WHAT WILL BE THE TRUE IMPACT OF NIL IN AMATEUR SPORTS? WILL EVERYBODY CASH IN?
I want to come back to the growing issue of Name, Likeness, and Image (NIL) and how it relates to athletes, because this is truly a bold new frontier for amateur athletes at all levels, and I want to share with you some interesting developments.
The concept is actually quite simple….for years and years, if you played sports at the collegiate level, you were simply not able to be involved in any kind of endorsement deal in which you were paid for your services or appearances. If you did, and money was exchanged, you would totally run the serious risk of not only losing your college eligibility as an athlete, but if you were on athletic scholarship, that would go up in smoke as well.
As you might imagine, ALL college athletes took this very, very seriously. And of course, HS athletes were never tempted to take any money. But then, over the last few years, the Name, Likeness, and Image issue came into sharp focus with the NCAA and with college athletes around the country, and suddenly, the long-standing NIL limits were lifted.
And now, as you know, we have college athletes cashing in big ways with these NIL deals. So far, so good, right?
But we also know that HS athletes – and their parents – have been watching all of this unfold and they are wondering if they too might be able to cash in. For example, in perhaps the most notable example reported last year was the curious case of the top Texas HS QB who graduated from HS early so that he could enroll at Ohio State as a freshman…. AND by doing so, he could cash in on NIL money allegedly worth close to $1.4 mil.
The kid’s name – Quinn Ewers – played on the Ohio State football team this fall, but he didn’t play much. From what I could find, he got in for only two snaps all season and didn’t throw a pass. And then a few weeks ago, he announced he was transferring out of OSU to the Univ. of Texas.
According to reports, OSU refused to promise Ewers that he would be the starting QB in 2022, and I’m sure that was a major factor in the kid’s decison to tranfer. After all, I would imagine that the coaching staff at Ohio State is pretty happy with their current QB, redshirt freshman CJ Stroud.
So, just to be clear. The Ewers kid skips his senior year and graduates from HS early in Texas because that was a state that didn’t allow HS athletes to accept NIL money…..and he goes off to college, where NIL is legal. But when he gets to Ohio State, he sits on the bench behind CJ Stroud all year.
And even though he rarely played at OSU, the Ewers kid is still able to collect more than a million dollars in NIL money for basically playing two downs and not even throwing a pass.
As the saying goes, pretty good work if you can get it.
Also speaking of the Univ of Texas, it’s been reported that a bunch of their football linemen have banded together and will be doing an NIL deal in which they will be asked to make some appearances at some charitable events. It’s not clear yet what these charitable causes will be. In exchange for these efforts – which is being funded by wealthy Univ of Texas alums who will provide the money - provides an annual payment of $50,000 to each lineman.
Again, pretty sweet. So the football players, who are pretty much not well known, will get their full athletic scholarships AND pocket $50k a year in NIL money. Cynics are already suggesting that this is just another added recruiting attraction for the UT program. In effect, free money.
Now….I’m quite sure every top HS athlete all across the country and their parents are watching all of this, and are doing their best to figure out ways as to how they can cash in as well. And who can blame them?
And by the way, it’s not just HS athletes – but also most likely middle school athletes as well. And let’s not forget kids who have bypassed HS sports and play exclusively on travel and club teams.
My overall question for you today is….where is this all headed? And who’s overseeing all of this? Is this all good? Or will this go off the rails? Listen to what was said on the Sports Edge this AM:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sports-edge-with-rick-wolff/id1276712372?i=1000545420373