N.I.L.: Good or Bad?

[doctorquant]

I understand how attention is drawn to the big-dollar deals involving TV ads, etc., but the bulk of the NIL stuff isn't all that earth-shattering. In fact, some of it's kinda nice. My mother is in one of those continuum-of-care facilities just down the way from my alma mater, and it seems that enterprise (which also includes a real-estate development arm) does a lot of NIL funding. Hardly a week goes by that its social media feed doesn't show some cluster of athletes making an appearance with this or that cohort of residents. A couple of years ago I did a double-take on seeing D.J. Uiagalelei playing bingo with my sister (who also lives there).

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

A few athletes are getting power - the Caitlin Clarks, Angel Reeses, etc. That's a good thing.

Most of the CFB and MBB players getting money have little power, honestly. Money - not much power. The collectives have the power.

Most of the money isn't really NIL. It's a legalized form of the duffel bag of cash. And the athletes didn't have power in 1987, 1997, 2007 or 2017 under that system.

Power, actually, is the free education. The ability to go to school and get a earning-power multiplier degree. But instead of investing more deeply in that - and really developing student-athletes in money-generating majors - many (not all!) end up with degrees that qualify them for $40,000 social work jobs.

The power of free education ship sailed decades ago. This has been big business since before John Wooden had a bag man. I went to a D-I nobody thinks of as a big-time athletic school (because it's not!) and the basketball and football players generally had no interest in classes. Guys are there to play ball and chase their professional dreams. And as a journalism major whose degree basically qualified him for a $40,000 a year job, I have no ability to talk about developing money-generating majors or criticizing those who don't have one.

I also disagree on the lower-level athletes not having power. Mid-major guys who would usually play four years at one school are making A LOT of money, comparatively speaking, by transferring up. They're getting high five-figure and low six-figure deals when they'd have to wait until going pro in some kind of uncertain overseas situation to make similar bank. That's a good start for guys who aren't going to make the NBA. If they've got smart people around them who can sock most of that away, they'll be in much better shape in 2034 than a similar player would be with his 10-year career ending in 2024. It sucks for watching players develop at a smaller school, but good for them making some real money at the peak of their earning powers. And as @doctorquant says, a lot of this NIL is nice, low-key community involvement...kind of a pot luck supper adding up to a decent pile of change and everyone feeling pretty good about the experience.

I do think there's a bubble to this--the majors will eventually tire of throwing money at shiny objects that went 20/10 at a mid-major but can't replicate that at the next level--and the mids have to shake out between the haves and the have-nots. Most mids have Davids trying to keep up with Goliaths in NIL and my guess is the next round of realignment will be about schools aligning themselves with those who are similarly NIL funded (oh good, another reason to ignore geography and numerically accurate conferences). Things will look much different in five years than now, but that will always be the case.

 

[Junkie]

Or suppose a kid wants to study ... "

See, now you've lost me.

 

[Noholesin1]

Big-time college sports is irretrievably broken; NIL has only amplified the stench.

 

[tapintoamerica]

I understand how attention is drawn to the big-dollar deals involving TV ads, etc., but the bulk of the NIL stuff isn't all that earth-shattering. In fact, some of it's kinda nice. My mother is in one of those continuum-of-care facilities just down the way from my alma mater, and it seems that enterprise (which also includes a real-estate development arm) does a lot of NIL funding. Hardly a week goes by that its social media feed doesn't show some cluster of athletes making an appearance with this or that cohort of residents. A couple of years ago I did a double-take on seeing D.J. Uiagalelei playing bingo with my sister (who also lives there).

I like that. To me, NIL is legitimate product endorsements or community service. Visiting elder care facilities definitely counts.