(ThyBlackMan.com) Just days after a major U.S. Supreme Court ruling regarding athlete compensation, the NCAA cleared student-athletes to be compensated for the use of their name, image, and likeness without losing their college eligibility. The seemingly eternal debate of whether college athletes should be paid is only partially answered as the NCAA will not be paying them. Instead, it will be third-party organizations as collegiate athletes will have the opportunity to monetize themselves like their fellow college students and virtually all other people can. Here are some of the big takeaways from the seismic shift regarding college sports NIL:
-The NCAA will NEVER be the same.
The NCAA has been the governing body for college sports preventing college athletes from financially benefitting off of their blood, sweat, and tears. The NCAA has also promoted “amateurism” and the propaganda of college athletes being adequately compensated for their work beyond actually being able to earn money for themselves for that work. The biggest elephant in the room related to the NCAA regarding colleges actually paying athletes still exists but there was an admittance of the NCAA’s crumbling and archaic rules. In a statement, NCAA president Mark Emmert said, “This is an important day for college athletes since they all are now able to take advantage of name, image and likeness opportunities”.
-The decision connects to the past, president, and future college athletes
Once upon a time, former college football star and current Arizona Cardinals wide receiver A.J. Green was suspended by the NCAA for selling his jersey to an agent. Under the new rules, agents can help with NIL deals. Former college football stars like Reggie Bush and Johnny Manziel have already been vocal on social media about their own college experiences and what it would have been like to have the freedom that many college athletes will now take advantage of.
There are already several college athletes who are making the most out of the new landscape in college sports. Quarterbacks are always among the most well-known figures on any college campus and college quarterbacks Florida State’s McKenzie Milton and Miami’s D’Eriq King signed on as co-founders of NIL platform Dreamfield. One of the best college football players is Oklahoma star quarterback Spencer Rattler and he has his own personalized logo for branding. For non-college football and basketball players, college athletes in lower profile sports like rowing and water polo can use social media and endorsements to monetize themselves.
Interestingly, colleges will compete for college athletes especially in the sports of football and basketball using their ability to maximize a high school athletes’ brand. Recruiting gets a lot more interesting now. The college athletes have a newfound ability to market themselves and become entrepreneurs in unique ways. It also could be good news for the future of the wildly popular NCAA Football video game franchise even though college athletes still remain without a union.
–Another breakthrough for the empowered athlete
Today’s college athletes now have power that their predecessors could only dream of. College athletes have become vocal about racial and social issues in recent years and they are also fully aware of the attention and numbers they bring into a university through their sports exploits. The transfer portal has given college athletes leverage to move to another school if things are not working out at their current school. Now, college athletes have the ability to make money beyond leaving their college sport to turn professional. College sports will never be the same.
Staff Writer; Mark Hines