The NCAA implemented a policy that allows student-athletes to make money from their own personal brand in June 2021. While there has never been such a financial consideration for athletes in college sports, some argue the entire concept of Name, Image, Likeness threatens the foundation of college sports by completely removing any hint of amateurism and introduces enormous sums of money for a sport that’s done just fine without.
The NCAA defines its NIL policy as “the right of college athletes to monetize their personal brand while still maintaining amateur status, ” according to information from American Public University. A student can now earn money whenever they participate in brand deals. Hunter Wohler, a safety on the Wisconsin Badgers football team, earned a 2022 Ram 1500 Big Horn car by partnering with a local car dealer.
A paid student-athlete was unheard of in the past. Many people argued college athletes receive a free education on top of continuing to play a sport they love — and that was enough compensation.
But fans who love the sport don't understand the physical and mental undertaking a sport has on an athlete. Additionally, the lucrative nature of college sports has changed remarkably over the last 30 years, and athletes were not financially benefiting from this new reality like their schools were.
The Daily Cardinal asked University of Wisconsin-Madison students their opinions on how they believe the NIL is affecting their college sports world.
“I think [the main change] is the stigma around the characters and how they are treated on and off the field,” said Madison, a UW-Madison sophomore.
Madison said athletes may sign NIL deals with companies that align with one ideology, causing a change in perception of them for their fans. NIL brings the outside world into sports, which can sometimes be a turn-off for fans.
Will, another UW-Madison student, thinks NIL has benefited athletes and college sports in general.
“I think that along the lines of Madison's thought process, tensions can grow even between players,” said Will.
Another advocate for NIL is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, legendary basketball star for the Milwaukee Bucks, wrote in 2018 a paper titled “It's time to pay the tab for America’s college athletes.”.
In his paper, Abdul-Jabbar discussed how NIL was quite a foreign concept during his time as a college athlete. Abdul-Jabbar noted that in just one year, the NCAA basketball tournament made $900 million and generated $9.2 billion in sports betting. Yet with all this money being generated, college athletes like Kareem struggled to get by.
“It was frustrating to win championship after championship every year, hear thousands chat my name, and then go to my bedroom to count my change so I could buy a burger,” Kareem said.
If implemented correctly, Abdul-Jabbar also argued that NIL has the potential to help struggling college athletes and create balance between the amount of money coaches and athletes make.
“Top college coaches make between $4 million and $9 million per year, plus outside fees. In 40 out of the 50 states, they are the highest paid state employees,” he said. “Yet, their players make nothing.”
Because less than two percent of college athletes turn pro after college, they have been left without money from their college careers until the introduction of NIL.
NIL has made an enormous impact on college sports, with athletes financially benefiting from their hard work. While this is clearly a good thing, there are arguments that the dollars need to be shared in a way that doesn’t cause tensions within the team structure.
