believe there is a world where the military offers partial scholarships for shorter commitments. If they’re able to cast a wider net with smaller investments then each branch creates a much larger pool of potential career candidates, and a much higher percentage of high school graduates have an opportunity to make school work for them financially.
Despite the numerous advantages this program could provide, it’s also important to be aware of the overall context of this offer. The military is offering government money in exchange for government service, whereas they traditionally offer government loans in exchange for no government service. I don’t personally think there is anything wrong with this system, and it’s one that we use with ROTC and federal service academies, but the introduction of this program into the NIL space could have monumental effects on a much larger group of people.
