Name, Image, and Likeness: Why Should I Care About It?
What is NIL?
NIL, or Name, Image, and Likeness is the policy enacted in 2021 that allows college athletes to earn money, specifically through leveraging their status as college athletes. You may hear NIL frequently described as “college athletes getting paid”, which gives the wrong idea that universities are paying their athletes. In fact, one of the few rules within NIL is that players are not supposed to be paid specifically for their athletic performance.
While larger athletic departments may be “bending” those rules here and there due to the loose verbiage on most NIL legislation, the vast majority of athletic departments don’t even know how to support their athletes in NIL ventures.
Why Should I Care About It?
NIL is arguably the single largest change in NCAA history. When the NCAA was founded, it was specifically designed to protect schools from providing worker’s compensation to injured athletes. The idea of “amateurism” has always been sacred to the NCAA, and they’ve used it to shelter their non-profit revenue from the athletes who create the product they sell. If you’re going to work with student-athletes, or are a parent to a student-athlete, it is important to understand that NIL is an opportunity provided to those who want to use it.
Additionally, it’s important to understand how NIL can be acted upon because most of the NIL deals we hear about in media are related to the outlier scenarios involving major brand deals for millions of dollars. Like most things, that type of NIL opportunity only affects about 1-2% of the total college athlete demographic. For the other 98%, finding creative ways to leverage NIL can lead to opportunities well beyond a social media post for cash. Something as simple as hosting a skills camp in an athlete’s hometown constitutes an NIL-supported activity.
How Do I Discuss NIL With my Students/Children
As a college counselor, I’m a big believer in using opportunities to their fullest extent. High academic students will use their GPA and test scores to maximize their scholarship packages at various schools, performers will audition for programs at schools that are outside of their normal application range because of their specific talent, and athletes should leverage their front-facing position in college to maximize their opportunities off the field. NIL creates unique pathways to connect with businesses and career fields that one may be interested in, and creating networks is one of the most important aspects of the college process. For many athletes, traditional breaks (Summer break, Winter break, etc.) are out of the question due to sports schedules and commitments. However, through NIL many athletes are able to connect with businesses and create more uniquely structured opportunities that were previously not available.
In short, NIL should be discussed as another tool in the arsenal when thinking about life beyond college.
What Are Some Myths I Might Hear?
Myth: “College sports are just pay-for-play now”
Fact: NIL has done little to change the competitive landscape of college athletics so far. In reality, the schools that are navigating large-dollar NIL collectives were probably doing something similar beforehand, they’re just allowed to publicize it now. For everyone else, managing NIL is hardly a school problem at all because they don’t have the budget to do so. The transfer portal created more of a shake-up of college athletics operations than NIL has to date.
Myth: “You can only use NIL at big-name schools”
Fact: You hear about NIL at big-name schools because that’s where the largest dollar deals are occurring, but NIL exists at every level and at every school. In fact, it is most likely easier to engage in NIL opportunities at smaller schools because your entire team’s marketability isn’t strapped to one or two “key” players on the team. This opens up opportunities for players up and down the lineup to create their own opportunities.
Myth: “NIL doesn’t apply to a player like me”
Fact: NIL applies to anyone willing to put the work in. The biggest fallacy kids fall into is the idea that NIL opportunities happen TO athletes. For a select few that may be true, but for the vast majority of athletes NIL is something you have to MAKE work for you. When you think about it as an option you can choose to opt-in to rather than a service that is provided to you, your opportunity window grows dramatically.
