Cons: There’s conflicting legislations in many states, and the NCAA has new guidelines, which will soon be revised.
https://usatodayhss.com/lists/high-school-nil-rules-in-each-of-the-50-states-plus-d-c
These are complicated enough even for lawyers. But for first-year college students and sophomores to understand, what could go wrong? Many states and universities allow students to employ agents/consultants to help them understand their NIL offers and agreements. As of now, though, not all states and universities allow that.
The NCAA has recently updated their guidelines. On May 9, 2022, a working group of athletic directors and conference commissioners issued the NCAA’s Interim Name, Image and Likeness Policy Guidance Regarding Third Party Involvement (NIL Policy Guidance). Part of that even included statements that the violations could be punished retroactively before May 9, 2022.
Cons: The majority of athletes will not get large deals, some only minimal name/image/likeness
Only a portion of the students are making large amounts from Student-Athlete’s NIL. There was an article about University of Minnesota athletes, obtained through a FOIA request, https://www.twincities.com/2022/07/01/how-much-money-did-gophers-athletes-make-in-nil-deals-last-year/amp/
In summary, it noted that many of the NIL deals involved card-signing, and local endorsements. These numbered in the hundreds of dollars mainly, not in the thousands.
Cons: In the limited info that is available so far there is evidence it favors males in already high-profile sports.
https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/34173052/year-radical-change-happens-next
Opendorse CEO Blake Lawrence says there are currently more than 100 groups pooling money (usually amounting to millions of dollars) in an effort to help athletes at their favorite school. Those groups account for roughly 35% of the money reported on Opendorse’s platform.
In summary, there is already a lot of information that the high profile schools, sports, and male-centered sports will get the vast majority of these monies.
(For the possible Title IX issues and other gender-based lawsuit possibilities, I would direct you to 5 Potential Pitfalls for NIL Collectives in College Sports to Avoid ; in case you want to deep-dive into the legal risks)
I welcome your comments below.
