Navigating And Supporting Athletes With NIL Deals

Something that I never had the chance to experience and take advantage of as a collegiate athlete was making money off of my Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL). Those three letters didn’t even exist, and The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) prohibited athletes from making money off of their sports performance and status as a college athlete. For years athletes have tried to advocate for their rights to compensation, but the NCAA stood strong until July 1, 2021 when the NCAA changed their stance on the topic. The inclusion of NIL still prohibits schools from paying athletes directly, but it does allow athletes to get paid from other avenues (like brand deals and promotional appearances) related to their student-athlete status (Icon Source, 2022). While this is a huge step forward for college athletics, it brings with it a host of anticipated and unforeseen challenges. This paper will discuss the issues athletic administrators will be faced with directly, such as legal complexities, how to assist and support athletes with their NIL deals, recruiting and retention, and the management styles best used to achieve success.

To make the murky waters of implementing NIL into college athletics even muddier, each state has their own rules and regulations that athletes and educational institutions are required to follow. And if the state has no such laws, it is up to the school to create their own system (Icon Source, 2022). In addition to the lack of guidance schools are receiving from the NCAA, they are also under pressure from the NCAA for ensuring that no infractions are taking place. The NCAA has added an “Associate Director of Enforcement for Name, Image, and Likeness” position and claims they are already investigating many violations (Lens, 2023). If athletic administrations weren’t stressed and overworked before, they are now. The last thing an athletics department wants or needs is a NCAA violation. Those have immediate and long lasting negative impacts on a program’s reputation and prospective growth. To avoid legal action from a violation and to stay on top of this evolving landscape, schools should add a position or platform that is directly responsible for the oversight of NIL. This role would be vitally important, ensuring that both the athletes and the school are up to date on the most recent laws, as well as are protected in the case of an investigation. For larger schools with bigger budgets, this could be an easy addition. For smaller schools with smaller budgets, adding such a position might not be financially possible. In that case, using a systems management approach will be beneficial (Gentile, 2020, p. 34). Many athletic administrators must take it upon themselves to stay educated and share the load and responsibilities between qualified positions in the department.

This NIL administrator position or platform can also be responsible for assisting athletes in navigating their potential deals and partnerships. One example of such a program is Ohio University who launched the Ohio NIL Exchange – a program designed for interested athletes and brands to safely and legally connect with each other (Ohio University, 2024). Upon the passage of NIL, some athletes were quick to partner with an agency or agent in regards to monetizing their NIL (Icon Source, 2023). Some athletes are not as fortunate to be able to afford an agent or find an agency that cares about them over the money they can provide. People often forget that student-athletes are just “kids”, being as young as 17-18 years old during their freshman year. Many are away from home for the first time and are vulnerable, whether they like to admit it or not. Expecting them to be able to understand brand deals and partnerships is unrealistic, making it of utmost importance for their school to look out for them. Such a position will need to rely on administrative and bureaucratic management theories (Gentile, 2020, p. 34) to ensure all parties are adhering to the rules and regulations set forth by the NCAA. This is a more strict, serious, and streamlined approach that is focused on rules, authority, and coordinating with all parties involved. The NCAA has recommended that institutions place a high priority on compliance monitoring. This includes incoming and returning student-athletes filling out forms listing all NIL arrangements (Lens, 2023). From there, the NIL administrator would be responsible for reviewing the forms and raising awareness to any red flags. A process like this may be time consuming, but it could be the difference between compliance and noncompliance. 

With so much money up for grabs, recruiting and retention is infinitely harder than before. Larger institutions are taking advantage of this fact and boosters are forming collectives with the goal of pooling together money to be used to pay athletes (Lens, 2023). The NCAA has warned these collectives that they are not allowed to participate in the recruiting process, but like many things in this new NIL era, the warning was vague and by distancing themselves from the school and operating as a third-party platform, these collectives are able to communicate with student-athletes unlike the sport coaches (Lens, 2023). This is a prime example of what the NCAA and many others were worried about when allowing athletes to earn money related to their athletic abilities. These types of organizations are creating an extremely unfair recruiting and retention environment, favoring larger institutions with financial backing from alumni. It also adds a layer of volatility that college athletics haven’t seen before. The transfer portal is in open-season, being filled with student-athletes looking to earn more money and schools looking to poach high caliber athletes. How can schools combat this? Honestly, the way they always have and with the addition of a NIL administrator who can dive into the details with student-athletes. Similar to professional athletes, there are a lot of reasons that go into why someone decides to play where they do. Culture, distance to home, community, the actual education they will receive to name a few. Programs can only focus on what they can control – creating an environment that people want to be a part of. Utilizing behavioral management theory techniques, coaches can further understand what motivates student-athletes and can use that to help keep them in their program as positive, contributing members (Gentile, 2020, p. 34). Because at the end of the day, student-athletes are people, and people want a sense of community and that comes through positive relationships.

This new era of NIL is exciting for those who may benefit from it, and daunting for those who have to manage it. Like the rules and regulations themselves, the consequences of violating said rules and regulations are just as gray. In this time, administrators must do their best to ensure compliance, support their athletes, and keep their recruiting and retention in line with their mission and values. Once a program starts to veer from what they set out to do in the beginning – provide a high quality playing environment that encourages healthy competition and a winning culture – is when they tend to get into trouble. Managing this landscape will come down to staying on top of logistics, being an advocate for the student-athletes, and placing an even bigger emphasis on culture to ensure players want to stay where they’re at instead of entering the transfer portal. It’s a lot, but leaning on behavioral, system, and administrative management theories, athletic departments and administrators can better get a handle on the NIL landscape.

References

Gentile, D. (2020). Athletic Administration for college, High School, Youth, and Club Sport. Jones and Bartlett Learning.

Icon Source. (2022, July 27). Everything You Need to Know About NIL.  https://iconsource.com/everything-about-nil/#:~:text=In%20the%20simplest%20of%20terms,through%20marketing%20and%20promotional%20endeavors. 

Lens, J. (2023). NIL Compliance. Law Review NIL Compliance Comments. https://www.bu.edu/bulawreview/2023/04/17/nil-compliance/ 

Ohio University. (2024, November 21). NIL In College Sports: The New Playbook for Sports Administrators. The Evolving Role of Sports Administrators with the NIL in College Sports. https://www.ohio.edu/business/academics/graduate/professional-master-sports-administration/resources/nil-college-sports