The NCAA on July 1st, 2021 passed name image and likeness rights for collegiate athletes underneath the NCAA banner. This was a severe shift in what was previously allowed. 

This is revolutionary, as rules around NIL have prohibited athletes from profiting off of their collegiate fame. “The rules kept them squarely under the NCAA’s “amateur” guise, but not anymore” Says SBNations’s Sydney Umari.

Formally, players were limited to making money in form of their scholarships, any other form of money making by athletes was deemed to be an NCAA violation. Despite the NCAA making nearly a billion dollars in revenue every single year. Yet the NCAA still refused to give the athletes a piece of that billion-dollar pie. 

As Sydney Umari said “not anymore”.

However, the road to NIL rights was not easy, it took local, state, and even federal interference for the NIL rules to finally be passed by the NCAA, starting in California and their “fair to pay to play” act. The billl, that will go into effect until 2023, prohibits schools from punishing those who accept endorsement deals while in college. 

This one act set off a snowball effect that eventually led to the NCAA receiving a supreme court opinion that made it clear the NCAA would face significant legal issues if its rules on NIL rights were not changed.

“College sports is in the midst of its most significant changes in a generation,” said ESPN’s Dan Murphy, “athletes are now provided with varying degrees of new protections and opportunities to make money by selling their name, image and likeness (NIL) rights.”

The NCAA football season has now started and to say that the NIL rules have helped NCAA athletes would be an understatement. While the star QB’s like Spencer Rattler, D.J. Uiagalelei, Bryce Young, and C.J. Stroud will undoubtedly get the multi-million-dollar deals and benefit most from a monetary standpoint, it’s not just stars of college football that will benifit from the new NIL rules.

“Brands are showing strong attraction to all kinds of aspirational kids you have never heard of, in all kinds of surprising and pleasant places.” Said Washington Post’s Sally Jenkins.  For example a football player at Jackson State, Antwan Owens is getting support from hair company. He will not be a frist round draft pick nor will he have the colliagate fame like the big time quarterbacks yet he is still going to get paid for his NIL.  A wideout for Arkanas and his dogs are getting brand deals on social media. Even from a buisnes side, “The deodorant company Degree has signed up 14 athletes with inspiring backstories, many of whom you have never heard of, for a “#BreakingLimits” campaign. And Marshall offensive lineman Will Ulmer is getting paid to play his guitar onstage.”  Said Sally Jenkins. 

As a fan of college athletes, I couldn’t be happier that these college stars are now able to benefit from their NIL. It’s been long overdue. As someone who hated that  college stars could not take advantage of this rule, I hope that the schools take the time to support their athletes in these new changes and that athletes take full advantage of this opportunity because it’s been a long road to get here.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/09/03/college-athletics-nil-ncaa-endorsements/

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/31086019/everything-need-know-ncaa-nil-debate

https://www.sbnation.com/2021/7/1/22558078/college-athletes-name-image-likeness-nil-explained