Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) has created quite a stir in college sports, and dramatically changing the amateur sports landscape in ways we have never seen before. Student athletes today can earn money from things like signing autographs and doing commercials, and many supporters of NIL feel this is long overdue. In fact, increasingly more student athletes are becoming overnight millionaires from NIL — regardless if they ever make it to professional sports. There have been a few unintended consequences though, including the ways in which college coaches go about recruiting athletes, as well as the number of sports colleges can continue to fiscally support as a result of most NIL money going toward football and mens basketball. Can this model survive moving forward, and if so, what sports will we see cut across colleges nationwide?
The new college “amateur” model & related issues
There are a number of new issues impacting college sports today, but perhaps none more significant than the complete overhaul of the “amateur” athlete. NIL has been a great thing for many student athletes, but the changes have occurred so fast that a new set of problems have emerged, including the following:
- The rise of “pay to play” and transfer portal issues. Increasingly more student athletes today prioritize how much they will be paid by a college over every other decision-making variable, resulting in a “shop the highest bidder” mentality that is akin to how a pro athlete shops teams during free agency. College coaches, once in complete control, are now left with little power beyond whatever money they can find to offer a student athlete — and small colleges have virtually no ability to compete with bigger schools.
- The burden of colleges to fund non-revenue sports. As more NIL money is dedicated to football over all other sports on campus, many teams are at risk to be disbanded when there is no money to support their program. While sports like gymnastics, wrestling, fencing, and soccer are exciting sports, they generally do not turn a profit, leaving them on the cutting block in these times where NIL runs the show.
- Lack of NIL regulation. There are currently few rules relating to NIL, with no salary cap or real oversight. As a result, we are seeing student athletes quickly poached from other colleges, and big money (millions of dollars in some cases!) being waved at top recruited high school athletes. Can this haphazard approach sustain?
A recent segment on CBS News further examines the growing list of concerns relating to the new, barely regulated impact of NIL on college sports:
While many people felt college student athletes deserved far more than some of their courses subsidized by means of an athletic scholarship, there is growing concern that the perceived fix to the problem may actually turn into a bigger problem than when student athletes could not be paid. Do we want student athletes only deciding on their college selection based on how much money they are offered? How many non-revenue sports will be at risk of disbandment due to most of the NIL money going to football? And is it a good thing to dangle millions of dollars in front of 17 year old high school kids for them to come to your school? Being fair to student athletes is one thing, but when the correction leads to even greater problems it may be time to revisit the recent changes.
Final thoughts
Take a look around, college sports look very different today compared to just a few years ago. While paying student athletes some kind of stipend makes sense, doing too much, too soon, may have resulted in bigger problems than were anticipated. In all likelihood there will be corrections made, with a focus on better regulation around NIL, and more efforts to save non-revenue sports from being dropped. Today, however, college sports do not seem to have much of a direction when it comes to taking care of student athletes, while at the same time prioritizing fairness, equality, and emphasis on maintaining all of their sports.
drstankovich.com
