Blog Post #1
Maddi Stewart
PS 101
Blog Post #1
9 March 2022
Blog Post #1
A little less than a year ago, back in June of 2021, the NCAA adopted a new policy, the name, image, and likeness policy (NIL). Even though not every state in the U.S. has passed this policy, there are 28 states who have passed it and a handful of other states have proposed the bill and are waiting for the new legislation to take effect. This new policy allows college athletes in NCAA D1, D2, and D3 to take advantage of their name, image, and likeness and be compensated for it. This bill still prohibits schools (colleges and universities) from directly paying their athletes, but athletes are now able to seek endorsement deals, social media sponsorships, as well as be involved in other ways that can make them money for their NIL.
For many people, especially NCAA college athletes, this new policy sounds like an amazing thing, and many athletes have already begun finding deals and sponsorships that are compensating them for their name, image, and likeness. However, there a few people who have disagreed with this newly adopted policy, and I am one of them. Now, don’t get me wrong, I play a sport at a NCAA D3 school and if thought I could get compensated for my name, image, and likeness, I would certainly be intrigued and would consider finding out more. Who wouldn’t want to get paid for doing something they love? Yet, the longer that I think about it, the more problems, and pressures I believe will come as a result from this new bill.
Now, let’s dig into a couple of the reasons why I think this name, image, and likeness policy will end up creating more problems. With this new bill, athletes are going to want to get as much money as they possibly can, and I believe this will create another stressor in these kids’ lives. College, in itself, is already stressful for many student athletes. You need to go to class, go to practice, eat, find the time to do homework and study, go to any other clubs/extracurricular you are involved in, get enough sleep, have some time to socialize, as well as go to work if you have a job. For many student athletes, their days are busy from the moment they wake up till the time they go to sleep. When will these athletes have the time to market themselves and do all these deals and sponsorships without adding more stress into their already busy lives? The answer is they won’t. It may sound like a good idea up front, but, ultimately, I think this bill will increase the pressure these athletes feel.
Another reason I disagree with this new policy is because it will put some disadvantages on colleges when it comes to recruiting. Bigger schools with incredible athletic programs, such as The University of Alabama’s football team, will now have a greater advantage when it comes to recruiting because they will be able to “place” NIL deals into potential player’s hands. These deals will persuade athletes to go to their schools, which will hurt the smaller, less popular schools. The ability to have deals already lined up for players even if they aren’t committed yet puts the smaller schools who don’t have that ability at a major disadvantage when it comes to recruiting athletes. As time goes on and bigger schools continue to have this unfair advantage, it could potentially diminish smaller schools’ chances at gaining top-ranked athletes, which could “kill” some of their programs.
Even though I disagree with this new policy, I can understand the reason as to why it sounds enticing to many student-athletes. The NCAA as well as the colleges and universities have profited off the names, images, and likeness of college athletes for many years, and the athletes got nothing for it. It doesn’t seem fair for the athletes to be the ones providing the talent and putting in all the work and not being the ones to receive the compensation, but the coaches, schools, programs, and the NCAA do get to receive it. However, these athletes are getting money, in sense, because many of them are receiving scholarships to play their sport. Therefore, they aren’t having to spend as much money paying for tuition, room and board, books, etc.
When it comes to resolving some of these issues or finding a solution to these problems, there really isn’t one, unless the NCAA decides to go back and try to get this policy changed or the states choose not to enforce this legislation. However, to help with some of these problems, I think we as people, could try and limit the amount of pressure we place on some of these athletes. No matter what kind of bets we place on certain college teams to win, at the end of the day, we have to remember that these athletes are still kids, and most of them are playing their sport because they want to be out there, not because they have to be.